Listening to Bluff - Mission Statement

In class last week Professor Goldsmith asked the class who would take charge of the mission statement. After a long pause and the lack of volunteers I raised my hand wanting to try and help shape the work in which our class will be embarking.






After much thought I came up with:  
"Our desire is to listen and seek to understand the character, values, and feelings of Bluff to help Bluff further shape its goals and future as a growing community."

Although that isn't the final version of our mission statement I used each word with a purpose.

• Our desire - It was suggested that we use goal instead. I didn't use goal as it seemed too generic and meaningless. I used desire because it seemed to show passion, drive, and willingness.
• listen and seek to understand - Listening to Bluff is the name of the document so using "listening" in the mission statement seemed fitting. That and it is what we are wanting to accomplish, but even more than just listening we want to understand what we hear in order to best assist the community.
• character, values, and feelings - These are three very different things and yet values can be derived from character, just as feelings can be derived from values. To continue this thought character can be derived from feelings sustained over a period of time. So each of these pieces help us to understand the present past and future of Bluff's community.
• help Bluff - I added this because after all we are here to assist or help them in their journey. This is not our own, but we can be there for an outside perspective on Bluff's inside ideals.
• further shape its goals and future - Documents have already been created to establish a framework of Bluff. Even before the documents Bluff was shaping its own goals and futures, but just as mentioned in the "help Bluff" section we can offer an outside perspective on their inside ideals. What I mean by this is, communities don't often realize what they desire most as a whole until it is discussed and collaborated on by the whole. We are here to help facilitate that process.
• as a growing community - I feel like people have the tendency to interpret the word grow to mean: become larger or greater over a period of time; increase. In actuality I was seeking to use the word growing to signify a second meaning, which is: to progress to maturity.
  
  To help further this idea I pose this question: After a person reaches the age of 30 do they not grow any more? The answer to this question, is of course they do. They may not grow in height, but they do grow in mental stability and maturity. That is the reason for why I placed this carefully selected word in the mission statement.

In closing and after a group discussion we agreed upon the following:

• “Our mission is to work in collaboration with the community; to listen and seek to understand the character, stories, values, and goals guiding the future of Bluff.”

Ultimately it carries the same meaning as above, but in a more unified way. For this purpose the world is run by communities.

Inclusionary Planning: A New Concept

(CMP 4280 Ecology Planning Workshop Class 1)

Today we had our first CMP 4280 (Ecology Planning Workshop) class and went over a few of the previous year workshop's documents. After going over those documents I started to brainstorm some of the other things that should be included in helping Bluff become a town.

One concept that occurred to me was the idea of inclusionary planning. What is inclusionary planning? In working with Bluff, Utah we need to include all it's residents (human, animal, insect, and plant), environments, cultures, characteristics, infrastructure, landscapes, needs, wants, past, present, future, etc. This is inclusionary planning. In other words inclusionary planning is seeking to incorporate everything and everyone into the planning process.

After sitting through the third class period our discussion turned to our potential to effect change in the places of influence we have. One specific thing that happened during the class was a brief discussion on who the "developer" truly is. Professor Goldsmith said something along the lines of, the developer is you and I, it is the public, city, and stakeholders, its everyone potentially involved. This is another way to better understand inclusionary planning. The development or plan includes all potential parties.

This way of planning, if not already the current track for planning, should be the future and only way to plan.



Definitions:

Inclusive: including or covering all the services, facilities, or items normally expected or required.

All-inclusive: including everything or everyone.

Urban Planning Show and Tell

In my Green Communities class each day a few people have the opportunity to share videos and links of interesting or cool things they have found in the Urban Planning community. A lot of them have been exciting and mind blowing for the potential of what can be done. I have decided to share a few of those videos below:

Bridging the Gap Between Urban Planning and the Community

As many of you know, I am studying Urban Planning at the University of Utah; and am taking several classes that are helping me become a better future planner. One of those classes is Visual, Oral, and Written Communications. In that class we have been studying the principles and etiquette of communication in those three areas. This isn't, however, my first communications course or my first opportunity for experience or practice in it. One could say I have been studying these topics my entire life. Although that study hasn't been intensive until the last 12 years.

I would like to share a few points that I have learned in my class, and in life that will better help us bridge the gap between urban planners and the community which they serve:

Visual Communication Tips:

• The use of color can be extremely powerful. Keep in mind the colors you use can signify other meanings.
• Typography is often overlooked but can do loads to convey a message. Make sure it is legible. 
• Layouts, spacing/boarders, and use of white space are crucial in establishing interest and understanding. The layout should guide the audience through the information. Create your layout to funnel your audience to the most important points. Spacing and boarders make designs easy to follow and create comfort in the audience instead of the unrealized discomfort from poor spacing and use of boarders. White space is almost as important as the content of the page. Don't overload your audience.
• Simplicity is always best. Does your design pass the 10 second rule? If not what are you trying to get your audience to understand or do? What is the bare minimum information needed to achieve that goal? Then you can add pieces to that, to support your message. 

Oral Communication Tips:

• Be clear and concise and vary your tone - keep the message simple and entertaining.
• Speak with confidence - if you are confident you naturally build credibility.
• Be aware of non-verbal communication - non-verbal communication is often picked up a lot sooner than tone and the actual message.
• Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. What are they thinking, what are their backgrounds and values, and how can you sync your message and goals to their goals and values?

Written Communication Tips:

• Write the way you would speak, don't add unnecessary extras.
• Write to your audience. This means the words selected, level of education, and values
• Focus on the positive and use the active voice instead of passive
• Avoid idioms and cliches and write what you really mean in your own words.

These tips aren't everything but will give you a great start in communicating with your audience.

Lynch Element Photo Examples: Ballpark Area (SLC)

In our Green Communities class we have been asked to evaluate specific and generic communities. I am currently taking a class on oral, verbal, and visual communication in urban planning as well. Our assignment today had us take pictures of the parts that make up our communities.

Kevin Lynch who studied under Frank Lloyd Wright (one of the most noted architects of all time) at Yale University came up with the idea of elements of a community or city. He called this the mental mapping of the community's citizens. The five elements of any community can be broken down as follows:

1. Paths: The streets, sidewalks, trails, and other channels in which people travel. Lynch noted that paths were often the predominant elements in people’s image with the other elements being arranged and related along paths.
2. Edges: May be barriers, more or less penetrable, which close one region off from another, or they may be seams, lines along which two regions are related and joined together.
3. Districts: Areas characterized by common characteristics, these are the medium to large areas, which observers mentally enter ‘inside of’ and/or have some common identifying character. Distinctive physical characteristics might include ‘thematic continuities’, such as texture, space, form, detail, symbol and building.
4. Nodes: The strategic spots in a city into which an observer can enter, and which are the intensive foci and from which the person is travelling.
5. Landmarks: Landmark’s key physical characteristics was singularity some aspect that is unique or memorable in the context. Some landmarks – towers, spires, hills are distant and are typically seen from many angles and from distance, over the top of smaller elements. Other landmarks – sculptures, signs and trees are primarily local being visible only in restricted localities and from certain approaches.

For our assignment today we were asked to take pictures of our assigned community and describe them. Below I have the images I took and the reason why I took them. I am not a professional photographer, but I still think the images of the Ballpark community are quite interesting:

Path Image: is of the TRAX line running past the Ballpark stop. There are a couple cool elements here: I placed the person in orange just right of center as he creates a main focal point. The TRAX line lead to a point just left of center to help balance the person in orange. The image is heavy on the right side, but is balanced because of the mountain in the back creating a line across the mid section of the image helping create a balance of the heavier right side. The contrast between the bright blue sky and the darker brown ground also creates interest.

Edge Image: is of I-15 and the rail line running beneath. 900 South crosses the rail line, and goes under the I-15 bridge. I-15 is an edge of it's own, but the rail line helps to enforce that edge. In addition to the rail line the shadow cast from I-15 also helps define the edge. (I had to wait around a while to get the picture with a train in it so the guard posts would be down as well.) Other interesting things with this photo...in the top right corner you see the bright red sign, that is there on purpose. The shadow line seems to cut the image in 1/2 leading up to that sign. Rail lines have started to make a resurgence, and Union Pacific is one of the biggest, the sign's message makes it a little comical, and again balances the image as most of the weight literally and figuratively is on the left.

District Image: I chose this image to represent the neighborhood district in the Ballpark area. Not only is this image highly typical of suburban neighborhoods, it was highly typical of the neighborhood district of this area. Again you will see the image cut in half with the sidewalk running from the bottom right corner towards the top left. The dark trees fade to the lighter sky and the snow towards the center of the image helps create additional focal points. In usual fashion this image is broken into thirds with the first third being the berm on the left, the center third being the sidewalk and the third section being the grass and houses.

Landmark Image: is of Smith's Ballpark, Home of the Bees. The Smith's Ballpark sign is the center focal point with the large entry way pillars again breaking up the image in very distinct thirds. Your eyes are first drawn to the sign then the pillars, then up toward the sky as the pillars act like giant arrows. The colors draw attention, and although simple the picture has a lot of character.

The next time you walk around your community, see if you can identify it's paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. Some places might fall into multiple categories, but it will be a fun experiment for you to try.

Dumb Design: Mobility

In class Tuesday we discussed the things we saw in our surrounding environment that we thought had a dumb design; and collaborated on how we would fix those issues. Then we were assigned to write again about dumb design, except this time dumb design in mobility.

On my way home from school, I was sitting on the TRAX train and saw the accordion space between the two trains. On one side of the accordion section was seating facing the outcrop of the train to protect the accordion section. The seat closest to the wall was something I had noticed before, but never really questioned until this class. The seat barely fits a smaller person and rarely have I ever seen two people sit together on the seat because of how uncomfortable it is. This was my first example of dumb design in mobility.

The next thing I saw was a walking/biking trail in the new neighborhoods being developed in Vineyard city. This trail is choppy, and difficult to maneuver in sections as the plants have started taking over the territory of the trail. Most people bike, run, or walk along the street as it is more comfortable, and the road isn't, as of yet, highly used. Roundabouts are used to slow traffic in some areas and the walking/biking path looks like an after thought placed in to appease residential complaints for the lack of a sidewalk.

We were asked to "photograph the condition to illustrate your blog, and create a well crafted analysis and description of your design or policy solution."

As far as the seating on the TRAX train I have built a SketchUp model of what I propose for future train seating construction. This allows people to actually sit in the space next to the accordion and more room for people to stand and hold the railings in that space. As of now people just stand hovering over the empty seat. We could also replace the seats facing the accordion section with a bike rack for better bike storage.

When thinking about the redevelopment of the new Vineyard neighborhood roads, they placed in a winding walking path, to I guess make it more interesting. The back and forth bends are fairly frequent and it looks a bit overkill. I would straighten out the path and cut back the plantings on it's edge. Then I would shrink down the lanes from two lanes to one going both ways and add a curb or island protected bike lane on the road so people get in the habit of sharing the road. This would help keep the speeds down on the road even when more commercial and residential developments are built.

I am not sure why we still build residential roads with two lanes both ways and still avoid adding bike lanes consistently, but I wish that would stop. I realize that the second lane "adds infrastructure" for greater developments, but keep it to one lane with a bike lane and walking trail. Cutting back lanes makes people mad, designing a enjoyable bike, car, and pedestrian street makes people feel ownership because they can use it for more than just driving. When we drive on roads we don't get attached as much to the place as if we bike or walk. Add details and green space so everyone can enjoy the street.

Dumb Design

In our last Green Communities class we were asked to blog about dumb design. It was easy to think of things that were considered "dumb design," however, difficult to think of something interesting to write about. After racking my brain for some time, I sort of gave up. This morning, I got in a dumb design and drove to the Frontrunner station. Sitting on the train I looked out over the fields and mountains trying to come up with something. That is when it hit me, the dumb design I choose to write about is our homes.

The thing that brought this to my attention was the front door. In most homes it is placed smack dab in the center. Why? It isn't for symmetry, nor is it for convenience for the owners of the home. Most people drive, and even if they ride their bike it is stored in the garage or near the driveway, why not put it closer to that?

The next thing I thought about was storage, that is to say dressers and closets drawers etc. If we spend so much money for homes when we buy them why aren't they built with better closets and storage already built in? Why do we have to turn around and by dressers and other things that cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to add to it all? If we are already going to spend the money on the home why isn't it built more with the user in mind? One potential answer is people like rearranging things and would rather be able to move things for a fresh look to their home. I get that and think it is a valid argument. There still are other storage pieces I wish homes were naturally built with, especially in the garage.

As I continued to think about how many inefficiencies our houses have, I thought about water usage. Water from our toilet is "flushed away," water from our sinks go down the drain away from our sight, water from the shower washes away dirt then also down the drain away from our sight, why isn't any of this water reused in the home? Why doesn't it come out at a more conservation minded flow?

Questions to think about:
Why aren't homes built with better natural insulation right off the bat? Why do we rely some much on electricity and not as much on natural light? Why haven't we put more time and laws into place that force us to use more sustainable energy? Why in school, were we taught that it doesn't cost that much for electricity so it doesn't really matter if we leave the lights on? How have we come to the point where every "waste" goes away from us into someone else's backyard? Why aren't we made more aware of what our waste truly does? Why hasn't recycling been made standardized in our homes, and cities? Why are doors usually made to swing out? Why do we build our homes the way that we do?

The Image of a Green Organic City

We were asked to imagine what it would feel like to be part of a green organic city. Before I describe that, I wanted to get into what it would look like to help you better feel it also.

Picture the last city you were in or the city you currently are, now add a mixture of larger windows and solar panels on the sides of the buildings where the sun hits most. Then, add edible plants and vegetation of all kinds on all their roofs, and outcropping surfaces. These changes would better heat, cool, and power those buildings.

Next, remove most of the cars and add protected bike commuter lanes. Then add public transportation and run that, as well as stop lights and street lights, on solar power. In between bike and car lanes, and walking paths place sections of edible vegetation. Build or remodel current buildings to be recycle centers, and have them located in every district with recycling bins on several street corners. The recycling centers in every district will also have attached community centers with recreational facilities. These centers will have classes on the reuse of products, bike maintenance, gardening, healthy eating, exercise, finance, and other social, economic, and environmental life skills.

Each neighborhood district will also contain a centralized community garden or energy garden. These gardens will be evaluated and planted with crops or energy sources that best fit its environment. The community cultivates and maintains the gardens and the crop, the crop being energy or food, and is shared with the city as a whole. Revenue generated by the crop will be spent on upkeep of gardens, community centers, recycling centers, and district redevelopment.

With this image of a green organic city now I am able to move onto what it would feel like to be part of it, and allow you to feel and help develop it as well. The first feelings that come to mind after describing this green organic city are: fulfilled, clean, peaceful, healthy, fun, enriching, included, safe, and empowered.

This type of city would not only be self sustaining as a whole, every district or community would be a crucial part to a greater economy, healthier environment, and social equality. We would all work together in our communities to make them better, and make other communities within our cities better. We would be united and feel a part of something.

I know that this idea might sound like communism or socialism, or whatever words others would put to it, but what it really is meant to do is bringing responsibility and choice to everyone the opposite of potential critiques. Making us finally accountable for what happens in our neighborhoods, it is making us see and be able to control our own futures.

What is your image of a green organic city?

The Dilemma

In class last Thursday we were broken up into groups of four and each given separate roles in a particular dilemma. One role was a city council member, a second role was a city planner, a third role was a single parent, and the last role a family with a new born on the way.

City Council Member:
The city council member had just received funding for a new school that was to be built a few miles from a higher trafficked highway, and a single parent development that was to be within 300 feet of the highway. They received the funding for that project and were asked to begin the process of designing it and building it. The commercial buildings near the highway bring in a great amount of revenue.

City Planner:
City planner has studied and knows that housing built within 300 feet of higher trafficked roads places children especially those under the age of three at high risk for health problems. It is the city planner's job to make sure all projects that are carried out are done so with all parties in mind, with a focus on improving the social, economic, and environmental health of the city or communities.

Single Parent Family:
The parent currently lives in a not as good neighbor hood and sought out a realtor to find a place in the neighborhood where their friends family lives. They have put down a deposit on a dream home in that neighborhood, and then were informed by the realtor that the neighborhood wouldn't be safe for the kids to live in because it is in close proximity to the high trafficked highway. The parent has 12 hours to back out and get their deposit back.

Family with Newborn:
The family loves their home, and neighborhood. It is in close proximity to all the highway entrance for easy access to work, the grocery store, parks and other amenities. It is their dream home, and if what the realtor says is true, it isn't safe for their newborn, and they won't be able to sell their home if others find out.

After receiving this dilemma and having read over our roles we first established the problems or concerns of each party involved.

Problems:

• The single parent needs to find a new place to live preferably near their friend, and get their deposit back
• The family has to figure out how to sell their home if it comes out that it is bad for children. They also need to find a new place to live, that could still be similar to their dream home.
• The city council member now knowing this information needs to find a new place for the housing development, potentially losing their funding.
• The city planner needs to figure out a solution that will appease all parties and still be in line with what is best socially, economically, and environmentally for the city and communities. The city planner needs the residents to speak up in order for the housing development to be moved from its current planned location.

We were given 40 minutes to come up with possible solutions to these problems. At first it wasn't easy, we all played our roles and tried to get the best outcome for ourselves. After all our problems were on the table we could start discussing potential solutions.

Solutions:

• Single parent first should get their deposit back.
• The neighborhood where the family lives should be rezoned for commercial use, allowing the family to sell their home.
• Those in the neighborhood informed and encouraged to install HEPA filters and other precautions to reduce potential toxins.
• The city to build a green screen buffer between highway and residential areas until redevelopment is completed.
• The new development tabled until better location(s) can be found for the development
• The current place for the new development rezoned for commercial use, boosting economy further, as well being an appeasement to maintain funding for the development and allowing it to be changed to mixed-use housing with certain portions being designated for single parent families. (Also allowing the single parent family to move to one of these new developments with their friend family.)
• In further redevelopment of the city bike lanes can be added, bus public transportation increased, and car pool lanes added to promote alternative modes of transportation or reduced traffic on the highway. (Eventually adding in more permanent public transportation systems making the city a more walkable place.)
• Introduce these issues into the education systems of the city.

Several other solutions were submitted, but as a group we decided on the listed solutions above as they were the solutions with the best possible outcomes for all parties. There will come a time when each of us will play one of these roles, I share this with you all in hopes that it may help you achieve the best possible solutions for your future community as well as understand the process and needs of other all decision making parties. (The process is below.)

Process:

1. Identify all affected parties
2. Collaborate and list all the potential issues that may arise
3. Think through all possible solutions and their scenarios
4. Decide upon best possible solutions
5. Implement short and long term strategies to help you achieve those solutions in the quickest and most effective time frame.

Are We Nature Hostile People?

During our last Green Communities class we watched 2 Ford Sportka Commercials and discussed the topic "nature hostile." Below I found a clip that puts them both into one. The first one shows a bird against the car, and the second a cat. (I would recommend stopping at 38 seconds, if you don't want to be appalled and horrified.)

We were asked at the end of the class to search for places, experiences, objects, advertisements, and so on that showed a hostility towards nature. I chose the following selections because they aren't done by completely heartless people, as was the one above. They also demonstrate the negative hostility and positive love for nature and our planet. This first one show a negative opinion of nature by attaching the long commercialized feelings towards vultures:

This next video doesn't seem inherently negative towards nature, but there are subtleties like the factory in the middle of a forest, the rabbit being run over (didn't happen in this video but that is what would have happened in real life), and so on.

This next one I selected is positive toward nature. I chose to share positive messages, because, as our professor often says, words create worlds. One of my goals as an Urban Ecologist is to switch the messages we are collectively sending to be ones of positivity. Not only do people respond better to positive messages, but they have a greater effect for change. This video showcases beautiful shots of our country and world and is set to "This Land is Your Land". The message at the end is "The world is a gift. Play Responsibly." One other piece from this video that I wanted to focus on was, the Jeep always being on a road, not roaming all over the countryside. As they stated the world is a gift, not a play thingy. We are responsible for its care, and roaming all over creation destroying habitats is not responsible!

I wanted to list this video to adapt or add to the last video's message. The world is a gift, and we are responsible for its care. We are also responsible for the care of those around us. This video talks about children suffering in other nations, and closes with, "just because it isn't happening here doesn't mean it isn't happening."

I wanted to expand that thought to our environment as well. We can turn on the faucet and water comes out. We can flip a switch and the light comes on. Not everyone has that luxury, and at what costs are we living in luxury?

Downstream the water runs out because how much we use, and to get that electricity, coal is mined by fellow human beings in terrible conditions. "Just because it isn't happening here, doesn't mean it isn't happening."

Water, electricity, gas, and other resources are gifts, we need to employ them responsibly. I used employ instead of use because of its changed meaning. We use something and "throw it away", but as one of my previous posts mentioned, there is no away. Our air pollution in Utah doesn't just affect us, it affects everyone on the planet. That pollution seeps into our streams, and is blown to other areas. What we do affects everyone, we are all connected and there is no away. Let us treat our planet and each other with respect.

The City Today and Our Lives as Flâneurs

The title of this post for most of you might be a bit confusing, so let me start out with a definition and explanation.

Flâneur - an idler or lounger, or for purposes of my Green Communities class the word means to be an engaged observer or diagnostician.

Our cities today are the product of years and years of "planning" and refined "best practices" that resulted in massive sprawl and freeways spider webbing throughout the country. In other words we have set rules and guidelines for how to deconstruct your cities, towns, and green spaces while you do your best to make them work.

I used the phrase "make them work" on purpose, as I thought it a great transition into today's topic.

For the longest time we citizens have, for the most part, been silent observers of the chaos happening or rather being planned around us. We haven't had incredible influence into the plans of our cities. If we are the ones using our cities and have little to no say in how they are created, then how will they ever become a place we would love to live?

My professor (Stephen Goldsmith), can often be heard in our lectures saying: "Nothing about us without us is for us." Reread it, and let it sink in: "Nothing about us without us is for us." If anything that has something to do with you is planned without you, how can it ever be for you?

That leads me to the point of the post, I have been observing the path I take in my every day life. I have tried to break every building, road, design, and type of transportation down to its roots to see if there could be a better way to do it; one that is designed for us, with us actually in mind.

On my way home from school I broke down some of the specific buildings that helped structure my path home. The first being the Marriott Library, as that is where my class was located. I thought it interesting that the only exit points from the library are one on the north east and a second on the north west of the building. From a birds eye view they are seemingly close together, and there is no exit to the south. In addition to this when exiting the building on the east there are cigarette dispensers sitting 30 feet outside of the main doors to the library, which always gives the pleasant aroma of death as soon as you leave the building, because that 30 foot barrier doesn't account for wind.

As I continued my trek towards the Stadium Trax Station I found myself walking along the raised walkway on the back side of the field house staring at a white wall, and the Trax cables with a backdrop of the stadium's fence. This pathway, as well as many others, weren't designed with people in mind.

So much more could be done with these spaces, and it is our job as the future residents of our cities and towns to rethink every detail and design them in a way that is for us. I challenge each of us to not only evaluate those areas that we just try and make work, but also voice your opinion on them. Take part in your community and let us as a community make it better!

Urban design

Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of safe public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has been linked to emergent disciplines such as landscape urbanism. However, with its increasing prominence in the activities of these disciplines, it is better conceptualized as a design practice that operates at the intersection of all three, and requires a good understanding of a range of others besides, such as urban economics, political economy and social theory.
Urban design theory deals primarily with the design and management of public space (i.e. the 'public environment', 'public realm' or 'public domain'), and the way public places are experienced and used. Public space includes the totality of spaces used freely on a day-to-day basis by the general public, such as streets, plazas, parks and public infrastructure. Some aspects of privately owned spaces, such as building facades or domestic gardens, also contribute to public space and are therefore also considered by Urban design theory. Important writers on, and advocates for, urban design theory include Christopher Alexander, Michael E. Arth, Edmund Bacon, Peter Calthorpe, Gordon Cullen, Andres Duany, Jane Jacobs, Jan Gehl, Kevin Lynch, Roger Montgomery, Aldo Rossi, Colin Rowe, Robert Venturi, William H. Whyte, Bill Hillier, and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk.
While the two fields are closely related, 'urban design' differs from 'urban planning' in its focus on physical improvement of the public environment, whereas the latter tends, in practice, to focus on the management of private development through planning schemes and other statutory development controls.
Public spaces are frequently subject to overlapping management responsibilities of multiple public agencies or authorities and the interests of nearby property owners, as well as the requirements of multiple and sometimes competing users. The design, construction and management of public spaces therefore typically demands consultation and negotiation across a variety of spheres. Urban designers rarely have the degree of artistic liberty or control sometimes offered in design professions such as architecture. It also typically requires interdisciplinary input with balanced representation of multiple fields including engineering, ecology, local history, and transport planning.
Much urban design work is undertaken by urban planners, landscape architects and architects but there are professionals who identify themselves specifically as urban designers. Many architecture, landscape and planning programs incorporate urban design theory and design subjects into their curricula and there are an increasing number of university programs offering degrees in urban design, usually at post-graduate level.
Urban design considers:

• Urban structure – How a place is put together and how its parts relate to each other
• Urban typology, density and sustainability - spatial types and morphologies related to intensity of use, consumption of resources and production and maintenance of viable communities
• Accessibility – Providing for ease, safety and choice when moving to and through places

• Legibility and wayfinding – Helping people to find their way around and understand how a place works
• Animation – Designing places to stimulate public activity
• Function and fit – Shaping places to support their varied intended uses
• Complementary mixed uses – Locating activities to allow constructive interaction between them
• Character and meaning – Recognizing and valuing the differences between one place and another
• Order and incident – Balancing consistency and variety in the urban environment in the interests of appreciating both
• Continuity and change – Locating people in time and place, including respect for heritage and support for contemporary culture
• Civil society – Making places where people are free to encounter each other as civic equals, an important component in building social capital

Click here for more reading on Urban Design: Urban Design by Alex Krieger and William S. Saunders.

New Urbanism

New Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s and continues to reform many aspects of real estate development and urban planning.

New Urbanism is strongly influenced by urban design standards prominent before the rise of the automobile and encompasses principles such as traditional neighborhood design (TND) and transit-oriented development (TOD). It is also closely related to Regionalism and Environmentalism.

The organizing body for New Urbanism is the Congress for the New Urbanism, founded in 1993. Its foundational text is the Charter of the New Urbanism, which says:

“We advocate the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the following principles: neighborhoods should be diverse in use and population; communities should be designed for the pedestrian and transit as well as the car; cities and towns should be shaped by physically defined and universally accessible public spaces and community institutions; urban places should be framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate local history, climate, ecology, and building practice.”

New urbanists support regional planning for open space, context-appropriate architecture and planning, and the balanced development of jobs and housing. They believe their strategies can reduce traffic congestion, increase the supply of affordable housing, and rein in urban sprawl. The Charter of the New Urbanism also covers issues such as historic preservation, safe streets, green building, and the redevelopment of brownfield land.

Until the mid 20th century, cities were generally organized into and developed around mixed-use walkable neighborhoods. For most of human history this meant a city that was entirely walkable, although with the development of mass transit the reach of the city extended outward along transit lines, allowing for the growth of new pedestrian communities such as streetcar suburbs. But with the advent of cheap automobiles and favorable government policies, attention began to shift away from cities and towards ways of growth more focused on the needs of the car.

This new system of development, with its rigorous separation of uses, became known as "conventional suburban development" or pejoratively as urban sprawl, arose after World War II. The majority of U.S. citizens now live in suburban communities built in the last fifty years, and automobile use per capita has soared.

In 1991, the Local Government Commission, a private nonprofit group in Sacramento, California, invited architects Peter Calthorpe, Michael Corbett, Andrés Duany, Elizabeth Moule, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Stefanos Polyzoides, and Daniel Solomon to develop a set of community principles for land use planning. Named the Ahwahnee Principles (after Yosemite National Park's Ahwahnee Hotel), the commission presented the principles to about one hundred government officials in the fall of 1991, at its first Yosemite Conference for Local Elected Officials.

Calthorpe, Duany, Moule, Plater-Zyberk, Polyzoides, and Solomon founded the Chicago-based Congress for the New Urbanism in 1993. The CNU has grown to more than 3,000 members, and is the leading international organization promoting new urbanist design principles. It holds annual Congresses in various U.S. cities.

New Urbanism is a broad movement that spans a number of different disciplines and geographic scales. And while the conventional approach to growth remains dominant, New Urbanist principles have become increasingly influential in the fields of planning, architecture, and public policy.

The principles of New Urbanism are:

1. Walkability

• Most things within a 10-minute walk of home and work
• Pedestrian friendly street design (buildings close to street; porches, windows & doors; tree-lined streets; on street parking; hidden parking lots; garages in rear lane; narrow, slow speed streets)
• Pedestrian streets free of cars in special cases
  

2. Connectivity

• Interconnected street grid network disperses traffic & eases walking
• A hierarchy of narrow streets, boulevards, and alleys
• High quality pedestrian network and public realm makes walking pleasurable
  

3. Mixed-Use & Diversity

• A mix of shops, offices, apartments, and homes on site. Mixed-use within neighborhoods, within blocks, and within buildings
• Diversity of people - of ages, income levels, cultures, and races
  

4. Mixed Housing-

• A range of types, sizes and prices in closer proximity (Duplexes, Small Lots, Condos, Townhouses, etc)

5. Quality Architecture & Urban Design

• Emphasis on beauty, aesthetics, human comfort, and creating a sense of place; Special placement of civic uses and sites within community. Human scale architecture & beautiful surroundings nourish the human spirit

6. Traditional Neighborhood Structure

• Discernable center and edge
• Public space at center
• Importance of quality public realm; public open space designed as civic art
• Contains a range of uses and densities within 10-minute walk
• Transect planning: Highest densities at town center; progressively less dense towards the edge. The transect is an analytical system that conceptualizes mutually reinforcing elements, creating a series of specific natural habitats and/or urban lifestyle settings. The Transect integrates environmental methodology for habitat assessment with zoning methodology for community design. The professional boundary between the natural and man-made disappears, enabling environmentalists to assess the design of the human habitat and the urbanists to support the viability of nature. This urban-to-rural transect hierarchy has appropriate building and street types for each area along the continuum.
  

7. Increased Density

• More buildings, residences, shops, and services closer together for ease of walking, to enable a more efficient use of services and resources, and to create a more convenient, enjoyable place to live.
• New Urbanism design principles are applied at the full range of densities from small towns, to large cities
  

8. Green Transportation

• A network of high-quality trains connecting cities, towns, and neighborhoods together
• Pedestrian-friendly design that encourages a greater use of bicycles, rollerblades, scooters, and walking as daily transportation
  

9. Sustainability

• Minimal environmental impact of development and its operations
• Eco-friendly technologies, respect for ecology and value of natural systems
• Energy efficiency
• Less use of finite fuels
• More local production
• More walking, less driving
  

10. Quality of Life

• Taken together these add up to a high quality of life well worth living, and create places that enrich, uplift, and inspire the human spirit.

Click here for more information about New Urbanism: The New Urbanism: Toward an Architecture of Community by Peter Katz.