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Elements of Urban Design

The document outlines five key elements of urban design: buildings, public spaces, streets, transportation, and landscape. It states that buildings shape space and represent the public face of the city. Public spaces like plazas and parks are important social areas. Streets connect spaces and are defined by surrounding buildings. Transportation systems enable movement throughout the city for various modes of travel. Landscape includes green spaces, street furniture, and roof gardens that provide beauty and contrast to the urban environment.

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Amjad ali
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51 views

Elements of Urban Design

The document outlines five key elements of urban design: buildings, public spaces, streets, transportation, and landscape. It states that buildings shape space and represent the public face of the city. Public spaces like plazas and parks are important social areas. Streets connect spaces and are defined by surrounding buildings. Transportation systems enable movement throughout the city for various modes of travel. Landscape includes green spaces, street furniture, and roof gardens that provide beauty and contrast to the urban environment.

Uploaded by

Amjad ali
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Elements of Urban Design

Following are the most important elements that must be considered while doing any
successful project regarding urban design.

1. Buildings

Buildings are the most pronounced elements of urban design as these shape and articulate
space by forming the street walls of the city. Well designed buildings and groups of buildings
work together to create a sense of place. They also represent public face of the city.
Therefore, buildings design should reflect the history and culture of the city and the people
living in it. Their design should be compatible with their use. Building facades at the
pedestrian scale should be visually engaging with architectural treatments, doors and
windows.

2. Public Spaces

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 – these
form the stage and backdrop to the drama of life. Public spaces range from grand central
plazas and squares, to small, local neighbourhood parks. Because of their scale and
magnitude, these spaces immediately become a focal point and defining element of the city.
Fountains, sculptures, water gardens and special lighting can all contribute to the life of the
plaza and make the experience more meaningful. Informal small plazas or pocket parks
should be encouraged and located at the intersection of important streets, to announce a
building or to provide spatial opportunity for public interaction around a culturally or
historically significant area. These should contain sculptures, fountains, artwork and trees.
Water can also provide an engaging element that helps establish the character and quality of
the space.

3. Streets

Streets are the connections between spaces and places, as well as being spaces themselves.
These 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 to small, intimate
pedestrian streets. The pattern of the street network is part of what defines a city and what
makes each city unique. Therefore, the design and placement of all the elements contained in
the public right-of-way from a building face on one side of the street to a building face on the
other should be carefully considered and executed. Unfortunately, this exercise is rarely
undertaken. Too often, streets are cluttered with wires, poles, traffic signals, signage and
advertisements, all carelessly placed, creating visual chaos.

4. Transportation

Transportation 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 components of
transportation system 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 to small intimate parks within a neighbourhood. Hard
landscape elements mainly include street furniture like benches, planters, light poles,
bollards, bicycle racks and information kiosks etc. In the central area of a city, hard landscape
elements should be located in a manner that these may not obstruct the shade provided by
awnings, arcades and trees during summer. Moreover, roof gardens are the mark of a
signature urban environment and add a sophisticated dimension to the city. This efficient way
of providing green relief in dense urban settings can introduce dramatic views in an
atmosphere of relative privacy, above the noise and traffic occurring at street level.

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