Urban Aesthetics: An Approach to the Study of the Aesthetic Characteristics of Cities

Author(s): Sydney H. Williams

Source: The Town Planning Review , Jul., 1954, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Jul., 1954), pp. 95-113
Published by: Liverpool University Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/40102074

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 URBAN AESTHETICS
An Approach to the Study of the Aesthetic Characteristics oj Cit

by SYDNEY H. WILLIAMS

study of the aesthetic characteristics of cities must go beyond c

only for the design of some of their parts, such as boulevards,
civic centres. The citizen is exposed to all the urban environmen
single buildings or groups of buildings to the city as a whole. Th
eye of the camera often reveals urban beauty in places that are
thought to be far from beautiful, and this suggests that the seeds of
of urban beauty lie dormant throughout even American cities, f
ugliness. New ways of living and building, derived from the technic
of the past two centuries, have at last resulted in the creation of in
beautiful works of architecture. But progress in making the whole ci
place in which to live and work, in an aesthetic as well as a practical
lagged, and this is surely a necessary objective for the city planners
and others who will be concerned with urban development in the yea
I hope, therefore, that this article will serve to stimulate their aware
need for a comprehensive approach to the study of the aesthetic ch
of the city as a whole. I shall attempt to suggest methods by w
characteristics can be analyzed and the knowledge gained from t
applied to the preparation of general urban plans.
The aesthetic characteristics of cities undoubtedly have a profou
on those who live in them. The average citizen may seem blind to th
or ugliness surrounding him, but there have always been people with
of expression - writers and artists - who have recorded their reacti
physical form of cities. Stephen Pepper, Professor of Aestheti
University of California, speculating about people's ability to g
ugliness, has this to say about our cities:
1 We do not get completely used to most of them. They do not... sink out of all
Our perceptions have merely become very much dulled to them. They take a
toll on our nerves. And... a beautiful city... still caresses our nerves and sooth
scarcely perceived delights.*1

Visual surroundings which appear so chaotic as to defy comprehen

those which contain such incessant repetition as to be monotonou
found throughout the urban scene. Aesthetic satisfaction can hardly
under such conditions, and the resulting * slow grinding toll on our
suggests the urgency, in human terms, of doing something about thes
1 Stephen C. Pepper, The Basis of Criticism in the Arts, Harvard, 1946.

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96 URBAN AESTHETICS july

What specific objectives appear to

attempting to improve the visual ch
functional improvement ? Three su
The first is to give the city dwelle
and orient himself to the city as a p
to the aesthetic principles recogni
related to the field of city planning
Geddes' * synoptic vision/ of the
story of his famous outlook tower.2
prehension of and orientation to the
points, since the average citizen ma
city planner, and others concerned
can share their understanding of it
only if this underlying structure ca
The second objective is to provide
urban life which are socially and cu
are predominant economically. It is
lying structure of the city without p
life whose expression would be m
socially and culturally important fu
the process of city planning itself, a
functions has been recognised in
complex social and cultural interrela
city cannot be expressed as simply as
a medieval town. The needs to be s
by winding suburban streets as we
houses. The relatively few focal poin
today by a constellation of major foc
tion, as well as for marketing and w
the determination of a desirable soc
clear expression in visual terms, is an
The third objective is to help to st
pride. Civic pride must be based on
needs, including the need for aesth
natural basis in the visual comprehe
to the degree of aesthetic satisfa
emphasis on the practicality of city
as a basis for pride and for support
the city which are recognised only
2 * A tall old building... overlooks the city an
value of... synoptic vision every visitor has a fr
striking landscape, near and far,... has... been r
is so often missed by scientific and philosophic m
reached more simply from the aesthetic and emot
Cities in Evolution, Williams and Norgate Ltd., 194

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 i9£4 SYDNEY H. WILLIAMS 97

features to people is shown by the attitu

pride in their city on such things as t
In many cities hopeful attempts at adorn
because they are inappropriate to o
represent a waste of the effort which sh
of far graver problems. But. enrichment
of the city as a whole is anything but
which the artist can bring his work clos
encourage their participation in his c
civic consciousness include local pride, an
a particular locality. Genuine local pri
by the stereotyped nature of most mode
be particularly susceptible to aesthetic st
directed to real local characteristics, r
historical romanticism, such as the p
California towns.

The approach to be described here is devoted primarily to the study of the

aesthetic characteristics of the city as a whole. Responsibility for this study,
although it is often neglected by him, clearly belongs to the city planner as a part
of his broad concern for the general physical organization of the city. The
city planning process, as it has developed in the United States, provides for the
preparation of a long-range master plan for physical development based on
research into social and economic conditions and intended to reflect the opinions
of the citizens as to the kind of city they desire. This improved functional
pattern, expressed in a general way by the master plan, is then carried out
gradually by legal and administrative tools, and by public education, in order
to achieve the desired social and economic objectives.
In the same way the aesthetic characteristics of cities must derive from the
social, economic and physical characteristics of modern urban life, about which
knowledge can only be acquired by the painstaking methods of the social
sciences, and the aesthetic objectives which I have described must be determined,
expressed and carried out as an integral part of the local process of city planning.
Within this process, ample latitude still exists for the creative intuition of the
designer - for the city planner as a designer of the city as a whole, and for the
architect and landscape architect as designers of specific parts of cities.
The city planner is accustomed to general concern with large areas over
an indefinite period of time, whereas the architect is accustomed to the design
and construction of specific structures for immediately forseeable needs. Site
plans, and plans for individual buildings form an intrinsic part of the whole
urban environment, however, and the responsibility for coordinating them
aesthetically with the city as a whole rests with both the city planner and the
architect and landscape architect. Awareness of this responsibility cannot fail
to give recognition to the particular vitality and potential charm of those

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 98 URBAN AESTHETICS july

fragments of the city which have b

developed gradually over a long perio
side by side. The development of th
calls for a real appreciation of the d
principles of unity and variety in a
principles to the urban scene. T
redevelopment, the design, of areas
and the city as a whole, obviously c
and other professions, such as the a
As a member of such a team, the ci
contributing an understanding of t
whole.

A Method for Studyina the Aesth

From the citizen's point of view
experience, in which sounds, sights
are blended into a composite and
develop a method for studying the a
is necessary to divide this continuum
of fragments or abstractions whic
process, those aspects of sensory e
relatively little attention - not beca
are unimportant, but because its vis
studied independently. I suggest t
should be studied in two relatively d
the visual survey of the city. The fi
visually significant, three-dimensio
including the form of its site. The
principal ways in which the city
important that the approach be fres
extraneous moral judgments, from
arts, such as architecture, or from
other historical periods.

Analysis of Three-Dimensio
Modern cities are composed of a
from buildings, trees, and telepho
back and looking at the whole, th
neighborhood, city, or metropolit
begun, therefore, at the scale where
seen simply as an interrelationship
the artificial features of man-made
and illustrated here is intended to enable the collection of data which could be
presented on one drawing, at the conclusion of a visual survey.

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i9£4 SYDNEY H. WILLIAMS 99

ng. I - I he six general types of urban site for

It is natural to begin by classifying ty

character of the site has, of course, a geolo
gated, since it gives meaning to the contour
cover, water supply and building materi
according to the following six general type
modification by the intrusion of bodies of
features. These basic forms are illustrated i
1 . Level, or gently sloping or rolling site
2. Sloping sites, backed by hills or steep
3. Valley, or gorge sites
4. Amphitheatrical, or fan-shaped sites
£. Bowl-shaped sites
6. Ridged, or hilltop sites
Bodies of water are, of course, as impor
forms listed above in the shaping of urban
3 With regard to the countryside, a geologist points ou
appreciate these (surface) aspects of landscape, without knowin
who must spend much of his time searching the ground
countryside... a country (however) is not just a jumble of hil
underlying their distribution and once this is understood th
readily appreciated.' A. E. Trueman, Geology and Scenery ,

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 ioo URBAN AESTHETICS july

river bends were often selected for re

the development of the settlements un
and become established beyond. Whe
of hard rocks, the ocean has frequent
bays and coves, resulting in amphith
urban development usually seeks vall
San Francisco, often result from peni
influence on the character of cities bu
divided by canals, like Venice and Am
site characteristics include hills, mino
and forest cover, which succumb dras
detriment of the city's character.
Even when the physical form of th
moulding the functional structure o
highly significant visually. Blind purp
in the anarchy of real estate speculat
city without regard to its site. Neve
of development are influenced by top
be visually anticipated. Natural gathe
ment, often develop in the hollow
structures such as monuments are
gathering places can be expected to
narrow valley, or along a shoreline a
shaped site. The visual satisfaction
can be a source of aesthetic satisfactio
its site is concerned. Gaston Bardet
may exhalt, utilize, or ignore its si
may really exhalt its site have yet to
Next to be classified are the significan
appear visually, in relation to the
particular feature is, of course, relative
The following is the classification pr
whole (see Figs. 2 and 3).
1 . Urban textures
2 . Green areas
3 . Circulation facilities
4. Paved open spaces
$. Individually significant architectural masses
a. vertical forms
b. slablike forms
c. massive forms
d. horizontal forms
The term urban textures, necessarily somewhat abstract, refers to the
relatively uniform mass of buildings, streets, trees, and yards of which the

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I9S4 SYDNEY H. WILLIAMS 101

Fig. 2 - Classification of man-made feat

a. Three urban textures c. Circulation facilities
b. Green areas d. Paved open spaces

greater part of the city is composed. Viewed more

a series of patterns, intricate or monotonous, but
textures at the scale of the city as a whole. They c
in the way that the surface of a forest, made up of
as a texture when seen from the air. The blurring
city implied in thus classifying so large a part of the c
their significance, but rather is intended to clarify
whole. Furthermore, the term may be appropriate
viewed from a distance, but also when it is half bli
about within it.
Just as many different kinds of forest cover
distance, so is it possible to distinguish among a num
Each of these can, of course, be distinguished,
overall appearance, but also by its particular chara
within. The most imposing of the urban textures i
district, which appears as a mass of prismatic form

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io2 URBAN AESTHETICS july

the pinnacles which so impressed Henr

years, to New York. Occasional build
individual significance, but in the mass
The urban textures of residential are
street pattern, rectangular or curving,
gives rise to a particular set of proport
roofs, and trees - green tree masses
roofs, or brick walls and asphalt roofs
The scale of development within many
patterns of rail lines, roads, towers, st
the individual elements may not merg
elements of this pattern will need to be
Parks, areas of natural cover, agricult
are very low in density, may be classifi
pattern of the city. These masses of gr
surfaces which make up the balance
water, the green areas form the most
contrast. The destruction of this con
ribbon development at the outer edges
as an entity, distinct from its natural
areas and concentrated urban develop
many of the more recent proposals for
the proposals for ribbon cities, for s
satellite or greenbelt communities.
Excluding the minor streets which I h
textures, circulation facilities include t
rail routes which serve to link the part
with the outside world. From the poin
tion facilities can be visually, as well a
these forms, the freeway, interlacing w
of surface streets, suggests aesthetic po
Viewed outwardly, circulation facilit
the parts of the city through which th
pattern of movement of people and go
rapid motion on a freeway or transit ro
and highly significant succession of view
Paved open spaces are a physical expr
intercourse. In earlier times, street
allow the milling about and gatherin
communal activities. Modern vehicular
many such spaces and isolated others fr
narrow sidewalks to those on foot.
treated as parks and inappropriately fen
areas. It has been argued that paved

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 i9£4 SYDNEY H. WILLIAMS 103

necessary in modern cities, since many c

indoors, and radio and television reduce the
The social validity of this view will not be
that the need for additional pedestrian ope
many architects and city planners. The Hea
Hoddesdon Conference of the C.I. A.M.,
need for a whole series of ' urban cores ' to
and face-to-face contact at various levels
The aesthetic value of such open spaces in pr
densely built up areas of the city, is unque
they be properly designed, for, as Gaston B
are too small do not allow free use, and spac
contact.

Individually significant architectural masses are those structures which, due to

their height, bulk, extent, or setting, really stand out visually in the t
dimensional form of the city as a whole. Visual significance is relative to th
scale of the area in question, since structures significant to a small part of
city may merge into an urban texture at the scale of the city as a whole. A v
few individual structures, such as the Golden Gate Bridge at the entranc
San Francisco Bay, are strong visual elements in relation to whole metropol
areas.

Architectural masses can be further classified into four

distinctive types, and examples of these types are illustrated. V
particularly valuable in providing points of visual orientatio
decorative and practical forms, such as bell towers, obelisks, ra
even tall smokestacks. Slablike forms, which separate and enclo
include modern apartment houses, as well as ancient city walls.
such as railroad stations and auditoriums, suggest focuses of ac
visually pronounced unless completely drowned within the
development. Horizontal forms, such as spread out factory build
may be distinguished from the surrounding urban textures by di
of organization, or by green settings. Functional considerati
circumstances, have largely dictated the location of signif
architecture within modern cities. The visual importance of suc
it clearly desirable to study the aesthetics of their placement.
In the preceding discussion, attention has been devoted almo
to form. But cities are not grey plaster models in which c
reserved exclusively for green areas and bodies of water. Co
.at present adds richness to the city, can be used to good purpose
definition to the structure of the city. At night the visual chan
are most startling: the solid forms of buildings are dissolve
points of light which delight the eye, no matter how puzzling th
may be. The solid shapes of the city are modified too by th
atmosphere and the appearance of the sky, as well as by the effe

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io4 URBAN AESTHETICS july

Fig. 3 - Classification of architectural masse

o. Vertical forms c. Massive forms
b. Slablike forms d. Horizontal forms

snow. Lastly, the physical form of the city

people themselves, by sounds and movemen
to life.
The accompanying illustration indicates that
graphically the results of a visual survey base
drawings only approximate actuality, how
studied with caution by persons who can v
represent. Used thus, such diagrams provid
presenting the aesthetic characteristics of th

Analysis of the Ways in which Cities

Although, relative to cities, works of archit
attention must be paid to the ways in whi
The complexity and extent of cities make it e
ways in which they appear to the people li
based on a classification of the principal ways
The inspiration for this was provided by G

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 1954- SYDNEY H. WILLIAMS ia$

series of photographs entitled * Townscap

Architectural Review in December, 194
* townscape.' Each of the categories is n
the city can be observed, it also represents
for the observer. I believe these spatial exp
experience within the city. The following
that I suggest (Figs, g to 8) :
1 . The Panorama
2. The Skyline
3. The Vista
4. The Urban Open Space
£. The Experience in Motion
The panorama is a broad, overall view of all or part of the city in which the
general interrelationship of the city and its site can be perceived. If the city is
seen from a hilltop, the panorama will be an oblique perspective ; if seen from
an airplane, it may appear like a map or plan. The major elements of its
three-dimensional form can usually be discerned in the panoramic view, making

Fig. 4 - Graphic presentation of the visual survey. This sketch, which is suggestive rather than
literal, shows how the three-dimensional characteristics of a city, including the form of the
site, might be recorded for study

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 io6 URBAN AESTHETICS July

Fig. 5 - This and the following figures illus

panorama

even the crudest of cities interesting. Here one can see the urban textures of
residential, commercial, and industrial areas, interlaced with thoroughfares and
spotted with green areas. If a panoramic view were the normal daily experience
for most citizens, visual orientation to the city would be half achieved. It is
obvious that every effort should be made to exploit the panoramas in those
cities fortunate enough to possess them.
The skyline is an extended horizontal view of all or part of a city from a
point at or near ground level. A relatively level and unobstructed foreground,
such as a body of water or open park, is essential in order that the skyline can
be seen from the ground, although even small open spaces may allow views which
are not revealed within the confines of narrow streets. When conditions
permit, the urban skyline shows the vertical relationships of the natural and
man-made forms within the city. When unobstructed, the skyline is a highly
revealing first view of the city to the approaching traveller. The blatant colors
of billboards, a part of fringe development in American cities, detract from the
atmospherically subdued skyline, even when they do not obstruct it.
The vista can be defined as a view penetrating deeply into space and to some
extent restricted on either side of the principal focus of attention. The
rhythmic relationships of the forms on either side may generate a feeling of
movement towards the focus of attention. Two kinds of vistas, formal and

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i9U SYDNEY H. WILLIAMS 107

Fig. 6 - a. The skyline c. The urban open space

b. The formal vista d. The informal vista

informal, can further be distinguished. The fo

a broad avenue, uniformly planted, leading dir
informal vista is the sort resulting when masse
side of a point to which attention is drawn. Th
an impressive approach to a monumental group
of large-scale design since ancient times. Th
extensively in the English landscape gardens
contrast to the formal allee, the observer's rou
seldom allowed to coincide with his line o
particularly forceful form of visual experien
frustration, should occur within the city on
important urban features. Unfortunately, A
numbers of formal vistas, created by the street
seem to lead to any particular destination.4
4 Many American writers have commented on the lonelines
loneliness be due in part to the fact that such street corners are o
all apparently leading nowhere into infinity ?

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 io8 URBAN AESTHETICS july

important buildings, or radiating f

traffic, since traffic must be led aro
freeways resemble far more, in re
winding paths of the 18th century l
boulevards. Informal, rather than fo
to the cities or this century.
The term urban open space
refers to the visual experience
within an outdoor 'room,'
which, whatever its size or
shape, is sufficiently enclosed
by natural or man-made forms
to be recognised as a defined
volume. The ancient Greek
agora, and the Roman forum
are classic examples of urban
open spaces. Later examples
are Medieval market places and
the Renaissance plazas. The
social and aesthetic needs for
spaces, similar 'to these, inPig. 7 - The experience in motion - rhythmic variation

modern cities were discussed earlier. The urban open space, as a form of visual
experience, includes, in addition to specially designed spaces, large areas, such as
enclosed urban valleys, and small ones, such as segments of streets. Urban open
spaces may be simple, enclosed, rectangular areas, or complex series of inter-
penetrating spaces. In any case, the urban open space, since it envelops the
observer, has a highly significant effect on him, both as a space inviting freedom
of movement, and as an enclosure confining and directing this movement. The
visual survey must discover and describe all important urban volumes.
Experience in motion refers to the perception of a continuous sequence of
aspects of the urban scene, as an observer moves about the city. The observer's
movement is an aid to his visual grasp of the surrounding forms, since his move-
ment defines the relationships of the planes and spaces of which the forms are
composed. Under the proper circumstances, rapid movement through the
city by automobile or transit vehicle can reveal the essential three-dimensional
structure of the city. Relatively rapid movement is, in addition, a rhythmic
experience akin to music, with potentialities for aesthetic enjoyment in the
design and landscaping of all circulation routes. At present, the landscaping of
highways seldom seems to have recognised the need for the kind of rhythmic
variation which is interesting to an observer travelling at fifty miles per hour.
Of particular significance within the city are the spatial sensations, or
feelings of alternate enclosure and release, which result as one moves about
within it. But if the confined boundaries of the street are broken only by
intersections at regular intervals rather than by a variety of open spaces, the
experience in motion may be highly monotonous. The province of experiencing

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 i9£4 SYDNEY H. WILLIAMS 109

through motion the smaller segments o

the extent that visually significant ped
These five categories of perception ar
ways in which we may actually perce
city is modified in many ways, both by
contributed by the
himself. Associative values
are attributed to historic and
commemorative monuments

enriching visual perception

and stimulating civic pride,
and they give these symbols a
place in the city for which
architecture that only imitates
historical styles is a poor sub-
stitute. Associative values
derived from snobbishness
according to which certain
parts of the city are admired
even if they are inherently
Fig. 8 - The experience in motion - monotony
ugly, are as unfortunate in the
study of urban aesthetics as in the other arts. Nevertheless, it is in urban
aesthetics in particular that attention must be paid to the artistic preferences of
the average citizen.
Perception of the urban scene, as I have said, is strongly modified by daily
and seasonal changes that influence weather, light, and atmospheric effects. In
addition, the occurrence of partial screening in the foreground, or elsewhere,
modifies for the observer the nature of the forms and spaces he perceives.
Contemporary architecture makes extensive use of the effects of partial screening,
and of the inter-penetration of spaces, and this suggests important potentialities
to be explored in urban aesthetics. The words ' enrichment ' and ' clutter '
suggest the good and bad effects of the miscellaneous minor features which
modify the basic character of the urban scene as it is perceived. Some of these
features in the contemporary city, such as overhead wires and the supporting
poles, and most billboards, seldom seem to add anything to the urban landscape
except clutter, while others, such as monuments, and the decorated surfaces of
buildings, may add enrichment or clutter, depending upon circumstances.
We would all be happier if our cities had less clutter, but to identify urban
aesthetics only with the removal of clutter, as anti-billboard groups sometimes
seem to do, would be wrong. Our concern with this problem should not
divert us from penetrating beneath the clutter to discover the essential forms
of which the urban scene is composed.
The analysis of the ways in which the city can be perceived cannot be set
out as simply as the overall three-dimensional structure of the city. Both the
particularly significant, and the most typical views within the city, however,

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 no URBAN AESTHETICS july

should be recorded for study with sk

marked on a key map. If the terrain
which exist or can be developed, an
structure of the city, should be reco
noted, even if a suitable foreground
should be made to locate good vistas
which should be the focus of atten
made of urban open spaces, both t
play a part in the future life of the
space should be evaluated in relation
for the study and recording of the ex
including the use of moving pictures

Aesthetic Principles Appropriate

The information resulting from a v

evaluated if it is to be used as a basi
exercise creative design one cannot
field, since the field itself hardly
explore the aesthetic principles whic
the accumulated experience of skilled
of aesthetic theories, however, which
ment.

The relationship between the individual and his environment, defined as

visual perception, is admittedly a complex psychological process which is at
present beyond precise analysis. Gyorgy Kepes points out that:
' We live in the midst of a whirlwind of light qualities. From this whirling confusion we build
unified entities, those forms of experience called visual images. To perceive an image is to par-
ticipate in a forming process; it is a creative act.'5
It is obvious that the process of building * unified entities ' from the complex
three-dimensional stuff of the urban environment is more difficult than building
such entities from simpler, self-contained works of architecture and art. In
addition, however, visual perception consists of a fusion of sensory, intellectual,
and emotional elements, all of which must be considered in the study of the
response. Stephen Pepper points out that the presence or lack of aesthetic
enjoyment may be traced to each of these elements, i.e., to direct sensory
stimulation, to the satisfaction of the impulse to organise individual fragments
into recognizable wholes, and to the satisfaction of internal emotional drives.6
Examples of each of these elements in perception are to be found in the urban
environment. Direct sensory stimulation is provided by the forms and colors
which everywhere surround the urban dweller. The impulse to organize
individual fragments into recognizable wholes is satisfied in the city only to the
5 Gyorgy Kepes, Language of Vision, Paul Theobald, 1944, p.i£.
6 Stephen C. Pepper, Principles of Art Appreciation, Harcourt Brace, 1949.

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 i9£4 SYDNEY H. WILLIAMS in

extent that the chaotic nature of much ur

to establish the existence of such who
internal drive in hot climates which may
by the provision of cool, shaded terraces
do not explain how beautiful cities may
that there are many different ways in
environment may be made psychologically
A work of art will avoid the fatiguing
will retain the observer's interest, by in
release. In more specific terms it will ex
uniformity, such as balance and repetitio
variety, such as contrast and variation.
whole, exhibiting unity, dominance, and
Principles such as these are applicable to
though one should not expect that cities w
particular works of art. In compensation
be counted on to offer a visual richne
years of superimposed development. F
differences among the visual arts of pain
design - in terms of purpose, techniqu
share in common such elements as line, t

Application of Aesthetic Principle

The following suggestions are plainly

which will actually guide the practice
actual experiments which are yet to be m
design in the other arts, is a creative pr
application of aesthetic principles to th
carried out by persons qualified for s
improving the aesthetic characteristics of
point to the need for clear and coherent
ships among their elements. The followin
are not thought of in relation to any par
organization.
To take first the city as a whole, I suggest that the broad masses of the
urban textures should be clearly articulated and should be of sizes determined
by social and functional, as well as aesthetic requirements. They should be
separated by green areas or by traffic routes capable of providing a visual
articulation. At the edge of the city there should be a clear separation between
urban and rural development - which is not to say that the boundary between
city and country should necessarily be a simple line, or that rural or green
strips should not penetrate into the city. The natural form of the site should
be consciously exploited, and individual forms, such as hills, used to dramatize

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ii2 URBAN AESTHETICS july

man-made structures, when such

spaces should be located at points
provide contrast to the built-up
possibly by vertical forms, in such
other parts of the city. Individuall
with urban open spaces, should be
essential set of visual reference poin
the city. These elements should p
and establish, together with the vist
to the broader relationships of the
routes. This underlying visual coun
and directed to the citizen's atten
skyline views, and the experience in
In the design of smaller areas wit
the distinction between accepted ae
those appropriate for fragments of
structures. It may be an intrinsic
adds the proper touch of form o
within the city should be given stud
or atmosphere. A residential area
it should not exhibit the deadly visu
sections today. Visual excitement, o
to shopping centers, provided that
result in complete visual chaos. W
satisfied, industrial areas are inheren
the scale of the industrial process
express the participation of human
that the clues to civic design are
possible to develop the means for e
phere for each part of the city.

Conclusions

I have argued that the aesthetic

apparent through the visual percep
to the many people who must spend
that people are affected by the v
though they may seem to be unawa
a real improvement of the urban en
of all the fundamental human needs,
It becomes apparent also that aesthe
city and not merely some of its part
I have tried to show that it is p
survey of the city which will reveal

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i9U SYDNEY H. WILLIAMS 113

the visually significant three-dimensiona

I think, however, that such a visual su
used in conjunction with a survey and
three-dimensional forms are or can be
satisfactory basis for studying the city in
Intelligent analysis of the aesthetic char
of civic design, must rest firmly on a k
physical characteristics of urban life. Civ
and as such it is dependent at many stag
be used by individuals who really know
this reason, it is my conviction that the
aesthetic terms, of the city as a whole bel
the city planner cannot carry out this re
tion of architects, engineers, landscape ar
To be successfully achieved in weste
must be incorporated into the democrati
planning. I do not believe that the ins
could, even if they were achieved, ever p
contemporary urban society. The proc
developed, depend upon public participat
stages. Therefore, if it is to be successfu
ment must also be based on sympathetic

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