Urban Being

Through the combination of detailed maps on the one hand and real-life experiences on the other hand, the influence of the anatomy on the identity of the city is made understandable.

There is a long tradition of comparing cities with organisms as they have similarities in their anatomy. In this book, through charts and maps generated from satelite images various city structures are compared across five different dimensions and their influence on the city's identity through the lived experience of the inhabitants is discussed.There is a long tradition of comparing cities with organisms as they have similarities in their anatomy. But since cities are brought into life by the presence of people, they are less living beings than urban beings with their own identity. This is based on the behaviours, needs and requirements of the residents. In other words, the anatomy of the city informs its identity – certain city structures, wherever they are, are influenced in similar ways by the people who interact with them. This volume shows and makes understandable these influences on the living environments of the inhabitants. Through detailed charts and elaborate maps generated from satellite images various city structures are compared across five different dimensions and their influence on the city’s identity through the lived experience of the inhabitants is discussed. These range from local urban cells, explorable by foot, and urban centres to macro-regions, agglomerations of many hundreds of cities that stretch across thousands of kilometres.