urban design theory presentation

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• Prof. Dennis Frenchman
• Colleen Xi Qiu

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• Urban Studies and Planning
• Architecture

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• Architectural Design
• Urban Planning

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Introduction to urban design and development, course description.

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THEORY OF URBAN DESIGN

Aug 28, 2014

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THEORY OF URBAN DESIGN. I. Concept of space Traditional definitions. Oxford English Dictionary: Two meanings of space: Time or duration Area or extension (more common definition) In physics, space has three dimensions (x-y-z axes) and is considered as a volume not an area.

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• physical image
• 19th century street pattern
• ref aldo van eyck
• possible inability
• whose end result
• function relationship

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I. Concept of spaceTraditional definitions • Oxford English Dictionary: Two meanings of space: • Time or duration • Area or extension (more common definition) In physics, space has three dimensions (x-y-z axes) and is considered as a volume not an area. Sir Isaac Newton (17th C) elaborated that space is absolute….proper to itself…..and independent of the objects it contains (objects fit into space an d not vice-versa)

New Approaches • Two main categories of space exist: • Mental Space (experiential) • Physical Space (existential) The notion of space is said to originate in an observers mind and is later imposed as a structure on the physical world….mental space is an image of physical space The concept of space differs from culture to culture…Different cultures have characteristic spatial designs as expressed in their cities, buildings, and art(ref. Dogon villages; japanese Mandala e.t.c) ……but space itself is universal!(transcends culture)

II. THE CONCEPT OF AESTHETICS • Aesthetics in urban design refers to the creative arrangement of the elements of a town in a beautiful and functional manner. • Order and beauty in a town are a necessity, not an after thought…..they are as much a prerequisite to human health as is fresh air.

Site-City-Observer Relationships (viewing city from surrounding and vice-versa) • Extracted form:harmony between buildings and nature….e.g consider basic slopes, angle of hills, vegetation/tree canopies, and rock outcrops. Reflects dominant and pervasive features of nature • Vistas and site supremacy: viewof landscape from the city…beautifully framed countryside (panorama) • Expression: space markers /symbolgy/ ornamentation/detail e.g towers and minarets; landmarks; accent of urban landscape and skyline • Entrance/Approach: profound impact of cities on the visitor who traverses long, crowded streets/water. • Colour and light: choiceof colour to reflect aesthetic sensibility; quality of natural light an important visual factor. • Water: proximity to water and possible interplay a natural asset; water edges, harbours, shorelines, islands, canals e.t.c • Geometry: form andrelationships of angles, lines, curves e.t.c • Human scale: how each inhabitant would use space and how they would feel in it.

Aspects of Urban Form (see BUR 203 notes) • Imageability: Physical Image v/s Functional Image • Form-Function Relationship • Main Variations of urban form and structure: Linear, radial, grid, cluster e.t.c • Objectives of urban form (includes growth; Meaning and identity e.t.c) • Growth and decline

Existing Theories and Practice • Theories that have motivated and still inform the construction of cities are both normative and functional. • Normative theories attempt to specify "goodness“….what is good city form?... and discuss in detail the aspects that create good cities…..Prescriptive…..What cities ought to be! • Functional theories attempt to explain how cities perform by concentrating on city form processes, spatial and social structure, and form models……Descriptive……What cities are!

Normative Theories(selected examples)1. The Cosmic Model • It assertions that the form of a permanent settlement should be a magical model of the universe and its gods.  • Such a crystalline city has all of its parts fused into a perfectly ordered whole and change is allowed to happen only in a rhythmically controlled manner • specific phenomena included: such as returning, natural items, celestial measurement, fixing location, centeredness, boundary definition, earth images, land geometry, directionality, place consciousness, and numerology

2. The Machine Model • The analogy between city and machine has a long history (ref. Egyptian and classical “per strigas”, Ron Heron’s insect city; archigram movement; plug-in concept) • it occurs often when there is no long-term goal in mind but the settlement has to be created hurriedly and its future growth will be determined by still unforeseen forces • Its form requires a few simple rules of urbanization and the outcome is factual, functional and devoid of the mystery of the universe.  • Among its attributes are convenience, speed, flexibility, legibility, equality, and speculation.

3. The Organic Model • The analogy between city and living organism is fairly recent arising with the growth of biology in the 18th and 19th centuries (ref. metabolists) • Model is critical of others, especially the machine model with its "simple grids" as “static” • It asserts that an organism: - is an autonomous being, with a definite boundary and is of a specific size. -does not change merely by adding parts but through reorganization as it reaches limits or thresholds.  - contains differentiated parts but form and function are always linked.  - is homeostatic, self-repairing and regulating toward a dynamic balance. - undergoes cycles of life and death as is rhythmic passage from one state to another.

Organic model (cont’d) •  From this flows the notion of the form of the organic city: - A separate spatial and social unit made up internally of highly connected places and people. - A healthy community of heterogeneous and diverse nature - The micro unit is the neighborhood, a small residential area, defined by Clarence Perry in 1929 as the support area for an elementary school, to which children, the most vulnerable of the human species, can safely walk.  - Like organisms, settlements are born, grow and mature, and if further growth is necessary, a new entity has to be formed. Thus there are states of optimum size, beyond which pathological conditions ensue.

Organic model (cont’d) - Greeenbelts not only ensure an intimate contact with nature but enclose healthy growth. -A model with typical physical forms, among which radial patterns, anti-geometrical layouts, and a proclivity for natural materials. - Often the organic idea is extended regionally to connect settlements to valleys, trails and other extended natural systems.  -There is an attraction to small-scale modes of production or services as opposed to large-scale synthetic processes. Often the model aligns itself with a socio-economic philosophy that sees increases in urban value as the result of communal rather than individual endeavor.

4. The Contextual Model • This relates new development to an analysis of existing urban structure. • A prominent concept of this canon is that of “serial vision” …. the sequential and unfolding nature of urban experience (foreground/middle ground/background), ………………with its corners, divisions/modules, protrusions, and recesses/setbacks e.t.c creating aspects of interest and surprise. • Context is something that has no clear or common spatial definition; thus the impact of contextualism will vary with geographical location and cultural influence. • The mainstream urban design has been strongly influenced by contextualism in terms of a new respect for the overall form of the traditional urban street and block and a concern for public realm • (ref:Imageability (Kevin Lynch); permeability (Jane Jacobs); adaptability/robustness (Standford Anderson). These ideas were later published as Responsive Environments (Alcock et al)

5. The pragmatic Model • This is whereby urban design is defined according to the needs of the epoch….. where the tools and concepts are used selectively and exclusively in regard to the locality. • The danger with this model lies in: -Likely loss of understanding of the larger processes affecting urban form - Possible inability of making informed decisions at urban scales - Failure to embrace environmental disciplines that are currently excluded and isolated from mainstream urban design.

6. The Constructivist model • This explores techniques of form to create urban interventions that express the spatial and temporal complexity of a given age. • “Deconstructionists” are constructivists who use unconventional techniques of form to express the essential fragmentation in city environments. • Ref. Peter Eisenman applies an approach that is more mathematical and rational in nature, which tends to reject any hint of historical contextualism. Rem Koolhaas makes free use of the typologies of modernism, recombining them in new and ironic ways Bernard Tschumi, exploits the random collisions that results from the layering of unrelated activity frameworks. Frank Ghery and Zaha Hadiduse unconventional techniques of form to express order among chaos of modern cities

7. Functionalist Model • This was dedicated to exploring new interwoven urban structures that would allow opportunities for social encounter/contact and exchange whose end result is a humanising influence. • The interpretation of this philosophy, however, varied widely in practice: low-, medium-, and high- density; vehicular and pedestrian segregation e.t.c • ( Ref:Aldo van Eyck, Ralph erskine, Giancarlo De Carlo)

8. Rationalist Model • This offered a morphological/structural approach to urban design that related new urban development to the historical structure of the city and typologies of urban space. • The figure-ground drawing was widely used as a design tool. • As “critical reconstruction”, this method was used to maintain and restore the traditional 19th century street pattern and form of the urban block, street and square, without constraining the contemporary architectural expression of new building additions. • This was not a plea for unthinking preservation or for regarding the city as a museum; rather, the aim was to explore the deep structure inherent in building types and how built forms accommodate changing, living uses over time. • (ref. Robert Venturi, Aldo Rossi, Scott Brown, Colin Rowe, Rob & Leon Krier)

Functional DescriptiveTheories These are founded on the following characteristics: • Urban history: the city is regarded as a unique historic process... explaining cities as derivative of their own culture (ref Sjoberg, Rapoport). • Urban Ecology:city is regarded as an ecology of people, each social group occupying space according to economic position and class. (Ref. Burgess [concentric model], Weber, Simmel and Spengler) • City economy:regards the city as an economic engine in which space, unlike in the previous category, is both a resource and an additional cost imposed on the economy for production or consumption….location of cities an optimization of raw materials, labour and market locations (ref. Isard,Von Thunen,Christaller)

Functional Descriptive Theories (cont’d) • Urban Communication: regards the city as a field of forces, a communications network of particles which attract and repel each other much as they do in physics. • Sub-sets of these ideas include population potential maps, gravity models, communications flows, and various topological models. • Urban Politics/Governance: understanding the city as a system of linked decisions...affluence, imminent domain, citizen participation in a democratic city; the game theory, in which people interact together according to fixed rules and produce agreed-upon outcomes • Urban Chaos: rejects previous theories of competition and posits the city as an arena of conflict, in which the city's form is the residue and sign of struggle, and also something which is shaped and used to wage it. (Castells, Harvey. Lefebvre, Gordon)

Design Principles and Techniques • Together these help in the correlation and synthesis of spaces, functions, circulation, sites, and orientation… • Their choice and application (singly or combined) will depend on the problem context (modus operandi) • Overall they facilitate the conceptualizing process…..entailing decisions and choices

1. Design Principles • Scale: refers to any system of measurement appropriate to the context. Proportion as an aspect of measurement introduces the aspect of relativity…between two objects…the measured and a universally known object…e.g headroom describes space relative to human height. A moduleis one part of a system of relative proportions, where one part can combine with other parts to form a larger object (ref. Le corbusier’s Modulor)

Applications of Scale in urban design • Scale and Human vision: our eyse have two fields of view – general and detailed. General cone of vision 30 deg up; 45 deg down; 65 deg to either side. • The above determines urban scale in several ways: we cannot see an object that is further from us than 3500 times its size…8 feet is normal conversation distance; a person between 3 and 10 ft is in close relationship to us…use of normal voices; we can pick facial details up to about 75ft. Beyond this, there is need to complement with gestures…up to about 450ft…also maximum for distinguishing man from woman…maximum viewing distance for human figures is around 4000ft.

Scale and circulation: scale is determined by the means we employ for movement around the city as well as the way we move between cities across the country. Scale is determined by the different modes of movement based on their speeds and sizes, but also characteristics in movement…express versus stop-over/interactive… Scale and neighbourhood size: The citizen numbers and levels of services will determine the scale of a neighbourhood…the scale of a network of neighbourhoods would determine the scale of the entire town.

Scale in neighbouring buildings and spaces: Buildings and spaces have to be in scale with people, as well as in scale with each other….this will also apply to other variables like materials, colour, bulk, and siting. Intentional variations in scale could be used to achieve emphasis and hierarchy in design of buildings and spaces • Scale and parameters: This is where we use attributes of familiar and known objects and details such as cars, trees, humans, light poles e.t.c to judge the sizes of other things near them

Scale versus Age, time, convenience and habit: Our sense of urban scale varies with our ages and habits….the world of a child begins with the home…as one grows the world enlarges and separate parts are linked together…the scale of their world enlarges Our sense of urban scale is also determined by what we are accustomed to…people adapt to environments with time…say getting used to the skyscrapers around us. Urban scale may also vary with the temporal cycles of the city…the rush hour with its fast traffic has a different view of scale to the sluggish period of the day, when people have all the time to observe and pick details about the city.

ii) Urban Space:may be isolated or linked; may be purposely designed to display linkage or to emphasize buildings and objects they contain. Space may be linear/corridors; squares; or reserves…based on their sizes they define the hierarchy of spatial types…..from small intimate sizes to urban squares and the natural space within which the city is set. Spaces may also be enclosed or open….45 deg is full enclosure; 30deg is optimal; 18 deg is minimum…anything less is lack of it!

iii) Urban Mass;This refers to the arrangement of ground surface, buildings, and objects to influence the quality of urban space and to shape urban activity patterns on both large and small scales. In terms of massing, buildings may be projecting into space, be on a space, or in a space. Our vision and light conditions govern the way we perceive masses… Vision: 45deg is for details; 30deg is for whole objects; 18deg is for object plus context Light:under bright, clear sunlight the individual parts of objects will tend to stand out…..as light subdues we tend to see less of details and more of the overall object. Sculptured objects are best viewed under even light such as shadow light…thus northern and southern facades may transmit details differently…..depending our position in relation to solar patterns.

iv) Responsiveness; these could be sensual or environmental • Sensual: attempt to cater for all the senses:Visual,Tactile, Auditory, Olfactory, Kinaesthetic • Environmental; that which provides users with essentially democratic settings and enrich their opportunities by maximising the degree of choice available to them; the available techniques include: i) Permeability This refers to the number of alternative routes through an environment; it affects where people can go and where they cannot. This offers choice through accessibility and must be considered at early stages of design.

ii) Variety This refers to the range of uses availed to people in a given environment; it is the experience of a degree of choice provided by intermix of uses iii) Legibility This refers to the ease with which people can understand the layout of a given environment and the kind of opportunities it offers. iv) Robustness This refers to the degree to which an environment can be used for different purposes as opposed to those with a single fixed use.

v) Visual appropriateness This refers to the detailed appearance of a place that makes people aware of the possible uses; it affects the interpretations people put on places. vi) Richness This refers to the degree of choice in sensory experiences that a place offers to its users. vii) Personalisation This refers to the extent to which people can put their own stamp on a place; decisions about forms and materials of the scheme must be carefully made to support personalization but also protect public role.

Other techniques • Open space technique: where to build versus where to keep open; a variety of uses…parks, watersheds, public transit lines, airports, e.t.c An open space structure would be the framework for relating land development to transportation and also allow for other decisions related to community life: schools, churches, playfields e.t.c.

Transportation system technique; patterns of movement as primary land shapers; morphology of networks against that of the land parcels they define….density of development versus intensity of circulation. Varios levels of network, their hierarchic connectivity, as well as terminal facilities. • Plug-in Technique; where a modular system such as that of a grid is created and within these defined uses and objects can be “inserted” and removed with ease (flexibility)…initially used as a technique for design of functions in individual buildings but later replicated in city-wide design

Theory Versus Practice(Why urban design matters) • We design spaces to attract people (public realm) • Urban design creates a framework for our lives. • understanding how humans perceive the physical scale and form of cities is essential to mastering design. • We feel and experience urban design every day • Every road width and building height delivers a message to their users on how to use the public realm

Design brings order and relation into human surroundings • Different designs affect residents in different ways, and make the city’s image more vivid and memorable • Embedded in urban design theories is the fundamental goal of balancing private development and public good in a way that incorporates the social, economic, and cultural needs of a diverse urban population • Urban design must solve practical problems of functionality first and foremost, as it creates tools for people and their quality of life.

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URD1041H F Instructor: Mark Sterling Meeting Section: L0101 Wednesday, 9:00am - 12:00pm Location: TBA

This course is an introduction to contemporary urbanism and urban design. In a seminar format, students will explore: theoretical writings and manifestoes; and urban projects and practices. These will come to be seen as attempts to shape the physical organization of cities in response to the forces which drive change in modern urban society. This course is not a comprehensive historical survey. It is instead, a critical review of approaches to urbanism composed of theories, positions and design projects as well as glimpses into contemporary urban design practice.

The course focuses on selected modern practices across different scales, from the late nineteenth century to the present, and is intended to provide a context for contemporary urban design practice. It will be important to recognize that much of this material represents histories and attitudes that were mostly determined and established in the latter part of the last century. A critical review of these histories and attitudes is intended to raise questions for urban designers about future trajectories and territories for urban design.

The seminar is a required course for maser of Urban Design students and is open to graduate students from all programs at the Daniels Faculty of Architecture Landscape and Design as well as to graduate students in the Department of Geography and Planning, Program in Planning. The course is open to students in other faculties and programs at the University of Toronto subject to the availability of space and the instructor’s permission.

Course requirements include in-class presentations, oral responses to seminar readings, and a research paper exploring one canonical urban project, selected from a list provided by the instructor and a comparison of that project, with a relevant local example. 

8 Guest lectures by local urban design practitioners will also be included in class time.

What are the Three types of urban design theory?

Urban Design is the art of creating and shaping cities, from public spaces to neighbourhoods, it is the tool that makes cities inclusive, equitable, sustainable and connected. Operating at many scales, from micro to macro – Urban design involves a multidisciplinary approach including architecture, landscape, economics, law, engineering among others. 

Having said that, principles of urban design aim to create quality environments through interventions that challenge and resolve our understanding of social, political, cultural and spatial systems. Moreover, it is mainly about creating comfortable environments with a “people first” approach and empowering them by introducing vitality and synergy in the urban sphere. 

Over the years, there have been multitudinous theories and research on the urban front , namely by Gehl, Jacobs, Lefebvre, Lynch, Tschumi, Koolhaas among others which focus on different aspects in the urban sphere. From my point of view, urban theories critically analyse and challenge existing perspectives, initiating active discussions for the urban futures of cities. 

Having urban knowledge is integral in producing cities that are dynamic, inclusive and innovative. Not only will dividing urban theories into typologies orchestrate the rather scattered and exhaustive field, but also, provide us with the foundation to place new models in an interpretative and navigable fabric. 

Recent research done by Hooman Foroughmand Araabi focuses on breaking down typologies of Urban Design Theories that help compose a better picture of the shared knowledge in the field. 

He differentiates them into three distinct types:

• Theories about the subject within urban design
• The objects of urban design; and lastly, 
• The knowledge of urban design

Moreover, he looks at them as layers that come together and interact with one another to form new paradigms that aim at generating discourse for a more equitable and responsive city experience.  

• Theories about the Subject within the Urban Design

This typology focuses on theories that usually surround a particular subject and offers solutions to the problem realised. They usually are prescriptive, extending concepts that give comprehensive knowledge about the subject in focus. Having different backgrounds, this model helps us build ethical loops concerning global justice and equity in the city. 

Often, classified by a common goal or aim, the core of such theories lies in values of inclusiveness, sustainability and safety. Furthermore, many texts of such nature explore the current predicaments of the city and suggest conceptual approaches to make life in cities better.

For instance, theories like Image of the city by Kevin Lynch examine how people perceive built environments around them and navigate through the city. He recognises architectural values based on physical elements of the city like paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks and attempts to understand how people use them to make mental maps. 

Also, a theory that sheds light on the subject of safety is Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities – which suggests strategies to make streets and neighborhoods safe, and how they function in the macrocosm of the city. Many more theories like – The Social Life of Small Urban Places by Whyte to Life Between Buildings by Gehl, can exist within categories that help elicit a social response. 

• The Objects of Urban Design

Urban design theories in this typology focus more on the comprehensiveness of the field. They often use other theories as descriptive notes to come up with newer ideas that aim to be strategies on how to deal with an urban problem. 

With theories that are related to one another, it gives an added context to the fundamental nub, creating critical proximity between two relative concepts. However, they help us understand intersectionality, which grows from varied contexts and cognise us with better images of the city. 

For example, urban theories like Collective Form by Fumihiko Maki or Tschumi’s understanding of Deconstructivism – remain critical for our understanding of conceptual and symbolic design conditions. Having a descriptive as well as a prescriptive approach establishes meaning that connects theoretical argument to the point where solutions can be implemented. 

From Public Places Urban Spaces by Carmona et al. to Jan Gehl’s Cities for People , showcase not only research of our urban environments but also stipulates a “toolbox” that gives methods to make our cities lively and safe. 

• Theories about the Knowledge of Urban design

This last typology focuses on theories that often just provide an insight into an aspect of urban design. They might stem from different perspectives but do not pose any solution, they propose a framework which can be adapted into further research or applications. 

The aim of such theories is often to just introduce a seed of thought that can further be a part of the discourse. Texts belonging to this category often bring perspectives from different disciplines like Henri Lefebvre’s Right to the City that stems from social Marxist philosophy or from within like Kinetic City by Rahul Malhotra that observes the ephemeral nature of Indian cities, yet it keeps open on how we can use that to deal with urban transitions of fast-paced cities. 

Ideas of Rem Koolhaas in Delirious New York almost acts as a manifesto, a text that encourages us to understand what goes behind his thoughts and critically extract meanings from theory. This holistic approach is also seen in theories by Walter Benjamin, whose eclectic ideas, combined elements from his knowledge of aesthetics theory, literary criticism and modernist interpretations. 

This categorisation, though offers a model for us to understand and systemise our approach towards urban design theories, it does not encompass all the possible typologies or might overlap due to its shared structure. Urban theories are plenty and structuring them would only push us to share knowledge through active research, education and civic advocacy. 

What’s important is to look at these urban strategies and theories in layers, where we can actively start to link, question and analyse them to enhance our body of work, that would further lead our urban inquiries in an integrated and productive way. 

References:

Foroughmand Araabi, H. A typology of Urban Design theories and its application to the shared body of knowledge. Urban Des Int 21, 11–24 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/udi.2015.6

Nakshi is a recent architecture graduate from BSSA, Mumbai who thrives on the visual and the literary. With a special interest in graphic design, urban design and research, Nakshi is deeply interested in culture, poetry and music. Born and raised in Mumbai, she is often found scrolling through random newsletters or searching for vinyl and erasers to add to her collection

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Urban Design

Related Papers

Abeer Elshater , Hisham Abusaada

Th e objective of this book is to let the student of the school of architecture closely to the issues relating to the art and science of urban design cities.

Town Planning Review

Ali Madanipour

... On the other side of the spectrum, however, where urban design is seen as designing small urban places, it becomes close to the aesthetic and spatial concerns of art and architecture. ... It was partly reflected in the modernist-postmodernist confrontations. ...

Melek Menzilcioğlu

Somya Gupta

ivor samuels

Toward an Urban Design Manifesto was prepared by Alan Jacobs and Donald Appleyard, two notable United States urban design practitioners and academics. The former is perhaps best known for his books Great Streets (1995), The Boulevard Book (2003) and The Good City: Reflections and Imaginations (2011) and the latter for his important Livable Streets (1981) published before his tragic early death in a car accident in 1982.

Hooman Foroughmand Araabi

Anirban Adhya

This paper examines the relative emphasis of urban and design in theories and practices of urban design. Traditionally, urban design has been conceived as a discourse in design and has been practiced as an extension of architecture, urban planning, and civil engineering. Post-modern critical thinking, in recent literature, questions the design dominance and calls for understanding complex relationships of politics, economics, sociology, behavior, and environment embedded in the urban context. In the prevalent paradigm, urban designers are primarily trained as architects, planners or engineers, each having one’s own design bias. Architects see design as formal orientation in space. Planners conceive design as implementation of policies reflecting social and economic values. Engineers understand design as efficiency in production. This eclectic approach of urban design creates a partitioned education model with conflicts and contradictions. This paper posits an inclusive model with the focus on urban instead of design. Such an approach defines the uniqueness of urban design. It allows opportunities of interrelationships and interactions among multiple disciplines and diverse issues. The inclusive approach is teleological (process oriented), relevant (specific), and catalytic (empowering). Rethinking the pedagogy of urban design is critical in understanding diverse roles urban design can play in the process of placemaking and in defining specific responsibilities urban designers can have in the society. Balance of urban and design in teaching should be explored. Proportion of the two may vary based on specific needs and individual programs. This is significant in developing urban design courses reflecting heterogeneity and complexity of the current urban environment. Further opportunities exist in applying this pedagogic model in areas of sustainable development, smart growth, and design research. Keywords: Urban Design, Pedagogy, Urban theory, Placemaking

Adebowale Herdaybiycee

Olgu Caliskan , H. Eren Efeoğlu

The book respectively addresses the following seven basic domains in which urban design operates in the way of a more definite and deliberate definition of the field: ideology, sociology, morphology, bio-ecology, methodology, pedagogy and praxis. Representing a specific research field by in itself, each domain actually involves a certain series of questions, which are still subject to be investigated by various studies and explorations.

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• Urban Design Theory

Urban Design Theory (ABPL90017)

Graduate coursework Points: 12.5 Dual-Delivery (Parkville)

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About this subject

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This subject explores contemporary theories and modes of critique relating to the design of the urban public realm. Emphasis is on how urban physical form responds to the economic, cultural, political, social, aesthetic and natural forces of an urbanised area. Assignments and class papers require students to critically engage with a broad range of theoretical positions, and relate them to local conditions.

Intended learning outcomes

Having completed this subject the student is expected to:

• Develop an understanding of contemporary theories of urban design,
• Be able to think critically about a range of theoretical positions,
• Have the intellectual capacity to develop innovative approaches to urban design practice.

Generic skills

Students develop an understanding of contemporary theories of urban design and the ability to think critically about a range of theoretical positions, including development of the following generic skills:

• Urban design analysis;
• Urban design fieldwork;
• Essay writing;
• Verbal presentation.

Last updated: 31 January 2024

• Articles , Special Edition Articles , Urban Design Strategies , Urban theory

Dimensions of Urban Design

• July 3, 2022
• Architecture , Urban design , Urban Planning , Urban Theory , Urbanism

The  urban design  process involves creating buildings, groups of buildings, spaces, and landscapes, as well as establishing frameworks and procedures that will ensure success for future generations.  Town and city planning, street design, and public space design are all parts of urban design. In essence, it’s about composing the physical setting for life by bringing together multiple disciplines – the art of making places.  

An urban environment can be analysed in a variety of ways, including from a visual, perceptual, social, and other viewpoints. According to Krier (1979), for instance, urban space is “all sorts of space between buildings” and is “consciously understood as urban space” when “its geometrical traits and aesthetic aspects are clearly legible.” With this description, Krier’s idea of an urban environment is more strongly influenced by physical construction.  Lynch (1960) took a different technique, analysing the physical surroundings to determine the perceptual structure of an urban area. He identified a number of tangible components that make up a city’s imageability and legibility. Lynch’s idea of urban structure thus relies on how people perceive their city in society.

Creating public spaces from a human standpoint is another viewpoint (Carr, et al., 1992, p. 85). “Needs, rights, and meaning” are the human dimensions. This dimension is concerned with “how people and places interact and how this impacts how settings function.”

The dimension of urban design could be categorized into six distinct  elements, which are morphological, perceptual, social, visual, functional  and temporal . Using these dimensions will help us understand how the dimensions affect the vitality of public places in an urban context.

The fast paced urbanizing of cities requires that clear guideline is needed to  ensure the consistency of the design value. Hence, public spaces within an  urban setting also requires careful analysis in order for us to design public  spaces that are in societal solidarity rather than being fragmented as a result of privatisation of activities.

1. The morphological dimension

‘Morphological’ dimension of urban design is  the layout and configuration of urban form and space. There are essentially two types of urban space systems, ‘traditional’ and ‘modernist’. ‘Traditional’ urban space consists of buildings as constituent parts of urban blocks, where the blocks define and enclose external space. ‘Modernist’ urban space typically consists of free-standing ‘pavilion’ buildings in landscape settings. 

Urban Morphology:

Urban morphology is the study of the form and  shape of settlements. Appreciation of morphology  helps urban designers to be aware of local patterns  of development and processes of change.  It is  developed with the urban sprawl and expansion of the city. It is the consequence of long historical and social processes. It is  part of the study of urban ecology where the urban system with various elements and their interrelationship is studied.  There are four elements of urban morphology:

• Building Structure
• Plot Pattern; and
• Street Pattern 

2. The perceptual dimension

Awareness and appreciation of environmental perception, and, in particular, of perception and experience of ‘place’, is an essential dimension of urban design. Since the early 1960s an interdisciplinary field of environmental perception has developed, and there now exists a significant body of research on people’s perception of their urban environment. An initial concern with environmental images has been supplemented by work on symbolism and meaning in the built environment. The interest in environmental perception has also been reinforced by a body of work focusing on the experiential ‘sense of place’ and ‘lived-in’ experiences associated with urban environments. 

Environmental Perception:

Both the environment and we are impacted by each other. For this interaction to take place, our ability to perceive—or to be aroused by the senses of sight, sound, smell, or touch that provide cues about the world around us—must be present. Perception involves the gathering, organizing, and making sense of information about the environment

Sense of Place:

Sense of place describes the wide range of connections between people and places that develops based on the place meanings and attachment a person has for a particular setting. Sense of place refers to the emotive bonds and attachments people develop or experience in particular locations and environments, at scales ranging from the home to the nation. Sense of place is also used to describe the distinctiveness or unique character of particular localities and regions.

3. The Social Dimension

Space and society are clearly related: it is difficult to conceive of ‘space’ without social content and, equally, to conceive of society without a spatial component. Space and society are clearly related: it is difficult to conceive of ‘space’ without social content and, equally, to conceive of society without a spatial component. 

There are five key aspects of urban design’s social dimension. The first is the relationship between people and space. The second is the interrelated concepts of the ‘public realm’ and ‘public life’. The third concerns the notion of neighbourhoods. The fourth concerns issues of safety and security. The fifth is the issue of accessibility. 

More than any other dimension of urban design, the social dimension raises issues concerning values, and difficult choices with regard to the effects of design decisions on individuals and groups in society. Furthermore, the role of design is delivering particular social goals, which is inevitably limited (although important), and urban designers will need to work with a wide range of other public and private stakeholders to effect significant sound benefits.

4. The visual dimension

It explains the aesthetic appreciation of the environment. Visual appreciation of urban environments is also a  product of perception and cognition – that is,  what stimuli we perceive, how we perceive them,  how we process, interpret and judge the information gathered, and how it appeals to our mind and   emotions.

5. The Functional dimension

The functional dimension of urban design, which involves how places work and how urban designers can make ‘better’ places. The ‘social usage’ and ‘visual’ traditions of urban design thought each had a ‘functionalist’ perspective. Five primary needs that people seek to satisfy in public space:

2. Relaxation 

3. Passive engagement

4. Active Engagement

5. Discovery

• Comfort is a prerequisite of successful public space. 
• The length of time people stay in a public space is a function an indicator of its comfort. 
• The dimensions of a sense of comfort include environmental factors (relief from sun, wind, etc); physical comfort (comfortable and sufficient seating, etc); and social and psychological comfort (privacy, safe, etc)

• Relaxation is a more developed state with the body and mind. 
• In urban settings, natural elements- trees, greenery, water features – and separation from vehicular traffic help accentuate the contrast with the immediate surroundings and make it easier to be relaxed.

Passive Engagement

• The prime form of passive engagement is people watching. 
• What attracts people is other people and the life and activity that they bring. 
• Opportunities for passive engagement are also provided by fountains, views, public art, and so forth.

Active Engagement

• Design of the public realm can create opportunities for contact. 
• In public spaces, the arrangement of different elements: benches, telephones, fountains, sculptures, coffee carts can be made more or less conductive to social interaction.

• Representing desire for new spectacles and pleasurable experiences, discovery depends on variety and change. Involving a break from the routine and the expected. 
• Discovery might involves launch time concerts, art exhibitions, street theatre, festivals, parades, markets, society events

6. The Temporal Dimension

It Deals with the influence of time on urban environment  Scope of Urban Design.  There are three temporal dimension of urban design. First, as activities are fluid in space and time, environments are used differently at different times. Urban designers need to understand time cycles and the time management of activities in space. Second, although environments relentlessly change over time, a high value is often placed on some degree of continuity and stability. Urban designers need to understand how environments change, what stays the same and what changes over time. They also need to be able to design and manage.  accommodate the inevitability of   time’s passage. Third, urban environments change   over time, and urban design projects, policies, etc.,   are implemented over time

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