URBAN DESIGN - Intro

Urban design is concerned with the arrangement, appearance and function of our suburbs, towns and cities.

It is both a process and an outcome of creating localities in which people live, engage with each other, and engage with the physical
place around them.

It involves many different disciplines including planning, development, architecture, landscape architecture, engineering,
economics, law and finance, among others.

It operates at many scales, from the macro scale of the urban structure (planning, zoning, transport and infrastructure networks) to
the micro scale of street furniture and lighting.

When fully integrated into policy and planning systems, urban design can be used to inform land use planning, infrastructure,
built form and even the socio-demographic mix of a place.

Urban design can significantly influence the economic, environmental, social and cultural outcomes of a place:

Urban design can influence the economic success and socio-economic composition of a locality

whether it encourages local businesses and entrepreneurship; whether it attracts people to live there;

whether the costs of housing and travel are affordable; and whether access to job opportunities, facilities and
services are equitable.

Urban design determines the physical scale, space and ambience of a place and establishes the built and natural forms
within which individual buildings and infrastructure are sited. As such, it affects the balance between natural ecosystems
and built environments, and their sustainability outcomes.

Urban design can influence health and the social and cultural impacts of a locality: how people interact with each other,
how they move around, and how they use a place.

Although urban design is often delivered as a specific project, it is in fact a long-term process that continues to evolve over
time.

It is this layering of building and infrastructure types, natural ecosystems, communities and cultures that gives places their
unique characteristics and identities.

ELEMENTS OF URBAN DESIGN and their interdependencies

This diagram shows the approximate hierarchical relationship between the elements of urban design, followed by

a brief definition of each of the elements.

ELEMENTS OF URBAN FORM MACRO TO MICRO

URBAN STRUCTURE

The overall framework of a region, town or precinct, showing relationships between

zones of built forms, land forms, natural environments, activities and open spaces.

It encompasses broader systems including transport and infrastructure networks.

URBAN GRAIN

The balance of open space to built form, and the nature and extent of subdividing an

area into smaller parcels or blocks.

For example a fine urban grain might constitute a network of small or detailed
streetscapes.

It takes into consideration the hierarchy of street types, the physical linkages and

movement between locations, and modes of transport.

DENSITY + MIX

The intensity of development and the range of different uses (such as residential,
commercial, institutional or recreational uses).

HEIGHT + MASSING

The scale of buildings in relation to height and floor area, and how they relate to
surrounding land forms, buildings and streets.

It also incorporates building envelope, site coverage and solar orientation.

Height and massing create the sense of openness or enclosure, and affect the
amenity of streets, spaces and other buildings.

STREETSCAPE + LANDSCAPE

The design of public spaces such as streets, open spaces and pathways, and
includes landscaping, microclimate, shading and planting.

FACADE + INTERFACE

The relationship of buildings to the site, street and neighbouring buildings

(alignment, setbacks, boundary treatment) and the architectural expression
of their facades (projections, openings, patterns and materials).

DETAILS + MATERIALS

The close-up appearance of objects and surfaces and the selection of

materials in terms of detail, craftsmanship, texture, colour, durability,
sustainability and treatment.

It includes street furniture, paving, lighting and signage.

It contributes to human comfort, safety and enjoyment of the public domain.

TOPOGRAPHY, LANDSCAPE AND ENVIRONMENT

The natural environment includes the topography of landforms, water

courses, flora and faunawhether natural or introduced.

It may be in the form of rivers and creeks, lakes, bushland, parks and
recreational facilities, streetscapes or private gardens, and is often referred
to as green infrastructure.

PUBLIC REALM

Much of urban design is concerned with the design and management of

publicly used space (also referred to as the public realm or public domain)
and the way this is experienced and used.

The public realm includes the natural and built environment used by the
general public on a day-to-day basis such as streets, plazas, parks, and public
infrastructure.

Some aspects of privately owned space such as the bulk and scale of
buildings, or gardens that are visible from the public realm, can also
contribute to the overall result.

At times, there is a blurring of public and private realms, particularly where

privately owned space is publicly used.

SOCIAL + ECONOMIC FABRIC

The non-physical aspects of the urban form which include social factors
(culture, participation, health and well-being) as well as the productive
capacity and economic prosperity of a community.

It incorporates aspects such as demographics and life stages, social

interaction and support networks.

Victoria Square, Birmingham: successfully

remade as a civic and pedestrian focus

SCALE
The size, bulk and perception of a buildings and spaces.
Bulk refers to the height, width and depth of a building in
relation to other surrounding buildings, the street, setbacks

and surrounding open space.

For example, a large building set amongst other smaller

buildings may seem out of scale.

URBAN FORM
The arrangement of a built up area.
This arrangement is made up of many components

including how close buildings and uses are together; what

uses are located where; and how much of the natural
environment is a part of the built up area.

The apparent scale of the Winter

Garden in the World Financial Center
in Manhattan varies depending on the
number of occupants.

ISSUES/ ASPECTS OF URBAN SPACE

Loss Of Public Space.
The majority of roads are publicly owned and free of access.
Increased traffic has adverse impacts on public activities which once crowded the streets such as
markets, agoras, parades and processions, games, and community interactions.
These have gradually disappeared to be replaced by automobiles.

In many cases, these activities have shifted to shopping malls while in other cases, they have been
abandoned altogether.

traffic flows influence the life and interactions of residents and their usage of street space.
More traffic impedes social interactions and street activities.
People tend to walk and cycle less when traffic is high.

Environmental Impacts And Energy Consumption.

Pollution, including noise, generated by circulation has become a serious impediment to the
quality of life and even the health of urban populations.
Further, energy consumption by urban transportation has dramatically increased and so the
dependency on petroleum.

Accidents and safety.

Growing traffic in urban areas is linked with a growing number of accidents and fatalities,
especially in developing countries.
Accidents account for a significant share of recurring delays.
As traffic increases, people feel less safe to use the streets.

Land consumption.
The territorial imprint of transportation is significant, particularly for the automobile.

Between 30 and 60% of a metropolitan area may be devoted to transportation, an outcome

of the over-reliance on some forms of urban transportation.
Yet, this land consumption also underlines the strategic importance of transportation in the
economic and social welfare of cities.

Traffic Congestion

There are two main problems that modern day cities face, namely urban decay when parts of
the city become run down and undesirable to live in, and traffic congestion. Traffic
congestion is caused by
Many people working in the C.B.D. which may have narrow streets
Shortage of off-street parking which means people park on the roads and so increase
congestion
People not using public transport - either because it is less convenient, too expensive or

not available
More people own and use cars
A complete solution to traffic congestion needs people to be able and willing to travel on
public transport more.

SCOPE AND OBJECTIVES OF URBAN DESIGN AS A DISCIPLINE

OBJECTIVES OF URBAN DESIGN

Successful streets, spaces, villages, towns and cities tend to have characteristics in common.

These factors have been analysed to produce principles or objectives of good urban design.

They help to remind us what should be sought to create a successful place.

SCOPE OF URBAN DESIGN AS A DISCIPLINE

1. Urban Design by Alex Krieger, et al describes the development of the practice of urban design
since the fields contours were sketched out at a conference at Harvard University in the 1950s.
2.

It is mainly focused on the development of urban design practice and includes accounts of the

role various professionals (such as architects, developers, regulators and land use lawyers) have
played in the emerging field.
3. The emergent discipline of urban design is still very much done by architects, developers and
land use lawyers; the true establishment of urban design as a separate profession is still very
much pending.
4. It is a evolution between architecture and urban planning
5. Acts as the link between architects and urban design

6. Urban design is wider than the scope of Architect, the Landscape Architect and the City Planner
7. It is a discipline to be practiced by all those who are urban-minded.

1.

The Bridge Between Planning and Architecture:

Urban designers mediate between plans and projects.

It is the urban designer who determines what is good or appropriate urban form

Expertise of the urban designer in architectural thinking directs the formulation of plans to
consider physical implications.

2.

A Form-Based Category of Public Policy:

Restrictions on height or massing in zoning codes are ostensibly determined through

measurable criteria such as access to sunlight, could be considered as good form-based
values.

3.

It seems too administrative and passive a role for urban design.

The Architecture of the City:

Its roots may be traced in 19th century European Beaux Arts and the 20th century
American City Beautiful movement. It seeks to regulate the shaping of public areas of the
city: shaping the public space.

This notion of urban design is best embodied by a stable and stabilizing form anchoring its
part of the city with unique characteristics that are expected to endure and influence

future neighbors.

4.

Urban Design as Restorative Urbanism:

The traditional city seems at once so clearly organized, humanely sized, manageable and
beautiful. Such virtues seems absent in the modern metropolis. Why not mobilize to regain
these qualities?

New Urbanists advocate a return to what they consider time-honored principles of urbanism

The walkable city, the city of public streets and public squares, the low-rise high-density city,
the city of defined neighborhoods gathered around valued institutions, the city of intricate
layers of uses free of auto-induced congestion are characteristics that remain appealing.

5.

Urban Design as Place-Making:

As more contemporary urban development acquires generic qualities, or is merely repetitive, the
distinctive urban place, old or new, is harder to find.

More urban designers should devote their attention to making new places as worthy as their

time-honored predecessors.

It is the American New Urbanists who have articulated this goal most clearly, but with mixed
results. Their rhetoric extols intimate scale, texture, the mixing of uses, connectivity, continuity,
the privileging of what is shared.

Their designs tend to focus on familiar old forms and traditional aesthetic detailing.

6. Urban Design as Smart Growth:

Sprawl control and environmental stewardship should form overt parts of urban thinking
directed to urban protection.

Urban designers should advocate smarter planning and urban design especially at
metropolitan periphery.

Exposure to the natural sciences, to ecology, to energy management, to systems analysis, to

the economics of land development, to land use law, to issues of public health have not

been fundamental to an urbanists training, but are increasingly becoming more so.
7. The Infrastructure of the City:
The arrangement of streets and blocks, the distribution of open and public spaces, the
alignment of transit and highway corridors, and the provision of municipal services constitute
essential components of urbanism.
Neither planners nor designers have played a significant role in the realm of transportation or
other urban infrastructure planning.

Engineering is shifting emphasis from hardware to systems design, from adding lanes, to traffic
management technology.
Factors such as livability, sustainability, economic and cultural growth, in other words good
urban design, are the real goals of infrastructure optimization.

8. Urban Design as Landscape Urbanism:

Landscape Urbanism has newly emerged to incorporate ecology, landscape architecture and
infrastructure into the discourse of urbanism.
Its main proponents are Ian McHarg, Patrick Geddes and even Frederick Law Olmsted
Nature and human artifice are opposites. Landscape urbanism projects purport to overcome this
opposition, through the intersection of ecology, engineering, design and social policy.
Landscape is the modern glue that holds the modern metropolis together

The radicalism inherent in conceptualization landscape as generative for urbanism is the central
component of urban design
9. Urban Design as Visionary Urbanism:
The twentieth century witnessed immense urban harm caused by those who offered a singular
or universal idea of what a city is, or what urbanization should produce.
Theorists provide insight and models about the way we ought to organize spatially.
This sphere of action is associated with the great figures of modern urban change, from Baron

Haussmann, to Daniel Burnham, to Ebeneezer Howard, to Raymond Unwin, to LeCorbusier, and

maybe even Rem Koolhaas and Andres Duany today.
The urban sociologist/theorist -- from Louis Wirth, to Henri Lefebvre, to Richard Sennett, Edward
Soja or David Harvey supplanted in our own time the great urban transformers of the past.

10. Urban Design as Community Advocacy:

Urban design evokes notions of large-scale thinking.
Contemporary dwellers of urban neighborhoods associate urban design with local, immediate
concerns such as improving neighborhoods, calming traffic, minimizing negative impacts of new
development, expanding housing choices while keeping housing affordable, maintaining open

space, improving streetscapes, and creating more humane environments in general.

Urban design approximates what used to be called community planning.
Today, it is the urban designer, not the planner, who has emerged as the place-centered
professional, with urban design often assuming a friendlier, more accessible popular
connotation
11. Urban Design as a Frame of Mind
Urban design is less a technical discipline and more a mindset among those, of varying

disciplinary foundations, seeking, sharing and advocating insights about forms of community.
What binds different urban designers are their commitment to city life, the enterprise of urbanmaintenance, and the determination to enhance urbanism.