Block, Superblock, and Megablock: A Short Morphological History

China Lab Guide to Megablock Urbanism, Contributors, David Grahame Shane, Densities, Essay, Formats, High Density, Territory and mobility, Topics, Urban Paradigms

Barcelona, Beijing, China, City development, Communication, Effective zoning, Essay, Extension, Flexibility, Hybrid neighborhoods, Information, Megacities & High Density, Migration, Multiscale approach, Networking blocks, Pedestrian realm, Street network, Territorial Approach, Territory&Mobility, Transformation, Urban Block, Urban design, Urban fabric, Urban Form Repertoire, Urbanism, Watery Territory

This essay is an excerpt of "China Lab Guide to Megablock Urbanism" by Jeffrey Johnson, Cressica Brazier and Tat Lam, published by Actar Publishers -- https://lccn.loc.gov/2019955208

The terms block, superblock, and megablock indicate an increasing capacity and scale of urban form and organization over time. This ascending sequence marks the block as an element in a clear urban hierarchy associated with ever-larger cities: the historical city, the modern metropolis and megalopolis, and now the emerging megacities of Asia.