How do cities transform over time? And why do some cities change for the better while others deteriorate? In articulating new ways of viewing urban areas and how they develop over time, Peter Bosselmann offers a stimulating guidebook for students and professionals engaged in urban design, planning, and architecture. By looking through Bosselmann's eyes (aided by his analysis of numerous color photos and illustrations) readers will learn to seea cities anew.
Bosselmann organizes the book around seven activitiesa: comparing, observing, transforming, measuring, defining, modeling, and interpreting. He introduces readers to his way of seeing by comparing satellite-produced mapsa of the world's twenty largest cities. With Bosselmann's guidance, we begin to understand the key elements of urban design. Using Copenhagen, Denmark, as an example, he teaches us to observe without prejudice or bias.
He demonstrates how cities transform by introducing the idea of urban morphologya through an examination of more than a century of transformations in downtown Oakland, California. We learn how to measure quality-of-life parameters that are often considered immeasurable, including vitality,a livability,a and belonging.a Utilizing the street grids of San Francisco as examples, Bosselmann explains how to define urban spaces. Modeling, he reveals, is not so much about creating models as it is about bringing others into public, democratic discussions. Finally, we find out how to interpret essential aspects of life and placea by evaluating aerial images of the San Francisco Bay Area taken in 1962 and those taken forty-three years later.
Bosselmann has a unique understanding of cities and how they work.a His hope is that, with the fresh vision he offers, readers will be empowered to offer inventive new solutions to familiar urban problems.
Introduction
Chapter 1. To Compare: Cities, Size, Scale and Form Chapter 2.To Observe: Some Observations of Copenhagen's City Form at the Time of Global Change Chapter 3.To Measure: Vitality, Livability and Sense of Place Chapter 4.To Transform: Rebuilding the Structure of the Inner City Chapter 5.To Define: Urban Design Principles for City Streets Chapter 6.To Model: Authenticity, Modeling, and Entitlement Chapter 7.To Interpret: A Canvas for an Emerging Commons Conclusion: Principles of Precedent
Bibliography Index
"Bosselmann brings firsthand knowledge of cities worldwide to the fore in this rich comaprative study...Urban Transformation deserves to become a basic guidebook for architects, landscape architects, and planners, but no less so for decision makers and for citizen activists whose vigilance is often crucial to the desirability of place."
