Concepts of Urban Design
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BASIC CONCEPTS OF URBAN DESIGN - A RESEARCH REVIEW SANJAY S. JADON Reader, Department of Architecture, MITS, Gwalior 1 INTRODUCTION Vitruvius described urban design as essentially an ethical endeavor inspired by the vision of public art and architecture. Every town, city or urban region whatever its inherent natural characteristics of site and terrain and man made problems has a potential which stems from its own natural form, sense of place, sense of history, spirit and ethos. It urges us never to forget man’s fundamental yearning for the beauty of nature and a respect when he reshapes it for his use (Blessing, 1966). People perceive a city in different ways and each city has a public image which is the overlap of many individual images. Imageability in a city may be said to be more a perceptual concept than a physical or visual entity. It is the interpretation of various layers of a city’s images - its form, profile and experiences over a period of time. Imageability refers to the probability that an environment will evoke a strong image from observers. Imageability is probably the single most important factor in the identity of a place (Lynch, 1960). 2 PIONEER STUDIES IN URBAN DESIGN Urban design as a specialized branch of architecture emerged from the pioneering works especially since the 1960s. Imageability is a prime factor of study in urban morphology, urban geography and urban design. Camillo Sitte (1843- 1903) can be said to be the pioneer of a humanistic approach to urban design in the modern age. His text (1889) based on a rigorous analytical study of the perception of urban space can be said to be the best text of modern urban design theory. The concepts of proportions, vista in public squares were analytically dealt with the documentation of numerous examples in history. It opposed the technocratic attitude of the engineers and traffic planners and emphasized the ABSTRACT This paper is a brief review of research studies in the field of urban morphology with respect to human perceptions. It briefly overviews the elements and concepts of urban morphology with specific reference to imageability in perception studies. The author is of the opinion that primary research studies in the field of image perception in Indian cities are marginal denying conclusive research proof to urban design concepts and superimposing western concepts of urban planning and theories without acknowledging ground realities of socio-cultural patterns and racial differences in perception, globalization notwithstanding, is self defeating. psychological and philosophical approach to perception of form and space. Paul Zucker (1959) emphasized space and its representation as central to understanding architecture and urbanism. He focused on the urban square as central to urban space and has done a thorough spatial analysis and categorization of squares. His analysis of traditional squares as space and squares in modernistic planning as voids shows the lacunae in urban design in modern planning. Generally, the approaches in architecture and urban design have been more speculative than based on a scientific approach. Kevin Lynch (1960) pioneered a scientific approach to urban design studying and analysed the components of urban design parameters and human evaluation. He put forth the image of the city as a concept which can be perceived, evaluated and changed. His seminal work lay in identifying basic elements of an image of a city and in introducing a technique of image analysis as the basis of a plan for a future visual form of the city. His work was based on American cities. In his words, the image analysis may differ with other cultures or other races. Later work in architectural research, landscape architecture, environmental psychology has dealt with specific studies in perception studies and cognitive maps in America and Central America (Potter, 1984). Ulrich Neisser (1967) in laying the ground of cognitive psychology defined iconic memory as the visual sensory memory. Jane Jacobs (1961), one of the most serious critics of modernist planning, defended traditional neighborhoods, lively street life and crowded pedestrian sidewalks. She emphasized the need to understand cities in terms of combinations or mixtures of uses rather than separate land uses. She stressed on diversity as a measure of urban vitality and put forth some indispensable ITPI JOURNAL www.itpi.org.in ITPI JOURNAL 4 : 1 (2007) 70 - 72
Transcript of Concepts of Urban Design
BASIC CONCEPTS OF URBAN DESIGN - A RESEARCH REVIEWSANJAY S. JADON
Reader, Department of Architecture, MITS, Gwalior
1 INTRODUCTIONVitruvius described urban design as essentially anethical endeavor inspired by the vision of publicart and architecture. Every town, city or urbanregion whatever its inherent natural characteristicsof site and terrain and man made problems has apotential which stems from its own natural form,sense of place, sense of history, spirit and ethos.It urges us never to forget man’s fundamentalyearning for the beauty of nature and a respectwhen he reshapes it for his use (Blessing, 1966).People perceive a city in different ways and eachcity has a public image which is the overlap ofmany individual images. Imageability in a city maybe said to be more a perceptual concept than aphysical or visual entity. It is the interpretation ofvarious layers of a city’s images - its form, profileand experiences over a period of time. Imageabilityrefers to the probability that an environment willevoke a strong image from observers. Imageabilityis probably the single most important factor inthe identity of a place (Lynch, 1960).2 PIONEER STUDIES IN URBAN
DESIGNUrban design as a specialized branch ofarchitecture emerged from the pioneering worksespecially since the 1960s. Imageability is a primefactor of study in urban morphology, urbangeography and urban design. Camillo Sitte (1843-1903) can be said to be the pioneer of ahumanistic approach to urban design in themodern age. His text (1889) based on a rigorousanalytical study of the perception of urban spacecan be said to be the best text of modern urbandesign theory. The concepts of proportions, vistain public squares were analytically dealt with thedocumentation of numerous examples in history.It opposed the technocratic attitude of theengineers and traffic planners and emphasized the
ABSTRACTThis paper is a brief review of research studies in the field of urban morphology with respect to human perceptions. It brieflyoverviews the elements and concepts of urban morphology with specific reference to imageability in perception studies. The authoris of the opinion that primary research studies in the field of image perception in Indian cities are marginal denying conclusive researchproof to urban design concepts and superimposing western concepts of urban planning and theories without acknowledging groundrealities of socio-cultural patterns and racial differences in perception, globalization notwithstanding, is self defeating.
psychological and philosophical approach toperception of form and space. Paul Zucker (1959)emphasized space and its representation as centralto understanding architecture and urbanism. Hefocused on the urban square as central to urbanspace and has done a thorough spatial analysisand categorization of squares. His analysis oftraditional squares as space and squares inmodernistic planning as voids shows the lacunaein urban design in modern planning.Generally, the approaches in architecture andurban design have been more speculative thanbased on a scientific approach. Kevin Lynch (1960)pioneered a scientific approach to urban designstudying and analysed the components of urbandesign parameters and human evaluation. He putforth the image of the city as a concept whichcan be perceived, evaluated and changed. Hisseminal work lay in identifying basic elements ofan image of a city and in introducing a techniqueof image analysis as the basis of a plan for a futurevisual form of the city. His work was based onAmerican cities. In his words, the image analysismay differ with other cultures or other races. Laterwork in architectural research, landscapearchitecture, environmental psychology has dealtwith specific studies in perception studies andcognitive maps in America and Central America(Potter, 1984). Ulrich Neisser (1967) in laying theground of cognitive psychology defined iconicmemory as the visual sensory memory.Jane Jacobs (1961), one of the most serious criticsof modernist planning, defended traditionalneighborhoods, lively street life and crowdedpedestrian sidewalks. She emphasized the needto understand cities in terms of combinations ormixtures of uses rather than separate land uses.She stressed on diversity as a measure of urbanvitality and put forth some indispensable
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Sanjay S. Jadon / ITPI Journal 4 : 1 (2007) 70 - 72
conditions to generate diversity in urban space.Gordon Cullen (1961) in townscape brought forththe relationships between the building and externalspaces in the urban context. He stressed on thesubjective values in relationships of elements vis-à-vis the observer. Tricart (1963) deals with theconcept of scale and place in the study of socialcontent of the city. Spreiregen (1964) hasexpanded the work of Lynch in terms of detailinga methodology of visual survey and building avocabulary of working terms in urban design. Heextended the vocabulary of urban form to aspectssuch as landform, natural verdure, climate, sizeand density, pattern grain and texture and theirclassification. The concepts of optics, relative placeand content are highlighted. Hall (1966) developedhis theory of proxemics with the precept thathuman perceptions of space are molded andpatterned by culture. He defined personal spaceand social distance which varies widely with culturalorigins.3 FURTHER ANALYTICAL STUDIESRobert Venturi et al (1972) through the study ofthe image of Las Vegas analysed the vitality ofMain Street. Their studies on Las Vegas throw upinteresting aspects of image - the value ofsymbolism and allusion in an urban environmentof vast space and speed. Rob Krier (1975)redefines the elements of urban space and itsclassification. Shadrach Woods (1975), a practicingarchitect known for mega projects, has attemptedin his writings as well as his projects to maintainthe cultural continuities of the city while addressinga large canvas of transformations in modern city.Christopher Alexander et al (1977) have wovenin elements of urban design as a pattern languagewhich can be used by an individual, aneighbourhood, a designer or a city planner.William Whyte’s (1980) detailed study on smallurban plazas brought forth characteristics ofsuccessful urban plazas which showed how orwhen people used urban common spaces. Hisstudies on urban open spaces and urban plazasin New York brought forward some interestingobservations on how people use public spaces andmeasure of vitality of urban spaces in terms ofuser density.Aldo Rossi’s (1984) analysis on urban structure isimportant to the history of urban design. He hasstressed the urban themes such as memory andmonumentality taking the city as a whole than
building in the urban design theory. Alice Coleman’s(1985) work on Design Dis-advantagementcarried forward Oscar Newman’s premises oncrime and architectural design. Wayne Attoe(1989) has discussed the catalyst theory in termsof urban elements in practical urban design. SpiroKostof (1992) has provided a detaileddocumentation of elements of urban design inworld history. Scheer B.L. has reviewed the issuesof perception of citizens with respect to physicalsurroundings. Lalli Marco (1992) has developed aframework for urban related identity andintroduced a urban identity scale. Nasar J.L.(1997) has dealt extensively with methodologicalissues in evaluative studies of spaces. He has dealtextensively with evaluation of the image of thecity with particular application to open spaces andcrime prevention. Ramadier Thierry and Moser G.(1998) studied the field experimentation theconcept of legibility within an urban space withrespect to two cultural groups. Their results haveshown that the characteristics of environmentalmeanings depend upon cultural origins of theperceiver. The New Urbanism (2001) movementadvocated since 1993 espouses re-establishing therelationship between art of building andcommunity building through participatoryplanning and design. Nahoum Cohen (2002),working with heritage precincts, proposes aconservation potential matrix as a tool. Heespousing urban conservation has worked oncreating an urban profile assessment.4 IMAGE AND PERCEPTIONPerception is a process that uses our previousknowledge together, and interprets the stimuli thatour senses register. It is a constant process thatoperates between man and his environment. Theprocess of perception is responsible for selectingstimuli and arranging them into meaningfulpatterns. This process is influenced by the internalfactors of learning, motivation and personality. Theframework of response to sets of stimuli is calledthe perceptual set (Buchanan and Hucyznski,1985). Each individual has a personal perceptualset and with it a personal and unique vision ofwhat is out there in the environment. However,groups within the society share features of theperceptual sets and it is this shared set that urbandesigners address. Cognitive maps are the internalrepresentations of the way our spatial environmentis arranged (Ormrod et al, 1988). Most researcheshave raised the issue that cognitive maps are both
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analog and propositional in nature, which meansthat there is a picture like image of streets as alsoinformation such as turn left at the next junctionand that building is next to the pink building.It has been seen that cognitive maps arereasonably accurate and variations of such mapsfrom reality stem from a rational or logical strategy.For example, we think of places in terms of roadroute distance rather than physical proximity(Mcnamara 1984, 1986), our mental maps aremore regular or symmetrical than reality (Maarand Bower, 1983, Tversky and Schian, 1989).Franklin and Twersky (1990) have shown in theirresearch how we create mental maps from verbaldescriptions. Their study concluded with theprecept that humans follow the spatial frameworkmodel in which our conceptions of space is differentfrom our perceptions of space and certain spatialdirections are especially prominent in our thinkingsuch as the above or below, front or behind orleft or right come later. These studies are basedon space models rather than street models. HaltE.D. (1966) developed his theory of proxemicswith the precept that human perceptions of spaceare molded and patterned by culture and thatthere are differences in the way spaces areperceived among different races.In the Indian context primary research studieson the concept of urban space design have beenmarginal. Traditional urban spaces have beenstudied in the documentation studies undervarious heritage areas of Ahmedabad, Jaipur,Mumbai, Jaiselmer, etc. under the aegis of INTACH,etc. Eminent professionals have discussed theimages of urban India. I (1992) have exploredconcepts of urban space, serial vision and skylinewithin the walled city of Delhi. Dongre (1992) hasexplored image perception within a small Indiantown as a database towards planning process.Shirodkar V.A. (2005) has analysedtransformations of specific streetscapes of Goaover a historical period of time. All general studiesand researches have emphasized that Indianspaces have certain intrinsic characteristics suchas mixed land-use, multi-functional use of urbanelements, and community as identifying factors.5 CONCLUSIONSThe basic conclusion drawn from this review are(i) primary research studies in the field of imageperception in Indian cities are marginal denyingconclusive research proof to urban design
concepts necessary to back up design decisionsin urban planning; and (ii) superimposing westernconcepts of urban planning and theories withoutacknowledging ground realities of socio-culturalpatterns and racial differences in perception,globalization notwithstanding, is self defeating.REFERENCESAlexander C. (1977) A Pattern Language, New York, OxfordUniversity Press.Attoe, W. and Don, L. (1989) American Urban Architecture:Catalysts in Design of Cities, Berkeley, University of CaliforniaPress.Dongre, R. (1992) Citizen Perception and Urban Planning, A+D,Vol. IX, No. 1, pp. 63--72.Cohen, N. (2002) Urban Conservation, McGraw Hill, London.Cullen, G. (1961) Townscape, Architectural Press, London.Fellman, J.G. and Getis, A. J. (1990) Human Geography, W CBrown Publishers, New York.Hall, E.T. (1966) The Hidden Dimension, New York.Jacobs, J. (1961) The Death and Life of Great American Cities,Random House, New York.Kostof, S. (1991) The City Shaped, Bullfinch Press Boston.Kostof, S. (1992) The City Assembled, Bullfinch Press, Boston.Krier, R. (1979) Urban Spaces, Rizzoli, New York.Krier, R. (1984) Elements of Architecture, A+D Press, London.Lalli, M. (1992) Urban Related Identity: Theory, Measurementand Empirical Findings, Journal of Environmental Psychology,Vol. 12 No 4. pp. 283-303.Lynch, K. (1960) The Image of the City, MIT Press,Massachusetts.Martin, M.W. (1995) Cognition, India, Prism Books.Mohan, I. (1992) Environmental Issues and Urban Developmentof the Walled Cities, Mittal Publications, Delhi.Morris, C. (1981) Townscape Images: A Study in Meaning.Nasar, J.L. (1998) The Evaluative Image of City, Sage, Oak,California.National Institute of Urban Affairs (1980) Urban Conservation-Safeguarding India’s Dying Heritage, National Institute of UrbanAffairs, New Delhi.Potter, R. (1985) Urbanisation and Planning in the Third World:Spatial Perceptions and Public Participation, Croom Helm,London.Ramadier, T. and Moser, G. (1998) Social Legibility, the CognitiveMap and Urban Behavior, Journal of Environmental Psychology,Article no ps 980099.Rossi, A. (1984) The Architecture of the City, MIT Press,Massachusetts.Scheer, B.L. Urban Design, A Place in Planning, PlanningCommissioners Journal, Article no. 481.Shirodkar, V.A. (2005) Transformations in the Streetscape ofMapusa, Goa, ITPI Journal, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 59-68.Short, J.R. (1984) An Introduction to Urban Geography,Routledge, London.Sitte, C. (Ed.) (1945) The Art of Building Cities, ReinholdPublishing Corporation, London.Spreiregen, P. (1966) Urban Design, McGraw Hill Book Company,New York.Venturi, S. and Izenour (1972) Learning from Las Vegas, MITPress, Massachusetts.Whyte, W. (1980) The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces,Conservation Foundation, Washington D.C.Woods, S. (1975) The Man in the Street, A Polemic on Urbanism,Penguin Books, Baltimore.Zucker, P. (1970) Town and Square, MIT Press, Massachusetts.
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