Urban form and infrastructure: A morphological review

Williams, Katie

Abstract

The report provides a baseline analysis of, and forward look at, urban form and infrastructure in the UK. It sets out the legacy of development in the post-war period, and explains how settlement patterns have evolved in relation to investments in infrastructure (transport, energy, water, waste, ICT, health and education). It provides a summary of the positive and negative consequences of the UK's key development patterns: compact and contained established towns and cities; edge and out-of-town developments; peripheral housing estates and urban extensions; newer settlements; and dispersed developments. It then considers emerging approaches to the governance of urban form and infrastructure, with potential lessons for the UK, in the face of a number of challenges and uncertainties related to climate change, economic instability, and demographic and social shifts. Finally, the report offers an analysis of plausible future options for the development of: a) existing places (via compaction/containment, the development of polycentric city regions and managed shrinkage); and b) new developments (via peripheral growth, new settlements or dispersed developments). The report concludes with a number of conditions nexessary for the effective delivery and management of urban form and infrastructure to 2065.

• Report Type: Technical Report
• Publication Date: Jun 26, 2014
• Deposit Date: Feb 11, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 4, 2017
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: urban form, infrastructure, development patterns, compact city, containment, edge development, urban extensions, managed shrinkage, polycentric development, new settlements, peripheral growth, smart growth, climate change
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/815766
• Publisher URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/future-cities-urban-form-and-infrastructure
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
• Contract Date: Nov 15, 2016