The built environment

Buildings are the dominant feature of urban environments and they are arranged in diverse patterns. Interwoven within and between buildings are a series of infrastructures which deliver materials and energy and remove the products of industrial processes and waste produced as a result of human activities. Urban form, the physical arrangement of elements within urban environments, is a determinant of the liveability of a city. Individual buildings are constructed to a range of designs. These are discussed along with a consideration of the position of private (domestic gardens) and public greenspace (for example, parks) within the wider urban form. Links between urban form and socio-economic status are discussed. Where there is greater wealth, there is a stronger focus on the quality of life and an association with higher levels of vegetation within the urban form.