The degree of ‘planning’ in historical sites has been always dominated by measures of geometry and
has, therefore, always oscillated between geometric, as ‘planned’, and organic, as ‘unplanned’. In this article, the
spatial formation of four residential districts in three contemporaneous historical settlements, Mohenjo-Daro,
Kahun and Ur, is examined to show that their patterns were governed not only by geometrical possibilities, but
rather by certain needs of access and visibility. The article considers the application of Space Syntax methods to
provide an evidence for the correspondences between the geometrical properties and certain considerations in
each society, coming to the conclusion that the organic patterns of the site of Ur do not necessarily refer to lack of
planning, but were possibly intended to meet certain defensive, social or climatic considerations

• Morphological logic in historical settlements: Space syntax analyses of residential districts at Mohenjo-Daro, Kahun and Ur