City location on the river network pattern and the effect of relief on the distribution of urban buildings

Abstract

The article analyzed the role of the five largest Black Earth cities location in relation to the river network for the process of their urban development. These cities are Voronezh, Lipetsk, Kursk, Belgorod and Tambov. It was found that the initial choice of a location for a city made and still makes an impact on the applied methods of city streets and urban planning. In most cases, the settlements were founded at the confluence of the inflow into the main river. The confluence angle of these streams allowed to form a rectangular (or a transverse) planning structure in the central part of the city only occasionally. This phenomenon is observed in Tambov, for example. The configuration of fluvial relief forms, their morphometric characteristics influence the features of buildings and various parameters of buildings and their distribution along the city territory.