J.W.R. Whitehand and the Historico-geographical Approach to Urban Morphology

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. An Introduction to the Work of JWR Whitehand

   • Vítor Oliveira

   Pages 1-32

3. Urban Morphological Regions: Development of an Idea

   • Kai Gu

   Pages 33-46

4. Fringe Belts

   • Michael Barke

   Pages 47-66

5. Agents and Agency in the Urban Landscape

   • Peter J. Larkham

   Pages 67-90

6. Rigour and Comparison in Urban Morphology: Through the Lens of JWR Whitehand

   • Karl Kropf

   Pages 91-113

7. Research and Practice

   • Ivor Samuels

   Pages 115-131

8. JWR Whitehand: 50 Years of Urban Morphological Research

   • Vítor Oliveira

   Pages 133-138

Over recent decades, the historico-geographical approach to urban morphology has been prominent in the debate on the physical form of our cities and on the agents and processes shaping that form over time. With origins in the work of the geographer M.R.G. Conzen, this approach has been systematically developed by researchers in different parts of the world since the 1960s. This book argues that J.W.R. Whitehand structured an innovative and comprehensive school of urban morphological thought grounded in the invaluable basis provided by Conzen. It identifies the development of several dimensions of the concepts of “fringe belt” and “morphological region” and the systematic exploration of the themes of “agents of change,” “comparative studies” and “research and practice” as key contributions by Whitehand to this school of thought. The book presents contributions from leading international experts in the field addressing these major issues.

• Urban Morphology
• Urban Form
• Historico-geographical Approach
• JWR Whitehand
• Morphological Regions
• Fringe Belts
• Agents of Change
• Comparative Studies on Urban Morphology
• Research and Practice in Urban Morphology
• Urban Morphological Theory
• urban geography and urbanism
• historical geography

“This book offers an excellent introduction to the work and thinking of one of the most prominent urban morphologists. … This reader is certainly looking forward to his future contributions.” (Pierre Gauthier, Urban Morphology, Vol. 23 (2), 2019)

• Centro de Investigação do Território, Transportes e Ambiente, Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

  Vítor Oliveira

Vítor Oliveira is a Professor of Urban Morphology and Urban Planning at the ULP and a Senior Researcher at the Research Centre for Territory Transports and Environment (CITTA / FEUP). He is an architect (FAUP) and holds both an MSc in Planning and Design of the Built Environment (FAUP/FEUP) and a PhD in Planning / Civil Engineering (FEUP). He is President of the Portuguese-language Network of Urban Morphology (PNUM) and Secretary General of the International Seminar on Urban Form (ISUF). He is editor of the Revista de Morfologia Urbana, a member of the editorial board of Urban Morphology and an advisory editor of The Urban Book Series (Springer).

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