Urban Design Theory & Practice
| Code | School | Level | Credits | Semesters |
| ABEE4004 | Architecture and Built Environment | 4 | 20 | Autumn UK |
- Code
- ABEE4004
- School
- Architecture and Built Environment
- Level
- 4
- Credits
- 20
- Semesters
- Autumn UK
Summary
This module is intended as an introduction to the current issues in the theory and practice of urban design, urbanism and the public realm. The module will enable an advanced understanding of people, places and cities. Issues and challenges will be introduced by tracing the evolution of urban design including how its historical evolution informs contemporary practice. The module will focus on the qualities of successful urban places, including streets and squares, and the creation of new public realms within cities around the world. The module will also examine the important role of the urban block and mixed-use development in the creation of vital and viable cities. New and emerging phenomena within the urban design discipline will also be analysed to set the contemporary agenda.
Target Students
MArch Sustainable Urban Design K11H, MArch Architecture Design K11K; U7PSSTUB and U7PADESN.
Classes
- One 1-hour-30-minute workshop
- One 2-hour seminar each week for 5 weeks
- One 2-hour lecture each week for 11 weeks
.
Assessment
- 70% Coursework 1: Comprehensive illustrated essay.
- 25% Coursework 2: Townscape and Place analysis (PPT and video).
- 5% Coursework 3: Urban place precedent.
Assessed by end of autumn semester
Educational Aims
This module aims to introduce and analyse contemporary urban design theories and practice including their evolution from historical practice to develop a critical understanding of the contemporary city and how people engage with it. This will include an analysis of the visual, social, functional, perceptual and environmental dimensions of the practice of urban design. The module will introduce and examine concepts such as: the dimensions of urban design; cities for people; creating public places; the street; the square; mixed-use development; the urban block; urban design practice; vertical public realms; etc.Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students will have developed a detailed knowledge of urban design, and the creation of successful places and public realms within contemporary cities.
The students will have knowledge of:
• theories and practice of urban design and place making within cities;
• the influence of the design and development of cities, past and present on contemporary urban environments;
The students will have an understanding of:
• the relationship between people and places;
• the need to consider the relationship between buildings and associated urban places;
• human needs and scale in relation to the public realm;
• the needs and aspirations of different people, groups and communities;
• the meaning of context and its importance in successful urban design;
• the potential impact of urban development projects on existing and proposed communities;
• how knowledge is advanced through research to produce clear, logically argued and original ideas relating to urban culture, theory and design.
Conveners
- Prof Timothy Heath