ABSTRACT
Mathematical morphology provides an explanatory tool and a gutde for recognizi ng the complex phenomena which generate observed spatial structures. In the first part of this Chapter the origins of the morphology concept are investigated tn relation to evolutionary theory and the thoughts of the Italian Architectural School. Image processing tech niques are also viewed as an aid to the construction of an analytical 'urbanistic' discipline. The morphologicaVtextural approach to remotely-sensed image processing is then examined as potential means of extracting spectral and spatial descriptors of an image. Two concepts of urban space are introduced: (i) marked, or labyrinthine, space and (ii) homogeneous space. In the second part of the Chapter, the role of structural information derived from satellitesensor images as a strategic resource in the analysis of human settlement is examined from two different perspectives:
1. Operational: concerning the ways in which structural information can be used to improve the accuracy of measures of the shape and extent of built-up areas ; and,
2. Methodological: concerning the isomorphism between morphological/textural image processing tech niques and the language of architectural design.
