The Urban Block: A Guide for Urban Designers, Architects and Town Planners

The block is no more than the land and building area defined by streets. It is the
nature of the interface between the two, which has a critical impact on the
quality of the spaces between those buildings. The importance of the
block to city life is well rehearsed, and in any case, we seldom find ourselves
in the business of making cities from scratch. But we are in the business of
making new houses, neighbourhoods and new local centres, and we need lots of
them: 250,000 a year to be imprecise. Against the background of a burgeoning
housing shortage in the UK, there are varied issues to be reconciled.



The Urban Block charts the fall and rise of the perimeter block as the staple of
urban form and structure from ancient times. It takes you through the
process of understanding, defining, structuring and designing the block. Carefully
selected urban and suburban case examples explain "do's and don'ts" of good
block layout and will help you to produce better masterplans, while staying in
touch with commercial realities. This is an essential guide for urban
designers, masterplanners and architects that will allow you to produce quality
streetscapes in a contemporary context.