URBAN

LANDSCAPES AND
LANDSACPE DESIGN
Group 10
Omar Bashir Yussuf B02/45258/2017
Rotich Mercy Cherobon B02/41249/2016
Ngesa Celia Alice B02/41268/2016
What is Urban Landscapes?
• Urban refers to either city or
town.
• Landscapes refers to all visible
features of an area of land .

• Urban landscapes refer to

images that capture scenes
within a city or town i.e.
cityscapes
• Urban landscapes are
comprised of both natural and
manmade environments.
Urban Landscape
• Urban landscapes focus on preserving
natural resources. This is especially
important in this of global change.
• Urban landscapes must be designed to
meet the needs of today and the
growth of tomorrow.
• Incorporating nature into urban areas
we can beautify our surroundings and
provide a healthier environment.
• Urban landscape also contributes to the
cityscape in terms of visual quality.
Within dense built environments, it
creates a sense of openness and more
attractive places to live

Kaunda street, Nairobi CBD

Elements Of Urban Landscape
1. PLAZAS
Are open public spaces where people gather
or meet. Also known as squares or piazzas.
FACTORS DEFINING A PLAZA
1. Surrounding enclosure (building)
2. Hardscape platform for performances and
vendor businesses Seagram-building plaza, New York
3. Sitting spaces and street furniture
4. Vegetation
5. Water features
6. Sculptures
- A good plaza should have a brisk social life of
its own by accommodating variety of social
activities
- Transition between the street and plaza
should be such that its hard to tell where one
ends and the other begins Seagram-Building plaza
 Types/categories of plazas
• There are two main methods of
categorizing plazas
1.) Classification by
function:
- spaces for residential buildings
- settings for religious buildings
- entertainment spaces around
Shopping square
buildings such as theatres
- spaces for shopping (shopping
streets, arcades and markets)
- spaces associated with urban
traffic junctions
- spaces for ceremonial occasions
- setting for civic buildings
saint_peters_square (religious setting)
 plaza_de_mayo (setting for civic buildings) Uptown circle, USA (civic and meeting place)

trafalgar_square (Tourist site-commemorates main_market_square (Tourist attraction-

victory against Napoleons’ Navy at battle of Surrounded by historical town houses,
Trafalgar) Palaces and churches)
2.) Classification by form:
Closed plaza
The plaza is completely enclosed Symmetrical
/surrounded by buildings from all balance
sides and is only interrupted by the
streets leading to it
The space is self-contained and
mostly geometrical in shape

Place des Vosges, Paris Closed plaza

Dominated square/plaza
The space is directed towards a
main element
The main element can be a
building( church, palace, town
hall), a fountain or a statue

Notre Dame Cathedral, France (the cathedral

Is the dominating element around the plaza)
 Trevi Fountain, Rome
• The fountain and the sculpture are the dominating element
around the plaza. They draws people to view, admire and
discuss the sculptural elements
Nuclear square/plaza
- Where the plaza is formed
around a center or nucleus
- The nucleus can be an
obelisk, monument, fountain
or sculptural element
- The element has to be strong
or unique enough to draw
people around the space

Nelson’s column, London

Nucleus

Space around the nucleus forming a plaza

 2. PARKS
• Are natural, semi-natural or planted
spaces, set aside for recreation or
protection of natural habitats and
wildlife
• Parks should stimulate impulse use by
drawing people passing by to
experience them

Elements of urban parks

- Sports fields, jogging, skating biking
and walking trails Pandora- World of Avatar
- Vegetation
- Wildlife and natural features such as
hills
- Sitting spaces and picnic tables
- Water features such as waterfalls,
fountains, pools
- Sculptural monuments and artifacts
- Live shows, fairground rides,
refreshments and games
- Playgrounds
Parks feature children's play areas
• Urban parks vary in size
ranging from grand parks
to pocket parks
• Main types of parks in
urban landscapes are
amusement parks,
theme parks and water
parks
• Amusement parks are a
collection of amusement
rides and other Walt Disney World
entertainment
attractions assembled for
entertainment of fairly
large groups of people
• Theme parks are
amusement parks in
which attractions are
themed around a
particular concept or
setting
• Water parks are amusement parks featuring water play areas such as
water slides, splash pads, spray grounds and lazy rivers

Sunway lagoon, Mauritius Lincolyn park

• In urban areas, public parks re highly treasured but green spaces are
hard to find as a result, roof parks have been innovated

Image render of San Francisco Transbay Centre Rooftop Park

 3. Transport Systems
• Transport systems connect
parts of the cities and helps
shape them. This includes
roads, railways, pedestrian
networks.
• Balance of the transport
Murang’a road
networks defines quality and
character of cities, making
them friendly to pedestrians.
• Good transport systems
democratize/equalize city
dwellers by elevating
experience of pedestrians
while minimizing dominance
of private automobiles
Thika superhighway
4. STREETS
• Streets are connections between spaces and places.
• They are defined by their physical dimension and character as well as size, scale
and character of buildings aligning them
• Streets range from grand avenues to small pedestrian streets.
• Patterns of street networks define a city making it unique

Mama Ngina Street, Nairobi

Kimathi Street, Nairobi
5. VEGETATION
• Forms the green part of a city that weaves throughout its scape
• Vegetation comes in the form of: botanical gardens,
Conservatories, forest Reserves and arboretums
• Defines character and beauty of a city and creates soft, contrasting
spaces and elements

https://therapidian.org/why-parks-matter-
how-our-parks-affect-city-life
Urban green space, Pittsburgh
Using Trees And Planters For Parks

• Can define a walk space

using trees on either side of
the path.

• Using higher density of

massing of the trees will
create more enclosure and
forcing pedestrian along
intended path

• An example is the footpath

in Arbortem pictured on the
right
Using Trees To Define Space
• Use of trees to create a
canopied space.
•
• Using a mass of shade
trees with dense canopy,
an enclosed overhead
space which is open to the
sides can be created, as
shown in Figure 2.10.

• An example of this is
Jeevangee Gardens shown
on the right.
Using vegetation to define a space
• By using only low shrubs and
ground cover as the spatial
definers, one can create a space
by implication that is open in all
directions.
• a space like this is airy, and one
can see in and out of the space
hence less privacy.

• An example below is Central

park ,Nairobi shown below
Environmental Benefits of green
spaces in urban landscapes
• The green spaces provide flora and fauna with habitat to live in
therefore supporting biodiversity conservation
• Buffer/filter noise generated by human activities as well as act as
wind breakers
• Improve micro climate of urban areas
• Decrease carbon emission levels
• Control water regime and reduce run off preventing floods by
absorbing excess rain water
6. WATER FEATURES
• Range from fountains, pools, ponds, cascades, waterfalls and streams

Uhuru Park
Hamilton Fountain, Judiciary
7. Buildings
• Buildings are the most pronounced elements of urban design.
• They shape and articulate space by forming street walls.
• Well designed buildings work together form a sense of place .

Buildings creating the Nairobi Aerial view of Nairobi CBD, Showing tall
skyline. buildings creating ‘street walls’
Urban Landscape Design
• Urban design interweaves elements of an urban scape to come up with
a creative coherent, organized urban structure
• Urban structure defines and informs the city and building forms by
setting up zoning regulations and element restrictions for specific areas
Principles Guiding Articulation Of Space in Urban Design
- Balance - Rhythm
- Harmony - Symmetry
- Unity - Contrast
- Hierarchy - Context
- Proportion - Beauty
- Order - Scale
 PRINCIPLES FOR INTELLIGENT URBANISM

• Environmental sustainability: balance of nature with goal of protecting and

conserving ecosystems
• Respect for cultural heritage of a place: integrating plan interventions with
existing cultural assets, respecting traditional practices and precedents of
style appropriate technology
• infrastructure-efficiency: the employment of building materials,
construction techniques, infrastructural systems and project management
which are consistent with local contexts
• social access: allow social interaction through public domains, in a hierarchy
of places, devised for personal solace, companionship, romance, domesticity,
"neighborliness," community and civic life
• Place making: creation of places of solitude. These may be in urban forests,
along urban hills, beside quiet streams, in public gardens and in parks where
one can escape to meditate and contemplate.
 PRINCIPLES FOR INTELLIGENT URBANISM
• transit-oriented development: integrated transport systems comprising
walkways, cycle paths, bus lanes, light rail corridors, under-ground metros
and automobile channels. A balance between appropriate modes of
movement is proposed
• Regional integration
• Human scale: encourages ground level, pedestrian oriented urban patterns,
based on anthropometric dimensions
• Institutional integrity: accountable, transparent, competent and
participatory local governance, founded on appropriate data bases, due
entitlements, civic responsibilities and duties
References
• https://www.photolisticlife.com/2016/01/20/what-is-urban-landscape
-photography/
• http://www.urbandesign.org/elements.html
• Urban Landscape Design Murat Z. Memlük
•  Basic Elements of Landscape Architectural Design, Norman K. Booth
• The social life of small urban spaces, William H. Whyte