Urban Design

Urban design is the process of designing functional, attractive and sustainable urban areas. Urban design focuses on large scale groups of houses, streets, whole neighbourhoods and even entire cities, rather than singular buildings as architecture does.

The main objectives for urban design:

• Character - to build places with identity by reinforcing local patterns of development and culture.
• Continuity and enclosure - public and private spaces need to have clear boundaries to make harmonious living easy.
• Quality of the public realm - there must be attractive and safe outdoor areas, which can be successfully used by everyone.
• Ease of movement - places which are easy to move through. This includes the streets. Spatial analysis software can be used to analyse how people would move through proposed city plans.
• Legibility - places need to have a clear image and routes that are easy to understand. This can be made easier by having landmarks which aid people in finding their way around.
• Adaptability - places need designs that can adapt to changing social, technological and economic conditions.
• Diversity - places which promote diversity and choice, with a range of housing types and price.

Urban design dates back even as far as the Roman times when Vitruvius (thought to be the first architectural historian), created a blue print for an ideal city. Vitruvius created a circular design to promote harmony. Other designs are born out of idealism, such as the 16^th Century Utopia design by Thomas More. Some designs however, were created to display wealth and power.

As wonderful as many plans are, it is rare to be able to make a city from scratch. When the Great Fire of London burnt down the city, it was seen as a fresh start. Wren, Hook and Evelyn all created plans for a complete rebuild of London. Wren based his rebuild on various sources including Vitruvius and Parisian design; Hook created a grid plan layout with blocks and Evelyn based his plans on a radial grid.  In the end though, it was decided that instead of using any of the fantastic and elaborate plans which were put forward, it would be up to the people to rebuild their own plots. This decision was based upon the fact that London, in this time of disaster, could not afford the time or the money to rebuild the city completely from scratch. The money could be raised, but it was ultimately that in the time it would take to rebuild the city, business would be drawn elsewhere and if the business did return, moving may be confusing due to the rebuild.

In 2007 Gordon Brown announced his plans for tackling climate change and solving the housing crisis - designing Eco towns. Eco towns were billed as being: affordable housing, sustainable living, carbon neutral developments, a creative use of waste and high rates of recycling, employment which is local, as well as local services and schools so that there is less demand for using cars. Finally the locals must also be able to have a say in the development. Whitehill, Bordon is one of the four Eco towns announced in 2009. Despite an unclear future in 2010 when the new government came into force, in January 2013 the MOD land (brownfield site) was purchased and building work is expected to start in 2014, with the finished 100 homes completed by the end of 2015.

References

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0394j6q/Dreaming_the_Impossible_Unbuilt_Britain_A_Revolution_in_the_City/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/geography/urban_environments/urbanisation_medcs_rev8.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-20911094

http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110118095356/http:/www.cabe.org.uk/files/urban-design-skills-working-group.pdf