How and why the scale of streets and squares has evolved from intimate and human settings to the contemporary neglect of human needs in open space is the focus of investigation in this research. An understanding of the concept of "human scale" establishes the variables that characterize humanly-scaled open space, which in turn identify transformations in the urban environment. In addition, the origins and development of zoning regulations help to trace the factors that degrade urban space and influence the loss of human scale. This loss has been identified in the adaptation of pre-industrial urban space to the novelties of technological and industrial expansion. The complexity of solutions to such issues as traffic congestion, the urgent need for new housing accommodation, overcrowding and hygienic problems influenced the new regulations that directly altered human scale through changes in street dimensions, land use patterns and size of houses and lots. In post-WW II developments these regulations became the single design tool and they greatly impeded the establishment of human scale. Recent changes in urban design practice and the reintroduction of human scale to the design of open space are not only a demonstration of increasing sensitivity towards aesthetic qualities but also a product of the new socio-economic and environmental climate. Through analysis of compositional laws and the planning practice of different Montreal residential neighborhoods over the last hundred years the author demonstrates how visual quality and human scale are the product of a complex series of socio-economic, technical and political issues.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.23319 |
| Date | January 1995 |
| Creators | Lucic, Katija |
| Contributors | Friedman, Avi (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Architecture (School of Architecture.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001486828, proquestno: MM11990, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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