ABSTRACT
Physical patterning, which is strikingly manifest in indigenous settlements, probably produces the most useful clues to the interdependence of spatial form and social need. Urban spatial form, by nature complex, ranges across wide variations and structural divergence, such as from very closed to very open patterns. Socio-spatial patterning observable in historical and even in contemporary informal settlement is largely overlooked as a rational starting point for the planning of new settlements. Hillier's writings on the spatial patterning of the Vaucluse villages of France uses a technique that represents, quantifies and interprets the social origins of spatial design and identifies consistencies and repetition. A practical aspect of patterning is the siting of settlement where geomorphic form will naturally influence spatial patterning, such as in the many hilltop villages of France and Italy. Significantly, in the study of socio-spatial patterning, the physical embodiment of social custom and functional need is largely expressed in the urban movement corridors.
