Urban Design

Urban design is concerned with ‘the quality of the public realm – both physical and
socio-cultural’ – the three dimensional design of urban spaces, and the making of
‘meaningful places for people’ to enjoy and use.

It is concerned with physical solutions for urban problems and it is a consultative,

interactive and responsive process that embraces the notions of:

•Strategy: considering individual design actions within a broader, strategic frame

•Sustainability: considers the long-term viability and impacts of development on

economies and ecological systems, natural resources and urban communities

•Synergy: resolving issues of public and private benefit, land-use, built form and
urban systems in relation to each other, with a high level of coordination
Urban Design Framework (UDF)
An Urban Design Framework (UDF) is a powerful tool to help a community set
an overall direction of a place that will undergo significant changes.

UDF includes a design vision of how a place might develop indicating sufficient
details at key locations so that:
•it can be tested for economic and functional viability.
•to assess development proposals.
•to allow continuous review of detailed actions within the strategic frame,
•incorporate major infrastructure, transport, and heritage issues and provide
design direction for their details
•respond to all major stakeholders by integrating their interests and concerns

UDF is systematic, objective and sufficiently comprehensive to ensure that all

major issues have been considered
 Urban Design Framework

An Urban Design Framework (UDF) typically includes:

•a record of comprehensive analysis of the context

•a description of the issues considered

•a framework plan to identify key action areas and important relationships

•a set of development principles

•visualizations of key design concepts

•action plans for non-physical opportunities

•an implementation strategy.

The results of the UDF process can inform changes to zoning and development
scale in planning schemes and initiate design guidelines and policies.
 Urban Design Framework

An Urban Design Framework should:

•illustrate existing constraints and opportunities,

•set out an implementation strategy (in graphical and written format) that
looks at a range of time scales including:
– long-term strategies and options (10 to 15 years and beyond)
– intermediate-term strategies and options (3 to 5 years)
– short-term actions that can directly be implemented without
compromising long- and medium-term objectives

•provide a record of why particular options are selected referring to key policy
objectives, urban design principles, etc.
Urban Design Process

• Urban Design Process must be fine-tuned to accommodate local issues and

objectives.

• Community involvement should be sought early in the process and at all

relevant stages.

• A typical process could include:

Physical Environmental
analysis context
Feedback Feedback

Demographic Strategic Visio Public Framework Public Final

Trends
analysis objectives n display plan display UDF
plan
Revisions Revisions
Initial Values issues
consultation
Steering Committee endorsement

Steering Committee sign-off

 Urban Design Process

Process 1. Basic steps of urban design process:

Stage 1. Preliminary actions

Stage 2. Analysis and Setting Objectives

– a. Gathering of Basic Information

– b. Visual Survey

– c. Identification of hard and soft areas

– d. Functional Analysis

Stage 3. Synthesis and Strategic framework

Stage 4. Evaluation and Final reporting

Stage 5. Implementation
 Urban Design Process

Stage I. Preliminary actions

Identify project boundaries and the critical influences within the region
including population projections;

Identify stakeholder issues;

Define project objectives and scope;

Milestone: sign off the Study Brief.

 Urban Design Process

Stage 2. Analysis and Objectives

a. Gathering of Basic Information including

• understanding the structure, organization, pattern, and characters of the

area and its surroundings;

• topography, population demography, land-use, natural systems,

transportation, businesses…;

• Problems and design goals are identified.

 Urban Design Process

b. Visual Survey: a standard part of any urban design study and it includes:

• an examination of the form, composition and appearance of an area;

• survey the basic elements of urban form. (e.g., Kevin Lynch’s five basic
skeletal elements: Paths, Edges, Landmarks, Nodes and Districts);

• examine the city and describe it in terms of this vocabulary.

 Urban Design Process

c. Identification of hard and soft areas

• The definition of hard (e.g. public parks) and soft areas (e.g. business
district) helps designers to know what parts of the city can
accommodate growth and change and what parts are essentially fixed
because they may be occupied, for example, by a historic landmark.

• Such information is of considerable value in the latter stages of the

urban design process when proposed plans must be evaluated for
feasibility of implementation.
 Urban Design Process

d. Functional Analysis

• The functional analysis examines the relationship among the various

land-uses and the way they relate to circulation systems. This study
builds on the work of the land-use planners;

• Social values of an area;

• The three dimensional aspects of the site (e.g. changing of building

heights to street width ratio over time.)
 Urban Design Process

2. Synthesis

• translation of the gathered data and the problems analyzed into proposal
for action;

• The first component of synthesis phase is the evolution of concepts that

address the problem;

• Concepts are followed by the development of schematic specific design

proposals;

• Schematics are followed by preliminary plans.

 Urban Design Process

3. Evaluation at many levels

In determining what criteria should be employed;

1) How well the solutions fit the problem or issue?

2) How readily the proposals can be implemented?

3) Will the solutions meet technical demands? and

4) Will the proposal gain acceptance by the public?

 Urban Design Process

4. Implementation

Formulating strategies for actual financing and construction;

Considering detailed phasing studies and tools to realize the project