What is Urban Design?

• Urban design is a 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.
• It involves the design and coordinates of all that makes up cities and towns.
Elements of Urban Design
1. BUILDINGS

 Buildings are the most pronounced elements of urban design.

 They shape and articulate space by forming the street walls of the city
 Well-designed buildings and group of buildings work together to create a sense of place.
2. PUBLIC SPACES

 Great public spaces are the living room of the city – the place where people come together to
enjoy the city and each other.
 Public spaces makes high quality life in the city possible – they form the stage and backdrop to
the drama of life.
 Public spaces range from grand central plazas and squares, to small local neighbourhood parks.

3. STREETS

 These are the connections between spaces and places, as well as being spaces themselves.
 They are defined by the physical dimension and character as well as the size, scale, and character
of the building that line them.
 The pattern of the street network is part of what defines a city and what makes each city
unique.
 Main Street – It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in the central business district, and
is most often used in reference to retailing and socializing.
 High Street – Frequently used for the street name of the primary business street of town or cities.
 Fore Street – Often used for the main street of a town or village.
 Overpass – In the US, an overpass is normally a bridge for motor vehicles to pass over other
road or rail traffic. It would be introduce confusion to call a pedestrian bridge or footbridge an
overpass.
 Skyway – is usually used in the US for long or high bridge for traffic
 Boulevard – a type of road, usually running through the city. Multilane arterial thoroughfare,
divided with a median down the center, and perhaps with roadways along each side designed as
slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average
quality of landscaping and scenery.
 Avenue- a traditionally a straight route with a line of trees or large shrubs running along.
 Esplanade – an esplanade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water
where people may walk.
  Alley – a narrow passageway between or behind buildings. A narrow street between the fronts of
houses or businesses. It can refer to a narrow, usually paved, pedestrian path, often between the
walls of buildings in towns and cities.

4. TRANSPORT

 Transport Systems connect the parts of cities and help shape them, and enable movement
throughout the city.
 They include road, rail, bicycle, and pedestrian networks, and together form the total movement
system of a city.
 The balance of these various transport systems is what helps define the quality and character of
cities, and makes them either friendly or hostile to pedestrians.
 The best cities are ones that elevate the experience of the pedestrian while minimizing the
dominance of the public automobile.
5. LANDSCAPE

 It is the green part of the city that weaves throughout, in the form of urban parks, street tress,
plants, flowers, and water in many forms.
 The landscape helps define the character and beauty of a city and creates soft, contrasting
spaces and elements.
 Green spaces in the cities range from grand parks to small intimidate pocket parks.