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Principle of Urban Design

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I
Design of Cities and Urban Spaces
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Urban areas
▪Man made structure
▪Full of infrastructure and super structure
▪Heterogeneous group of people
▪Not more than 25% of the area is agricultural

Social component (social capital) includes values, citizens’ laws (norms), culture,
traditions, behavior, safety/security, demography….
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Rural areas
▪GOD made structure
▪No infrastructure and superstructure
▪Homogeneous group of people
▪Not less than 75% of the area is an agricultural

man-made (buildings,
infrastructure...) and natural elements (land, air, water, climate, open spaces, flora and
fauna)…
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“city is composed of different kinds of people; similar

people cannot bring a city into existence”
(Aristotle, 384-322 BC)
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Urbanism
▪the way of life people living in the urban center
▪takes the form of private and public spaces, built and
un-built environments
▪composed of a “fabric” of solids and voids often
represented as figure-ground
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▪creating “figural-space” by giving more importance to

the quality and definition of the collective public realm
▪Being ‘urban’ has a lot to do with people in the public
spaces. In fact urbanity could not have developed
without the free movement of people in public spaces
(streets, squares, open spaces…)

The public space is an integral part of any urban area. The identity and quality of an
urban area is not only a factor of the quality of its private spaces but by large the
public realm
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Why Urban Design emerged as a Separate Discipline?

▪Urban planning is the discipline of land-use organization
which deals with the
•physical,
•social,
•economic development,
•political and managerial ‫ـ‬aspects of urban areas;
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▪Architecture is concerned with the design of individual

buildings;
▪Landscape design concerned on the features of the
natural space;
▪Transport Planning focuses on road traffic
management…
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▪There was no profession, which deals with the public

realm, and which provides a framework on the overall
effects of development interventions in the urban scene.
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Urban Design
▪‘The way places are designed affects our ability to move,
see, hear and communicate effectively.
▪Urban design essentially is a process by which quality in
the built environment is facilitated.
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▪It is the three-dimensional design of a city both at the

local and city scales.
▪It deals with the design of new and regeneration of
existing settlements.
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▪Urban design is the three-dimensional design of a city

both at the local and city scales. It deals with the design
of new and regeneration of existing settlements.
▪It is the art of place making or city building; the process
of shaping the physical setting for life in cities, towns,
villages....
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▪Urban Design is ‘the relationship between different

buildings and the streets, squares, parks, waterways and
other spaces which make up the public domain.
▪the relationship of one part of a town or city with other
parts; and the patterns of movement and activity which
are thereby established.
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▪Region District Neighborhood

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Acceptable way of Classification of cities

1. pre-industrial city
2. Industrial city and
3. Post-industrial city
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1. The pre-industrial city
▪Concept by the Us Geographer Gideon Sjoberg in the
1960
▪Islamic cities of the near east, but the idea of the pre-
industrial city today covers European cities before the
industrial revolution(particularly in the mediaeval period)
▪An old town with narrow winding streets enclosed by
defensive walls
▪Walled extended family compound
▪Streets are totally irregular as they are merely the
spaces left between the compound
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2. The industrial city
▪Many of the larger city of the world, specially in North
America and Europe.
▪Associated with the rapid urbanization
▪Pre-dominantly agricultural society to an industrialized
one
▪Segregation of functions becomes much more
noticeable
▪Depopulated city center and mainly given to commercial
functions
▪Housing types reflects big social and economic division
with in the population
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▪Housing types reflects big social and economic division

with in the population
▪This rapid urbanization results
•Pollution
•Congestion
•Waste disposal
•Unsatisfactory housing
•Unemployment(because of ….)
•crime
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2. post-industrial city
▪Dating back to the second half of the twentieth century
▪Cities needed to adjust to other forms of employment in
light manufacturing
▪Demolition and clearance of large area of heavy
industrial plant
▪Replacement of one physical form with the other
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▪The growth of office towers and luxury high- rises or

refurbishing of old waterfronts
▪Cafe’s and boutiques arise to feed and clothe the new
classes.-
▪Global cities
▪Ideal cities
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World War II impact on cities development

▪large segregated single-use zone areas
▪ unbreakable with too wide streets and
▪ large parking lots that are designed to make cars happy
but hostile (unfriendly) for people
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▪pedestrians-hostile
▪large-buildings-setbacks –
▪usually with high solid fences – that failed to properly
define the public realm
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▪buildings with their backs or sides turned towards the

street confronting the pedestrians with long blank walls
and building utilities
▪large street blocks with no cross access or connecting
streets (alleyways)
▪money replaced known social values and structures
such as religion
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▪in addition, public spaces became leftover spaces of the

private spaces development, a result of uncoordinated
exercises carried out by various professionals
▪exposed to abuse and problems: unsafe, dirty and
dominated by minority user - the car

Due to world war II cities generally became ugly, unhealthy and often with conflicting
social relations thus hostile to the majority of their population the poor.
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Public spaces and Urban Areas

▪Public spaces are everywhere, in and between the
places where we live, work and relax. All of us - rich or
poor, old or young, men or female – living in cities,
towns, villages or the countryside - use public spaces
every time we leave our homes
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❑Public spaces are

▪the streets and paths we use on the way to work, shops,
school, or hang out with friends.
▪the parks and play areas, town centers and waterfronts
we visit on weekends or holiday.
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▪the privately owned and managed places to which the

public has free access, such as car-parks, shopping malls,
leisure and business parks, and bus or rail stations or
terminals.
▪the front faces of our buildings which are seen from the
public space
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▪The quality of public spaces has a major impact on our

lives. It affects our sense of well-being, experience and
feeling about the places where we and others live, work
and relax
▪Everybody of us everyday make decisions which, when
and how we use places/areas. Many of these decisions
are influenced by our perception of the quality and safety
of the spaces we encounter
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▪Degraded public spaces are not a sign of a vibrant

community. Concerns about the real or perceived quality
of public spaces affect all areas and are bound up with
the social and economic life of communities; indicating
whether a community is on the up, in decline or in
recovery.
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▪Ugly, dirty and dangerous, poor quality places make

people, businesses and investments to move to better
places; encourage anti-social behaviours; undermine
public confidence; discourage investments and eventually
lead to the malfunction of the areas
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▪Whereas quality environment makes people to visit a

place
▪invest 0n it and
▪pursue healthier lifestyles through exercise such as
▪walking,
▪cycling and
▪active children's play
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characteristics of Well-organized living spaces

▪giving people a sense of access, comfort, and joy
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▪making successful
vibrant, livable and
people-oriented
Places;
▪creating community
pride
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▪attracting and maintaining high quality investments

▪achieving urban regeneration,
▪economic development,
▪real social improvement and
▪sustainable urban areas
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▪Main Objectives of Urban Design

▪to create places:- which are not only beautiful, but also
properly function and reflect the different
▪social,
▪economy and
▪cultural need of and goals of the current society
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▪to create a place for the society which is

▪Healthy settlements that ‘make life more safe,
▪convenient and pleasant’, which care for the total well being of
their citizens
▪Comfortable space for the day to day activities
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▪to create successful urban areas by integrating time

tasted ideas with new ideas, including how people relate
to, feel about, and use their places
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▪to create a ‘sense of place’ and ensure that an area has

identity, where public and private spaces are clearly
distinguished yet integrated
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Major Benefits of Urban Design

▪underpins the role of towns and cities as centers of
economic, cultural and social activity
▪helps neighborhoods and communities to be self-
sufficiency, permanent thus sustainable
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▪attracts businesses and investments by improving the

quality of the existing area as well creates a condition for
small-scale businesses to establish and operate
▪helps revitalize historic structures/places instead of
replacing them with short-term/throw-away structures,
visual blights…
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▪relieves pressure for developments on green-field

sites, thus reduces costly urban sprawls
▪promotes functional and social mix that helps
reduce extreme polarization among citizens
▪improves neighborhood values by making them
healthy, safe, memorable and dignified
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▪promotes ‘citizens surveillance’ of places, reducing
crime and enhancing urban livability
▪reduces the need for travel - the distance and
number of trips - and increases transport choices
▪reduces air, noise, visual… pollutions
▪makes all including disadvantaged people feel safe
and independent in their world and making
▪walking feel more enjoyable
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Challenges in Practicing Urban Design
▪Identified a number of gaps
❑ between contextual knowledge of urban design
and either the design activity or the processes of
implementation;
❑ between the formulation of design proposals and
the means for their implementation;
❑ between national, regional and city-wide policies
and the private and public realm (territory)projects;
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▪time limitations: creating civilized places takes time, and

urban design must be there right at the initial stage of
urban planning, or major opportunities are easily lost....
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Urban Design Principles
▪Good qualities in urban design are achieved through the
application of urban design principles
▪The principles are not rigid which should be followed
slavishly (unquestioning)
▪Good design results from a consideration of the widest
range of concerns and issues – imaginative and creative
resolution of potential conflicts
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I
Permeability
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▪The number of alternative ways through an

environment is a measure of an area's permeability.
People can move around with greater ease and with
more choice through a permeable environment than
through an un-permeable one.
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▪New development should maximize permeability both

within the site and in the wider area
▪It would often be desirable for paths into a site to join
rather than forming a series of dead-ends
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▪New development will be expected to exploit

opportunities to improve choice and convenience of
movement
▪Permeability ‐ is the ease with which one can move
through and get to various locations. Such places are
integrated or connected physically to their surrounding
areas.
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▪A successful movement system
❑provides the maximum choice for people to make their
journey
❑ takes into full account all modes of movement;
▪by foot,
▪by cycle,
▪by public transport and
▪by car(in that order of importance)
❑makes clear connections to existing roads and facilities
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physical and Visual Permeability

▪A well‐designed movement system should contribute to
the development of interconnected street networks both
physically and visually
❑Large block size decreases permeability
❑Too many turns in the public spaces kill visual permeability
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May be let us
try that
Where is way
the village
Where is that
is dead end
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Public‐Private spaces Interface

▪One of the basic sources of choice steams from our
ability to live both public and private life in private and
public spaces
▪The private and public spaces are interdependent and
complementary spaces
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▪Thus people should be allowed to access (physical

and/or visual) across the two spaces interface
▪But, making everywhere accessible to everyone will
erode privacy and degrade the quality of urban life
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▪Both physical and visual permeability occurs at
front/entrances to buildings or gardens increasing the
level of activities around its edges
▪This implies:
❑ many entrances and public private activities to be
located round the edge of the public spaces; and
❑private activities to be located at the back, way from
visual contact with the public realm
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Private space Public space

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Perimeter Blocks
▪Locating public activities of the private space at the
front (near the public realm) and the private activities at
the back implies a perimeter block urban structure.
▪In the perimeter block, buildings will always have faces:
the public/front face of the building which faces the
street where the entrances are; the private/back face of
the building, which faces the inside of the block.
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▪Perimeter Blocks
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II
Variety
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❑Variety- is about the presences of

▪different activities
▪forms and
▪people
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❑Variety/mixed-use can be appropriate at different

scales from national to local environments; city to town or to
village; neighborhoods or street; or in single structure.

❑Creating variety can help to attract people to live, work and

play in the same area and helps to determine how well a
place is used, and what economic and social activities it
will support.
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❑Places are more active when they have windows and

doors which connect to the street rather than blank facades.
❑Places feel safer with buildings overlooking them. Living
spaces above shops will encourage evening activities on city streets
because the streets are overlooked and feel safer.
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❑Variety:- Vitality
❑Vitality (strong) Places those are
▪vibrant
▪safe
▪comfortable
▪varied
▪fun and
▪active
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❑Sustainable Cities and neighborhoods will need to

embrace density, diversity and mix of uses, users, building types,
and public spaces
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❑This results from
▪a closely unite mix of uses (e.g. offices, residences, coffee
shops etc.),
▪with sufficient density, and which are accessible to a
diversity of users (e.g. children, youth, seniors, high-income, low-
income, etc.).
❑Dense mixed use neighborhoods also allow for the effective
functioning of all types of business, social and cultural activities with
very low inputs of energy for transportation and logistics, thus
increasing the resilience of these neighborhoods.
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❑Mixing tenures promotes social diversity and it is therefore

important to spread different building types and tenures
across this range. Mixing different tenures throughout an area
ensure that a variety of housing types and ownership patterns are
sprinkled, rather than clustered into exclusive enclaves.
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❑Successful communities require a full range of local
services and facilities, including commercial, educational,
health, spiritual and civic uses. These need to be conveniently
sited and connected to residential areas by safe and
comfortable routes.
❑A successful and sustainable local neighborhood is a
product of the distances people have to walk to access daily
facilities, the presence of a sufficient range of such facilities to
support their needs, and places and spaces where a variety
of activities can take place.
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Effects of segregation
❑Slums and deteriorating areas are not accidents,
imperfections mistakes or exceptions; they are the result
of land-use separation;
❑The root cause of slums is found in the places that have
imposed a rule of oversimplification: the suburbia;
❑Simplified urban pattern with none or less richness,
complexity, surprise or choice; eclipses the essence of
urban life-diversity;
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❑Rapidly reduces the urban system’s capacity to adapt:

’adaptability’ is essential for social as well as biological
success;
Caused standardization and regimentation of human life;
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❑Creates socially primitive communities and visually

monotonous large areas with on incentive for exploration and
discovery;
❑Locks people into lifestyle dominated by fear of conflicts,
disorder, complex interaction…; ‘a desire to be surrounded by peers’
❑Environmental degradation, social strife and
marginalization of the less-affluent groups;
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❑Drive people apart and alienate them from each other,

allowing minimum social contact;
❑Increases the area taken by highways and vast car
parking lots;
❑In diversified urban areas children have an array of
educational experiences and exploration, thus ample
opportunities to express their biological needs.
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Cause of segregation
❑1.Urban-succession is the cyclical replacement of an
area by social groups in urban areas,
❑2.Urban gentrification is where renewal of a
deteriorated area makes an area a favorable for the high
income to return.
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❑3.Project approach’ in city development without

reference to the surrounding urban pattern, street
network , walkway, scale:
▪Large-scale projects constructed on large parcels of land
▪Large corporations displaced the traditional urban
decision-makers; destroying the balance between the
forces of change and the forces that oppose such
changers;
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❑4.Socio-cultural preferences formalized and reinforced

by social class systems and the planning… tool, zoning.
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❑5.Cultural preference: some societies, space is used ‘
space is used ‘ as a way of indicating status…’, thus
becoming a cause for spatial segregation;
❑6.Anti-urban attitudes or suburbanization;
▪Unbalanced economic growth causes inequality and
breaks-up community due to the emergence of spatial
segregation;
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❑7.Excessively higher land and real-estate prices and
lack of mass-transit facilities.
▪Economic barriers erected by private and public sector
developers, supported by planners protect the needs of
the few affluent groups.
▪Better housing clustered in good location, command
higher prices, enjoy high-quality services, thus high
property taxes, laying barrier for the less affluent groups;
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❑8.Professional planners often support or sometimes

aggravate the situation by reinforcing segregated
patterns thus easily become instruments of the powerful
groups.
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❑Mixed use development works well in higher densities

because there are more people to support the variety of
activities.
❑A successful mix of use results when the uses are
compatible and interact with each other positively.
❑A successful mix is achieved when the range of uses
and services create a balanced community, without
increasing the need for cars
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❑Narrow frontage plot allow small scale activities to

flourish.
❑To promote social inclusion, social housing should be
distinguished from private housing by its design or its
location.
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III
Legibility
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▪Kelvin Lynch (1960s) legibility of a city and its elements
•Interviewed urbanites in Boston Jersey City, and Los Angeles
•Most established a “generalized mental picture of the external
physical world”
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❑The Image of The City and Its Elements
▪Paths: “channels along which the observer customarily
moves”
▪Edges: “the boundaries between two areas”
▪Districts: “represent medium-to-large sections of the
city”
▪Nodes: “points of intense activity”
▪Landmarks: “physical reference points”
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Paths

“channels along which the observer customarily…moves” - Kevin Lynch

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“An edge is defined as a boundary between two areas, including
shores, walls, wide streets, breaks between buildings, and open
spaces.” - Kevin Lynch

Edge
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Districts
“represent medium-to-large sections of the city”
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Nodes
“points of intense
activity, focal points
intersections or loci”
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Landmarks
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How design affect choice ?

The design of a place affects the choices people can make, at many
levels.
▪Where people can go (permeability)
▪What Available range of uses (Variety)
▪How easily people can understand the opportunities given
(Legibility)
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▪How people can use a given place for different purposes

(Robustness)
▪ How the detailed appearance of a place makes people aware
of the choice available (Visual Appropriateness)
▪People choice of sensory experiences (Richness)
▪The extent to which people can put their own stamp on a place
(Personalization)
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Cont…
▪Character
▪Continuity & Enclosure
▪Quality of the Public Realm
▪Ease of Movement
▪Legibility
▪Adaptability
▪Diversity
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What is the people perception on cities ?
▪The economic success of a city is increasingly dependent on how it
is perceived and remembered.

▪There seems to be a public image of any given city which is the

overlap of many individual images. Or perhaps there is a series of
public images, each held by some significant number of citizens.

▪Such group images are necessary if an individual is to operate

successfully within his environment and to cooperate with his
fellows.
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▪People use advantage of the layout when they can grasp the place
▪The quality which makes a place graspable is called legibility
▪Legibility is important at two levels: Physical form and Activity
Patterns
ophysical form is just the form of the place (@ aesthetic level)
oPatterns of use concerned with the functional use of a place
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The traditional city
▪In traditional city places that look important were important. Places
of public relevance could easily be identified

▪where privacy and security permitted, many buildings allowed the

passer- by to see the activities inside
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The modern City
▪In most Modern cities places that are important owned by
companies which occupy key city center positions. They visually
overwhelm publicly-relevant places and facilities confusing
important activity patterns

▪The confusion is made worse because important public buildings

and publicly –irrelevant private ones often look alike
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▪The point of legible layout is that people are able to form clear
accurate images of it.
▪Various researches has explored that there is an overlap between
different peoples mental images of a given environment.
▪Kevin lynch in 1960s shows that the these shared features can be
grouped
▪In his experiment, he used Los Angeles, Boston, and Jersey City as
case studies.
▪ By analyzing the results of this work, Lynch would be able to
observe specifically what a city's built environment is important to
the people who live there.
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▪One of Lynch's innovations was the concept of place legibility,

which is essentially the ease with which people understand the
layout of a place.
▪By introducing this idea, Lynch was able to isolate distinct features
of a city, and see what specifically is making it so vibrant, and
attractive to people
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▪To understand the layout of a city, people first and foremost create
a mental map.
▪Mental maps of a city are mental representations of what the city
contains, and its layout according to the individual.
▪These mental representations, along with the actual city, contain
many unique elements, which are defined by Lynch as a network of
paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks.
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1 .Paths.
▪Paths are the channels along which the observer customarily,
occasionally, or potentially moves.
▪They may be streets, walkways, transit lines, canals, railroads.
▪For many people, these are the predominant elements in their
image.
▪People observe the city while moving through it, and along these
paths the other environmental elements are arranged and related.
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2 Edges.
▪Edges are the linear elements not used or considered as paths by
the observer.
▪They are the boundaries between two phases, linear breaks in
continuity: shores, railroad cuts, edges of development walls.
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3 Districts.
▪Districts are the medium-to-large sections of the city, conceived of
as having two-dimensional extent, which the observer mentally
enters “inside of,” and which are recognizable as having some
common, identifying character.
▪Always identifiable from the inside, they are also used for exterior
reference if visible from the outside.
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4. Nodes
▪Nodes are points, the strategic spots in a city into which an
observer can enter, and which are the intensive foci to and from
which he is traveling.
▪They may be primarily junctions, places of a break in
transportation, a crossing or convergence of paths, moments of shift
from one structure to another.
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5 Landmarks.
▪Landmarks are another type of point-reference, but in this case the
observer does not enter within them, they are external.
▪They are usually a rather simply defined physical object: building,
sign, store, mountain or etc.
▪Their use involves the singling out of one element from a host of
possibilities.
▪ Some landmarks are distant ones, typically seen from many angles
and distances, over the tops of smaller elements, and used as radial
references.
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▪The steps for utilizing these elements of legibility are

▪ To know the physical form worth taking as models for
legible layout
▪ To think in terms of these elements
▪Public participation is important for legibility analysis. (to add the
inputs of the public)
▪Consider the permeable path as the dominant element in the
creation of mental image
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▪Permeability is the extent to which an environment allows peoples

a choice of access through it and from other place to it.
▪Permeability is important in two scales
•The connection of the site to the city as a whole
•The connection of the site to its immediate surrounding
▪In this process paths can be reinforce by giving each path a strong
character and by bringing out relative importance of each path
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▪All paths should have their own identity to avoid similarity.

▪This can be done by height consideration, functional identity,
detailed architectural consideration and etc.
▪Nodes should be given certain significance. All nodes should not be
given equal emphasis
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▪The degree of emphasis on nodes depends on three main factors
I.The functional role of the streets forming the junctions (The more
functional role the streets have the more concern given to spatial
emphasis to relate between the form and the use)
II.The activities in adjacent buildings(like above the more public
relevant buildings the more spatial relevance is needed)
III.The expectations set by other nodes within the district
concerned(These focus on the major and minor node based on their
relative importance)
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IV
Robustness
Design Private and public open spaces
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V
Accessibility
 SAFETY AND SECURITY
CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN

❖NATURAL SURVEILLANCE
❖TERRITORIAL REINFORCEMENT
❖NATURAL ACCESS CONTROL
❖ACTIVITY SUPPORT:
❖TARGET HARDENING
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sustainable Urban
Development
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T HE END