Inaugural Seminar of the Chinese Network of Urban Morphology, Nanjing, China, 31 October 2013

摘要

A group of scholars conferred at the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Nanjing University, on 31 October 2013 to inaugurate the Chinese Network of Urban Morphology. This report summarizes the principal matters considered at this seminar. During China's unprecedented urbanization since the 1990s, new practical and theoretical questions have been raised. Urban morphology as the science of urban form provides a much needed theory and set of tools for addressing these questions. Urban morphological studies have undergone a marked growth in China, especially since the beginning of the twenty-first century (Figure 1). In 2009, the Sixteenth International Seminar on Urban Form on the theme of Urban Morphology and Urban Transformation took place in Guangzhou, China. This further boosted interest in urban morphology and recognition of its relevance to Chinese urban development. In the last few years strong research groups working on urban form have been established at leading universities, and a number of English and French publications in the field have been translated. A Chinese Network of Urban Morphology has now been established to provide a platform to encourage and crystallize research interests and communications.