Michael Robert Günter Conzen (Berlin, 21 January 1907 – Newcastle upon Tyne, 4 February 2000)University of Birmingham
"M.R.G. Conzen CV"
retrieved 8 May 2014 was a geographer, founder of the Anglo-German school of

urban morphology Urban morphology is the study of the formation of human settlements and the process of their formation and transformation. The study seeks to understand the spatial structure and character of a metropolitan area, city, town or village by examining ...

.Moudon, Anne Vernez (1997)
"Urban morphology as an emerging interdisciplinary field"
in ''Urban Morphology'', vol.1, pg.3-10 Conzen's most influential work is a detailed morphological study of the English market town of

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish border, inland from the North Sea ...

. His work is noted among others for the micro-scale study of the evolution of

plot Plot or Plotting may refer to: Art, media and entertainment * Plot (narrative), the connected story elements of a piece of fiction Music * ''The Plot'' (album), a 1976 album by jazz trumpeter Enrico Rava * The Plot (band), a band formed in 2003 ...

s.Whitehand, J.W.R. (2001)
"British Urban Morphology: the Conzenian tradition"
in ''Urban Morphology'', vol.5, nr.2, pg.103-109

Biography

M.R.G. Conzen studied geography, history and philosophy at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

between 1926–1932. One of his mentors was geographer Herbert Louis, who in turn was a disciple of the Austrian geographer Norbert Krebs (Krebs was a prominent pupil of

Albrecht Penck Albrecht Penck (25 September 1858 – 7 March 1945) was a German geographer and geologist and the father of Walther Penck. Biography Born in Reudnitz near Leipzig, Penck became a university professor in Vienna, Austria, from 1885 to 1906, ...

and influenced Carl O. Sauer in his writings on the morphology of landscape). In 1933 Conzen emigrated to the UK, where he studied at the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...

first obtaining a diploma in town and country planning in 1936 and a master's degree in historical geography in 1942.

Publications

*1960 Conzen, M.R.G. "Alnwick, Northumberland: A Study in Town Plan Analysis", Institute of British Geographers, Publication no.27, London, (2nd revised edition, 1969.) *1981 Whitehand, J.W.R. (ed.) "The Urban Landscape: Historical Development and Management. Papers by M. R. G. Conzen.", Institute of British Geographers Special Publication no.13, Academic Press, London *2004 Conzen, Michael P. (ed.) ''Thinking about urban form : papers on urban morphology, 1932-1998 / M.R.G. Conzen'', Peter Lang Publishing,

Biography

Publications

References

Further reading