Unrelated buildings in urban environments

Inadequate planning of relationship between buildings in urban environments

Incidence

Roman churches are examples of buildings that were always connected to the buildings around them. A survey among 255 such churches showed that 41 had one side attached to other buildings, 96 had two sides so attached, 110 had three sides so attached and 2 had four sides obstructed by other buildings. Only six churches were free standing.

Claim

Isolated buildings in an urban environment are a symbol of the isolated lives of many modern people. Such buildings are in contrast to the the cheek-by-jowl housing of former times, where the sheer fact of their adjacency forced people to confront their neighbours and solve the myriad little problems that occurred between them.