Urbanities,
Vol. 4
·
No 2
·
November 2014
© 2014
Urbanities
107
perspective results from formulating a theoretical and conceptual rejoinder to questioning the
nature of the role of the built environment as emergent from the human process of inhabiting
the world and the functioning of urban life and development. On that basis an empirically
operational method (BLT, Boundary Line Type mapping) for the conceptual remapping and
analysis of ground level spatial data on the urban built environment (city plans) is devised, so
the comparative socio-spatial study of cities from this perspective through time and across
geographical areas and societies or cultures becomes enabled.
This foundational development of a research process and ontology is informed by a
material adaptation of a critical realist philosophy of science. The practical and technical
implications of executing the mapping process on spatial data of varying nature
(archaeological, historical, historically reconstructive, and contemporary maps) are
comprehensively worked through. The comparative functional ability of the method is
demonstrated by exemplifying two case studies, the cities of Chunchucmil (Mexico, Classic
Maya) and Winchester (UK, 16
th
, 19
th
and 21
st
century), on the basis of which two test cases
are taken forward for preliminary visualisation and analysis with the aid of Geographical
Information System (GIS) techniques. The findings confirm its potential, replicating common
expectations about contemporary urban life as well as laying a novel foundation for insights
into Winchester’s historical development and Chunchucmil’s archaeology, from which future
research and development can burgeon. These are expected to contribute significantly to the
deeper understanding of urban life and urbanisation across past and present urban traditions
and provide an improved appreciation of urban alternatives which could inform planning and
urban design in the long term.
Dr Benjamin N. Vis
is Eastern ARC Research Fellow for the Eastern ARC consortium, comprising
the universities of Kent, Essex and East Anglia in the Digital Humanities and Digital Heritage in
particular. His research interests centre on (material and social) space, urban space and the built
environment. Dr Vis investigates how human beings in societies transform their life-world for and
through inhabitation focusing on interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives and methodological
developments which draw upon research in archaeology, geography, anthropology, architecture,
history, sociology, and related fields. He is developing case studies on a variety of cities to enable
social comparisons of urban built environment traditions or cultures worldwide and across time. Dr
Vis current research is concerned with gaining a better understanding of the functioning of tropical
low-density cities or agro-urban landscapes as found in Mesoamerica, Sub-Saharan Africa and
Southeast Asia. He is has authored the book,
Built Environments: Constructed Societies.
