An approach for analysis of urban morphology: methods to derive morphological properties of city blocks by using an urban landscape model and their interpretations

An approach to analyze urban morphology is presented in this study. It is based on an urban landscape model, and a 2 km × 2 km area in Tokyo is used as a study site. The approach has the following two characteristics. Firstly, city blocks are used as spatial units for morphological properties to be derived and interpreted. Secondly, the morphological properties derived are interpreted on quantitative basis. The morphological properties featured in this study are: (1) surface area per projected area; (2) volume per projected area; (3) building to land ratio; (4) mean height of buildings; (5) surface area of buildings per unit volume of buildings; and, (6) mean volume of buildings. These six properties are calculated for each block, and interpreted with attentions to their interrelationships as well as geographical distributions. This attempt reveals gradations of morphological properties of blocks in feature spaces and the geographical space, which has potentials to enable quantitative comparisons of cities domestically and internationally.