Retrofitting suburban morphology

摘要

A key marker in assessing retrofitting success is the degree to which the redevelopment approach transforms the underlying urban patterns of lots, blocks, and streets from suburban to urban configurations. These prior configurations are generally highly resistant to adaptation (Scheer 2001, Campoli and MacLean 2007). In contrast, urban configurations hold out the possibility for a more sustainable long-term inhabitation of the land because they exhibit more capacity for densification, change of use, the introduction of new building forms and idioms, and, not least, the support of truly public space (Dunham-Jones and Williamson 2009).