AR6711-URBAN DESIGN

UNIT-1

INTRODUCTION TO URBAN DESIGN

SYALLAPUS:
URBAN DESIGN:

 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.

 Urban design involves many different disciplines including planning, development,

architecture, landscape architecture, engineering, economics, law and finance,
among others.

 Urban design operates at many scales, from the macro scale of the urban structure
(planning, zoning, and 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.
ELEMENTS OF URBAN DESIGN:
This diagram shows the approximate hierarchical relationship between the elements of urban
design, followed by a brief definition of each of the elements. The section below provides basic
explanations for terms that are commonly used for urban design.

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, opens 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.
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.

TOPOGRAPHY, LANDSCAPE AND ENVIRONMENT:

 The natural environment includes the topography of landforms, water courses, flora
and fauna—whether natural or introduced.
 It may be in the form of rivers and creeks, lakes, bush land, parks and recreational
facilities, streetscapes or private gardens, and is often referred to as ‘green
infrastructure’.

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.

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.
NEED FOR URBAN DESIGN:
Design can help to enhance a city’s assets:
• Physical needs of citizens;
• Safety, security and protection;
• An environment free of pollution, noise, accidents, and crime;
• A conducive social environment ..a sense of community;
• An appropriate image and prestige;
• Creativity and self-expression in neighbourhoods;
• Aesthetically pleasantness as a place of culture and a work of art.

URBAN ISSSUES:

1. Urban unemployment:

 An individual, who is ready and willing to work at the prevailing rate of wages but does
not find the work, is considered to be unemployed. It is important here to mention that
the persons, who voluntarily remain unemployed: living on alms or spending a
parasitic life, cannot be treated as unemployed.

 Unemployed persons, in urban areas, are quite often registered with employment
exchanges. It is so the urban employment, unlike disguised unemployment of rural
areas, is more like an open unemployment.

 The number of registered unemployed, between 1961 and 2008, has soared up more
than eight-fold. Unemployment in urban areas can further be separated into two broad
categories:

1. Industrial Unemployment

2. Educated Unemployment

1.1 Industrial Unemployment:

 This sort of unemployment envelops the persons, who are willing and able to
work in industries, mining, transport, trade and construction activities but do not
find the job.
  The problem of unemployment in industrial sector has increased many fold
because of a rapid rise in population.

 Besides this, the trend of migrating to urban areas, mainly due to the expansion
of industries in urban areas, in search of jobs has compounded the problem of
unemployment in the industrial sector.

 So it can be claimed that industrial unemployment happens as a spill over of

rural unemployment.

 The second major cause for this problem is that industries in India are increasing
rapidly and they are emulating the use of labour-saving western technology,
thus, in the process, limiting the absorption capacity of the industrial sector.

1.2 Educated Unemployment:

Major factors contributing to educated unemployment are:

 It has been recorded that the number of educated persons has increased
substantially due to the expansion of educational institutions such as universities,
college and schools.
 It is important to take note of the fact that quite often degree holders fail to acquire a
job, because the education system in India is not job-oriented; it is rather degree-
oriented.

 Enhancement in employment opportunities has lagged behind in comparison with the

enhancement in the volume of educated labour force.

2. Insufficient of waste disposal and collection:

 The conditions, issues and problems of urban waste management in the

industrialized and developing worlds are different.

 Though the developed countries generate larger amounts of wastes, they have
developed adequate facilities, competent government institutions and bureaucracies
to manage their wastes.
  Developing countries are still in the transition towards better waste management but
they currently have insufficient collection and improper disposal of wastes.

 Services and programmes that include proper waste disposal for management of
hazardous biological and chemical wastes, minimisation and recycling will be
needed.

 Disposal of wastes is commonly done by dumping (on land or into water bodies),
incineration or long term storage in a secured facility.

 All these methods have varying degrees of negative environmental impacts with
adverse environmental and health risks if wastes are improperly disposed or stored.

3. Urban Poverty:

It is a situation resulting from a group of factors, we can say is the lack of opportunities
given by the inhabitants of an area because of the configuration of the urban landscape
in which they live or transit. When a mixture of all this is present you have a poor
urban space and people who lives there are urban poor.

4. Inadequate of water and sanitation facilities:

 In many cities people get water from the municipal sources for less than half an
hour every alternate day. In dry summer season, taps remain dry for days together
and people are denied water supply at a time when they need it the most.

 The individual towns require water in larger quantities. Many small towns have no
main water supply at all and depend on such sources as individual tube wells,
household open wells or even rivers

 Urban areas in India are almost invariably plagued with insufficient and inefficient
sewage facilities. Not a single city in India is fully sewered. Resource crunch faced
by the municipalities and unauthorised growth of the cities are two major causes of
this pathetic state of affairs.
5. Urban Transportation:

5.1 Traffic Movement and Congestion:

 Traffic congestion occurs when urban transport networks are no longer capable
of accommodating the volume of movements that use them.

 The location of congested areas is determined by the physical transport

framework and by the patterns of urban land use and their associated trip-
generating activities.

 Levels of traffic overloading vary in time, with a very well-marked peak during the
daily journey-to-work periods

5.2 Public Transport Crowding:

 The ‘person congestion’ occurring inside public transport vehicles at such peak
times adds insult to injury, sometimes literally.

 A very high proportion of the day’s journeys are made under conditions of peak-
hour loading, during which there will be lengthy queues at stops, crowding at
terminals, stairways and ticket offices, and excessively long periods of hot
and claustrophobic travel jammed in overcrowded vehicles.
5.3 Off-Peak Inadequacy of Public Transport:

 If public transport operators provide sufficient vehicles to meet peak-hour

demand there will be insufficient patronage off-peak to keep them
economically employed.

 If on the other hand they tailor fleet size to the off-peak demand, the vehicles
would be so overwhelmed during the peak that the service would most likely
break down.

5.4 Difficulties for Pedestrians:

 Pedestrians form the largest category of traffic accident victims. Attempts to

increase their safety have usually failed to deal with the source of the problem
(i.e., traffic speed and volume) and instead have concentrated on restricting
movement on foot.

 Needless to say this worsens the pedestrian’s environment, making large areas
‘off-limits’ and forcing walkers to use footbridges and underpasses, which
are inadequately cleaned or policed. Additionally there is obstruction by parked
cars and the increasing pollution of the urban environment, with traffic noise and
exhaust fumes affecting most directly those on feet.

5.5 Environmental Impact:

 The operation of motor vehicles is a polluting activity. While there are
innumerable other activities which cause environmental pollution as a result of
the tremendous increases in vehicle ownership, society is only now beginning to
appreciate the devastating and dangerous consequences of motor vehicle
usage. Pollution is not the only issue.

 Traffic noise is a serious problem in the central area of our towns and cities and
there are other environmental drawbacks brought about through trying to
accommodate increasing traffic volumes.

 Traffic noise is both annoying and disturbing. Walking and other activities in
urban areas can be harassing and, perhaps more important, traffic noise
penetrates through to the interior of buildings.
 5.6 Atmospheric Pollution:

 Fumes from motor vehicles present one of the most unpleasant costs of living
with the motor vehicle.

 The car is just one of many sources of atmospheric pollution and although
prolonged exposure may constitute a health hazard, it is important to view this
particular problem in perspective.

6. Urban Crimes:
 Modem cities present a meeting point of people from different walks of life having
no affinity with one another.

 Like other problems, the problem of crimes increases with the increase in
urbanisation.

 In fact the increasing trend in urban crimes tends to disturb peace and
tranquillity of the cities and make them unsafe to live in particularly for the
women.

7. Urban Sprawl:
 Urban sprawl or real expansion of the cities, both in population and geographical
area, of rapidly growing cities is the root cause of urban problems.

 In most cities the economic base is incapable of dealing with the problems
created by their excessive size.

 Massive immigration from rural areas as well as from small towns into big cities
has taken place almost consistently; thereby adding to the size of cities.

8. Housing:

 Overcrowding leads to a chronic problem of shortage of houses in urban areas.

 This problem is specifically more acute in those urban areas where there is large
influx of unemployed or underemployed immigrants who have no place to live in
when they enter cities/towns from the surrounding area
ASPECTS OF URBAN SPACE:

• Aesthetics

• Safety and security

• Infrastructure

• Environmental factors

• Green spaces

• Transport

1. Aesthetics:

• The most beautiful are the result of dense, long lasting systems of prohibitions and
guidance about building sizes, uses and features.

• These allowed substantial freedoms, yet enforce styles, safety, and often materials in
practical ways.

• Many conventional planning techniques are being repackaged using the contemporary
term SMART GROWTH.

2. Safety and security:

• Cities have often grown onto coastal and flood plains at risk of floods and storm
surges. Urban planners must consider these threats.

• Extreme weather, flood, secure emergency evacuation routes and emergency

operations centers.

• Many cities will also have planned, built safety features, such as levees, retaining
walls, and shelters. Some city planners try to control criminality with designed
structures.

3. Infrastructure:

• Access

• Clean drinking water •

 • Wage system •

• Disposal system •

• Electricity

• The Smart Growth seeks to:- •

 Improve quality

 Reduce the cost

 Reduce the co2

4. Environmental factors:

• Environmental protection and conservation are of utmost importance to many planning

systems across the world.

• Not only are the specific effects of development to be mitigated, but attempts are made
to minimize the overall effect of development on the local and global environment.

• This is commonly done through the assessment of Sustainable urban infrastructure and
microclimate.

5. Green spaces:

• Urban open space is often appreciated for the recreational opportunities it provides.

• Recreation in urban open space may include active recreation (such as organized sports
and individual exercise) or passive recreation, which may simply entail being in the open
space.

• Time spent in an urban open space for recreation offers a reprieve from the urban
environment.

6. Transportation:

• Transport within urbanized areas presents unique problems.

• The density of an urban environment increases traffic, which can harm businesses and
increase pollution unless properly managed.

• Parking space for private vehicles requires the construction of large parking garages in
high density areas. This space could often be more valuable for other development.
Articulation of need for space:

The creative articulation of space is the most prominent aspect of urban design. The following
artistic principles are an integral part of creating form and spatial definition:

Order
Unity
Balance
Proportion
Scale
Hierarchy
Symmetry
Rhythm
Contrast
Context
Detail
Texture
Harmony
Beauty

OBJECTIVES OF URBAN DESIGN:

• Aesthetics: Strong Visual Impact
• Development: New Investment. Employment opportunities
• Functional Efficiency
• Improved Environmental conditions
• Safety (ref. Safer Cities Program; CEPTED)
• Guardianship and Space standards
• Technical Solutions to unique problems
• Cultural Identity and symbolism
• Community Integration
• Character: A place with its own identity
• Continuity and Enclosure: A place where public and private spaces are clearly distinguished
• Quality of the Public Realm: A place with attractive and successful outdoor areas
• Ease of Movement: A place that is easy to get to and move through
• Adaptability: A place that can change easily
• Legibility: A place that has a clear image and is easy to understand
• Diversity: A place with variety and choice
There are four Objectives:
1. To minimise the opportunity for crime and help to reduce the fear of crime for residents in
their homes and public spaces.
2. To consider the needs of the most vulnerable groups in society (the elderly, children, women,
disabled people and ethnic minority groups) above others. This is because fear of crime
disproportionately affects these groups and greatly hampers their chances of enjoying the
environment and taking a full part in community life.
3. To achieve reductions in crime across the community, not simply the displacement of crime
from one area to others.
4. To create a more sustainable environment by ensuring ease of maintenance, long life and
adaptability.

SCOPE OF URBAN DESIGN:

The need for UD as a discipline has arisen as a result of the fundamental cultural, political,
social and economic changes. Other issues include the impact of environmental issues and
quality of life on the nature of the city and how urban form can best be adapted to our current
and future needs. It has proved difficult to provide a simple, commonly accepted definition of the
scope of UD.

1. Ecological Significance: Urban Design involves modifying the natural environment. It largely
deals with the quality of built environment that are vital for preserving nature. It can be effected
positively or negatively; more emphasis on pedestrian circulation; relevance of site (like contour
site). Neighborhood concept – everything in 10 minutes reach by walking.
2. Economic Significance: Due to competition, quality of built environment is the key factor that
significantly affects local, regional and international image of countries and sets the stage for all
economic activity. As Harvey points out that there is string relationship between technological
changes in the economic production and structural changes in the quality and production of
urban spaces. Here we can consider the concept of smart cities (fully hi-tech designs).

3. Social and Cultural Significance: An important factor determining why people choose to visit,
invest in or relocate to a particular place is the “atmosphere” or the “cultural” identity (eg- Chandigarh or
Goa)

Ensure high quality: To raise the quality of life by providing a high

quality built environment commensurating with the
natural setting.
Embrace robustness: To give a set of robust guidelines on urban design
enduring over time.
Encourage dynamism: To encourage Hong Kong's spirit on pluralism and
dynamism.
Accommodate flexibility: To give flexibility for innovative ideas and
possibilities.

References & Bibliography:

Jonnathan Barnett - Introduction to Urban Design, Harper &Row, Publishers, 1982.

“Time Saver Standards for Urban Design”, Donald Watson, Alan Plattus, Robert Shibley, 2003

www.udg.org.uk/about/what-is-urban-design

www.urbandesign.org/elements.html