Urban morphology and open spaces system

case study of neighbourhood units in Palmas-TO

Abstract

This article discusses the implications on morphological relations between open space systems and built systems for public occupancy in a planned city. Palmas was the result of an urban project designed in 1989 to be the capital of Tocantins, in Brazil. The project started to be implanted in compliance with the guidelines from its macro installment, although the public administration disregarded the plan of occupation by steps, articulating to the market for speculation purposes, resulting in a strong social-spatial segregation. Palmas’ urban design strikingly defines its urban morphology, based on the functionality of the vehicles’ flow and the organization of the urban zoning, combined to the categories’ settlement of open spaces. The project guidelines conduct the everyday life and the adequacy of those spaces, allowing reflections and new performances in search of improvements of projective decisions aimed at urban qualification.