URBAN DESIGN

UNIT 1

1)Briefly discuss the difference between Urban design and Urban Planning.

Ans:

 Urban design is the process of designing and shaping the physical features of cities, towns, and
villages and planning for the provision of municipal services to residents and visitors.
 Urban planning is a technical and political process concerned with the development and design
of landuse and built environment.

2)Outline the names of four planned settlement patterns as suggested by Urban designers.

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Nucleated settlement, linear shaped settlement, dispersed settlement, and settlement based on
building shapes.

3)Why is Urban study important?

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 Urban study is important because it is the art of creating and shaping cities and towns.
 It involves the arrangement and design of buildings, public spaces etc.

4)List the function of a Urban Square.

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 Urban square are open spaces surrounded by buildings and other structures within a city.
 They play an important role in the context of mass and void composition of a city.

5)Mention any 2 concerns of an Urban Design?

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 Rapid Urban Population growth

 High Urban Poverty level
 Environmental degradation

6)Define Visual Survey.

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 Visual Survey is a technique for obtaining public feedback on physical design alternatives.
 It is often used one designing zoning codes, planning, urban planning research etc.

7)Differentiate between Urban and Rural settlement.

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 Urban settlement is a concentrated settlement that constitutes a part of urban area.

  Rural settlement is any settlement in the areas defined as rural by a Governmental Office.

8)State the issues of Urban Space.

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 Poor air and water quality

 Waste disposal problems
 Increasing population density

9) what are the components of urban spaces

Public spaces range from grand central plazas and squares, to small, local neighborhood parks. Streets
are the connections between spaces and places, as well as being space themselves.

Physical Components : Walls, Floors, Roof, Furniture

Human components : “Uses, behaviours,….”

10) Explain the interdependencies of urban spaces

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 Urbanization and inequality increases

 More sophisticated analysis of the linkages
 Interdependencies between rural and urban areas have emerged

11)Outline the issues of urban spaces

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 Water quality
 Insufficient water availability
 Waste disposal problems
 Population density

12)Explain the articulation need for urban design

Ans:

Building Articulation refers to the many street frontage design elements, both horizontal abd vertical
that help create a streetscape of interest

13)State the Scope of urban design

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Urban design take into consideration a project purpose, size, geographic data in the design
recommendations.
14)what are objectives of urban design

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Objectives of good urban design. 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.

15)Urban design as a discipline. Elaborate

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Urban design is an inter-disciplinary field that utilizes elements of many built environment professions,
including landscape architecture, urban planning, architecture, civil engineering and municipal
engineering. It is common for professionals in all these disciplines to practice urban design.

16) Explain any 2 components of urban spaces

Ans:

Public spaces range from grand central plazas and squares, to small, local neighborhood parks. Streets
are the connections between spaces and places, as well as being spaces themselves. They are defined by
their physical dimension and character as well as the size, scale, and character of the buildings that line
them.

17)why urban spaces are needed

Ans:

Public spaces are an important asset to our cities.

They provide people many opportunities to come together and engage with the community. If public
spaces are successful they are inclusive of the diversity of groups present in our cities and create a social
space for everyone in the society to participate in.

18)Name 3 Urban designers

Ans:

 Marcy Kaptur
 Le Corbusier
 Rem Koolhaas

19)Explain the aspects of urban spaces

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The urban space refers to several urban areas and their related multicentric municipalities forming a
whole in a single stretch. In the multicentric urban space, the urban areas are either adjoining or linked
together by multicentric municipalities. This space forms a connected whole.
20)Why urban planning important

Ans:

Urban planning is a valuable force for city leaders to achieve sustainable development. It is a means to
bring about a difference; Planning helps make the most out of municipal budgets by informing
infrastructure and services investments, balancing demands for growth with the need to protect the
environment.

UNIT-2

1)Describe the characteristics of renaissance town.

Ans:

Renaissance town demonstrates the conscious revival and development of certain elements of
classical thought and material culture particularly symmetry and classical orders.

2)Write short notes on open spaces of traditional towns of India.

Ans:

 Urban open space provide a unique conduit for the socio-spatial study of Urban history in
traditional towns of India.
 Urban open spaces have been a critical sites of cultural, political and economic life from early
civilization to present day.
 In India, traditional towns define open space as any urban ground space, regardless of public
accessibility that is not roofed by architecture structures.

3)Write a note on amorphous square.

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 Amorphous square is a class of architecture that follows no rules form.

 It does not follow proportion and symmetry.

4)List the principles of Organization in Roman settlement.

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 Roman settlement used a consolidated scheme for city planning.

 They developed the settlement for civil convenience to preserve the remains of the architectural
schemes, which show the very logical way the romans designed their city.

5)Discuss any 2 salient features of garniers industrial cities.

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 The surrounding area is devoted to agriculture.

 The drawings by garnier were ideal industrial city.
6)What are the components of an Urban space?

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 Economic Prosperity of a community

 Social interaction, shape and articulated space

7)What is Mughal city Architecture?

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 Mughal Architecture is a type of Indo-Islamic Architecture

 It was developed by Mughals in 16th – 18th century.

9)Write the salient features of Temple Town.

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A medieval town may be a Temple town, Administrative centre, Commercial town or Port town. Many
towns had combined characteristics of all the above types of towns. For example, many towns were
administrative centres, commercial and craft production centres as well as temple towns – all at the
same time.

10)Describe the scope of Urban Design in India

Ans:

The broad scope of urban design means that people from all backgrounds and with diverse interests will
find urban design an engaging and satisfying career. Urban designers tend to come to the profession
because they: Find the complexity and variety of towns and cities exciting. Enjoy art and design.

11)Write about the American grid planning.

Ans:

American grid plans, the article presents a comparative analysis looking specifically at "land use
efficiency"

12)Explain the morphology of urban cities

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Urban morphology is the study of the physical form of a city, which consists of street patterns, building
sizes and shapes, architecture, population density and patterns of residential, commercial, industrial and
other uses, among other things.

13)What is greek agora

Ans:

The agora was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. The literal meaning of the word is
"gathering place" or "assembly".
14)Explain the features of Roman forum

Ans:

A Forum was the main center of a Roman city. Usually located near the physical center of a Roman
town, it served as a public area in which commercial, religious, economic, political, legal, and social
activities occurred. Fora were common in all Roman cities, but none were as grand as the fora of Rome
itself.

15)Explain the Mughal city form

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Mughal architecture strategies, political structure, and urban form owed much to central Asian
traditions, though under innovative leadership the Mughal.

16) Why Mughal architecture is called Magnificent?

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Mughal architecture is the distinctive Indo-Islamic architectural style that developed in northern and
central India under the patronage of Mughal emperors from the 16th to the 18th century. It is a
remarkably symmetrical and decorative amalgam of Persian, Turkish, and Indian architecture.

17)Briefly explain about urbanism

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Urbanism is the study of how inhabitants of urban areas, such as towns and cities, interact with the built
environment.

18)How urban spaces are designed in Chandigarh

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Chandigarh, the dream city of India's first Prime Minister, Sh. Jawahar Lal Nehru, was planned by the
famous French architect Le Corbusier. Picturesquely located at the foothills of Shivaliks, it is known as
one of the best experiments in urban planning and modern architecture in the twentieth century in
India.

19) How urban spaces are designed in Bhuvaneshwar

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BHUBANESWAR -an ideal capital city designed to reduce the gap between rich ,Open, accessible, and
well-kept public spaces and parks.

20) How urban spaces are designed in Gandhinagar.

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Gandhinagar was meant to embody an alternative view of modern urbanity. compared GIFT's public
spaces to “a shopping mall: anyone can come inside.
UNIT- 3

1) List the basic human needs as given by Jon lang

Ans:

Jon Lang (2011), in his book “creating architectural theory", stated two models of human needs which
are used by the designers to explain human affordances of the built environment. These two models
are: the scale of essential emotions in competition by Alexander Leighton and hierarchy of human needs
by Abraham Maslow.

2) Write a note on serial vision

Ans:

Urban experience: As our experience of urban environment is a dynamic activity involving movement
and time, the urban experience of moving through space is an important part of the visual dimension of
urban design. 10. Serial vision: Gordon Cullen (1961) conceived the concept of “serial vision”.

3) Write a note on social aspect of urban space

Ans:

Social and societal functions include are related to the direct use of urban open spaces by people and
they include: Providing space and facilities for leisure and recreation. Facilitating social contact and
communication, including cultural and commercial activities. Allowing access to and experience of
nature.

4) Brief on collective memory.

Ans:

Collective memory can be constructed, shared, and passed on by large and small social groups.
Examples of these groups can include nations, generations, communities among others.

5) Name the author of The Death and Life of great American cities

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The Death and Life of Great American Cities is a 1961 book by writer and activist Jane Jacobs. The book
is a critique of 1950s urban planning policy, which it holds responsible for the decline of many city
neighborhoods in the United States.

6) Define townscape

Ans:

Town scape is the visual appearance of a town or urban area; an urban landscape.
7)Name two urban designer

Ans:

Kevin Andrew Lynch and Le Corbusier

8) What are the social aspects of urban spaces

Ans:

Social and societal functions include are related to the direct use of urban open spaces by people and
they include: Providing space and facilities for leisure and recreation. Facilitating social contact and
communication, including cultural and commercial activities. Allowing access to and experience of
nature.