Gao, Lu, Ding and Larkham make the relation between land-use regulation and morphology empirically inspectable rather than conceptually assumed. Their Nanjing study classifies policies according to direct, indirect or negligible influence on form, then constructs a morphological model linking land-use rules to street-block and plot characteristics. The analysis combines historical planning documents, plot indicators and morphological observation, validating correlations across 142 plots and five street blocks in the historic centre. Its strongest contribution is methodological: regulatory effect is operationalised through measurable relations among FAR, building density, spacing, plot subdivision and block structure. The findings show that plot indicators can meaningfully influence building combinations while still leaving room for developer responses and historical contingency. This resists both determinism and the opposite claim that regulation is too diffuse to study spatially. The wider intellectual bridge is to evidence-based morphology: regulation can be treated as one causal layer among economic, social and cultural forces, provided its effects are traced through explicit spatial variables rather than inferred from statutory text alone.
URBANISM MEETS ART