ARCH 455 URBAN DESIGN MAJOR ELECTIVE I by Şebnem Hoşkara & Naciye Doratlı EMU Faculty of Architecture Department of Architecture

Week 2: Lecture 1 – Part A Urban Design: Broad Definitions

Urban Design is not simply the PHYSICAL & VISUAL APPEARANCE of the developement. It is a PROCESS of making BETTER PLACES PEOPLE PLACE (its value & significance) REAL WORLD PRACTICES (opportunities, constraints, economic & political forces) PROCESS

URBAN DESIGN was initially, predominantly AESTHETIC and concerned with the distribution of BUILDING MASSES & SPACES BETWEEN THEM. Through time it has become primarily concerned with the QUALITY OF PUBLIC REALM - both PHYSICAL & SOCIO-CULTURAL - and making of places for people to enjoy and use.

URBAN: characteristic of towns and cities; DESIGN: activities like sketching, planning, arranging, coloring and pattern making. URBAN DESIGN - Urban refers to a wide and inclusive meaning (settlements with urban characteristics and qualities); -Design not narrowly with only aesthetical interpretations but refering to EFFICIENT and EFFECTIVE PROBLEM SOLVING & PROCESS OF DELIVERING/ORGANIZING DEVELOPMENT

The Urban Interface Urban design is “located at the interface of between architecture, landscape architecture and town planning, drawing on the design tradition of architecture and landscape architecture, and the environmental management and social science tradition of contemporary planning” (Social Science Research Council)

Urban design is (mainly) a bridge between ARCHITECTURE & URBAN PLANNING. URBAN DESIGN (an attempt to built briges) ARCHITECTURE URBAN PLANNING

DEFINITION OF UD Urban design is “the art of making places for people” (Cowan, 2000). Urban design concerns: –the connections between people and places, –movement and urban form, –nature and the built fabric, and –the process for ensuring successful villages, towns and cities.

“...urban design should be taken to mean the complex relationship between all elements of the built and unbuilt space: (DoE, 1996, para.12) –the relationship between different buildings; –the relationship between buildings and the streets, squares, parks and spaces which make the public domain; –the relationship between the nature and quality of the public domain itself; –the relationship of one part of a villagei town or city with othe parts; –the patterns of movement and activity which are thereby established;

Concerns of urban design On this definition, urban design is concerned with: –all the constituent physical parts of the built environment to which the public ahve access –the way these parts fit together to create networks of space and activity –the functioning of those space networks, –their role as a social venue.

“... urban design is about the design, creation and management of good urban space and places (Rowley, 1994, p. 195). Urban design “...expresses a concern with the ensemble of buildings and the spaces between them, the public and private realms created, and their visual and functional qualities, as well as the settings for behaviour and activities they provide” (Punter, Carmona, Platts, 1996, para )

Dimensions of urban design Through analyzing broader definitions, a number of reoccurring dimensions of urban design become obvious: –the time dimension –the scale dimension –the visual dimension (townscape, urban space, fitting in, etc.) –the perceptual dimension –the social dimension –the functional dimension –the sustainable dimension

The over-arching themes which underpin urban design theory and practice The contextual imperative – through which overriding respect for context / character is prioritized: environmental, visual or social The sustainable imperative – which although possessing a discrete theory of its own, is of such significance that consistent recognition of the environmental dimension is necessary The political imperative – through which priorities in the urban realm are balanced and decisions made The economic imperative – without which good urban design could never move beyond the drawing board The process imperative – in recognition of the nature of urban design, like all design, as a cyclical, iterative process, a process which itself needs to be right if good design is ever to be possible.

Urban Design is COLLABORATIVE & INTERDISCIPLINARY, involving an INTEGRATED APPROACH, and skills and expertise of a wide range of professionals and others. (town planners, landscape architects, survayors, architects, civil engineers, sociologs, economists, etc.) It operates at & accross a variety of spatial scales rather than a particular scale.

Objectives of urban design CHARACTER A place with its own identity. To promote character in townscape and landscape by responding to and reinforcing locally distinctive patterns of development, landscape and culture. CONTINUITY AND ENCLOSURE A place where public and private spaces are clearly distinguished. To Promote the continuity of street frontages and the enclosure of space by development which clearly defines private and public areas. QUALITY OF THE PUBLIC REALM A place with attractive and successful outdoor areas. To promote public spaces and routes that are attractive, safe, uncluttered and work effectively for all in society, including disabled and elderly people. EASE OF MOVEMENT a place that is easy to get to and move through. To promote accessibility and local permeability by making places that connect with each other and are easy to move through, putting people before traffic and integrating land uses and transport. LEGIBILITY A place that has a clear image and is easy to understand. To promote through development that provides recognisable routes, intersections and landmarks to help people find their way around. ADAPTABILITY A place that can change easily. To promote adaptability through development that can respond to changing social, technological and economic conditions. DIVERSITY A place with variety and choice. To promote diversity and choice through a mix of compatible developments and uses that work together to create viable places that respond to local needs.

Assignment 1 Find an urban design project as an example – and discuss in which ways it is an urban design project – e.g. its problem, its scale, its priorities, etc.