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Hilltowns as Icons Anew
Ten years ago, I wrote a short, inspirational piece about hill towns. Yesterday, as I regarded the still-noticeable configuration of Richmond upon Thames-rising up to the spire of St Matthias Church-the “hill town nuance” once again reminded of past urban forms that responded to the particular forces influencing human settlement at the time of their construction. In the wake of debates about post-pandemic city life, it seemed an appropriate time to recall a hopeful tone about our latent abilities to re-engineer and adapt to adversity.
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Human settlement is often driven by topography, viewpoints and strategic advantage.
Independent towns and urban neighborhoods alike share an historic affinity for hills. Terrain-intensive cities like San Francisco and Seattle are no exception, and city planning considerations converge around “urban villages” such as Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Capitol Hill and Queen Anne Hill.
Places in their own right, these hilltop centers can serve as the partially self-contained models for the compact and dense urban neighborhoods which are increasingly the vanguard of new century urbanism.
