Transforming cities: mapping opportunities to deliver sustainable urban form

Abstract

Cities are dynamic settings that are constantly evolving. Physical changes, at varying scales, occur across time. These changes are often complex and slow-moving but all contribute to ongoing transformation of the urban form. The urban form of a city, town or settlement is important as it defines the size, shape and configuration of that urban area. It is within this structural framework that the functional qualities of the city are played out; the movement of people and information, the activities and social interactions and the ecological systems that coexist with urban life. Over the last two decades, there has been a significant focus in planning discourses on how the physical design of the urban environment can influence health and sustainability and ultimately, achieve a sustainable urban form. However, the notion of a ‘sustainable urban form’ has been debated, and several theoretical models have been put forward that aim to achieve sustainability. This paper puts forward a conceptual framework to better understand the physical manifestation of sustainable urban form and the urban development processes that have the potential to deliver them.