DATA

COLLECTION
TECHNIQUES
-URBAN DESIGN

TPR251: URBAN DESIGN & PUBLIC LIFE | LECTURE 3

Primary concern in urban design is to create
sense of place of which sympathetic
response to the context is of utmost important.

Assessment of sense of place can be done by

undertaking a visual survey and townscape
appraisal of a place.

The objective is to understand the

characteristics that give the character of the
place. There are five important techniques that
can be used to assess and analyse the sense of
place of a city which are:

Townscape appraisal

Visual survey
Perceptual survey
Behavioural observation
Morphological study.
• Townscape appraisal is a method of evaluating
the visual and aesthetic qualities of a town or
urban area.
• It is a process that involves assessing the
character, identity, and distinctiveness of a town
or urban area and identifying its URBAN MORPHOLOGY

strengths, weaknesses, and potential for VISUAL SURVEY

improvement.
• The purpose of townscape appraisal is to
provide a comprehensive understanding of a
town's visual environment
and its relationship to its physical, cultural, and
social context. PERCEPTUAL SURVEY
BEHAVIOURAL SURVEY
• This understanding can then be used to inform
decisions about the design, planning, and
management of the town.

TOWNSCAPE APPRAISAL
1. VISUAL SURVEY
This is a survey that analyse the structure of
the town and the framework that shapes the
city. It is looking at the city from a holistic
perspective and assessing the profile of the
city and the image it projects to the observer.
The survey involves looking at the overall
component of the town, its setting, its
linkages and its movement system
 1. VISUAL SURVEY

DATA TO BE COLLECTED ARE AS FOLLOWS

1. PROFILE/SETTING OF THE CITY

This involves assessing the setting of the city in

relation to its context, both regionally and
locally. Geographical location of the city in
relation to the topography and landform as well
as natural features such as river, lake or the sea
will assessed in terms of its influence on the
character of the city. How well has the city
responds to its topography and features that
dominates the setting should also be studied.
Important to note the profile of the skyline and
the elements that dominate the skyline.

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 1. VISUAL SURVEY

Sky

Hill

Sea

City
 1. VISUAL SURVEY

Bukit Larut

Green Open Space

 1. VISUAL SURVEY

DATA TO BE COLLECTED ARE AS FOLLOWS

2. URBAN FORM

Assess the block pattern and size of

streets, its layout and shapes of
spaces between buildings. The grain
and texture of the blocks can be
analysed by observing the size of the
building frontage and the height of
the buildings.

This will indicate the coarseness or

fineness of the grain and the even or
uneven texture of the city. The
narrower the street frontage, the
finer will be the grain whilst the
uniform the height of the buildings
will indicate an even texture. 8
 1. VISUAL SURVEY

DATA TO BE COLLECTED ARE AS FOLLOWS

3. ELEMENTS OF IMAGE OF THE CITY
Identify the five elements that people use to structure the city according to
Lynch:

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 1. VISUAL SURVEY

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 1. VISUAL SURVEY

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 1. VISUAL SURVEY

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Example of analysis by Ken-WCT

1. VISUAL SURVEY
 1. VISUAL SURVEY
DATA TO BE COLLECTED ARE AS FOLLOWS

4. ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES
This involves doing an inventory of the architectural
qualities of the building stocks in terms of its style,
dominant features, materials, scale, proportion, rhythm,
roof form and ornamentations.
For building use of individual buildings, detailed
observation of the type of activities that occur at the
ground level have to be recorded. The degree of
mixture of activities should be analysed to assess the
variety of activities and use of buildings in each street.
The history of the buildings should also be recorded in
terms of its previous use as well as other historical
significance.
 2. PERCEPTUAL SURVEY

talking and meeting local

This involves
people and visitors to assess their opinion of
the place, their needs and demands, their problems,
their dissatisfaction, their association to the place,
places that have meanings to them, things that they
consider unique to their town and their aspirations
for the future.
This survey can be done through a questionnaire
survey that involves a larger number of respondents,
both residents and visitors of the town. The other
techniques include focussed interview with a smaller
number of respondents and paper and pencil test to opinion of the place
assess the residents’ mental mapping of the town. their needs and demands
Also assess their mental maps to identify places that their problems
they associate as the centre of the city and elements that their dissatisfaction
are memorable and used to aid them in orienting the their association to the place
city. places that have meanings to them
things that they consider unique to their town
their aspirations for the future.
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 IN 10 MINUTES, PLEASE
PREPARE A MENTAL MAP
OF YOUR BELOVED
HOMETOWN.

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This involves assessing what people
do, where, when how and who was
involved in the activity.
Establish the routine of the local
people over a cross section in a day
from early morning until night.
Identify activity spots where a lot of
things happen and observe the
activity pattern
Below questions are important to do the behavioural
survey.

WHAT – What are they/he/she doing in the area?

WHO – Who involved? Elderly? Children? Teenager?
Group? Individual?
WHEN – Weekdays, weekends, peak hour? Day, night?

3. BEHAVIOURAL SURVEY

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What is the behavioural type and pattern?
⚬ Type of activity done

•When does it take place?

⚬ Time and period

•Where does it happen - behavioural setting

⚬ Physical element that support the activity
⚬ (building etc)

•Who is involved?
⚬ Type group of people
⚬ Local culture and tradition

•How does it happen?

⚬ Activity
1 Weekdays, 1 Weekend and 1 Friday

**Record and tabulate in a map

supported by photos. To record the
setting element of the behaviour

Different time frame should have

different map. 3 Different time frame
(Morning, afternoon and evening)
OTHER QUESTION TO CONSIDER
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4. MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY
This involves tracing historical documents e.g. old maps,
photographs, newspaper cuttings etc. in order to formulate the
maps that show the evolution of the city.

Study the pattern that exist and how far the city has changed along
the process. Identify, the factors or elements that have a strong
influence on the morphological development of the city.
4. MORPHOLOGICAL STUDY
Also examine the trend in terms of the pattern that shapes the city.
The analysis should also record stories, legends and places of
historical significance to the town.

How the town and places within it derive their names should be
studied. Local names that are used for certain streets or places that
is different than the formal names should also be noted.
Example of Urban Morphology Analysis
 PREPARING SWOT ANALYSIS
A SWOT analysis is a technique that analyses and synthesize the
information gathered from the field work for the purpose of
identifying the potentials and constraints as well as highlighting the
sense of place for an area studied. From the analysis of the data
gathered above, the Strengths (S), Weaknesses (W) Opportunities (O)
and Threats (T) of the study area will be tabulated in a map form
accompanied by photographs, sketches and annotations.

S
Strengths are elements or characteristics of the study area that gives a
character to the place. These characteristics could also include
behavioural pattern, lifestyles, habits and social composition.

W
Weaknesses are elements or characteristics that create problem to the
study area and have to be resolved in order to improve the quality of
the environment.

O
Opportunities are aspects of the study area that can be exploited or
capitalised in enhancing the sense of place. Opportunities also cover
types of development that would be most appropriate in the area
without jeopardising the existing character.

T Threats are elements or aspects that will disrupt or erode the existing
sense of place and thus warrants immediate attention. It is a weakness
in the making.