Читать книгу Resilience. Persistence and Change in Landscape Forms онлайн

35 страница из 59

At the same time, the image of the living organism was also being used to describe towns or cities, seen to traverse a series of ages. Poëte, for example, introduced an idea similar to those used in geomorphology, the “vital cycle”ssss1, in the context of urban development:

In studying this city in the past, we do not look at a skeleton, but rather at a living being, younger in age than at present. The city, as a collectivity, is subject to the effects of time over the course of its existence, in the same way as an individual; at any given time, it has an age. The notion of the vital cycle, used in geography with respect to the landforms, is thus crucial to the study of urban settlements. (Poëte 1924, p. 1)ssss1

Using this approach, Poëte analyzed the dynamics of a town or city by comparing it to a living being. Elements are transformed in one direction, from birth to death, making it possible to “discern the degree of evolution” at any given time (Poëte 2000, pp. 83–84). This logical sequence of known steps (birth, maturity, death) can be followed in both directions, to travel back in time (regressive history) and to improve our understanding of the present.