ABSTRACT
Superblocks and supergrids have received slightly more attention from urban designers in recent years. One prompt was the Spanish planning initiative to transform Ildefonso Cerda's belatedly admired 1859 Barcelona grid plan into a kind of ‘supergrid’. The second prompt for interest in the Superblock is concern about China's particular version of the Eastern supergrid/superblock structure. Intervals between supergrid intersections are between 500 m and 1.5 km to give typical superblock areas of a square kilometre or thereabouts. Supergrid roads are essentially movement corridors and lines of space separation giving identity to the superblocks. The supergrid or global roads function also as commercial and service corridors: hence, these are not only lines of movement but also of activities and their crossings are important nodal points. In today's megalopolitan world, the multidirectional supergrid has more relevance than ever, enabling ‘central’ and local facilities and conditions to coexist in close proximity and overlap across vast areas.
