Principles of Urban Structure

Product Description This book introduces the city as a collection of networks, and analyzes good city form using the latest scientific concepts such as fractals and scaling. A very different conception of sustainable cities emerges: more towards a traditional city of mixed uses and sizes, and away from the industrial monotonous model used in post World-War II planning. Meant for students as well as practicing planners and architects, this book presents the basis of a new way of thinking about sustainable urbanism from the structural point of view. Review "This is a remarkable book, based on rational insights from science, yet focused intensely on achieving humane urbanism. It should provide much needed guidance to all those who care about cities and are concerned with the human-scaled urbanist project." ~ Susan Parham, INTBAU "Clear line diagrams and sketches make it easier for the reader, especially if he or she is an architect, to understand the concepts being discussed. I recommend this book to all those who want to know how concepts and ideas from mathematics and physics can be directly relevant to the processes of urbanism." ~ Besim S. Hakim, INTBAU "Salingaros explains that the 'fractal city' embeds detail and complexity from the largest of scales to the smallest. Probably the most valuable lesson in these pages -- something that permeates just about every essay -- is connectivity." ~ John Hill, A Weekly Dose of Architecture "Nikos A. Salíngaros está ocupando un lugar imprescindible en la evolución actual de las ideas y el conocimiento sobre arquitectura y urbanismo. Sus teorías sobre las redes urbanas y los nodos de interconexión llevan mucha claridad a la organización de la complejidad." ~ Rubén Pesci, Ambiente "I think this is a useful and gentle introduction to ideas about networks in cities. By pulling together his work in this way, Salingaros has done us a service and for those who want to know about new ideas concerning the complexity of cities in terms of networks, this is important reading." ~ Michael Batty, Journal of Urban Design "I would also like to draw your attention to a seminal book on urban design which could fundamentally alter our approach to urban design thinking -- and directly impact our cities: 'Principles of Urban Structure' written by Nikos A. Salingaros -- a close friend and associate of Christopher Alexander. This book, in my opinion sums up that 'body of knowledge' which has simply not been integrated into our planning and architectural curriculum across the world. Many of our urban development issues arise from this. Although this book was first published in 2005, it is surprising that many in the urban design field have not heard of it. It is my sincere hope that 'Principles of Urban Structure' --Mahesh P. Butani, Raise the Hammer About the Author Nikos A. Salingaros MA PhD is one of the pioneers who are defining the new architecture. This is an innovative and interactive way of conceiving, constructing, and repairing the city. Evidence-based rules for the built environment using scientific methods and logic replace outdated working assumptions that have created dysfunctional urban regions following World-War II. His work links human-scale urbanism to developing architectural movements such as P2P Urbanism, the Network City, Biophilic Design, Self-built Housing, Generative Codes, and Sustainable Architecture. Dr. Salingaros collaborated with the visionary architect and software pioneer Christopher Alexander, helping to edit the four-volume "The Nature of Order" during its twenty-five-year gestation. In recognition of his efforts to understand architecture using scientific thinking, Salingaros was awarded the first grant ever for research on architecture by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1997. He is a member of the INTBAU College of Traditional Practitioners and is on the INTBAU Committee of Honor. He was one of the "50 Visionaries who are Changing Your World