Urban volumetrics : from vertical to volumetric urbanisation and its extensions to empirical morphological analysis

Abstract

While cities have become gradually more vertical and complex over the past century, our methods for conceptualising their characteristics and measuring their forms and functions are still largely based in a horizontal mindset. Recent work has sought to shift urban discourse towards understanding cities according to their volumetric properties. Moving the debate further, this paper approaches volumetric urbanism from a morphological perspective, setting out a research agenda that operationalises the concept as a means of better capturing the morphological characteristics of cities as volumetric entities. First, we deconstruct volumetric urbanism into the five basic building blocks that define volumetric morphologies: density, functional mix, compaction and compression, complex networks and interaction intensity. Next, we propose two methods for capturing the urban volumetrics of cities based on spatial and network interaction and apply them to a hypothetical case and a preliminary study of Hong Kong. We conclude by arguing that a volumetric approach is required to capture the complex form of compressed, multi-layered and highly connected cities. In response, urban morphological and planning discourses must move away from the horizontal analytical mindset, embrace a multi-layered three-dimensional view of cities and place greater emphasis on spatial configurations and network relations by measuring interaction. 尽管在过去的一个世纪里城市逐渐变得更加垂直和复杂，但我们对城市特征的概念化以及对城市形式和功能的测量方法仍然主要基于横向思维。最近的研究试图将城市话语转向根据城市的容积属性来理解城市。为了进一步推进这方面的讨论，本文从形态学的角度探讨了容积城市化，并提出了一个研究议程，将这一概念作为更好地捕捉城市作为容积实体的形态特征的一种手段。首先，我们将容积城市化解构为定义容积形态的五个基本组成部分：密度、功能组合、紧凑和压缩、复杂网络和互动强度。接下来，我们提出了两种基于空间和网络互动的城市容积测量方法，并将其应用于一个假设案例和对香港的初步研究。我们的结论是，需要一种容积方法来捕捉压缩的、多层的和高度连接的城市的复杂形式。作为回应，城市形态和规划论述必须摆脱横向分析思维模式，采用多层三维视角观察城市，并测量互动以更多地突出空间配置和网络关系。