Elements of Urban Analysis: Theory and Application

Urban analysis is an approach used during studio sessions in architectural education. It applies to the city as a whole or to a part of it, depending on the difficulty and scope of the problem at hand. Questions of scale and boundaries a priori define the field of study and the theoretical framework in both spatial and thematic terms. The applications vary according to the objectives set by the analysis, which may focus either on the typological–morphological interpretation of a built space or on developing a specific understanding of issues related to urban growth. The fields of application are concerned with urban planning objectives, whether related to expansion or intervention within an existing environment. They also involve the production of architectural and urban knowledge through the development of typologies of geometric, organizational, and relational forms. This summary of the procedures and intentions of urban analysis has been prepared to enable students in architecture, urban planning, and spatial development to carry out applications related to analytical methods based on an anthropological vision of spatial design. It provides some tools and techniques of urban analysis in line with an emerging issue, namely the integration of environmental dimensions. A historical approach to the city is also employed, aiming to identify the forces and constraints that have contributed to the formation of the space under study. New perspectives in the design of urban space, introduced through the evolution of urban planning thought, draw on the fields of anthropology on the one hand and ecology on the other. This contemporary context justifies the development of this presentation, based on three experiences and modes of reflection. The aim is to put into practice techniques used at the level of a central square, a subdivision area, a neighborhood, or a facility.