URBAN DESIGN

PARAMETERS FOR STUDY OF URBAN AREA

Context: As the part of Pune University’s Syllabus of 4th Year Architecture, students are expected
to understand the urban context as the part of Urban Studies, Architectural Design, and Urban Research
works for the ease of understanding these three subjects this small note is prepared, students are
expected to refer this note for further study, analysis and it will help further for design purpose also.
Due to pandemic situation students are divided as per their own home towns and students
belong to diverse settlements ranging from metro cities, cities, towns & villages as students are not
physically attending the colleges and all teaching and learning process is based on virtual mode
students are requested to read this note carefully and use this for the study purpose. This note is
purposely prepared as point to point guideline for students. All faculty members understands the
challenges faced by all students in the pandemic situation and at the same time this offers very good
opportunity to all the students to have diverse exposure to varied urban context provided by very
densely populated city of Mumbai to remotest village in Vidharbh.

It really does not matter what kind of place you belong to all the settlements in India are having diverse
challenges of urban development / rural development. What is very important is students need to
understand the role of various stake holders involved in the growth process. This growth process need
to be symbiotic with nature and make value addition to the settlements. For understanding what is
good for the society existing situation need to be studied and documented, in the further stages of
the work this can lead to formulating policies and urban design proposals.

Human habitation consists of the natural and manmade elements that helps for formation of settlement.
In any neighbourhood, study we need to understand the brief history and geography of that place this
provides better understanding of that place. While working in the urban context politics, public
participation and interaction with stake holders become very important for primary and secondary
studies. In Urban Studies students are expected study settlements and its small area in detail for better
understanding of built environment. In this 16 weeks duration work early four weeks will be used for
documentation and analysis of existing settlement and its smaller parts where students are expected
to work further on Urban Insert project.

Goal: To study the role politics, political leader and their vision in making of the town.

Objective: To understand vision of political parties, Ruling parties and opposition parties, Vision
of the leaders in past and present leaders, political leaders their contribution in making physical and
nonphysical elements that contribute in making the public space and public buildings.

Scope of Works: As the study duration is restricted to four weeks (for documentation and
analysis) and due to that only one (political) aspect of study is kept under more under focus. Students
will work on that aspect with following mentioned guidelines and come up with Urban Design
documentation in the group work or in unavoidable situation group work is not possible they will opt for
individual work.

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Note: All the parameters of study mentioned below need to be produced as drawings, plans,
sections, elevations, views, abstract diagrams etc, except where ever it is mentioned
otherwise.

1 Preparation of Base Plan (Total minimum12, A3 size sheets to be done if it is group

work or individual work)

1.1 Location with respect – India, State of Maharashtra, district northing and easting
coordinates of town/city.

1.2 Source the Development plan, Google image, reference plan and super impose them on
each other to make base plan area to be defined, north to be shown.

1.3 Transportation regional connectivity to settlement.

1.4 Secondary data collection about settlement from Wikipedia, district gazetteer village
panchayat etc make analysis of the data and information with help of diagrams, pie charts
etc

1.5 Define the public space, Urban space, water edge, public building and identified site in
detail scale 1:200. Multiple pockets can be selected where walk of 10minutes to 15
minutes can be done
 Study area to be defined is 2 Ha to 3Ha i.e. 30,000 sqm
 6 grids of 30m each in both directions to be taken
 (6X30m) X (6X30m) = 32400 sqm area for study of Urban Area – This
must be same for all groups.
 Out of that urban insert area to be selected with the help of faculty.

1.6 Socio Cultural Environment - Distances from religious buildings, public buildings major
landmarks to be measured in terms of walking time, drive time etc.

1.7 Economic Activities – Major and minor activities to be defined for primary, secondary and
tertiary economic activities.

1.8 Evolution of settlement and history to documented up to selection of public space.

1.9 Political history of the settlement and major leader’s contribution to the public spaces and
public buildings to be documented.

1.10 Natural features – water features nala river, hills, topography,

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2 Existing natural Elements:
2.1 Water – river, lake, sea, creek, wells nala etc need to be documented.

2.2 Green Areas – trees, shrubs, flowers, valley, key elements that become the landmark to
be identified for their preservation.

2.3 Birds and Animals – defined area need to be documented for all key living elements of
ecosystem like birds, insects and animals etc

2.4 Hills & Topography – Hills, slopes, flat terrain, profile of ground, valley etc to be identified

2.5 Sky – Connection of sky and all natural elements to be documented through photos etc

2.6 Seasons – The selected area to be best and worst situation of seasons like summer,
winter and monsoon etc

2.7 % Areas – Establish the % of green and blue areas for total study area

2.8 Quality of Natural Elements – Try and source from secondary information about quality of
blue, green and blue areas. If these are in factual numbers then that is more preferred.

2.9 Larger connections – All existing natural elements to be understood from larger regional
perspective and understanding to get reflected in analysis.

2.10 Insert pocket – Select the pocket for Urban Insert site smartly so that it provides great
opportunity for citizen participation, political leadership to uplift the quality of natural
systems in the area.

3 Existing Manmade elements documented

3.1 Source the Regional Plan, Development Plan, Village development plan/ Area
Development plan of the area

3.2 Co relate the above mentioned land use plan with what is actually happening on site
identify the changes or deviations

3.3 For defined study area prepare the building use plan

3.4 Water supply lines, Sewage lines, storm water lines to be marked.

3.5 Electrical lines, Information and telecom lines to be marked

3.6 Garbage disposal spots to be marked.

3.7 Manmade elements like bridges etc on natural water courses to be documented.

3.8 Building age and construction style (Load bearing, wooden, RCC etc) to be documented

3.9 Good /better / best elements that generate the smell, Noise level and visual elements to
be documented

3.10 Political parties and their contribution in public areas for physical elements to be
documented

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4 Existing transportation network and pedestrian movement
4.1 Identify the major rail/road networks for regional connections, in case of railway stations
and airports define the distance from them up to site.

4.2 Define roads as per their widths and types – below 3m, 3 to 6m wide, 7.5to9.0m wide and
above 9m make various categories of roads

4.3 Define rail, metro routes if any and mark them on plan

4.4 Define various transportation junctions for roads, railways, metros etc

4.5 Identify the pedestrian walkways, shortcuts where people walk and why?

4.6 Identify major traffic junctions, intersections and document activities

4.7 Four wheeler, two wheeler parking on roads to be documented

4.8 Are the roads vehicle friendly or people friendly streets? Are people important or cars and
vehicles important?

4.9 Note the areas where cycles are used more and electric vehicles are more mark them on
drawings.

4.10 Vision of political parties on mass transportation systems and public transport networks

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5 Existing public open spaces for public gathering
5.1 Hierarchy of open space for entire settlement to established from city level to
neighbourhood details.

5.2 Define and demarcate various levels of open spaces on plans of various levels.

5.3 Document bigger sports grounds, football grounds, race courses, maidans etc on plan

5.4 Smaller level public open spaces where children can play volley ball, basketball etc to be
marked on plan.

5.5 Small open spaces, chowks intersections of streets to be documented for activities along
the edges of it and within the space also.

5.6 All above types of open spaces sections need to be drawn for showing activities within the
space.

5.7 Multiple uses of open spaces and their photographs to be collected it can be political
rallies, festivals, events etc

5.8 Draw detailed edge sections and various edge conditions of the open spaces

5.9 Open spaces remain as open spaces or they are occupied by parking of two wheelers and
four-wheelers?

5.10 Political parties vision statements on developing open spaces for people to be
documented.

6 Existing religious and public buildings

6.1 Define various religious buildings of various religion in the neighbourhood – Hindu, Islamic,
Christianity, Sikhism etc

6.2 Document historical importance of these buildings and document current condition of
these buildings

6.3 Document activities around the religious and public buildings and reflect them in plan,
sections

6.4 Document public buildings like government colleges, panchayat offices, District collector
office, Government Hospital buildings etc plan and section

6.5 Due to these major buildings what kind of other informal sector gets developed around
these buildings mark them. (tea stalls, flower shops, souvenir shops, photocopy shops etc)

6.6 In cross section show the sky line of public space and public buildings.

6.7 Observe and document human activities in the entire area and mark the movement
pathways, networks etc.

6.8 Document peak time performance of public space during festivals, events etc how space
accommodates crowd in large number example Dashera, Ganpati festivals, political
protest etc

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 6.9 Arrival to all these buildings to be documented on plan and video clips and add
commentary

6.10 Political parties their influence in developing the public buildings and nearby areas to be
defined.

7 Human activities around the religious, public buildings and

public spaces
7.1 All these building types and its related human activities its relationship to be understood
and correlated

7.2 Individuals and groups and their behaviour in public spaces to be documented.

7.3 Which are the locations where people spent more time and reasons for spending more
time at that specific spot

7.4 Informal sectors locations and identification of spots where they function more and pattern
related to it.

7.5 Handcarts, thela wala, handcarts, fruit sellers, cobblers, wadapavwala etc their locations

7.6 How these informal sectors make their own shelters in the public space and function.

7.7 Where do you find women, girls in the public space and why do you find them in that
location?

7.8 Where do you find children in the public space and why do you find them in that location?

7.9 Locations of drinking water and public toilets located in public space

7.10 How do political parties claim these public spaces and use human activities?

8 Built vs Open relations i.e Figure and Ground Study

8.1 These are two set of plans generated out of base plan – first will have all buildings to be
shaded jet black and second will be apart from buildings rest of the portion will be jet
black.

8.2 This diagram and its analysis need to be done further for – building foot print (Grain) sizes
and intensity of repetition of grains. (Grain is nothing but each building that is shaded
black)

8.3 Study how close are grains from each other? Where are they sparse and where are they
close to each other?

8.4 Study the relation of open spaces in cross section and draw sample cross sections to
explain quality of open spaces

8.5 Pie diagram of built vs open relation % helps us to understand quality of public space?

8.6 Profile of buildings, shapes, and side margins and its use and pattern to be observed for
various typologies

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 8.7 Identify the various types of neighbourhood and then spell out the character of each with
differences (Urban Village, slum, plotted development)

8.8 Define hierarchy of open spaces – Level1, Level 2 and Level 3 from smaller to bigger size.

8.9 Define building foot prints from – Level1, Level 2 and Level 3 from smaller to bigger size
example (small tea stall to Shaniwarwada Pune).

8.10 How do and what do you read from each open space (chowks) and buildings and political
influence on them? Note your observations for last 20 years time?

9 Building heights
9.1 Identify the cluster of buildings in the neighbourhood for variation in height and demarcate
them on plan.

9.2 Overall number floors to be grouped and marked on plan – up to 4 floors, up to 6 floor and
six and above floor

9.3 Building / Land use and height of building – Industrial, commercial, residential etc

9.4 Building type to be identified – Lower level commercial + upper level residential

9.5 Draw cross sections of building and street edges.

9.6 Divide complex sections and analyse these spaces for activities and their connection to
road

9.7 Floor to floor height and its relation to formation of street character.

9.8 Formation of plinth and its any style that contribute in giving character to road.

9.9 Establish the % of buildings based on number of floors and draw conclusions.

9.10 Politics, DCR permissible heights of building and actual executed situation is there any
difference? If it’s their then why is it so?

10 Building construction technology and life of buildings

10.1 According to period of construction technology will change, RCC, steel structure, load
bearing or what time of construction it is?

10.2 Load bearing construction – Wall, floors and roofs material and construction technology for
to be documented.

10.3 Traditional art, craft men ship, skills, art work to be documented.

10.4 Building can be divided in various parts like – Plinth formation, doors windows, floors,
arches etc to be documented

10.5 Finishing material for all surfaces – stone, dressed stone, bricks, exposed bricks, cladding
etc to be provide

10.6 Elements of building that get repeated and gives character to street need to be listed

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 10.7 Use and % of glass used on facade and energy consumption?

10.8 Any special feature for disposal of rain water – gargoyle etc?

10.9 Buildings which are not maintained and dilapidated units to be identified and marked.

10.10 Generate pie chart of analysis of data collected and conclude.

11 Photographic documentation (Total minimum 15, A3 size sheets per group)

11.1 Historical documentation – Historical images on the entire neighbourhood and document
the neighbourhood.

11.2 Birds eye images – This documentation shall be done from all possible heights to give the
look and feel of area.

11.3 Urban Design street edges – Use panoramic mode of camera and document 2D
elevations of all streetscapes document sense of arrival up to public space and vice versa.

11.4 Historical buildings and religious places - Use sensitive mind to document various
elements to document the history of religious buildings for construction technology,
materials, styles, textures, details etc.

11.5 Public Buildings – Document major landmarks, public buildings like Local Governing
bodies like (Grampanchayat, Nagarpalika etc), civil court, hospitals

11.6 Natural Element – Trees, forests, water edges, water bodies etc to be documented for
current conditions and track back the historical photos as well.

11.7 Open space – Various types of open spaces with activities within the space and outside
the space to be documented

11.8 Senior Citizens – Document senior citizens in public spaces showing their areas of
comforts and discomforts in public space.

11.9 Children In Public space – Images to show the children friendly public spaces on the
streets if they are present and why are they safe?

11.10 Human activities related to built form and public spaces – The intended structure and its
associated spaces need to be documented for their uses for various times of day, various
festivals, seasons, etc

12 Video documentation - (3 minute video clip shot on site to be added with 12

components)

12.1 Clip to show – birds eye view of the selected neighbourhood

12.2 Residential Areas – Within the settlement take clip of residential development quality of
built and open space life

12.3 Religious Buildings - Within the settlement take clip of temple, mosques, Churches &
Gurudwara for sense of arrival and festival time event around temple.

12.4 Public Buildings - Within the settlement take clip of public spaces around these buildings.
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 12.5 Open spaces – Within the settlement identify the hierarchy of open spaces and document
the open space for human activities.

12.6 Mixed use development – Mixed use buildings are at lower floor level it can commercial
and upper level it can commercial areas or these two uses may change as per site
conditions – document the same.

12.7 Informal Sector & Human activities – All informal sectors specific locations and type of
businesses to be documented The clip shall document and interact with users of spaces
users can be kids, senior citizens, women, various groups et

12.8 Night life – Public life in the settlement in the night need to be documented, safe and
unsafe areas within the public spaces to be also documented.

12.9 Presence of Politics in Public Space - Major physical parameters contributing to making of
space and show the sense of arrival to the space from various routes

12.10 Editing and voice over – The voice over in the clip shall use language of architects /
Urban designers selected five terms related Urban Design and architecture from books
like (The Image of the City by Kevin Lynch, Architecture form, space and order by
D.K.Ching) You are free to use Marathi, Hindi or English for recording.

13 Study guidelines and expected outcome: (Total minimum 15, A3

size sheets as per group allocations)
13.1 All soft copies to be generated in auto cad/JPEG/PDF etc format to the scales of 1:500,
1:200 and 1:100 as per context and situations.

13.2 Preparation of neighbourhood plan – Enlarge the portion of neighbourhood plan and
define site plan to show the various activities in the neighbourhood/s. (Scale 1:200) Area
to be covered is around 30m radius all around temple.

13.3 Study of architectural details of building/s – Detailed floor plan / s sections and elevations,
sketches, axonometric, isometrics of the temple (scale 1:200 / 1:100)

13.4 Study of physical features public spaces connected to religious building/s – Detailed plans,
sections elevations of public spaces showing the natural and physical environment
contributing to generation of public space / s.

13.5 Study of non-physical features public spaces connected to public space/s - Detailed plans,
sections, elevations showing nonphysical (sensory) parameters like – noise, smell,
sensory feeling of space, tactile quality of materials, colours, visual pollution if you see
around.

14 Identification of Issues
14.1 Issues identification at town level- What are the various issues related to town and area of
study? What are immediate concerns that can be addressed?

14.2 Issues identification at Neighbourhood level- What are the various issues related to
neighbourhood and area of study? What are immediate concerns that can be addressed?

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 14.3 Issues identification at Religious buildings and its surrounding level - What are the various
issues related to temple and area of study? What are immediate concerns that can be
addressed?

14.4 Issues identification at architecture and conservation - What are the various issues related
to architecture and architectural conservation related to area of study? How these
concerns can be addressed?

14.5 Urban Design brief evolution – What is evolving out of public interaction and what is the
design brief that is getting evolved out of interaction with users need to be established.

15 SWOT analysis of various pockets identified for Urban Inserts

Lost Place /
Strength Weakness Opportunities Threats
Precincts

Place 1

Place 1

Place 1

Place 1

Place 1

16 Policy level recommendation and Architectural Insert

16.1 Policy level recommendation – Every group has to come up with at least five minimum
policy level recommendations to make place better.

16.2 Urban Conservation structure, places, elements, and materials

16.3 Urban landscape element

16.4 Swatch Bharat Abhiyan Components & Sustainable development of towns

a. Black and Gray water treatment –
b. Garbage Disposal
c. Solar Power
d. Public Toilets (Open defecation free India) –

Architectural Insert of maximum XXX to XXXsqm carpet area – The

proposed Urban Insert shall be discussed individually and as per each pockets potential architectural
brief need to be evolved in discussion with faculty (Part of design studio work)

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