Urban form and sustainability: Past, present and challenge. A revision

Abstract

In the topic of urban form, sustainability is mostly related to urban transformation processes that take place in different contexts around the world. The outcomes in terms of the reestablishment of human settlements largely depend on the evolution of attitudes, perspectives and sociopolitical rearrangement processes, where urban morphology plays a key role. This review delves into the relationship between sustainability and urban form. A thematic analysis has been performed to support the broad body of literature dealing with these issues. First, the analysis addresses the historical debate about sustainable urban form up to present times, whereby theoretical aspects, ideology, and models are discussed. Then, six elements of sustainable urban form –which are a key part of the current debate– are discussed and analyzed. The relevance of this discussion points to the fact that these six elements are a base from where to influence sustainability and human behavior in the city.