Urban Design Theory

Assignment 2: Short Notes

Submitted by
Reshma M Georgi
Roll No. 16, M1
UD, M. Arch
 Place and space:

Although we use the word space very commonly in our daily life, the concept of space is quite
complicated and makes it difficult to define. However, attempts to offer a definition for space are
assigned to Plato and Aristotle. Heidegger did not consider space as something which stands in
front of the humans, rather than in his view, space is neither an external nor an inner experience.
Space is not something predetermined and fixed; In fact, it is the personal location which defines
the space. Moreover, the perception of space is only possible in the presence of the perceptible
objects therefore space is the relation among objects. Space, based on its English lexical concepts,
can be classified into three types of geographical space, living space and (interior or central)
architectural space. Bruno Zevi considered space as the basis of architecture which architecture
obtains its characteristics based on it.
While space is an open and abstract area, place is not considered as a subjective and abstract
concept, it rather is a location or a part of space which obtains its particular identity through the
factors inside it and has a meaning and value. Place is the base of a direct connection with the
world and the human life spot and it means beyond the position and origin. Therefore, it is full of
meaning, physical reality and human experiences and is considered as the center of sensible
value
Heidegger discussed that the places make it possible for a space to exist hence be built, like a
constructed place establishes and links the spaces. The mission of architecture is to activate the
potential content of environment by converting somewhere to a place, thus the final goal of
architecture is creating and also protecting a place. In fact, place can be considered as the
synthesis of space organization and the built form, and Paolo Portoghesi defined it as the system
of places.

Source: Space and place concepts analysis based on semiology approach in residential architecture The case
study of traditional city of Bushehr, Iran Mojtaba Parsaee , Mohammad Parva , Bagher Karimi, 23 July
2014
 Place making

"Placemaking is the way in which all human beings transform the places they find themselves
into the places where they live,
Placemaking inspires people to collectively reimagine and reinvent public spaces as the heart of
every community. Strengthening the connection between people and the places they share,
placemaking refers to a collaborative process by which we can shape our public realm in order to
maximize shared value. More than just promoting better urban design, placemaking facilitates
creative patterns of use, paying particular attention to the physical, cultural, and social identities
that define a place and support its ongoing evolution.

Access and Linkage Comfort and Image

Sociability Uses and Activities

Placemaking: The Art and Practice of Building Communities. Lynda H. Schneekloth, Robert G.
Shibley, Placemaking by Project for public spaces (P.P.S)
 Christopher Alexander

Christopher Alexander is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at

the University of California, Berkeley, best known for his
seminal works on architecture including A Pattern
Language, Notes on the Synthesis of Form, and The Nature of
Order, Volumes I-IV.
He is the father of the Pattern Language movement in computer
science, and A Pattern Language was perhaps the first complete
book ever written in hypertext fashion.
He has designed and built more than two hundred buildings on
five continents: many of these buildings lay the ground work of a
new form of architecture, which looks far into the future, yet has
roots in ancient traditions. Much of his work has been based on
inventions in technology, including, especially, inventions in
concrete, shell design, and contracting procedures needed to
attain a living architecture.
He was the founder of the Center for Environmental Structure in
1967, and remains President of that Company until today. In
2000, he founded PatternLanguage.com, and is Chairman of the
Board. He has been a consultant to city, county, and national
governments on every continent, has advised corporations,
government agencies, and architects and planners throughout the
world.
Alexander was elected fellow of the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences in 1996, is a fellow of the Swedish Royal Society,
has been the recipient of innumerable architectural prizes and
honors including the gold medal for research of the American
Institute of Architects, awarded in 1970 and, more recently, the
National Building Museum's Vincent Scully Prize in 2009.
He was born in Vienna, Austria in 1936. He was raised in
England, and holds a Master's Degree in Mathematics and a
Bachelor's degree in Architecture from Cambridge University,
and a PhD in Architecture from Harvard University.
In 1958 he moved to the United States, and lived in Berkeley,
California from 1963 until 2002; in 2002, he moved back to
West Sussex, England, where he now resides. His most recent
book, The Battle for the Life and Beauty of the Earth was
published in October 2012.

Source : http://www.patternlanguage.com/ca/ca.html
 Gordon Cullen and Townscapes
The title of the book is The
Concise Townscape and its author
is Gordon Cullen. He was
an influential English Architect
and urban designer who was
a key motivator in townscape
movement. He had played a
major role in structuring
townscape through this book.
First edition of book was first
published in 1961by The
Architectural Press and its
copyright with Elsevier Ltd.
According to Gordon Cullen
Townscape is a visual art
contained in the arrangement of
buildings, roads, trees, nature and
urban environment that decorate
the space. The townscape is one
way that can be used in term of
physical visual to recognize the
physical form of a city. The
townscape can also be identified
by the shape of arrangement that
is by the design of buildings and
roads that creates various
emotional levels to the observer.

http://writingcities.com/2015/11/10/gordon-cullens-townscape/
 According to author the values should be added in the urban design of the city so that people can
emotionally enjoy a good urban environment through psychological and physical sense. Four
points that are emphasized in this book are serial vision, place, content, and the functional
tradition. . Each of the four core townscape has details aspects which can be seen in the book in
the form of cases.
According to author serial vision can be explain as the visual images captured by an observer who
happens when walking from one place to another in a region. Recording by observers view the
image into pieces which gradually and forms an integral image recording area for observers.
Typically, there will be similarities or a marker of the pieces of the view that gives certainty to the
observer that he was still in the same region.
According to author Place are owned observers feeling emotionally at the time in a certain place.
For example a man on the edge of a cliff will have a very lively sense of position
where as a man at the end of deep cave will react to the fact of enclosure. Place influenced by the
boundaries that exist in such a place.
According to author content is the content (Fabric includes colour, texture, scale, style, character,
personality and uniqueness) of an area that affects one's feelings toward the state of the city
environment. Content depends on two factors, namely the level of conformity and the level of
creativity.
According to author functional tradition is quality in the elements that make up the urban
environment.
At the end of the book The Concise Townscape author concludes three things :
An urban environment is composed by two ways. The first, the city as an object composed of
outside planners as subjects. Secondly the city that are constructed and then filled up by activities.
Both are a complementary continuity. Townscape role here is as a city forming the structure and
support the human activity.
Urban arrangement should be able to provide comfort to the people who occupy it. Urban
environment influenced the development of society psychologically and physically. Therefore the
art of the environment needs to be emphasized in urban design. In the arrangement of an urban
environment should consider the logic of Atlas. It relates to the physical dimensions of the
geometry, dimensions of time and the dimensions of ambience.
In essence the urban townscape into a series of elements those are important in the urban design.
With the townscape, people can recognize an area both physically and emotionally. Townscape
should be arranged as its effects are quite an impact on the development of a community that
occupy the region. In addition the townscape the art of creating the environment that is important
to a city.
At last this book has pioneered the concept of townscape and has a major influence on architects,
planners and others concerned with what cities should look like.

Book Review: The Concise Townscape by Gordon Cullen

https://www.academia.edu/28603407/Book_Review_The_Concise_Townscape_by_Gordon_Cullen
 Scale and Urban Design

Urban Scale is one of the most important proportions in any work of architecture or urban
architecture is the self-referential ratio of one distance to another distance or one size to another
size, in other words scale. City elements and their size are in some scale ratio to the individual
human being or to some activity (e.g. walking distance to a bus stop) of the individual human
being. Even though these distances may not be readily discernable or may even be obfuscated by
their large number and complex overlapping, they are still primary to how people perceive a city
and must therefore be primary in how a city or parts of a city are designed. Distances between
city elements are in scale ratios to the distances people can walk within given attention spans.
Distances among city elements are also in scale ratios to the distances of visual recognition.
Because of scale, people perceive outdoor spaces quite differently than indoor spaces. The
importance of scale to our sense of place indicates that continuity of experience from one scale to
another is an integral part of the sense of continuity of the urban fabric. Fractal City Theory
achieves continuity through using a multi-scalar distribution of its key elements.

Theoretical Architecture in Structures of Dense Urban Reform, thesis by Charles Simko

https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/31292
 Urban design survey

What it is:
A systematic way of determining the views and opinions of a large number of people on a
particular topic through the use of interviews with structured questions or a standardised
questionnaire.
What its useful for:
Surveys can be used to gather large amounts of comparable and easily quantifiable data, and to
provide an objective basis for planning and future action.
Surveys can provide both qualitative and quantitative data. A structured interview will uncover
qualitative data on peoples values and perceptions that can be quantitatively tabulated.
A professionally produced survey is a useful means of accurately and objectively assessing
community opinion on high-profile and controversial community projects.
Types:
Public Satisfaction surveys
3+, 3- surveys
Three questions surveys are common in open space and neighbourhood improvement projects.
They ask people to identify three things they like and three things they dislike about the current
environment, and note their suggestions for changes.
Placecheck
1. Choose an area to Placecheck.
2. Spend an hour or so on a walkabout.
3. Ask:
What do we like about this place?
What do we dislike about it?
What do we need to work on?
4. Think about why the place is as it is. Discuss how to make your
ideas happen, and who needs to be involved.
5. Make a note of what you have decided.
6. Follow up with action:

A further survey method is the post-occupancy evaluation, a systematic survey and study of
how occupants respond to a new or existing building or environment once it is operational.

Principles of Urban Design, Abhishek K. Venkitaraman Iyer Assistant Professor , Faculty of

Architecture, MIT
 Urban Design Inventory

In terms of the public realm, no element is more important than streets. This is where active travel
to work, shop, eat out, and engage in other daily activities takes place, and where walking for
exercise mostly occurs. Until recently, the measures used to characterize the built environment
have been mostly gross qualities such as neighborhood density and street connectivity (see
reviews by Ewing and Cervero 2010; Handy 2005; and Ewing 2005). The urban design literature
points to subtler qualities that may influence choices about active travel and active leisure time.
Referred to as perceptual qualities of the urban environment, or urban design qualities, such
qualities are presumed to intervene between physical features and behavior, encouraging people
to walk.
Based on the importance assigned to them in the literature: imageability, enclosure, human scale,
transparency, complexity, were successfully measured in a manner that passed tests of validity
and reliability:

Imageability
What it is: The quality of a place that makes it distinct, recognizable, and memorable.
What it looks like: When specific physical elements and their arrangement complement one
another, capture attention, evoke feelings, and create a lasting impression. Architecture that
suggests importance, presence of historical buildings, and landmarks are the qualities of a place
with high imageability.

Enclosure
What it is: The degree to which streets and other public spaces are visually defined by buildings,
walls, trees, and other vertical elements.
What it looks like: The space has a roomlike quality. The height of vertical elements is
proportionally related to the width of the space between them. The buildings become the walls
of the outdoor room. The street and sidewalk become the floor.

Human Scale
What it is: Size, texture, and articulation of physical elements that match the size and proportions
of humans and correspond to the speed at which humans walk.
What it looks like: Buildings that include structural or architectural components of sizes and
proportions that relate to the human form. Plentiful street furniture aimed at pedestrians.

Transparency
What it is: The degree to which people can see or perceive human activity or what lies beyond the
edge of a street or other public space.
What it looks like: The passerby has the ability to see human activity, or signs thereof, beyond the
street edge.

Measuring Urban Design : Metrics for Livable Places, Reid Ewing & Otto Clemente
 Complexity
What it is: The visual richness of a place that depends on the variety of the physical environment,
including the numbers and kinds of buildings, architectural diversity and ornamentation, street
furniture, and human activity.
What it looks like: Complex spaces have varied building shapes, sizes, materials, colors,
architecture, ornamentation, and setbacks; many windows and doors; and varied lighting; they are
highly populated.

Measuring Urban Design : Metrics for Livable Places, Reid Ewing & Otto Clemente
Measuring Urban Design : Metrics for Livable Places, Reid Ewing & Otto Clemente
 Grain and Texture

Urban grain refers to the street pattern, size and distribution of blocks and the inter-relationship
between these elements. Urban grain takes into consideration the hierarchy of street types, the
physical linkages and movement between locations, and modes of transport.
Coarse urban grain is characteristic of larger blocks which isolate users of the space from others
around them. This gives the city dweller very little opportunity to interact with the space through
access/linkage. Larger city blocks often act as fortresses blocking themselves off from the public
realm, isolating themselves inwards. Those who move through such an urban form without any
purpose of function will ultimately feel out of place.

A fine grain typically features small or city blocks, usually more organic than its coarse
counterpart- because it grows according to the dynamic and changing needs of the city and is
easier to navigate and contains fewer intersections, creating a higher level of safety for all users
of the space(pedestrian and vehicles) although this form ultimately discourages vehicular
movement. Fine urban grain is likely to be more resilient because the nature of growth allows for
change of land use according to user needs without actually having to effect any changes on the
physical form of the city. In addition , a finer urban grain givesthe users of the space the
opportunities to explore their choices in activities and experiences within the space attractive as
well as a safer place to be in.

https://www.slideshare.net/nompiemajola/urban-design-urban-dictionary-urban-grain
 Kevin Lynch

Kevin Lynch (1918-1984) studied with Frank Lloyd Wright at

Taliesin and later obtained a Bachelor of City Planning degree
from MIT. After a long and distinguished career on the faculty
of the MIT School of Architecture and Urban Planning, he was
named Professor Emeritus of City Planning. He is known for
his work on the perceptual form of urban environments and
was an early proponent of mental mapping. His most
influential books include The Image of the City (1960), a
seminal work on the perceptual form of urban environments,
and What Time is This Place? (1972), which theorizes how the
physical environment captures and refigures temporal
processes.

Books by Kevin Lynch

Image of the City: What does the city's form actually mean to the people who live there? What
can the city planner do to make the city's image more vivid and memorable to the city dweller?
To answer these questions, Mr. Lynch, supported by studies of Los Angeles, Boston, and Jersey
City, formulates a new criterion -- imageability -- and shows its potential value as a guide for the
building and rebuilding of cities. The wide scope of this study leads to an original and vital
method for the evaluation of city form. The architect, the planner, and certainly the city dweller
will all want to read this book.

Site Planning: An introduction summarizes the site planning process. This is followed by a case
study of a typical professional project and ten chapters that provide new material on such subjects
as user analysis, programming, site planning for built places, housing tenures and their planning
implications, cost estimating, mapping, the reading of air photographs, site design for housing in
developing countries, design strategies, and environmental impact analyses--all illustrated with
photographs and line drawings and with Lynch's characteristic marginal sketches.

Theory of Good City Form: In this book initially he examine three existing normative theories,
those which see the city as a model of the cosmos, as a machine, and as a living organism. These
theories finally shown to be inadequate and unable to hold up under sustained analysis. The aim
of these theories is simply to describe how settlements work rather than to evaluate how they
ought to work. These theories are models of cities as ecological systems, as fields of force, as
systems of linked decisions, or as areas of class conflict. Lynch puts his own theory of good city
form, which can produce good settlements, qualities that allow "development, within continuity,
via openness and connection." He presented five dimensions of performance vitality, sense, fit,
access, and control. He also presented two "meta-criteria" efficiency and justice. These two meta-
criteria Efficiency and justice are operate on the all other five dimensions.

https://mitpress.mit.edu/authors/kevin-lynch
https://www.slideshare.net/rajapukai/image-of-the-city-kevin-lynch-case-study
 Bill Hillier

Bill Hillier is Professor of Architectural and Urban Morphology in the University of London,
Chairman of the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies and Director of the Space Syntax Laboratory
in University College London. He holds a DSc (higher doctorate) in the University of London.
As the original pioneer of the methods for the analysis of spatial patterns known as space
syntax, he is the author of The Social Logic of Space (Cambridge University Press, 1984, 1990)
which presents a general theory of how people relate to space in built environments, Space is the
Machine (CUP 1996), which reports a substantial body of research built on that theory, and a
large number of articles concerned with different aspects of space and how it works. He has also
written extensively on other aspects of the theory of architecture.
Space syntax is commonly thought of as a set of techniques for analysing architectural and urban
space and foreseeing functional outcomes.
It is both, but it aspires to be more than this: a theoretical model of human space: how it is
structured, how it works, how it is understood, and how it is part of the thing we call society.
design stage depends on having a theory that connects the two: a structure-functiontheory, or
form-functiontheory.

http://www.spacesyntax.com/contact/europe/uk/staff/professor-bill-hillier/
Space syntax as a theory as well as a method Bill Hillier Space Syntax Laboratory University
College London
 Linkage Theory

Research identifies urban design theory with three approaches which are figure- ground theory,
linkage theory and place theory. Linkage theory was highly popular in 1960s and involves the
organization of lines that connect the parts of the city and the design of spatial datum from these
lines relate buildings to spaces. Linkage is simply the glue of the city. The important point is to
make comprehensible links between discrete things. According to Fumihiko Maki, linkage is the
most important characteristic of urban exterior space. He defines three different formal types of
urban space; compositional, mega and group forms. For instance, Kenzo Tange and Norioki
Kurukowa study on megaforms. In all three types, Maki stresses linkage as the controlling idea
for ordering buildings and space in design.

Image source: Finding Lost Space: Theories of Urban Design By Roger Trancik
"Spatial Design Theories" Trancik, R (1986) - 3rd week summary,
http://urbdpt.blogspot.in/2008/03/spatial-design-theories-trancik-r-1986.html
 Place Theory

Difference of place theory from other theories is the cultural and human characteristics of
physical space. While the meaning of space is bounded or purposeful void with the potential of
physically linking things, it becomes place when it is given a contextual meaning derived from
cultural or regional content. The understanding of context of place term begins after 1960s. A
place is a space which has a distinct character and the role of urban designer is to manipulate
form to make space but to create place through a synthesis of the components of the total
environment, including the social. The aim is to find best profile between the physical and
cultural context and the needs of contemporary users. The perceptiveness of design of places is
changing according to time, place and the researchers. For example; Ian Mcharg brings the term
ecological approach to design which depends on discovering and working with the intrinsic
qualities of given local. In 1950, team 10 promotes the idea of the house as a particular house in a
particular place, part of an existing community that should try to extend the laws and disciplines
of that community. Besides these; Hermen Herzberger is known as one of the contextual designer
and he thinks design is nothing more than finding out what person and object want to be. Kevin
lynch studied on the mental mapping process of individuals in the city and he looked at the city in
parts in attempt to define a theory of place . He presents rules for the designing city spaces;
1) Legibility: the mental mp of the area which held by the users.
2) Structure and identity: The recognizable, coherent pattern of urban solid voids.
3) Imageability: User perception in motion and how people experience the space of the city.
According to Lynch successful urban spaces can be as well as inquiring these requirements with
the elements of urban forms as paths, edges, districts, nodes and landmarks. Gordon Cullen has a
different approach for spatial perception with the term sequences. He uses drawings to capture
the sensation of movement through space. In addition to the perception of place and the image of
space, he implicitly addresses the physic content of the exterior city, the relationship between
object and movement. According to his drawings, he brings two dimensional plans to life by
sketching perspective sequences that illuminate contrasts and transitions, emphasizing the
powerful effect of the third dimension. Another approach to the understanding of context is the
work of Donald Appleyard. By his liveable streets project, he explores the physical and social
complexities of street and developed an ecology of street life. He says people modifies their
environment as a defense against traffic. He takes streets as spatial entity.

Source: "Spatial Design Theories" Trancik, R (1986) - 3rd week summary,

http://urbdpt.blogspot.in/2008/03/spatial-design-theories-trancik-r-1986.html
 Desire line

Desire paths through vacant lots in Detroit, by Sweet Juniper

A "desire path" is the term for a trail worn down by foot traffic to create a shorter distance
between two points. ou'll usually see them slicing through the grass on the quads of college
campuses. Desire paths represent user innovation: a faster route through parks or other public
spaces. Sometimes, planners take heed of the suggested changes and reconfigure the paved
sidewalks, formalizing the recommended changes.
Just like desire paths, desire lines are applied on a slightly larger scale, to urban transit
improvements. A desire line would therefore be a new bus route or bike path or ferry line that
draws that more direct line between two areas people want to go. A subway system is about
building a larger infrastructural network; a desire line connects place to place.

Since the needs of residents change so quickly, cities are looking for quick and affordable ways to
connect the dots between like-minded communities and similar economic prospects. Lately, to
make this kind of connection with good branding, positive urban vibes, and a minimal
infrastructural footprint, streetcars are being employed to travel those desire lines.

Source: "Desire Lines" Are the Real Future of Urban Transit, Alissa Walker
 Image of the city

The Image of the City is one of the most representative works of Kevin Lynch. It is a book about
the look of cities, and whether this look is of any importance, and whether it can be changed.
Lynch revealed a new approach of how to analyze and improve the visual forms of cities, which
is still widely used in urban design studies nowadays.

The book has a clear structure with a straightforward topic. In the first section, new concepts of
legibility and imageability are presented to lay the theoretical foundation of the entire book.
Followed by that, Lynch introduced three cities as examples to reveal his outcomes of field
reconnaissance, and then made comparisons between each other. In the third section, five
elements and their interrelationships are summarized from previous researches which act as the
core content of the book. Afterward, specific design processes and approaches are demonstrated
in order to achieve strong and continuous imageability in cities and even larger metropolitan
scales. Lynch pointed out the form of the metropolis is a sophisticated system rather than a static
hierarchy. At last, research methodologies are presented in appendices for the readers reference.

In Lynchs view, image can be explained as a picture especially in the mind, a sentimental
combination between objective city image and subjective human thoughts. The productions of
environment images are influenced by a two-way process between the observer and the observed.
The observer, with great adaptability and in the light of his own purposes, selects, organizes, and
endows with meaning what he/she sees. Therefore, the specific image can be totally different
from the different perspective of observers, just like there are a thousand Hamlets in one thousand
peoples eyes.

Above all, cities have specific spatial structure just like architecture, but in an enormous scale,
which will take us a much longer time to perceive and understand. Urban design can be regarded
as an art of time, but it differs from other time-based arts such as music. The regulations of urban
design are overturned, interrupted and even abandoned with different circumstances and different
people. This book is about the image of a city, about its importance, its variety and how citizens
react to it. Lynch summarized the basic elements of the image and revealed an approach of how to
improve it. Besides, this is also a milestone work which provides us a new perspective to read the
cities we live in. From here on, subjective views of citizens and their opinions are introduced into
urban design.

http://architectureandurbanism.blogspot.in/2014/01/kevin-lynch-image-of-city-1960.html
 Jane Jacob and Life and death of American city

Jane Jacobs was the first and remains much the best-
known critic of the comprehensive modernist approach
to urban planning after 1945. Her first book, The Death
and Life of Great American Cities (1961), was a
trenchantly written and sustained assault on what she
saw happening to American cities during the 1950s.

Upon publication in 1961, the book received mixed

reviews, many of which disregarded Jacobs ideas
because of her lack of a professional architectural or
planning qualification. Jacobss research was undertaken
by analyzing the districts and neighborhoodss first hand.
Her home district Greenwich Village, New York is
frequently referred throughout the book as it aided her
ideas. Divided into four main parts, the book criticizes
the ideas of what cities should be like by ideologues,
such as Le Corbusier and Ebenezer Howard to what they
are in reality, complex organic systems.

In part one, Jacobs expresses the importance of local

public characters in neighborhoods, explaining that they
strengthen the eyes on the sidewalk and help form a
social network, dispersing community news and
connecting the local population. However, if there is a
rapid change in population, the eyes on the sidewalk
are new, thus safety is jeopardized, particularly where
childrens security is concerned.
The purpose of the sidewalk is not only to carry
pedestrians to and from places, it is a public space in
itself and for a district to be successful, pedestrians need
to feel safe and secure on sidewalks with strangers. For
this to happen sidewalks must have three main qualities;
Clear mark of private and public space; must be eyes on
the street at all times and side
walks must have users on it fairly continuously.

http://architectureandurbanism.blogspot.in/2012/03/jane-jacobs-death-and-life-of-great.html
 In Part Two The Generators of City Diversity, Jacobs discusses four conditions, which must
be met in order to generate exuberant diversity. The need for primary uses, short blocks, aged
buildings and sufficient concentration of people. Jacobss states that Primary uses i.e. work,
education, museums, public buildings etc are buildings considered as anchors to a district; they
attract people to a district and create secondary diversity, enterprises which thrive in response
to the presence of primary uses. Each district should have at least one primary use to ensure
enough activity within the district at different times.

Part Three. Forces of Decline and Regeneration discusses the ideas on the tendency for great
diversity to be self destructive where certain neighbourhoods or districts become so popular
with one particular use that there is no diversity left due to the profitability of that use. Jacobs
explains that problems are far more serious if this use is duplicated across districts.

The last part, Different tactics attacks legislations within the planning department, especially
low income housing schemes. The idea of separating people by income seems un-natural,
generates a variety of problems, and creates issues with local enterprises as their clients may
not be able to afford their products. Instead of low-income housing, Jacobs stipulates that the
government should subsidise rent on private dwellings for low-income earners, thus dispersing
the low-income population around the city.

Finally, Jacobs concludes the book on the stance that cities are formed from organised
complexities. These complexities are not simple but are intertwined with each other. Vertical
structures oversimplify these complexities thus horizontal structures work better in city
planning.

http://architectureandurbanism.blogspot.in/2012/03/jane-jacobs-death-and-life-of-great.html
 Frederic Law Olmstead and planning of Central
Park, New York

Central Park, Frederick Law Olmstead, plan, 1869

Situated between 59th street and 110 streets in the heart of New York City, Central Park is
arguably the most well known of all the parks that Olmsted had a hand in.
Although he was the park's superintendent, he had no hand in the call for a park. Andrew Jackson
Downing was the original force behind the park. He and his partner, Calvert Vaux were to submit
a design for the park. In 1852 Downing died in a riverboat accident and Vaux asked Olmsted to
take his place. In 1858 they entered the competition to design the park, with an entry they
called Greensward, which was chosen as the park's design.

The design of the park had many aspects that would become trademarks of Olmsted's designs.
There were winding paths, scenic views and large open areas for people to relax in.
Olmsted served as the chief architect from 1858-1861, which allowed him to supervise the
construction and to make any changes that he felt necessary.

Olmsted and Vaux worked off and on with the Park's Commission on the park, but there was a lot
of political infighting and finally in 1877 Olmsted and Vaux were formally dismissed from the
project.

Image: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-americas/us-art-19c/us-19c-arch-sculp-
photo/a/olmsted-and-vaux-central-park
Content: http://www.fredericklawolmsted.com/central.html
 Ian Mc Carg and Design with Nature
Ian L. McHarg (20 November 1920 5 March 2001) was a
Scottish landscape architect and writer on regional planning using natural
systems. He was the founder of the department of landscape architecture at
the University of Pennsylvania in the United States. His 1969 book Design
with Nature pioneered the concept of ecological planning. It continues to be
one of the most widely celebrated books on landscape architecture and
land-use planning. In this book, he set forth the basic concepts that were to
develop later in geographic information systems.

Design with Nature

In 1969, he published Design with Nature, which was essentially a book of
step-by-step instructions on how to break down a region into its appropriate
uses. McHarg also was interested in garden design and believed that homes
should be planned and designed with good private garden space. He
promoted an ecological view, in which the designer becomes very familiar
with the area through analysis of soil, climate, hydrology, etc. Design With
Nature was the first work of its kind "to define the problems of modern
development and present a methodology or process prescribing compatible
solutions". The book also affected a variety of fields and ideas. Frederick R.
Steiner tells us that "environmental impact assessment, new community
development, coastal zone management, brownfields restoration, zoo
design, river corridor planning, and ideas about sustainability and
regenerative design all display the influence of Design with Nature".
Design with Nature had its roots in much earlier landscape architecture
philosophies. It was sharply critical of the French Baroque style of garden
design, which McHarg saw as a subjugation of nature, and full of praise for
the English picturesque style of garden design. McHarg's focus, however,
was only partially on the visual and sensual qualities which had dominated
the English picturesque movement. Instead, he saw the earlier tradition as a
precursor of his philosophy, which was rooted less in aristocratic estate
design or even garden design and more broadly in an ecological sensibility
that accepted the interwoven worlds of the human and the natural, and
sought to more fully and intelligently design human environments in
concert with the conditions of setting, climate and environment. Always a
polemicist, McHarg set his thinking in radical opposition to what he argued
was the arrogant and destructive heritage of urban-industrial modernity, a
style he described as "Dominate and Destroy."
Following the publication of Design with Nature, Wallace McHarg Roberts
& Todd (WMRT) worked in major American cities Minneapolis, Denver,
Miami, New Orleans, and Washington (DC) and created environmentally-
based master plans for Amelia Island Plantation and Sanibel Islands in
Florida.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_McHarg