Urban Fabrics change and city boundaries: Comparing urban form

Usually, a boundary produces differences, it considers the duality of the inside and the outside. Limits have the potential to mark the transition between different modes of existence. The dynamics of urban evolution make the limits of cities change according to its social, econom- ic and morphological evolution and recognizes the city as a mixture of communities, interactions, places, and commons. In this sense, a morphological development review evidences that changes of urban form within a city are accentuated when boundaries are exceeded or modified. For this work, Borgo Dora in Turin serves to exemplify how urban form is linked to the city’s old bound- aries and urban history. A morphological comparison of three enclaves taken from different sides of the city’s historical and natural boundaries brings to light how urban fabric changes as the city grows and how the morphology of the city changes depending on the context constraints. The first extract refers to an enclave located within the historic consolidated city center. The second enclave comes from the area developed after the historic Roman wall. The last enclave analyzed is a piece of the city overcoming the natural boundary marked by the river. These three extracts become a manifestation of the urban form of different periods and a guideline of the city’s mor- phological evolution.