Impact of urban development on popular meeting places

Abstract

Cities are complex human settlements, in which the natural surroundings are dominated by man made features. Since the evolution of earliest urban civilizations, cities have undergone drastic changes resulting in the present urban forms. But what is remarkable is that each city possesses a particular character unique to it . The character, identify or uniqueness of a city is generated mainly by its city form. "City form is the three dimensional composition of physical objects and spaces, which can be referred to as volumes and masses of city. These physical objects and spaces are organized in the form of physical elements identified as paths, nodes, edges, landmarks and districts."(Lynch : 1960,46). Those spaces tightly bound with the human activities and behaviors. When people use one of those predominantly it became meeting place. Meeting places are activity wise, meaning wise and special wise special from other places in the city structure. These quantities further differ from place to place resulting the existence of different types of popular meeting places in the same urban context. They may differ in function, in activities around in the physical character or of their meaning, thus forming a certain hierarchy.