Editorial- Research and reading for use in urban design

Roy Strickland

Professor of Architecture, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, Michigan, USA

As a teacher of urban design, I ask students in my seminars and studios to read and discuss books and articles on the history and theory of urban design. In my studios they are also asked to research precedents and best cases related to their design projects. Such activities are common to urban design teaching everywhere. But in addition I ask that during our seminar and studio sessions students translate their research and reading into sketch diagrams that may serve as references for design.

The intent of these sketches is four-fold: to help students retain what they have read and researched through the act of drawing; to help them identify what they consider the most important of the materials’ ideas and themes; to stimulate them to think three- dimensionally about urban design whenever they engage in research and reading; and to encourage them to be selfish. That is correct, selfish. The sketch exercises promote the use of reading and research in students’ personal work, current and future. 

Over the course of the typical 14-week academic semester the diagramming becomes increasingly layered and complex. The two or three texts and/or precedents reviewed in any single seminar or studio session will grow to 30 or more over the course of the term. As new diagrams are sketched, students are asked to incorporate references recalled from earlier sessions. Later in the term, they are given hypothetical urban design exercises – from the revitalisation of an urban district to the development of a new city on a ‘green field’ – to which the sketch diagrams can be applied.

As the hypothetical exercises grow more complex, teams of students sketch together and in the process discuss history, theory, precedents and methods in terms of their relevance to the problem. But whether diagramming a single reference or precedent or postulating the concept for a new capital city, the exercises are brief, ranging from 10–30 mins to afford critical review by all class members. Thus the class or studio session is itself layered, from material review, to diagramming, to diagram review in order to help students become conversant with the session’s materials as they test their interpretations of the materials through their application.

translate materials in the form of a sketch diagram. Briefings and papers with such diverse topics – landscape-led approaches to land use planning and urban land management (Kirby, 2013), creating sustainable water systems (Bell, 2013), infra- structure’s role in improving human settlements (Parikh et al., 2013), the sustainability of new urban developments in Dubai (Hadjri and Onyango, 2013), travel planning (Enoch and Ison, 2013) and carfree development in the UK (Melia et al., 2013) – covering several corners of the globe (Southeast Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe) may not at first appear to lend themselves to a diagrammatic synthesis. However as an urban designer anxious to interpret as much history, theory and research as possible for his own design purposes I was determined to try. The results turned out to be a useful addition to my urban design thinking, so useful in fact that I plan to list the papers in my next urban design methodologies seminar.

Figure 1 shows the layering of different themes found in this issue (labelled 1–4). The authors encourage urban designers to think of landscape and water systems at urban and regional scales, especially as they may influence land use planning (1); lay infrastructure as a means of not only improving public health and welfare but increasing community capacity and wealth (2); plan transportation systems in such a way to reduce car use and carbon dioxide emissions while promoting people’s choices in circulation ((3) arrows) and settlement ((3) circles); and incorporate solar, wind and geothermal power in projects as appropriate to geographical and climactic conditions with potential impact on the city’s expression (4). Layered, the papers suggest urban design that is rooted in indigenous natural systems while availing itself of modern technology, pointing toward physical forms that are culturally and environmentally specific (distinct from the globally homoge- neous urban design product familiar today). For students and practitioners of urban design, the mix of papers illustrates the rigorous research and interdisciplinary effort necessary to address the pressing challenges of environmental sustainability, social equity and quality of life confronting urban settlements throughout the world.

Now, other readers may diagram this issue’s themes differently (and no doubt more elegantly than I) and emerge with a conclusion different from the one I am about to make: in this single issue of Urban Design and Planning is an introduction to ways of both thinking about and executing urban design. As a teacher of urban design, I am always interested in identifying the discipline and practice’s points of entry for my students. The following pages provide one.

(Source:Urban Design and Planning)