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Climate Action pp 1–10Cite as

Urban Form and Function

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

Synonyms

Urban form: City form; Morphology of the city; Physical structure of the city; Urban spatial configuration

Urban functions: City functions; Urban activities

Definition

The term “urban form” is used to describe a city’s physical characteristics. It refers to the size, shape, and configuration of an urban area or its parts. How it will be understood, structured, or analyzed depends on scale. Characteristics of the urban form range from, at a very localized scale, features such as building materials, facades, and fenestration to, at a broader scale, housing type, street type, and their spatial arrangement or layout. The concept of urban form encompasses also nonphysical aspects such as density.

Urban function can be conceptualized as function of city in relation to the society, hinterland, or other settlements; as activities taking place inside of cities; or as a relation between urban (social) needs and urban (spatial) forms.Urban functions are generator that shape...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Belgrade - Faculty of Architecture, Belgrade, Serbia

    Jelena Živković

Authors
  1. Jelena Živković
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jelena Živković .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. FTZ-ALS, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences FTZ-ALS, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. University of Aveiro , Aveiro, Portugal

    Ulisses Azeiteiro

  3. Ctr Neurosci & Cell Biology, 1 Floor, Univ Coimbra, Edf Fac Medicina, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  4. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  5. Ozyegin University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökcin Özuyar

  6. Centre for Work Related Studies, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. Chair of Forestry Economics and Organisation, University of Belgrade - Faculty of Forestry, Belgrade, Serbia

    Dragan Nonic

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Živković, J. (2019). Urban Form and Function. In: Leal Filho, W., Azeiteiro, U., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P., Wall, T. (eds) Climate Action. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71063-1_78-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71063-1_78-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71063-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71063-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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