[1] The original urban pathology concept, popular in the late 18th century and during a brief period in the Victorian era, can be described as a pseudo-scientific mix of ancient geometric ideas superimposed onto medical imagery.
[1] Since the 20th century the term is used to either designate the historic urban planning metaphor or as a catchall phrase for a wide variety of city ills.
[7] By the late 18th century the medical research results, like William Harvey's discussions on the blood circulation, were spilling over into other fields of study (cf.
André Thomsen (2012) defines the urban pathology as a field of study dealing with disparate aspects of the city life that are all perceived negatively by the general public.
[5] For example, in 1978 Choldin calls the studies on effects of population density the "density-pathology research" and answers the "What is an urban pathology [...]?"