Morphology (architecture and engineering)
Other influences on the morphological form of the urban environment include architects, builders, developers, and the social demographic of the particular location[2] Urban morphology provides an understanding of the form, establishment and reshaping processes, spatial structure and character of human settlements through an analysis of historical development processes and the constituent parts that compose settlements.
[citation needed] Urban places act as evolutionary open systems that are continually shaped and transformed by social and political events and by the market forces.
[3] Urban morphology as an organised scientific study began formally in the 19th century[citation needed] due to the expansion of reliable topographic maps and reproducible plans.
Archaeologists have studied the ruins of ancient cities such as Mesopotamia, Egypt and Minoan to show evidence that urban planning dates back to the Bronze Age, through visible patterns of paved streets lined in right angles.
[8] Rapid urbanisation commonly causes challenges within urban places, for example, traffic jams, high cost of living, lack of green space, biodiversity loss, air pollution and other anthropogenic environmental effects.
[9] As a result, urban planners, geographers and architects have put forth numerous theoretical models with aim to improve understanding upon the functionality, aesthetic nature and environmental sustainability.
[13] The Sectoral Model, proposed by economist Homer Hoyt in 1939, explores the notion that the development of cities is centralised around transportation lines where wedges of residential land is concentrated by social class.
Leaders in the field state that the twenty first century global economy's tendency towards capital reduces the demand for labour and in turn causing growing unemployment.
[13] For example, the wide implementation of suburban railway networks and motor buses were expected to have proportionately impact the higher increases in periphery land prices.
[13] Although, opposers to this theory suggest that the fact that transport innovations are typically closely associated with increases in building and development activity which in itself is known to raise land values and thus, it is difficult to assess the relative strengths and underlying influences.
[15] Thus, the commercial, industrial and residential components within the urban this model's land-use pattern are susceptible to the locational analysis and their attempt to maximise profits by substituting higher rent for increased transport costs from the city centre and vice versa.
Most climate scientists agree that warmer Earth surface temperatures increase the frequency and severity of natural disasters, with these events becoming 5 times as common in recent years.
