Urban morphology “includes not only form and structure but the actual physical expression of that form”. As the city grows and expands, it will naturally develop space for the inhabitants to occupy. This space may be made up of open areas for socialization and movement but could also be closed spaces where people will work and live. Diverse cultures set up space according to their needs, for example, the Romans had very different designs for their cities from the people of the post-civil war era. People decide on the morphology of their cities according to their social and economic needs and will reshape the space as those needs change...
Urban morphology “includes not only form and structure but the actual physical expression of that form”. As the city grows and expands, it will naturally develop space for the inhabitants to occupy. This space may be made up of open areas for socialization and movement but could also be closed spaces where people will work and live. Diverse cultures set up space according to their needs, for example, the Romans had very different designs for their cities from the people of the post-civil war era. People decide on the morphology of their cities according to their social and economic needs and will reshape the space as those needs change through time.
As the city develops so does the shape of the urban landscape and the spaces it requires. A local example of this would be in the Titanic quarter as seen in Figure 1.
The Morphology of the Titanic Quarter
The change in the urban landscape of this small section of Belfast shows that “Human beings reshape the laws of social and economic behavior” to meet the needs of the society we have created. The shipyard’s decline has meant that there is no longer a need for the naval architect’s design space, the drawing offices or the dry docks but a visitor’s center celebrating the greatness of the shipyards achievements and most famous ship has replaced these with an iconic building and public space that best illustrates the morphogenesis of the area. Space within the city is created as the social and economic requirements of the city change. In the case of the Titanic quarter the space that was used for industry, employment and economic growth has shifted its emphasis to a more social use of the space. There are of course still economic and employment aspects to the space, but the main focus has changed yet the essence of the space remains the same as the architecture of the building reminds us of the industry that used to occupy the space.
