Hard Landscape in Concrete By:Michael Gage and Maritz Vandenberg

"Cities consist of buildings. But, equally important, they consist of the connective web of open space between those buildings, linking them and interpenetrating their interiors.The art of urban landscape lies in manipulating these external spaces so as to form a continuous yet varied urban landscape that is both functionally sensible and aesthetically satisfying" (Gage, 5).

"It is helpful to think of cities as consisting of two kinds of external space- paths and places.
Paths cater for movement. They enable us to get from where we are to where we want to be. They must not only facilitate physical movement (by vehicle or on foot), but tey must also help us to orient ourselves, guide us and help us find out way. By 'paths' we mean the roads, pavements, alleys, lanes, footways, steps and ramps which form our routes through the urban web.
Places, on the other hand, are the nodes where movement comes to stop. They are the parks, squares, courtyards, gardens and (at the smallest end of the scale) sitting areas where we can work, play, rest, or chat with friends.
The division of urban space into paths and places is not, of course, clear-cut- the two function is usually primary and the other secondary, and this influences design" (Gage, 7).

"Moving through the city, the urban dweller therefore traverses a series of paths each of which has a sequence of places strung along its length like beads on a string. The aim of landscape design should be to realise the latent character of each path and place to the full, bringing out its unique possibilities, and exploiting contrasts in function, scale, and character. Ideally, a 'plastic experience' - a journey through a sequence of pressures and vacuums, constraints and reliefs, exposures and enclosures as the pedestrian or passenger moves from teh constriction of the alley to the wideness of the square, from the containment of the street to the sudden relevation of the fly-over, in a constantly changing series of the emargentviews" (Gage, 8).
EXAMPLE: Liverpool & Grand Union Canal, London

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"It is probable that some highway and motorway-building will continue for the foreseeable future (even if at a reduced scale), and the urgent issue for landscapers is how to improve their design. The examples shown in this section demonstrate that when they are constructed in sympathy witht eh local landscape they can be visually successful; and provided they are built as part of a balanced private/public transportation plan, with due regard to noise and air pollution problems, and social needs, they can make a positive contribution to the built environment. There is no reason in principle why urban highways cannot be used as positive design elements in reshaping the social and economic problems created by their construction. (Gage, 64)"