Lynch, Kevin. A Theory of Good City Form. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1981.
Kevin Lynch sets out to answer the question of what makes a good city, and in the process provides a comprehensive discussion of urban theory. Lynch proposes that the answer to his question lies in the development of a general normative theory which relates the value of a city to its spatial characteristics. The key to developing this theory is identifying a set of performance dimensions, with the understanding that each society will prioritize these criteria differently. Lynch provides five criteria, plus two "meta-criteria": vitality, sense, fit, access, control, plus efficiency and justice. Lynch also provides a list of his discards, which resides in the appendices, along with a catalog of functional theories, a discussion of methods for representing cities and a catalog of settlement typologies. Lynch tests out his approach on city size, growth and conservation, utopian models and planning practices. His own response to the results of his approach are mixed, suggesting that general normative theory is a work in progress. [P. Schwab]