Urban regeneration through cultural masterplanning

'If (as the philosophers maintain) the city is like some large house, and the house is in turn like some small city, cannot the various parts of the house - atria, dining rooms, porticoes, and so on - be considered miniature buildings?' Leon Battista Alberti, On the Art of Building in Ten Books Alberti's observation prompts us to think about an infinity of possibilities relating to domesticity, the dynamics of the public realm and the wonder of scale. Seeing the city as a large house provides a clue of how to understand and appreciate the often illusive patterns of order and disorder within urbanity and architecture. The essence of the clue is to uncover and rejoice in these layers of richness and diversity.