In the preface toTowns in the Making, Gerald Burke says that ‘a keener interest in town‐making in history sometimes emerges after graduation' (Burke 1971, v). Having had this happen, and wishing it had happened earlier, I have made an attempt here to outline some of the reasons why I felt it important to develop a course entitled ‘The Evolution of Urban Form' ‐ and to discuss some of the themes around which a course in urban morphogenesis can be de