APLANN 2 - Planning 2 – Handout (from the lecture of Ar. M.

Paual) De Guzman | Panopio

1. & 2. Fundamentals of Urban Designs and Community Architecture

COMMUNITY - is a group of people having common rights, privileges, or interest, or living in the same place
under the same laws and regulations

plural communities
1: a unified body of individuals: such as
a : the people with common interests living in a particular area; broadly : the area itself
 the problems of a large community
b : a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a
larger society
 a community of retired persons

 a monastic community
c : a body of persons of common and especially professional interests scattered through a
larger society
 the academic community

 the scientific community

d : a body of persons or nations having a common history or common social, economic,
and political interests
 the international community
e : a group linked by a common policy
f : an interacting population of various kinds of individuals (such as species) in a common
location
g : STATE , COMMONWEALTH
2a : a social state or condition
 The school encourages a sense of community in its students.
b : joint ownership or participation
 community of goods
c : common character : LIKENESS
 community of interests
d : social activity : FELLOWSHIP
3: society at large
 the interests of the community
Merriam Webster Dictionary

COMMUNITY PLANNING - is a planning a future community, or the guidance and shaping of the expansion
of a present community, in an organized manner with an organized layout, taking into account such
considerations as

- convenience for habitants,

- environmental conditions,

- social requirements,

- recreational facilities

- aesthetic design

- economic feasibility

APLANN 2 | HANDOUT | LDG 2018

TOWN PLANNING - the art of laying out towns with due care for the health and comfort of inhabitants, for
industrial and commercial efficiency, and for reasonable beauty of buildings. (F. Haverfield)

COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE - -The Art of making SUSTAINABLE LIVING, places that both thrive and adapt
to people’s needs for SHELTER, LIVELIHOOD, COMMERCE, RECREATION and SOCIAL ORDER.

INTRODUCTION
Ancient Planning
I. THE ORIGIN
Kahun, Egypt, oldest settlement (near Greece), 2500 BC

Babylon – (Herodotus), planted in an open plain and formed an exact square of great size, 120
stades (14 miles)

- girt with immerse brick wall 340 ft high, 90 ft. thick

- 100 gates, from corner to corner it was cut diagonally by Euphrates

- River banks were fortified by brick defenses.

- full of houses

- streets run in right angle lead to the river

` - Roads run to a small gate in the river wall.

II. THE GREEK PLANNING

- begun in 15th century BC

- Hippodamus of Miletus (Father of Urban Planning), born 480 BC

• Designed Miletus

• Alexander commissioned him to lay out his new city of Alexandria

(grandest example of idealized urban planning of the ancient Mediterranean world)

• Alexander commissioned him to lay out his new city of Alexandria (grandest example of idealized urban
planning of the ancient Mediterranean world)

• ‘Hippodamian’ or grid plan, basis for subsequent Greek and Roman cities.

- Aristotle introduced the principle of straight wide street (1 st of all architects)

- Made provision for the proper grouping of dwelling-houses

- Paid special heed to the combination of the different parts of a town in a harmonious whole
(centered round the market-place)

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III. THE ROMAN PLANNING

- used a consolidated scheme for planning

- developed for military defense

- Basic plan consisted of a central forum with city service, surrounded by a compact, rectilinear grid

of street

- wrapped in a wall for defense

- to reduce travel times, two diagonal streets crossed the square grid, passing through the central

square

- a river usually flowed through the city, providing water, transport. And sewage disposal

- all roads were equal in width and length except for two, which were slightly wider than the
other. One of these run east-west, the other, north-south, and intersected in the middle to form the center
of the grid

- all roads were made of carefully fitted flag stones and filled in with smaller, hard-packed rocks
and pebbles

- Each square marked by 4 roads was called INSULA, the Roman equivalent of a modern city bank

INSULA - 80 yards square (73 meters)

- eventually be filled with buildings of various shapes and sizes and crisscrossed with back roads
and alleys

- Most of insula were given to the first settlers of a Roman City. But each person has to pay to
construct his own house.

Medieval Planning (10th-14th Century)

- The decline of Rome’s power left many outpost settlements all over Europe which became the
NUCLEI of new societies.

- The NUCLEI began to grow into viable towns – castle towns began to enlarge (built atop the hills,
enclosed by circular walls).

- Monasteries (rectilinear pattern) acted as citadels of the world’s learning.

- The growth of the town around the monasteries and castles were naturally started from
gateways extending along roadways and then fanning out. - RADIOCENTRIC

- The castle became a town filled with merchants, tradesmen, and craftsmen (lived and worked at home). –
became environment for people

- Houses were small, but had gardens and privacy.

- Towns were reasonably spacious and centers of agricultural domains.

- Towns were small of finite size (determined by the capacity of a particular land area to support its
dependent population).

- The guild (a similar association, as of merchants or artisans) and burgher (a member of the
mercantile class; inhabitant of the fortress) mentality developed in the home.
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 - Due to population and trade growth, Marketplaces became necessities (counterpart of Agora and
Forum).

- Town is small but gives constant assurance of its human scale in visible construction and human activity.
E.g Italian Hilltown, Siena

- Design elements of town were houses and gardens, its walls, its plazas, its church (Gothic), its
public buildings, and most important, its streets.

- Streets are a grid and there is a plaza at the center, but the street do not lead directly from the
gates to the plaza.

Renaissance Planning

- 1440, the beginning of the Renaissance

PRINCIPLE OF ‘IDEAL CITIES’

1. Star-shaped, author was Leon Battista Alberti.

a. It is a snow flake-shaped plans.

b. Streets radiating from central point (usually location of church, palace or castle)

c. Devised for hillside and flat lands.

2. Polygon shapes, Designer Filarete

a. Advantageous shape for fortifications.

b. Converging streets were as useful means of focusing on an important central

3. Central layout, Priest Fra Giaconda

a. Another variation of star city whose interior is divided up into special quarters (trade & craft)

b. The central church and gate towers accentuate the main terminal city.

3. Quadralectic layout, Vincenzo Scamozzi & Albrecht Dṻrer (Germany)

a. Gridiron street layout.

b. Zone for each activity

c. Much easier to design buildings.

- Ferrara City is the first Modern City in Europe that lies b2 main crossing the streets designed by Biaggio
Rossetti

- A city straddling a river by Leonardo da Vinci with three levels,

• Lower level, for water & sewage;

• Middle level, for baggage and functional circulation;

• Upper level, for the ‘gentlemen’ of the city.

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IV. THE LAWS OF THE INDIES

- Spanish Royal Ordinances

- Describes a self sustaining community containing a grid of streets with a rectangular plaza, or
common at its center. Houses and shops lined opposite sides of the plaza, with the mission church standing
at one end and government buildings at the other.

- The plaza is the starting point of the town; inland it should be at the
center of the site; at a port location, it should be at the landing point. The
plaza should be either square or rectangular in shape; if the latter, then
the length should be at least 11/2 times the width.

- The size of the plaza should be proportional to the population, taking

expected growth into consideration; at a minimum, it should be 200 ft. x
300 ft; and maximum size should be 532 ft. x 800 ft. 400 ft. x 600 ft. is
recommended as a good proportion.

- The four principal streets begin from the middle of each side of the plaza, and
eight other streets begin from each corner.

- The buildings around the edge of the edge plaza are to have portales, as are
those on the four principal streets. At the comers, however, the portales should
stop so that the sidewalks of the eight other streets can be aligned with the
plaza.

- In cold climates, the towns should have wide streets; in hot climates, narrow
streets. Wide streets were reconunended for defense in areas where horses
were used

- The streets should run from the plaza in such a manner as to allow for
substantial growth without inconvenience or adverse effects on appearance,
defense, or comfort.

- The outlying agricultural fields and

common pastures provide sustenance and serve as a buffer between
the town center and the wilderness beyond

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V. THE PHILADELPHIA TOWN PLANNING 1683

- Introduced by William Penn

- Established a new pattern for town design, one could easily sustain growth

- As the nation flourished and pioneers moved west, the frontier towns were given general form
with in the land ordinance of 1785 which established the uniform size of townships of six square
miles

- - Penn first advertised the layout of his town in Thomas Holme's Portraiture of the City of
Philadelphia, published in 1683. As one can see, Penn designed the city as a rectangular gridiron.
Broad and High streets cross each other at 'centre square‘ and divide the city into four quadrants.
These 100 foot wide avenues were at broader than the other street,

VI. THE GARDEN CITIES

- Ebenezer Howard – social reformer

- Howard’s optimum living environment consisted of the culture

and services of the city combined with the soothing environs of
the trees and ponds of the countryside.

- Modern community planners interpret this ethic in terms of

quality of life issues, livable space, sense of place, identity and
familiarity

- The estate is legally vested in the names of 4 gentlemen of responsible

position & undoubted probity & honor, who hold it in trust, first, as a
security for the debenture-holders, & secondly, in trust for the people of
Garden City, the town-country magnet, which it is intended to build
thereon.

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- One essential feature of the plan is that all ground rents, which are to be based upon the annual value of
land, shall be paid to the trustees, who after providing for interest and sinking fund, will hand the balance
to the Central Council of the new municipality to be employed by such Council in the creation &
maintenance of all necessary public work – roads, schools, parks, etc.

- Garden city, w/c is built near the centre of 6,000 acres, covers an area of 1,000 acres or a sixth part of
6,000 acres, & might be of circular form, 1,240 yards from centre to circumference.

Ground plan of the whole municipal area

6 Magnificent blvds. – 12-ft. wide- traverse city from centre to circumference, dividing it to 6 equal parts or
wards

Illustrating correct principle of a city’s growth – open

country ever near at hand and rapid communication
between off-shoots.

The principle of always preserving a belt of country

round our cities would ever be kept in mind…we should
have a cluster of cities, so grouped around a Central
City that each inhabitant would be living in & enjoy all
the advantages of a great and most beautiful city.

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3. & 4. Contextualization of Urban Design & Community Planning | Orientation & Identity in Community
Architecture

Urban Design Components:

1. Urban spatial structure

This is urban design on a large, or macro, scale. It involves the deliberate linking and defining roles for
activity centers, open spaces or major transportation corridors.

Distribution, scaling, and combination or separation of land uses to

create an integrated whole which defines the form of the
community.

2. Urban beautification

This is urban design on a medium scale.

This involves the landscaping or beautification of public and

private areas of the City and the defining of the relationship
between the physical location of different uses and the placement
of buildings.

the defining of the relationship between the physical location of different uses and the placement
of buildings.

the defining of the relationship between the physical location of different uses and the placement of
buildings.

3. Urban decoration

This is urban design on a small or micro scale. It involves projects such as the choice of street
furniture or colored and textured pavers to decorate an area.

Like urban beautification, many of the decorating activities carried out in the renovation of areas are
thought of as being urban design, but in reality they are simply the micro component of the overall urban
design concept.

Building and site design standards are to be regulated covering standards for, building design, setbacks,
building placement, impervious coverage allotments, critical areas protection and preservation, and natural
vegetation retention.

These standards all contribute to the design of individual projects and to the overall design of the
community.

The City's role in urban design is a large and important one since the public sector has traditionally had
responsibility for the open space, transportation, utilities, and permitting portions of planning.

By the same token, the concept of overall design control on a large (i.e. “citywide”) scale is best
overseen by the public sector.

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2 Creating and Identifying the Sense of Place
Benefits of “PLACE”

1. Builds and supports the local Economy

- small-scale entrepreneurship - more desirable jobs

- more quality goods available - increased currency velocity

- higher real estate values - greater tax revenue

- local ownership, local value - less need for municipal services

2. Nurtures and defines community identity

- greater community organization - less need for municipal control

- sense of pride and volunteerism - self-managing

- perpetuation of integrity and values - sense of pride and volunteerism

- “mutual coercion, mutually agreed - Nurtures and defines community identity

upon”

3. Fosters frequent and meaningful contact

- improves sociability - supports barter system

- more cultural exposure, interaction - reduces race and class barriers

- exchanges and preserves information, - feeling of interconnection

wisdom, values

4. Creates improved accessibility

- more walkable - reduces need for cars and parking

- safe for pedestrians - more efficient use of time and money

- compatible with public transit - greater connections between uses

5. Promotes sense of comfort

- visually pleasing - greater security

- generally stimulating - better environmental quality

- sense of belonging - feeling of freedom

6. Draws a diverse population

- more women, elderly, and children - variation and character in built

environment
- greater ethnic and cultural pluralism
- encourages community creativity
- encourages a range of activities and uses

- new service, retail, and customer niches

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3 & 4 Elements of Urban Design: Signs & Symbols in Urban Design
THEORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF ORNAMENT AND DECORATION

• Ornament and decoration, when used to heal the city has three interrelated functions. They are:

1. to go beyond the decoration of individual buildings and to enrich the decorative themes of a
locality;

2. to enhance the physical, social and spiritual qualities of location, that is, to strengthen the genius
loci; and

3. to develop the ‘legibility’ an ‘imageability’ of the city.

Ornament and Decoration - ways in which the main elements within the city are arranged to form a
pleasing and memorable pattern.

Both words mean embellishments. Ornament has more formal overtones

– the architectural work associated with certain architectural styles or the work of individual
architects.

- installation of sculpture, fountains, obelisks and similar features into the urban scene.

DECORATION FOR VISUAL PLEASURE

• The most obvious, and perhaps the most important, dimension of decoration is its contribution to
formal qualities, such as visual order or unity, proportion, scale, contrast, balance and rhythm.
Ornament and decoration also have the capacity to unleash feelings, trigger reactions, feed the
memory and stimulate the imagination. Decoration at one level is an activity giving visual pleasure,
a formal physical process for visual delight; an activity for its own sake requiring no outside or higher
authority to justify its existence.

The aesthetic experience and visual appeal of decoration depends upon four factors.

1. The first is the quality of the space which is both the setting for the decoration and which in turn is
enhanced by it.

2. The second is the physical form and the pattern of the decoration.

3. The third is the circumstances under which the decoration is seen; for instance, weather
conditions, particularly the quality of the light.

4. The fourth factor relates to the perceptual framework of the observer, his or her mood, how he or
she sees and what has been seen before

PHYSICAL VARIABLES OF DECORATION

UNITY

• the most important quality of any work of art is the clear expression of a single idea: any idea in any
medium must, a priori, be complete, it cannot be composed of scattered elements without relation to
each other. Urban design aims therefore to express complete unity in its compositions.

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 • Equally important for unity is the dominance of one decorative theme: the repetition of roof materials,
pitch, skyline, ridge, verge and eaves details; the consistent use of floorscape materials and
patterning; and the choice of street fittings of compatible form

PROPORTION

• An important characteristic of unity is the proportion of the parts or elements which make up a
composition. Proportion is the method by which visual order is established, giving due weight to the
compositional elements.

• Following the laws of proportion, some central idea, a visual element or group of related elements
should dominate the whole composition. In urban design the ‘dominant’ may be the main town
square around which the main civic buildings are arranged.

SCALE

• Scale depends upon the comparison of one set of dimensions with another set. Urban design is
concerned with human scale, that is, the relationship of buildings and urban space to the size of a
human being. Man is therefore the measure used for the built environment. The visual qualities of
urban space and its architectural envelope and the act of healing or making whole the city are both
closely related to the correct scaling of the urban landscape.

HARMONY

• The theory of harmony in architecture is largely derived from the classical writers of the Renaissance:
‘the aim of Classical architecture has always been to achieve a demonstrable harmony of parts. Such
harmony has been thought to reside in the buildings of antiquity and to a great extent “built in” to
the principal antique elements –especially to the “five orders”’

• The five orders of architecture each had their own system of proportion. The purpose of such
proportions is to establish harmony throughout the building.

BALANCE AND SYMMETRY

• There are two common sayings in the English language – ‘a sense of proportion’ and a ‘balanced
outlook’ – both of which, when used about someone conveys the impression of a reasonable and well-
adjusted human being. Similarly a building which achieves balance is visually well adjusted, exhibiting
a reasonable distribution of its component parts.

• Symmetry, in its modern usage, has come to mean the balance of formal axial buildings. Symmetry
of this type implies an axis of movement. Most creatures or man made objects which move
directionally are symmetrical with regard to an axis of movement,

• Consequently the symmetrical building composition is best appreciated while the viewer is moving
along its central axis. Formal symmetrical decoration is also often best viewed from the central axis

RHYTHM

• Rhythm is a basic characteristic of our nature.

• Rhythm in architecture is the product of the grouping of elements; of emphasis, interval, accent and
direction. It is the sense of movement achieved by the articulation of the members making up the
composition.

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CONTRAST

• Good design, however, should avoid monotony and, therefore, it should have interest and accent.
Some of the great pleasures in life derive from the contrasts found in nature. In architecture, much of
the pleasure derives from similar contrasts. Entering the bright amphitheatre of the Piazza del Campo,
Siena, from dark cavernous streets incised in the urban fabric is a stimulating urban experience; the
contrast of horizontals and verticals in the Palazzo Communale confronts the visitor with further
delight

CONCLUSION

The city must be experienced to be appreciated. Ornament and decoration, apart from distant
silhouette, is best appreciated at close quarters. The city, however, is not simply an artifact to be viewed:
the viewer is part of the city. The city is not only a visual experience, it is experienced by all the senses.
Sounds, smells and texture are important: the cool sound of fountain spray or sonorous distant bell, the
smell of garlic, hot chocolate and cigarettes on Parisienne streets, the rising heat from sunny pavements,
or chilly dark shadows in distant alleyways.

CLIMATIC BACKCLOTH FOR ORNAMENT AND DECORATION

• The circumstances under which decoration is seen are important for its appreciation: indeed climatic
conditions can affect the form of decoration.

• Climatic conditions do not on their own offer a sufficient explanation for decorative style and form
in architecture. Climate, particularly lighting conditions is, however, one parameter for the study of
decoration in the city.

PERCEPTION

• Human beings attach meanings, values and objectives to their actions. We each have our own
perceptual world developed within the boundaries of the social group to which we belong and with
whose members certain aspects of the perceptual frame of reference is shared.

• Human beings attach meanings, values and objectives to their actions. We each have our own
perceptual world developed within the boundaries of the social group to which we belong and with
whose members certain aspects of the perceptual frame of reference is shared.

• While ‘perceptual worlds’ may differ, the process of perception and the formulation of a frame of
reference are common. The stimuli which affect the senses of sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell
are only a part of the energy emitted by the environment. There are limits to the ability of our senses
to acquire information.

• Most of our perceiving can be described as categorization or classification. Classification systems for
perception are complex. Objects may be classified as buildings, cars, etc. but those classifications are
further refined so that buildings are further organized and structured in a number of different ways
– by height, by use or by style for example.

• These categories or classifications are called concepts.

• Different people can look at the same thing and perceive it in different ways. It is futile to argue over
the best interpretation. However, some groups within society share features of the perceptual sets
and it is those shared perceptions which the urban designer tries to understand and which are
addressed when attempting to decorate the city.

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MEANING AND CONTENT

• While the aesthetic qualities of decoration are to be respected, for a complete appreciation we must
go beyond the visual appearance and examine meanings or content of city decoration and ornament.
The inherent meaning of decoration can stand for the representation of place and/or the
representation of the society occupying that place. In addition to symbolic meaning, decoration can
impart information and enhance legibility.

• The decoration of the city can act as a collective symbol, something that stands for a town and with
which citizens identify.

• notable example of such decoration is the annual bedecking of Blackpool with lights.

• To see ‘the Blackpool lights’ is an outing for young and old alike from neighbouring centres. Blackpool
has become almost synonymous with the lights festival.

• Decoration can, therefore, represent collective identity, signify place and make places distinct from
one another: ‘it testifies that a group of people share a place and a time, as well as operate in close
proximity and with a good deal of interdependence’

• In this manner decoration contributes to the genius loci, while for Lynch (1960) it strengthens
memorability.

• Decoration can be read as reflections or indices of cultural processes and social values, as such it
makes social meanings manifest. An examination of city decoration reveals how the city operates,
which forces dominate life there and what the residents apparently value. Thus decoration is both a
social symbol and evidence of social structure.

• In addition to the symbolic dimensions, decoration can also be utilitarian, an aid to orientation.
Decorative skylines, for example, help individuals to know where they are and how to get where they
want to go, as such the skyline has meaning as a landmark when it identifies localities in the city.

• The classic study of orientation within the city is Kevin Lynch’s, The Image of the City (1960). An
important purpose, possibly the main purpose of ornamentation, is to make a city more memorable
by giving identity and structure to its public realm. Decoration and ornament can be used to add
coherence to each of Lynch’s five components of city image.

PATRONAGE OF DECORATION

• The use of ornament and decoration in the city, whether it is on the façade of buildings, the detailing
of pavement, the munificence of park provision, the endowment of sculpture or fountains, can be
seen as a display of power and the confirmation of status.

• For this reason city decoration must be examined in the light of prevailing social, economic and
political conditions.

FUNCTION OF ORNAMENT AND DECORATION

• The greatest pleasure from decoration and ornament in the urban realm will result when such
embellishment is in harmony with its function. Ornament and decoration are NOT optional extras on
a building or in a city: the city needs them as much as it needs a transportation network, car parks or
city centre. Decoration and ornament share with all other facets of design the primary aim of creating
unity

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 • The aim of urban design, as Alexander (1987) maintains, is to create a series of properly formed
wholes ‘every part of a town, neighbourhood, a building, a garden, or a room, is whole, in the sense
that it is both an integral entity in itself, and at the same time, joined to some other entities to form
a larger whole.’

• A composition containing more than nine elements may diminish in richness. A rich elevation is one
where from any given distance, between five and nine elements are distinctly seen.

• A subsidiary function of decoration is to ease the transition between the main design elements,
between street and square, between structural elements such as floor and wall planes. It is also used
to make the transition between the different materials used in the construction of the built
environment.

• Decoration and ornament is an expensive business. It is therefore often confined to important

elements – surrounds to doors or windows. Decoration is confined to the front of the building, the
rear remaining plain. Other functions of decoration in the city relate more directly to functional
necessity, such as providing shade, shelter, areas of safety, comfort or information. This category
would include street planting, arcades, seating, lighting and signs

THE FAÇADE

LOCATION OF ORNAMENT

• Decoration on buildings and in the city generally are the means by which a variety of visual
experiences are introduced to the viewer for his or her enjoyment. This quality is sometimes called
richness but articulation is probably a more accurate description.

• The façade is an important element which presents this variety of experience to the viewer.

• The classical approach to decoration in its purest form is based upon the ‘orders of architecture’. The
façade being subdivided horizontally and vertically by the main elements of the order, the
entablature and the column or pilaster. Each floor is emphasized and distinguished by the use of a
different order – the external façade of the Colosseum, Rome, and the Circus in Bath by John Wood
being fairly typical examples

• The most important zone for decoration in the shopping street is the ground floor. The shop front is
the element of the façade which people have greatest contact with. The arcade is a most useful and
highly decorative method of providing cover for the shopper in both the hot climate of southern
Europe and in the wet and windy conditions of the north. The arcade also introduces a unifying
element of continuity to the potentially diverse street scene made up of various retailers. With
careful siting of bollards along the arcade, it also has the advantage that it discourages the ‘ram
raider’ who, using stolen vehicles, drives into the shop window before removing its contents.

• Shop fronts are a continuously changing feature of commercial streets as different retailers come
and go wishing to place their distinctive mark upon the street. The shop front has three main
horizontal divisions: the stall riser, the display window, and the fascia for advertising the retailer and
his wares. The traditional shop front was a design based upon functional needs and requirements.

• Other important considerations for the location of ornament are the distance of the viewer from the
façade; the angle at which it is viewed; and the time the viewer has in which to look at the
composition (Bentley et al., 1985). A prime location for architectural decoration is at the external
corners of buildings, particularly if the corner is at the junction of several streets.

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 • The closer the viewer is to a building the greater the opportunity to see and appreciate intricate
detailing. The bland flat elevation at close quarters is at its most boring. For those parts of the building
seen at a distance of about twelve metres (40 ft), the first six metres (18 ft) of the building constitute
the area seen most readily and are the place where detailed ornament should be concentrated.

THE STREET

• Streets constitute the most common parts of the city. Within the framework of generic street types
outlined by Vitruvius there is great variety. Streets can vary in length, cross section, shape, character,
function and meaning. In addition, streets may change some or all of these qualities over time. An
appreciation of the street façade and its decoration is dependent upon an understanding of the
street’s development, context, role and function.

• Urban streets can be broadly grouped into three functional types. First, there are the great civic
streets dominated by civic buildings such as theatres, concert halls, museums and government
offices. A particularly good example is Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC. Second, there are the
commercial streets – the streets with which we most often identify our city. Regent Street, London,
Boulevard Haussmann, Paris and Fifth Avenue, New York, fall within the category of commercial
streets. Third, there is the residential street. Residential streets constitute the largest part of urban
areas. They vary considerably in terms of their decorative quality ranging from the monotonous to
the richly decorative.

CIVIC STREETS

• Grand scale in civic streets is achieved using vertical elements. Columns, pediments and other
classical elements are used to achieve a unity despite the variety of different building types, heights
and massing.

• In Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC, neo-classical façades of museums and government

buildings juxtaposed with modern buildings define a highly decorated street of great complexity
where unity is achieved through the use of materials and the repetition of small scale cues.

• The Rajpath in New Delhi is another example of the monumental civic street. It is unified by Lutyens’
plan; the imposition of a classical style of architecture with a strong Moghul flavour; the repetitive
use of red and yellow sandstone and the employment of a fine formal landscape treatment

COMMERCIAL STREETS

• Commercial streets because of their function, decorate the city: these are the streets where the
quality of design achieved by decoration contributes to business prosperity. The life and movement
of pedestrians on the pavement stimulated by the commercial activities, is itself a vital contribution
to decorating the city. Regent Street has decorated the central part of London for nearly two
centuries. It has been, and still is, a major magnet for attracting high quality retail and ancillary
services.

• The great pleasure that Regent Street gives the user and tourist lies in its graceful curves which, as
one walks along it, present an ever changing and unfolding visual scene.

• The ground plane of this street, for example, was a rich texture of granite setts in keeping with the
scale of the street architecture of Nash and his contemporary designers.

• Boulevard Haussmann, Paris, in function and in terms of its use of neo-classical elements is very
similar to Regent Street. In Boulevard Haussmann major stores express their corporate identity while

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 showing respect for the street by using materials, details, a style and scale which is in keeping with
the surrounding street context. The ground level of the street accentuates horizontality with large
glazed areas, facing and corners which both support and contrast with the verticality of the rest of
the building façade. Colonnades and arcades are another way of decorating commercial areas. A
typical example is Bologna. The central area is highly decorated by the extensive use of repetitive
elements, rich detailing and the subtle use of colour

• It is, of course, possible to achieve highly decorated streets without using classical elements, as in
the case of Amsterdam. The narrow frontages along the canals in Amsterdam have resulted in a rich
urban scene. The vertical emphasis of the architecture is a result of the medieval ownership pattern
and taxation. The streets of narrow gabled fronts are reflected in the canals extending their apparent
height and increasing the effect of verticality. The buildings show great respect for context: window
shapes, details, materials, gable and colours blend to form a highly decorative and unified street
scene

• A similar form of gabled street elevation can be found in those areas of European cities where
medieval sections of the city survive. A particularly good, though small, example is The Shambles in
York

RESIDENTIAL STREETS

• London and Paris are cities which are well endowed with decorative and decorated streets. Streets
in Belgravia, Mayfair and Sloane Square use both neoclassical and Georgian decorative features to
achieve a human and distinctive environment. The same can be said of the streets of Paris, especially
north of the river in the Eighth Arrondissement. Stone and stucco are used throughout to create
small unified areas of great identity in an environment of fine grain and rich texture.

• Prague and some parts of Vienna in contrast have streets which are decorated with fine examples of
Baroque and Art Nouveau façades. The rich ornament, curves and elliptical shapes decorate the
Baroque street with profuse detailing and disturbing movement. Art Nouveau buildings contribute
to ornament and movement in a similar fashion to their more ponderous neighbours but with
lightness and less gravitas.

• The decorated street is not confined to those occupied or built by the more affluent citizens. Britain
has a wealth of nineteenth-century working class streets finely decorated with the ubiquitous bay
window and with polychromatic patterned brickwork. Large parts of British cities are devoted to the
suburban street where buildings and their landscape jointly create decorative complexity without, in
the best examples, disarray. Although all suburbs are not of the quality of the Park Estate in
Nottingham, it nevertheless exhibits many of the attributes associated with the suburban street.

MULTI-FUNCTION STREETS

• Not all streets can be neatly categorized according to functional type. Some streets such as those of
the Lace Market, Nottingham, have changed during the progress of time, while some such as the
main street in Saltaire, Yorkshire were designed with many functions in mind.

• The main street in Saltaire is residential, contains the main commercial area of the town and also the
main civic buildings. If sustainable development remains an important goal in the future and if
movement, and therefore energy efficiency is a priority consideration, then the multifunction street
will be the norm. As such it will be streets like Victoria Street in Saltaire that will be the model for
future urbanists.

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5. SIGNS AND SYMBOLS
• Saussure offered a 'dyadic' or two-part model of the sign. He defined a sign as being composed of:

• a 'signifier' (signifiant) - the form which the sign takes; and

• the 'signified' (signifié) - the concept it represents.

• The sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier with the signified (Saussure
1983, 67; Saussure 1974, 67). The relationship between the signifier and the signified is referred to
as 'signification', and this is represented in the Saussurean diagram by the arrows. The horizontal
line marking the two elements of the sign is referred to as 'the bar'.

• If we take a linguistic example, the word 'Open' (when it is invested with meaning by someone who
encounters it on a shop doorway) is a sign consisting of:

• a signifier: the word open;

• a signified concept: that the shop is open for business.

• Variants of Peirce's triad are often presented as 'the semiotic triangle' (as if there were only one
version). Here is a version which is quite often encountered and which changes only the unfamiliar
Peircean terms (Nöth 1990, 89):

• Sign vehicle: the form of the sign;

• Sense: the sense made of the sign;

• Referent: what the sign 'stands for'.

Symbol/symbolic: a mode in which the signifier does not resemble the signified but which is
fundamentally arbitrary or purely conventional - so that the relationship must be learnt: e.g.
language in general (plus specific languages, alphabetical letters, punctuation marks, words,
phrases and sentences), numbers, morse code, traffic lights, national flags;

Icon/iconic: a mode in which the signifier is perceived as resembling or imitating the signified
(recognizably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it) - being similar in possessing
some of its qualities: e.g. a portrait, a cartoon, a scale-model, onomatopoeia, metaphors,
'realistic' sounds in 'programme music', sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film
soundtrack, imitative gestures;

Index/indexical: a mode in which the signifier is not arbitrary but is directly

connected in some way (physically or causally) to the signified - this link can be
observed or inferred: e.g. 'natural signs' (smoke, thunder, footprints, echoes, non-
synthetic odours and flavours), medical symptoms (pain, a rash, pulse-rate),
measuring instruments (weathercock, thermometer, clock, spirit-level), 'signals' (a
knock on a door, a phone ringing), pointers (a pointing 'index' finger, a directional
signpost), recordings (a photograph, a film, video or television shot, an audio-
recorded voice), personal 'trademarks' (handwriting, catchphrase) and indexical
words ('that', 'this', 'here', 'there').

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6.0 ELEMENTS OF URBAN DESIGN

1. Buildings

Buildings are the most pronounced elements of urban design - they shape and articulate space by
forming the streetwalls of the city. Well designed buildings and groups of buildings work together to create
a sense of place.

2. Public Space

Great public spaces are the living room of the city - the place where people come together to enjoy the city
and each other. Public spaces make high quality life in the city possible - they form the stage and backdrop
to the drama of life. Public spaces range from grand central plazas and squares, to small, local neighborhood
parks.

3. Streets

Streets are the connections between spaces and places, as well as being spaces themselves. They are defined
by their physical dimension and character as well as the size, scale, and character of the buildings that line
them. Streets range from grand avenues such as the Champs-Elysees in Paris to small, intimate pedestrian
streets. The pattern of the street network is part of what defines a city and what makes each city unique.

Streets are the connections between spaces and places, as well as being spaces themselves. They are defined
by their physical dimension and character as well as the size, scale, and character of the buildings that line
them. Streets range from grand avenues such as the Champs-Elysees in Paris to small, intimate pedestrian
streets. The pattern of the street network is part of what defines a city and what makes each city unique.

4. Transport

Transport systems connect the parts of cities and help shape them, and enable movement throughout the
city. They include road, rail, bicycle, and pedestrian networks, and together form the total movement system
of a city. The balance of these various transport systems is what helps define the quality and character of
cities, and makes them either friendly or hostile to pedestrians. The best cities are the ones that elevate the
experience of the pedestrian while minimizing the dominance of the private automobile.

5. Landscape

The landscape is the green part of the city that weaves throughout - in the form of urban parks, street trees,
plants, flowers, and water in many forms. The landscape helps define the character and beauty of a city and
creates soft, contrasting spaces and elements. Green spaces in cities range from grand parks such as Central
Park in New York City and the Washington DC Mall, to small intimate pocket parks.

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50 Urban Planning Terms – Yiling Sheng

Abutter: Means the same as “adjacent landowner.” Usually, the person who hates progress and wishes
everything still looked the same as it did in 1800.
Arcology: What happens when you splice the words “Architecture” and “Ecology.” Used to describe self-
contained megastructures that reduce human impacts on the environment (basically, the conceptual projects
that architects love to design and no-one loves to pay for.)
B

Boomburb: Boom(ing) (su)burb. Areas that have the population density of a city with the ugly buildings of
the suburbs.
Brownfield land: Potentially contaminated former commercial or industrial land, which your real estate
developer client will insist on referring to as “opportune”.
Brusselization: The act of plonking modern high-rises in the middle of cities with no regard for its context.
The name derives from the fact that the city of Brussels did it a lot.
C

Community greens: Shared green spaces in residential neighborhoods. What you mean when you color your
plan green in certain areas and call it “sustainable design.”
Conscious city: A city that understands you better than your therapist.
Conurbation: The urban equivalent of the Blob: an area formed by multiple towns and cities merging
together to create one district.
Coving: An urban planning method of winding roads and non-uniform lots. Sounds fun until you drive by the
same house 4 times and realize you have no idea where you are.
E

Edge city: A secondary CBD on the edge of the city.

Ekistics: The fancy science behind urban planning. A term used by people who really care about The Power
of Design™.
Elbow roomers: People who leave the city for the countryside (AKA the winners of Farmer Wants a Wife).
F

Facadism: A practice vehemently hated by many architects, it mostly consists of badly hiding a glass box
behind a skinned heritage building.
Floor area ratio: Total floor area of building. Area of the plot.

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Fused grid: A type of street network pattern that looks like an IQ test.

G
Green belt: A policy used in urban planning to retain a “belt” of the natural environment around urban areas,
because if there’s still a tiny strip of green we can keep pretending we’re not destroying the Earth.
Greenfield land: The opposite of Brownfield land: land that is untouched and pristine.
Greyfield land: Buildings or real estate land that is economically useless, such as “dead malls” with seas of
empty asphalt around them.
Grid plan: Pretty obvious what this means. A plan in the shape of a grid.
I
Infill: Filling in the gaps between buildings with more buildings.
Isovist: A measurement referring to the set of points visible from a certain point in space.
M
Mansionization: When people build humongous houses because they can. And because they want to show
how rich they are.
Missing Middle Housing: The missing jigsaw piece that fits in between cramped one-bedroom apartments
and McMansions.
N
New Urbanism: An urban design movement that promotes pedestrian-friendly cities that are
environmentally sustainable and built for communities.
New Suburbanism: You guessed it! New Urbanism…but with the suburbs.
NIMBY: An acronym for Not In My Backyard. The sort of people who believe shelters should be built for the
homeless as long as they’re not anywhere within a 5-mile radius of their own house.
O
Out growth: An urban area growing out from an existing town or city.
Overdevelopment: The radical idea that maybe ceaseless population growth and building development
might negatively affect the world.
P
Permeability: How cheese hole-y an urban area is. New Urbanists love this.
Placemaking: The art of making “places” rather than stand-alone pretty buildings.
PLVI: Peak Land Value Intersection. The best land value for your buck (AKA Park Lane.)
Protected view: When a view is so beautiful you have to protect it.
R
Ribbon development: When developments occur alongside a ribbon, usually main roads and railway stations.
Leads to urban sprawl.

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Road verge: Synonyms: Curb Strip, Nature Strip, Devil Strip, Hell Strip, Furniture Zone, Government
Grass…Feel like this says a lot about the city each name comes from.
S
Setback (land use): The minimum distance to which a building must be set back from a street, road or natural
feature.
Smart city: Similar to the conscious city, the smart city uses data collection to gain information about its
residents in order to manage the city effectively. Has the potential to vastly improve how we live, but also
sounds like a Black Mirror episode.
Strollology: Exactly what it sounds like. The science of strolling. Not just through beautiful meadows but
through the reality of our cities, full of greyfields, boomburbs and Brusselization.

ynekism: The co-dependence of city-states under one leader.

T
Tactical urbanism: Similar to a tac munt (see: tactical spew), it involves a small-scale, temporary intervention
for the greater good.
Terminating vista: Super important buildings that stand at the end of a road, so you can’t escape the view.
Third place: First place is the home, second place is the workplace, and third place is all the other community-
creating environments that are good for the soul.
U
Urban prairie: Urban land that has reverted to green space. For those of us that live outside America, it
conjures up a vague image of green fields and blonde little girls in bonnets.
Urban acupuncture: Surprisingly exactly what it sounds like: the intersection of urban design and traditional
Chinese acupuncture. Consists of targeting small areas to relieve the stress of the overall city and listening to
chanting music while trying to ignore the fact that thousands of needles are being stabbed into your body.
Urbicide: Not quite as scary as other -cide words (but possibly worse if you’re an architect), it means “violence
against the city.”
V
Vancouverism: The urban planning tricks that led to Vancouver being consistently ranked as one of the most
liveable cities in the world.
Viewshed: Just means the view from a certain point, with math added to it.
W
Walkability: The degree to which an area loves its pedestrians.
Wildlife corridor: A green corridor connecting wildlife populations that have been separated due to human
development. Increases biodiversity and allows safe migration for animals.
Y

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YIMBY: The opposite of NIMBY, YIMBYs are usually well-off Millennials who love gentrification and want as
much development as possible, even if it is horribly designed.
Z
Zone of transition: A zone of flux and change in the concentric urban model created by Ernest Burgess.

APLANN 2 | HANDOUT | LDG 2018