Principles of Urban

Design

URBAN DESIGN (AR-7104)

Department of Architecture
National Institute of Technology, Patna
 PRINCIPLES OF URBAN SPACE

• CHARACTER
• CONTINUITY AND ENCLOSURE
• PUBLIC REALM
• EASE OF MOVEMENT
• LEGIBILITY
• ADAPTABILITY
• DIVERSITY
• HUMAN SCALE
• TRANSPARENCY
• COMPLEXITY
• COHERENCE
• IMAGEAIBILTY
 CHARACTER

A place with its own identity, to promote character in Townscape & landscape by responding to and reinforcing locally
distinctive Patterns of development, landscape and culture.
• Protect and enhance the buildings, street, materials, landmarks and views that are unique and give the campus/city its
identity.
• The appearance of the built environment defines an area’s identity and character and creates a sense of place.
• Many areas of the campus have a well established character that needs to be protected and enhanced.
• No site is a blank slate. It will have shape and there will be adjacent development and a history which make it a
distinctive place.
• This context should be established for each site and responded to in order to build something that is recognizable and
special
 CONTINUITY AND ENCLOSURE

A place where public and private spaces are clearly distinguished. To promote the continuity of street frontages and the
enclosure of space by development which clearly defines private & public areas.

• Create streets and public spaces that are well connected and enclosed
by attractive building frontages.
• Every building is just one part of the fabric of the campus/City which is
held together by the network of streets and spaces.
• Well enclosed and connected spaces allow using and enjoying the
campus conveniently and in comfort
• The street forms the interface between the public and private realm.
• Developing and protecting the urban fabric or structure with strong
spatial continuity and a good sense of enclosure will benefit the campus
over time.
 PUBLIC REALM
A place with attractive and successful outdoor spaces. To Promote public spaces and routes that are attractive, safe,
uncluttered and work Effectively for all in society, including disabled and elderly people.

• Create high quality public spaces that are attractive, safe, comfortable,
well maintained, welcoming and accessible to everyone.
• The term ‘public realm’ means any part of the campus that can be
experienced by everyone, from buildings to bollards. Everything in the
public realm has an effect on the campus/City image and character.
• A key principle is that ‘people attract people’.
• Places which feel good will encourage people to use them and places
which are well used stand a better chance of being well cared for.
• The aim is to produce friendly, vibrant public places where people feel
welcome to visit, socialize and go about their business and leisure in
comfort and safety.
• Buildings define spaces and good architecture is obviously important.
 EASE OF MOVEMENT

Ease of movement a place that is easy to get to and move through. To promote accessibility and local permeability by
making places that connect with each other and are easy to move through, putting people before traffic and integrating
land uses and transport.

• Make the campus easy and safe to get to and move around in,
particularly for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Movement of all kinds is the lifeblood of any campus.
• The movement network must operate in a way which brings the campus
to life, yet high levels of traffic can impact negatively on quality of life
and perception of place.
• Transport planning should acknowledge that streets have vital social,
economic and amenity roles in addition to that of being channels for
vehicles.
• A well designed urban structure will have a network of streets and space
that can accommodates these roles as well as the traffic
 LEGIBILITY

refers to the ease with which the spatial structure of a place can be understood and navigated as a whole. The legibility of
a place is improved by a street or pedestrian network that provides travelers with a sense of orientation, and relative
location and by physical elements that serve as reference points.

• Create a place that both residents and visitors can understand and easily
navigate.
• Good urban design can help to create a campus that is easy to
understand and find one’s way about.
• Streets, buildings, vistas, visual details and activities should be used to
• give a strong sense of place and to provide an understanding of
destinations and routes.
• A legible urban environment is the sum of many of the urban design
principles.
 LEGIBILITY

• ROUTES - the routes people take are a key element in the way the
campus is perceived.
• LANDMARKS - landmarks include public art or a unique lighting scheme,
traffic signals, a strong element of urban character such as a distinctive
• building or a striking vista.
• FOCAL POINTS - public spaces are key to the legibility of any place. the
best are active areas where people gather and meet and such focal
• points should be emphasized, given clear definition and purpose.
• VIEW- protect key views and create new vistas and landmarks to help
people locate themselves in the campus and create links within and
beyond the immediate area.
• SIGNAGE- the provision of good signage Different are necessary to
create a environment where information seamlessly fills navigational
gaps, heightens the sense of place and helps people interpret their
surroundings.
 ADAPTABILITY

Adaptability a place that can change easily. To promote adaptability through development that can respond to changing
social, technological and economic conditions.

• Create a campus that can adapt to change so that buildings may come
and go, but the streets last a lifetime.
• Successful campus’s accept change and continually adapt to remain
vibrant over time.
• Thoughtful and good urban design is required to achieve this flexibility.
• New developments and public realm improvements should be
designed both to respect the existing context and to accommodate
future change.
 DIVERSITY

Diversity a place with variety and choice. To promote diversity and choice through a mix of compatible developments and
uses that work together to create viable places that respond to local needs.

• Create a campus with variety and choice. Encourage a mix of uses

(institutional,residential, leisure, ) and architectural styles to create
vibrant campus.
• Housing, leisure, places to work and meet should interrelate to form an
identifiable and walk able campus that meets the needs of residents.
• The campus’s which benefit from a mixture of good amenities have the
• means to support their own requirements and reinforce a sense of
community.
 HUMAN SCALE

Human Scale refers to size, texture, articulation of physical elements that

match the size and proportions of humans and, equally important,
correspond to the speed at which humans walk. Building details, pavement
texture, street trees and street furniture are all physical elements
contributing to human scale.

Moderate-sized buildings, narrow streets, and small spaces create an

intimate environment; the opposite is true for large
buildings, wide streets, and open spaces.

Today too many things are built to accommodate the bulk and rapid speed of
the automobile: we are designing for 100
km/h. For pedestrians the information field should be scaled for offering a
rich and coherent information at 5 km/h.

These distances and speeds set the limits of human scale. The most highly
regarded public squares in Europe are almost all smaller than10,000 square
meters; most are smaller than 8,000 square meters.
 TRANSPARENCY
Transparency refers to the degree people can see or perceive what
lies beyond the edge of a street or other public space and, more
specifically, the degree to which people can see or perceive human
activity beyond the edge of a street or other public space. Physical
elements that influence transparency include walls; windows,
doors, fences, landscaping, and openings into midblock spaces
 COMPLEXITY
Complexity refers to the visual richness of a place. The complexity of a place depends on the variety of the physical
environment, specifically the number and kinds of buildings, architectural diversity and ornamentation, landscape elements,
street furniture, signage and human activity.
Narrow buildings in varying arrangements add to complexity, whereas wide buildings subtract.
 COHERENCE
Coherence refers to a sense of visual order. The degree of coherence is influenced by
consistency and complementarity in the scale, character, and arrangement of building,
landscaping, street furniture, paving materials, and other physical elements. Medium rise
buildings line the street providing a coherent and vibrant streetscape.
 IMAGEABILITY
Imageability is the quality of a place that makes it distinct Imageability plays to the innate human ability to see and
remember patterns: a place whose elements are easily identifiable and grouped into an overall pattern:
- Landmarks (singularity and location)
- Sense of place: a characteristic visual theme