Fractal Features of Urban Morphology and Simulation of Urban Boundary

Using fractal dimension to reflect and simulate urban morphology are two applications of fractal theory in city geography. As the only consistent description of a fractal, fractal dimension plays an important role in describing the basic features of fractals. Just like other fractals, our cities have similar characteristics. Fractal dimension to some extent is regarded as an indicator of urban expansion, and it may change with urban morphology in different time and space. Based on the Geographic Information System (GIS), taking Wuhan city as a test area, the fractal dimensions of different land use were calculated, and a linear regression equation was established to analyze the relationship between fractal dimension and residential areas. Then the author used fractal dimension to simulate the urban boundary which is an important part of urban mor-phology. A mid-point subdivision fractal generator is needed in the simulation process, and the shape of the generator is determined by fractal dimension. According to the fractal theory, fractal boundaries in different scales have self-similarity and they have the same fractal dimensions. Based on this fact, the simulation method the author used could quantitatively keep the similarity of configuration of the urban boundaries.

Urban Morphology of Urban Village: A Case Study of Dafen Oil Painting Village in Shenzhen

Dafen Oil Painting Village, the largest oil painting village in current China, takes cultural industries like creation and wholesale of oil paintings as the pillar. As one of the urban villages in Shenzhen, Dafen Village not only has the common characteristics of urban morphology as ordinary urban villages, but also has something unique. In this paper, study of the urban morphology of Dafen Oil Painting Village is mainly from 3 aspects: firstly, the formation of street space in Dafen Village; secondly, analysis of the status of urban morphology of Dafen Village; thirdly, the plane layout and public space of Dafen Village. In the end, this paper put forward some suggestions about the future development of urban morphology and space layout in Dafen Village.

Analysis of Urban Morphology in Core Towns＇ Neighborhoods of Mexico： Santa Barbara＇s Neighborhood as a Case Study

Cities＇ urban morphology is the result of historic, cultural, political and social processes. The historical cores in Mexican cities have high cultural diversity, which also intermingle pre-Hispanic cultures with colonial forms, as well with modernity and post-modernity irruption. The case study is Santa Barbara＇s neighborhood in Toluca City, which was founded in 1524, and the case study was the first neighborhood in Toluca＇s historical core. At present time, this neighborhood is considered as one of the most dangerous places in the city＇s historical core, therefore, it has been abandoned. This paper will display the changes in urban morphology of the neighborhood through the years from 1877 to 2010. For site evaluation, the methodologies of Ashihara （1982） and Lynch＇s （1961） were used in order to analyze positive and negative spaces, as well as main street visual features, street and avenue directions, street circulation and street circulation path configuration. The results show that the focal nodes are a key factor for economic and social reactivation, with which, through urban activation of vacant lots and the traditional use of the streets as public space, is possible to generate centripetal development to restructure the neighborhood.

Effects of Urban Morphology Changes on Ventilation： Studies in Wind Tunnel

This paper presents study of the effects of urban morphology changes on ventilation dynamics through a comparative study between blocks of Copacabana and Ipanema neighborhoods, located in Rio de Janciro City, Brazil. The study was developed with the aid of experimental simulations in a wind tunnel, taking into account the urban morphology and its relations to open spaces. A diagnosis was produced through the exam of the wind effects in relation to the volume of built and non-built spaces. The effects were classified as positive or negative, in relation to the tropical climate. At first, both blocks studied, one in Ipanema and one in Copacabana, were selected according to common characteristics, which establish a relation between the two regions, such as the distance to the beach and the presence of a public square. The results confirmed our expectations showing Ipanema as a more ventilated area.

The impact of urban morphology on multiple ecological effects:Coupling relationships and collaborative optimization strategies

Urban morphology significantly affects the ecological effects of urban heat islands,ventilation,and atmospheric pollution.Here,we reveal the mechanisms linking the ecological effects of urban morphology to develop a planning approach for the collaborative optimization of multiple ecological effects.Considering Shenyang,a cold city in northern China,as the study area,a multiple regression model of morphological parameters and ecological effects was established,and the impact of morphological parameters on ecological effects was explored.The results show that the aspect ratio of the streets,building density,and vegetation coverage are sensitive to multiple ecological effects.The inflection point of the ecological effect function curve occurs when the aspect ratio of the building and building density are 0.2 and 0.3,respectively.In addition,for optimal design applications in typical areas of the city,to obtain a Pareto-optimal urban morphology,Grasshopper is used to establish a parametric platform,wherein a genetic algorithm solves the multiple regression equation set.Ultimately,five ecological effect indicators are optimized and show 8.4%,5.0%,31.6%,33.1%,and 12.5%improvement.The study effectively constructs a collaborative optimization planning and design method for multiple ecological effects.

Assessing Linear Urban Landscape from dynamic visual perception based on urban morphology

As an essential part of the urban landscape,linear urban landscape(LUL)is the interaction between humans and nature,which is closely associated with daily life and brings multiple characteristics to visual perception.Current studies focus on complex models that describe visual perception using static viewpoints,but lossing the continuous and dynamic features of visual perception.This paper provides a general framework that can quantify dynamic visual perception based on urban morphology and improves accuracy in the descriptions of LUL linear spatial characteristics.Based on Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal(Hangzhou urban section),the proposed framework combines the indicators of multiple dimensions to quantify dynamic visual perception and emphasizes the continuity of LUL.To represent the dynamic visual perception and the spatial pattern characteristics of LUL,different evaluation criteria of indicators are set according to landscape scales.To minimize subjectivity and uncertainty caused by subjective cognition and fulfill the landscape pattern under different urban development policies,we set up distinct scenario preference patterns.With appropriate fine-tuning of scenario preference patterns and setting of movement types,the proposed method can be adapted to other LUL projects and aspires to provide a general methodology and scientific guidance for urban planning and landscape management.

The evolution of George Town’s urban morphology in the Straits of Malacca,late 18th century-early 21st century

George Town is a significant World Heritage Site in the Straits of Malacca.This paper examined the evolution of urban morphology in George Town within geography,politics,economy,and culture in a horizontal dimension and layer upon layer in a vertical dimension.In this study,to ensure the objectives are achieved,qualitative methods will be applied including several approaches such as literature review,interpretation of archives chronologically,maps study,census returns,trade directories,photographs and postcards,and urban master plan study.The research is based on the analysis of urban construction,land use,economic development,and municipal policies.First,study the urban morphology in a specific period,and construct the inner layer structure in each period.Second,an analogy is drawn among the evolution of the urban morphology by time-scale,this section focusses on the historical conjunctures and events related to the urban construction.An important contribution can be made to the conservation and management of urban built heritage in George Town,on the one hand,explaining the evolution of urban morphology by examining George Tow nphysical and spatial environment,and in turn,on the other hand,understanding about the physical and spatial environment by examining the urban morphology.

Study on urban spatial structure and morphology of Guangzhou-Foshan metropolitan coordinating region compared with Randstad,Netherlands

In recent years,regional integration of Chinese cities has gradually developed.Meanwhile,metropolitan areas and urban agglomerations have taken shape.On the one hand,the development of the metropolitan area has brought about urban spatial expansion,as well as population and economic growth.On the other hand,it has led to problems such as the urban sprawl and suburbanization,increasing pressure on environmental resources,and the decline of urban central areas.Under this background,the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Plan Outline proposes to accelerate the integration of Guangzhou-Foshan(Guang Fo)Metropolitan Coordinating Region(MCR),and to construct a networked space pattern driven by urban poles and shafts.Based on the academic research of Metropolitan Coordinating Region(MCR),as well as the theory of urban spatial structure and morphology,this study focus on urban spatial patterns and elements in different scales,from two individual cites(Guangzhou and Foshan),Guang Fo MCR,to Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao(GHM)Greater Bay Area.With GIS and the mapping method,the spatial elements such as green space,water system,built-up area,road network,rail transit network and main pivot points of the Guang Fo MCR are classified,laid out individually and again overlaid in order to figure out the relationship of these elements.At the same time,through the comparative case study of the Randstad MCR in the Netherlands,the enlightenment of solving the development problem of MCR is hopefully to be obtained.As delta cities,the Guang Fo MCR is cut by the multi-channel water network,while the urban built-up area is concentrated in the middle of the MCR and spread out along the traffic corridor to the suburban district.The traffic structure of the Guang Fo MCR is characterized by the outward radiation of the central area of Guangzhou and Foshan.Simultaneously,the traffic connection between Guangzhou and Foshan is relatively weak.Compared with the polycentric spatial structure,which is called Decentralized Compact pattern of Randstad MCR,the Guang Fo MCR presents a city form with little hierarchy but homogeneity,and its urban space is disorderly spread.The bluegreen system of water and vegetation is fragmented because of the urban invasion in Guang Fo MCR,while the green heart in central Randstad is well preserved.As a result,it is well advised to explore a more resilient and ecological urban development in Guang Fo MCR.

Simulated impacts of 3D urban morphology on urban transportation in megacities: case study in Beijing

Urban morphology and morphology change and their impacts on urban transportation have been studied extensively in planar urban space.The essential feature of urban space,however,is its three-dimensionality(3D),and few studies have been conducted from a 3D perspective,overly limiting the accuracy of studies on the relationships between urban morphology and transportation.The aim of this paper is to simulate the impacts of 3D urban morphologies on urban transportation under the Digital Earth framework.On the basis of the principle that population distribution and movement are largely confined by 3D urban morphologies,which affect transportation,high spatial resolution remote sensing imagery and a thematic vector data-set were used to extract urban morphology and transportation-related variables.With a combination of three research methods-factor analysis,spatial regression analysis and Euclidean allocation-we provide an effective method to construct a simulation model.The paper indicates three general results.First,building capacity in the urban space has the most significant impact on traffic condition.Second,obvious urban space otherness,reflecting both use density characteristics and functional character-istics of urban space,mostly results in heavier traffic flow pressure.Third,no single morphology density indicator or single urban structure indicator can reflect its contribution to the pressure of traffic flow directly,but a combination of these different indicators has the ability to do so.

Integrating urban morphology and land surface temperature characteristics for urban functional area classification

The classification of urban functional areas plays an important role in urban planning and resource management.Although previous studies have confirmed that different urban func-tional areas have different morphological structures and Land Surface Temperature(LST)characteristics,these two types of characteristics have rarely been fully integrated and used for functional area classification.In this paper,a new framework for classifying urban functional areas is proposed by combining urban morphological features and LST features.First,metrics are constructed from three levels,namely,building,road and region,which are used to portray urban morphology;LST is retrieved using thermal infrared remote sensing to reflect LST features with four metrics:the average temperature,maximum temperature,temperature difference and standard deviation of temperature.Then,the functional areas are classified into four categories:service/public land,commercial land,residential land and industrial land.A random forest algorithm is used to effectively fuse the features of these two categories and classify the functional areas.The effectiveness of the proposed framework is tested in the study area of Shenzhen City,Guangdong Province.The results show that the combined classification accuracy of the proposed classification method is 0.85,which is 0.26 higher than that of the classification model based on urban morphology and 0.1 higher than that of the classification model based on LST features.The proposed framework verifies that the integration of LST features into urban functional area classification is reliable and effectively combines urban morphology and LST features for functional area classification.

Promoting conservation or change? The UNESCO label of world heritage (re)shaping urban morphology in the Old Town of Lijiang, China

The UNESCO label of World Heritage can attract a high number of tourists to heritage properties for their Outstanding Universal Values(OUV).Although international studies have demonstrated the World Heritage system can contribute to stimulating cultural tourism and boosting the local economy,how this heritage-led development process promotes urban conservation and morphological changes in cities is yet to be explored adequately.This paper aims to explore the urban morphology of a historic Chinese city after its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List,taking the Old Town of Lijiang as case.The methods of spatial plan analysis and discourse analysis are used to analyse the data.The research findings have demonstrated that,theoretically,the Conzenian approach of urban morphology can be an effective framework for World Heritage OUV-monitoring.Methodologically,the analysis of spatial plans and multi-stakeholder interviews can reveal local urban morphology from macro to micro levels.Case-specifically in Lijiang,urban physical characteristics and building structures have been well maintained while traditional social fabric and neighbourhood networks have almost vanished.This research has incorporated the urban morphology approach into(world)heritage management in China,as well as worldwide,in order to maintain the balance between urban conservation and economic growth.

Characters of Urban Development and Its Spatial Morphology Underground Space Influences on Urban

Underground building with such major functions as underground traffic, commerce, culture and recreation, especially the multifunctional underground large-scale public complex, has become a significant part of the overaU functional structure or even the core of a city. Therefore, the expression of the architectural appearance, and characters of underground building, as well as the integration between the building and its external environment constitute an important part in improving overall functional structure and optimizing cityscape. From the perspective of space and environment shaping, the author explores the architectural appearance, and characters of underground building and its external environment, provides several basic design patterns with further discussion.

Spatial-temporal changes of Tianjin urban spatial morphology from 1978 to 2004

Taken fractal dimension, compact ratio, urban centroid and urban principal axis as the urban spatial characteristic indices, Tianjin city＇s urban area is investigated in the last 26 years in a quantitative perspective, and its traits and changes during different periods are also analyzed. It is clear that these indices can not only scientifically and explicitly assess the urban morphology, urban direction and its changes and trends, but also uncover long-term effects of economy and urban planning on urban morphology.

Transportation Characteristics Change under Rapid Urban Expansion:A Case Study of Shanghai

This paper focuses on the economic development and urban morphology as well as its impact on the transportation system during the urban expansion of Shanghai in the last more than 20 years(1986-2008).Based on data from 3 comprehensive transport surveys of Shanghai since 1986,the changes in residential trip demand,vehicle use,and the spatial distribution of trips were studied to understand the demands on the transportation system.The factors contributing to those changes in transportation demand were discussed,by which the conclusions were arrived:1) economic development promotes population growth and stimulates residential trip demand greatly;2) unsynchronized migration of population and job from central district to periphery district of Shanghai make trips and congestion diffuse in the same way;and 3) urban sprawl from a city center encourages the single-occupant vehicle mode,which imposes greater pressure on the roadway system.It is concluded that urban development should coordinate with the transportation system planning and expansion.

Evaluation of Three-dimensional Urban Expansion: A Case Study of Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China

With rapid urban development in China in the last two decades, the three-dimensional(3D) characteristic has been the main feature of urban morphology. However, the vast majority of researches of urban growth have focused on the planar area(two-dimensional(2D)) expansion. Few studies have been conducted from a 3D perspective. In this paper, the 3D urban expansion of the Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China from 2003 to 2012 was evaluated based on Geographical Information System(GIS) tools and high-resolution remote sensing images. Four indices, namely weighted average height of buildings, volume of buildings, 3D expansion intensity and 3D fractal dimension are used to quantify the 3D urban expansion. The weighted average height of buildings and the volume of buildings are used to illustrate the temporal change of the 3D urban morphology, while the other two indices are used to calculate the expansion intensity and the fractal dimension of the 3D urban morphology. The results show that the spatial distribution of the high-rise buildings in Yangzhou has significantly spread and the utilization of the 3D space of Yangzhou has become more efficient and intensive. The methods proposed in this paper laid a foundation for a wide range of study of 3D urban morphology changes.

Two-and Three-Dimensional Urban Core Determinants of the Urban Heat Island： A Statistical Approach

There is no doubt that the UHI （urban heat island） is a mounting problem in built-up environments, due to the energy retention by surface dense building materials, leading to increased temperatures, air pollution, and energy consumption. Much of the earlier research on the UHI has used two-dimensional （2-D） information, such as land uses and the distribution of vegetation. In the case of homogeneous land uses, it is possible to predict surface temperatures with reasonable accuracy with 2-D information. However, three-dimensional （3-D） information is necessary to analyze more complex sites, including dense building clusters. In this research, 3-D building geometry information is combined with 2-D urban surface information to examine the relationship between urban characteristics and temperature. The research includes the following stages： （1） estimating urban temperature; （2） developing a 3-D city model; （3） generating geometric parameters; and （4） conducting statistical analyses using both linear and non-linear regression models. The implications of the results are discussed, providing guidelines for policies aiming to reduce the UHI.

Tenure of Urban Land： Structure, Form and Transformation in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil

The purpose of this study is to explore the urban morphological aspects of cities governed by the juridical regime of emphyteusis, a recurrent situation in the northeastern part of the state of Silo Paulo, Brazil, with special attention to the city of Ribeirao Preto. The concession of lands to the Catholic Church was a recurring practice in Brazil during the colonial and imperial periods, when the cities were being established. As these lands were intended for the formation of patrimonial goods to show the devotion of the residents to a Catholic saint, the lands were not allowed to be commercialized. The tenure reveals a relation in which there is an owner--the landlord--who has direct control of the urban land. This owner allows another--the leaseholder--the useful domain of the land, thus giving the latter the right to use the land, the obligation to pay an annual tax and the responsibility to give the owner a percentage of the sales generated from the land. In 1845, farmers donated a tract of land to be used to glorify Silo Sebastiao. This land is now the city of Ribeirao Preto, and it is this conjuncture that defined the structure and the transformation of the original urban form of the current city.

Urban Morphological Rules Classification for Digital Design

The hidden dimension of the urban morphology is the underlying the urban morphological rules system.The number of these rules has increased and their application tends to become more complex.The urban morphosis based digital approaches tends to become widespread.However,achieving the target values for all the rules is difficult.This impacts the social,environmental and aesthetic objectives of these rules.This paper proposes a classification of urban morphological rules to assist the digital morphosis of urban form.The aim is to endow the system of rules with a hierarchy,which can make efficient the automatic generation of the urban forms respectful of the urban law.Thus,this work promotes the concerns of artificial intelligence in urban morphology.

Urbanisation Footprints and the Distribution of Air Quality in Nairobi City,Kenya

Various postulations on the relationship between urban morphology and air quality are qualitative.This fails to establish the strength of the contributions of each morphological parameter in the spatial distribution of the air quality.It is this gap in knowledge that this study sought to fill by modelling the correlation existing between the urban morphological variables of development density,land uses,biomass index and air quality values of Nairobi city.While 30 development zones of the city constituted the target population,IKONOS satellite imagery of the city for the year 2015 was utilised in establishing the development densities,land uses and biomass index.The parameters were transformed into numerical surrogates ranging from 1 to 10 with lower values accorded to zones with low biomass index,the highest development density,noxious land uses,high gaseous concentrations and vice-versa.Pearson’s correlation coefficients(r),coefficients of determination(R),t-tests and the Analysis of Variance(F-tests)with levels of significance being 95%were used to determine the strengths,significances and consistencies of the established relationships.The study established that development density is the most significant morphological variable influencing the distribution of air quality.This is followed by biomass index and to a weaker extent,land uses.

Optimizing urban block morphologies for net-zero energy cities:Exploring photovoltaic potential and urban design prototype

The morphology of urban areas plays a crucial role in determining solar potential,which directly affects photovoltaic capacity and the achievement of net-zero outcomes.This study focuses on the City of Melbourne to investigate the utilization of solar energy across different urban densities and proposes optimized morphologies.The analysis encompasses blocks with diverse population densities,examining medium and high-density areas.By utilizing a multi-objective genetic optimization approach,the urban morphology of these blocks is refined.The findings indicate that low-density blocks exhibit photovoltaic potential ranging from 1 to 6.6 times their total energy consumption.Medium and high-density blocks achieve photovoltaic potential levels approximately equivalent to 40%-85%of their overall energy consumption.Moreover,significant variations in photovoltaic potential are observed among different urban forms within medium and high-density blocks.An“elevated corners with central valley”prototype is proposed as an effective approach,enhancing the overall photovoltaic potential by approximately 14%.This study introduces novel analytical concepts,shedding light on the intricate relationship between urban morphologies and photovoltaic potential.