The Beauty of Urban Planning from Space

on 6th Dec 2012

Escaping from the regular debate that surrounds urban planning — veering away from the economics, the societal balances, the environmental sensitivities — and looking directly into the eye of the urban space from above, it becomes clear that the beauty of a city is not reserved to terra firma alone. Individual buildings and their interiors are a city’s paint strokes, street art and urban interventions are the embellishments, but what happens when we see the urban form from the perspective of a bird? We see the full work of art, the lucky things.

The collection of 11 cities in this post gives us an insight into one more dimension of our urban realm – the real-life master plan. Some of the images you see, for example the flying object of Brasília, can be looked at as Rorschach-like patterns where the objects you see might be exclusive to your mind. What can you see?