This book explains why the earliest cities had grid-form street systems, what conditions led to their being overwhelmingly preferred for 5000 years throughout the world, why the Founding Fathers wanted gridform cities and how they affect economic transactions. Real property has been instrumental in forming urban settlements for 5000 years, but virtually all urban form commentary, theory and research has ignored this reality. The result is an incomplete and flawed understanding of cities. Real property became a means of arranging spatial patterns caused by millennia of human evolutionary and historical developments with respect to access and movement. As a result, access to resources of all types became a regulatory mechanism controlled, at least in part, by real property ownership. The effects of real property on urban spatial patterns are currently best seen by examining American urban space, which has changed significantly over the past 200 years. This change, which began in the 1840s and established path dependence through a combination of design thought, sentimental pastoralism and financial prowess resulted in an urban regime shift that diminished economic resilience. This book offers a rethinking of how real property relates to real space, examines the thought of form promoters, links space, property, neurological evolution and settlement form, shows access is measurable and describes the plusses and minuses of functionalism, rent seeking, general purpose technology, grid-form street systems and what the American Founding Fathers thought about urban form.

Why are American cities, suburbs, and towns so distinct? Compared to European cities, those in the United States are characterized by lower densities and greater distances; neat, geometric layouts; an abundance of green space; a greater level of social segregation reflected in space; and—perhaps most noticeably—a greater share of individual, single-family detached housing. In Zoned in the USA, Sonia A. Hirt argues that zoning laws are among the important but understudied reasons for the cross-continental differences.Hirt shows that rather than being imported from Europe, U.S. municipal zoning law was in fact an institution that quickly developed its own, distinctly American profile. A distinct spatial culture of individualism—founded on an ideal of separate, single-family residences apart from the dirt and turmoil of industrial and agricultural production—has driven much of municipal regulation, defined land-use, and, ultimately, shaped American life. Hirt explores municipal zoning from a comparative and international perspective, drawing on archival resources and contemporary land-use laws from England, Germany, France, Australia, Russia, Canada, and Japan to challenge assumptions about American cities and the laws that guide them.

The appearance of Oscar Newman's Defensible SpaceÓ in 1972 signaled the establishment of a new criminological subdiscipline that has come to be called by many Crime Prevention Through Environmental DesignÓ or CPTED. Over the years, Mr. Newman's ideas have proven to have significant merit in helping the Nation's citizens reclaim their urban neighborhoods. This casebook will assist public & private organizations with the implementation of Defensible Space theory. This monograph draws directly from Mr. Newman's experience as consulting architect. Illustrations.

The relationship between public and private spheres is one of the key concerns of the modern society. This book investigates this relationship, especially as manifested in the urban space with its social and psychological significance. Through theoretical and historical examination, it explores how and why the space of human socities is subdivided into public and private sections. It starts with the private, interior space of the mind and moves step by step, through the body, home, neighborhood and the city, outwards to the most public, impersonal spaces, exploring the nature of each realm and their complex, interdependent realtionships. A stimulating and thought provoking book for any architect, architectural historian, urban planner or designer.

Abandoned lots and litter-strewn pathways, or rows of green beans and pockets of wildflowers? Graffiti-marked walls and desolate bus stops, or shady refuges and comfortable seating? What transforms a dingy, inhospitable area into a dynamic gathering place? How do individuals take back their neighborhood? Neighborhoods decline when the people who live there lose their connection and no longer feel part of their community. Recapturing that sense of belonging and pride of place can be as simple as planting a civic garden or placing some benches in a park. The Great Neighborhood Book explains how most struggling communities can be revived, not by vast infusions of cash, not by government, but by the people who live there. The author addresses such challenges as traffic control, crime, comfort and safety, and developing economic vitality. Using a technique called "placemaking"-- the process of transforming public space -- this exciting guide offers inspiring real-life examples that show the magic that happens when individuals take small steps, and motivate others to make change. This book will motivate not only neighborhood activists and concerned citizens but also urban planners, developers and policy-makers.

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