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Urban Grain
SUSTAINABILITY & URBAN DESIGNintermediate
Definition
The pattern and texture of a city's blocks, plots, and buildings as seen from above. Fine-grained cities have many small plots with varied buildings; coarse-grained cities have large superblocks or single-ownership developments. Urban grain affects walkability, diversity, and the character of streets.
Example
The medieval street pattern of Bologna has an extremely fine grain — narrow plots, mixed uses, continuous arcades — producing one of Europe's most liveable and walkable city centres.