Relativity Theory in Urban Space Design

This paper aims to throw light on the complex relationship between relativity and urban identity. In other words, the paper focuses on a space between the human and the buildings, in which wayfinding signs create connections and meanings as they are used. Special relativity implies a wide range of consequences, which have been experimentally verified, including length contraction, time dilation, relativistic mass, mass–energy equivalence, a universal speed limit and relativity of simultaneity. This article presents how authors within Past and Present have studied space, place and scale. It emphasizes that spatial history can serve as methodology, approach and object. Suggesting that (bounded) places are fundamental in providing a sense of belonging for those who live in them, humanistic perspectives propose a definite but complex relationship between the character of specific places and the cultural identities of those who inhabit them. This results in compelling empirical evidence of a high level of regularity regarding time and spatial correlations in urban sprawl, unravelling patterns about the inertia in the growth of cities and their interaction with each other.