Urban design
Urban design is the process of planning and creating communities, primarily focusing on urban areas like cities and towns. This practice combines multiple disciplines, including city planning and architecture, with an emphasis on crafting livable spaces that harmonize with the existing natural environment and infrastructure. Emerging from the post-World War II era, modern urban design aims to integrate essential elements such as commerce, transportation, recreation, and housing into functional and aesthetically appealing environments that encourage diversity and well-being.
While often confused with urban planning, urban design specifically addresses the design and arrangement of public spaces. The concept has historical roots dating back to ancient civilizations, yet it gained formal recognition in the mid-20th century, partly influenced by environmental movements and societal changes. Pioneers like Jane Jacobs championed mixed-use development, advocating for spaces that adapt to social dynamics rather than remaining rigidly designated for single purposes.
Contemporary urban design seeks to balance historical context with modern needs, often incorporating public transportation and pedestrian-friendly features to reduce reliance on cars. Key elements of current urban design include innovative public art, accessible parks, and recreational spaces that foster community interactions and promote healthy lifestyles. These practices reflect a growing recognition of the importance of creating inclusive and sustainable urban environments.
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Urban design
Urban design is the practice of planning and creating communities, usually cities and towns but sometimes entire regions. It incorporates related industries and disciplines such as city planning and architecture, concentrating on making livable spaces that take into account the existing natural environment and infrastructure. Modern urban design is forward thinking, as urban designers seek to integrate commerce, transportation, recreation, and housing into functional, aesthetically pleasing spaces that allow for diversity and promote mental and physical well-being.
Overview
Though the two are often conflated, urban design is slightly different from urban planning, which uses a set of prescribed codes to manage mostly privately owned spaces. Modern urban design has its roots in post–World War II society; the term was coined in 1956, when Harvard University hosted the first Urban Design Conference, which served as a launching point for the school’s urban-design program. However, the concept of urban design can be traced to ancient Greek and Mesopotamian societies and was an important aspect of the evolving notions of art and architecture during the Renaissance.
Modern urban design is a response to both the lack of foresight of postwar urban developers in Europe and the United States and the burgeoning environmental movement of the 1960s, 1970s, and beyond. Especially in Europe, where cities were ravaged by war, postwar urban designers created and rebuilt cities with little regard for the ways in which society functions at a basic level. Urban sprawl, social stratification, and pollution and runoff became recognized as significant problems. Influenced by the social and political changes of the 1960s, modern urban designers began to formulate the idea of urban ecology and incorporate elements of the natural landscape into their plans. Theories emerged about the influence of the public sphere on people’s behaviors, interactions, and mental health.
Author and activist Jane Jacobs is credited by many with helping to usher in the era of mixed-use urban planning. She criticized the practice of designating spaces for a single purpose, essentially feeling that single-use spaces could not absorb social and political changes and were doomed to flounder because of their inherent inflexibility. Mixed use became the guiding principle for modern urban design, and many planned communities from the 1970s on sought to create urban spaces that would allow for communities to form naturally around historic landmarks, natural spaces such as urban parks, and multifarious economic centers.
Twenty-first-century urban design aims to mix the historical with the progressive, anchoring communities around focal points that include unique and functional architectural design and recognizable points of reference that can double as meeting places. Urban design varies from place to place; for example, established cities incorporate the concepts of urban design differently than new, planned communities do. However, commonalities increasingly include a move away from a car-based lifestyle, whether through the expansion of public transportation or through the construction of mixed-use buildings that incorporate housing, office space, retail space, and restaurants, enabling residents to walk or bike. Other important aspects of modern urban design include innovative art pieces, such as sculptures and murals; safe public domains, such as well-lit and easily accessible parks; and recreational areas that promote healthy lifestyles and interaction among residents.
Bibliography
Ahern, Jack. “Urban Landscape Sustainability and Resilience: The Promise and Challenges of Integrating Ecology with Urban Planning and Design.” Landscape Ecology 28.6 (2013): 1203–12. Print.
Dunham-Jones, Ellen, and June Williamson. Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs. Updated ed. Hoboken: Wiley, 2011. Print.
Farr, Douglas. Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design with Nature. Hoboken: Wiley, 2008. Print.
Larice, Michael, and Elizabeth Macdonald, eds. The Urban Design Reader. 2nd ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print.
Madanipour, Ali, ed. Whose Public Space? International Case Studies in Urban Design and Development. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.
Moughtin, Cliff. Urban Design: Street and Square. 3rd ed. Burlington: Architectural, 2003. Print.