Architecture, Building and Planning - Theses

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Start date: 2010 × Subject: Melbourne × Subject: urban form ×

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    A data-driven investigation on urban form evolution: Methodological and empirical support for unravelling the relation between urban form and spatial dynamics
    Tumturk, Onur ( 2023-06)
    Investigating the patterns of urban development and transformation and unravelling the principles behind these processes are critical for understanding how cities evolve under different physical conditions. While socio-economic, political and cultural forces undeniably shape the patterns of spatial change and persistence, urban form should not be perceived as a passive resultant or a mere consequence of these processes. Quite the contrary, urban form plays a determinant role in establishing the spatial conditions that influence future development patterns by constraining some choices while facilitating others. Recognising the scarcity of systematic, diachronic and quantitative studies on urban form evolution, this thesis is driven by an interest in understanding the relationship between urban form and spatial change. It aims to develop theoretical, methodological and empirical support for unravelling the influential role of urban form in guiding spatial dynamics. The thesis develops a diachronic and quantitative methodological framework to investigate how urban form conditions created by plots, buildings, streets and land uses affect the patterns of change and persistence in three different grid cities: Midtown Manhattan, New York (US); City Centre, Melbourne (AUS); and Eixample, Barcelona (Spain). As part of the research, three longitudinal morphological datasets were generated, drawing upon a rich array of historical cartographic resources and geospatial databases to enable a comprehensive assessment of urban form evolution within each city between the 1800s and 2000s. Through quantitative analysis of urban form and its association with spatial dynamics, the thesis demonstrates that urban form conditions have a measurable impact on the patterns of physical and functional change. This understanding contributes further to the fact that design does not exclude the possibility of change but may even favour it under particular conditions. A rigorous and evidence-based understanding of the interplay between urban form conditions and patterns of spatial change empowers practitioners and policymakers to choose particular forms and structures over others, guide the long-term evolution of urban form and improve the adaptive capacity and resilience of the built environment.
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    The evolution of central Melbourne: a morphological analysis 1837-2011
    SIMA, YINA ( 2011)
    Melbourne's colonial core has been influenced by diverse political, economic and social relations intersecting with planning and urban design concepts: gold rush, periodic bursts of speculation, World Wars, and waves of immigration. These relations reflect the city's process of urban transformation and are typified by cycles of boom and bust. This research examines the characteristics of the major morphological periods associated with specific planning ideologies and contemporary influences of politics, economy and culture. In addition to assessing the morphological history of the city's core by reproducing a series of maps, the city's morphological history is analysed, particularly in terms of its spatial and block form, from a colonial to a modern context. This study therefore outlines the morphological evolution of an urban organism: the physical transformation of central Melbourne from 1835 until 2011. It gives special attention to the characteristics of the physical changes that have occurred; the socio- economic factors responsible; and the precise treatment of data sources which record those transformations. The compilation of data from state and institutional libraries, planning authorities and regulating agencies related to fire protection and water supply is described. The various types of physical changes undergone by the city centre, including functional alterations, plot division (or amalgamation), rebuilding and additions to existing structures, are analysed. The variations over time in the locations of these changes are examined in relation to the characteristics of contemporary social factors. Morphological mapping has been widely used in this research. The transformation of central Melbourne has been precisely documented and measured in its history through nine sets of figure-ground maps from 1837-2005, transcribed from historical block plans and maps. A thorough anatomical analysis depicts a vivid panorama at every stage of growth of central Melbourne. What is revealed is a city transformed from a singular civic vision to a layered and collaged image, and at the same time, the imprint of the original colonial street grid remains. This transformation signifies the morphological evolution of central Melbourne. This comprehensive morphological study is the first of its kind in relation to the historical transformation of an Australian capital city.