Thesis 100dpi

CONGESTION AND FLOW:
REFLECTION ON THE URBAN
PATTERN
A radial form is a classical way of establishing a settlement.
The pattern consists of inner and outer ring
roads linked by radiating roads. The core is of historical
and economical importance, whereas the periphery is
usually dominated by a residential typology and green
belts. The advantages of such a shape is that the city
can spread in all directions, but on the other hand,
approaching the center from any direction leads to
congestion. The properties closer to the center normally
have higher values than the those on the outskirts of the
city, intensifying social segregation among its residents.
122 REFUGIUM
The linear city design was first developed by Arturo Soria
y Mata in Madrid, Spain during the 19th century, but was
widely promoted by the Soviet planner Nikolai Alexander
Milyutin in the late 1920s. The idea is to expand the
city along the spine of transport, and reduce congestion
within city found in the aforementioned radial plan.
With the development of fast transportation systems
this model could become very feasible. Linear cities
foster quality of life through urban mobility and access,
while minimizing consumption of land and material
resources of all kinds, including energy resources.
Refugium is a spine connecting with the places in the
surrounding landscape, reviving and revitalizing abandoned
and undeveloped places with the influx of people
and new way of life. It acts as a main artery pumping
blood into every vessel in the organism. Existing towns
would grow while new ones could be established, thus
forming networks of political and cultural alliances.
Economical recovery would lead to the investment in
regional infrastructure. In the opposite direction, the
products and ideas generated in the newly revived cities
would be distributed globally by virtue of the line, therefore
Refugium would act as a global medium.