Morphological System and Urban Settlements. Coimbra (Portugal): A City from the Roman Times to the Present

The vision of the 21st-century sustainable city unquestionably requires an interdisciplinary analysis in urbanism. The issues concerning physical support systems in land-use planning must be regarded as essential pieces in urban design and due to their weight in the environmental components of sustainable urbanism. On a time matrix that shows the pathways of change in the urban setting of Coimbra, and being aware of the integrated vision as the ultimate goal, we systematise the “morphological system” —geomorphology; lithology; tectonics; slopes; exposure— that conditioned the urban development (in harmony for centuries and disruptive in the last decades). The findings highlight a consistent path of deep change with a consistent path, with increasingly complex patterns, and limited dependence on the physical variables. The sustainability of space built in the past was transformed by the recent expansion of buildings on the slopes, consequently leading to natural risks and climate changes.