1

P L A N N I N G C O M M I S S I O N E R S J O U R N A L / N U M B E R 4 3 / S U M M E R 2 0 0 1

Since the late 1970’s and early 1980’s,however, there has been a growing sensethat something is missing in the waymuch of the urban environment is beingshaped. Communities have started to callfor the development of urban areas basedon the experiences and desires of the

F E AT U R E

An Introduction to Urban Design by Ilene Watson

When walking down the streetyou see a place that appearsinteresting and inviting. Across the street you glance at another area butit looks unappealing and uncomfortable.Which place would you rather be? That’seasy to answer. The more difficult ques-tion is: Why? What is it that creates aplace that people like and use?

Understanding some of the ideas ofurban design can help us better answerthis question. Urban design does not haveto be a mystery. Knowing a few importantconcepts can make it easier for you toobserve what works – and what doesn’t –as you stroll through your town, or as youreview a project application.

RECENT HISTORY

The needs of the automobile, and amodernistic view of architecture (focus-ing on a large-scale, boxy internationalstyle) has dominated much of develop-ment since the 1950’s. Unfortunately, thishas led to the creation of places which,while functional, often disregard thecomfort and enjoyment of the ordinaryperson.

the layout and hierarchy of streets andbuildings, to appreciating an attractivepaving detail in front of a store’s door.The ideas can be applied to buildings, thestreet, land uses, urban park develop-ment, and anything else that is woveninto the fabric of a town. The purpose ofthis article is to provide you with a basicintroduction to urban design, an intro-duction which hopefully will lead you tofurther explore this vital topic.

THE FOUNDATION OF URBAN DESIGN

The most important concept toremember is that good urban design ispeople-oriented design. Urban designprovides a way to humanize the worldwe live in. As such, you will often hearterms like “pedestrian focus” and“human scale.” The intent is to examinebuildings, streets, and open spaces (andthe uses in them) in terms of how theyrelate to the experience of the individual.

So what do individuals experience ina well-designed urban environment? Aspedestrians, they are able to walk com-fortably, while observing and participat-ing in what is happening around them.Although enjoying vistas, they also seetheir city or town as something “closeup” with intricate details, interestingbuildings, and varied activities. They canstop to admire a view, window shop, get acup of coffee, watch other people, ormeet a friend. They can easily find abench in the shade of a tree, a bin inwhich to drop a used wrapper, or a pub-lic comfort station or toilet if need be.Most importantly, they feel safe and arenot worried about traffic or personal risk.

On the following pages, we’ll focuson eight key urban design concepts thatcan help create such an environment.The accompanying sidebars will alsopoint you in the direction of some goodadditional readings if you want to learnmore about urban design.

THERE HAS BEEN AGROWING SENSE THAT

SOMETHING IS MISSING INTHE WAY MUCH OF THEURBAN ENVIRONMENT IS

BEING SHAPED.

individual. People want to be able towalk on a street that is comfortable,interesting, and pleasing to the eye. Theevolving collection of knowledge andideas called urban design is an expres-sion of this search for a better connectionbetween people and the physical worldthey live in.

THE NATURE OF URBAN DESIGN

Unfortunately, there are no hard andfast rules related to urban design. Astructural beam in a building must meetcertain requirements for that building tostand. A road must be built in a certainway to avoid future potholes.

Urban design, however, is not a seriesof rules and standards. Rather, it is agroup of concepts that, once understood,can lead to a fresh way of perceivingstreets, buildings, and spaces – andinsights into why certain places areappealing and others are not. With urbandesign concepts in mind you should beable to better question architectural pre-sentations and consider the impact ofdevelopment proposals on your town’scharacter.

Urban design operates on variousscales – from orienting people through

Be An Observer“Examine the city in your daily to-

and-fro; and pay particular attention toyour own reactions, to what you like andto what you avoid. Examine your ownfeelings about different environmentsand your own preferences. To whatplaces are you drawn? What do youavoid? Then try to analyze what specificthings attract and repel you. … Take adaily tour. Vary your route to work eachday. An old real estate man told me ofthis technique. If done consistently, andwith attention, it eventually reveals agreat deal about wherever you live.”

– From: City Comforts: How to Build AnUrban Village, by David Sucher

2

P L A N N I N G C O M M I S S I O N E R S J O U R N A L / N U M B E R 4 3 / S U M M E R 2 0 0 1

1 Physical ComfortWhat are the requirements for people

to feel comfortable? There are basic needslike a good walking surface and somegarbage bins, but a good environment alsooffers places to sit, some shade on a hotday, shelter from the rain, readily accessi-ble public toilets, and decent lighting atnight. It is also possible to physicallydesign areas in a way that may help todeter crime.

R. M

UL

DO

FF

In too many parts of our cities and towns, pedes-trian considerations seem to be an afterthought, ifnot totally forgotten.

Portsmouth, New Hampshire’s Market Street offersplaces to sit and relax.

2 Circulation and Accessibility

There should be a peaceful coexis-tence between the pedestrian and the car.Comprehending and feeling comfortablein the urban environment means that sep-aration between pedestrian use, drivinglanes, and parking must be easy to see andinterpret. In many developments it will beimportant to reassert the priority of thepedestrian when looking at circulation.

Comfort Requires Safety

“Human communications flourish only insafety. A prerequisite for meeting people orgetting to know them better is feeling safe,secure and unthreatened. … The first princi-ple of security in any situation is surveillance.The basic technique of urban security is nat-ural surveillance and human presence. … Butsurveillance in our context does not mean for-mal watching but the casual observation thatcomes naturally, for example, when one is sit-ting on the porch after dinner. The secondprinciple is territoriality: people must viewthe public space as their own and thus takesome responsibility for it.”

From: City Comforts: How to Build an Urban Vil-lage, by David Sucher (City Comforts Press, 1995).

For additional information on how design canenhance safety, see Oscar Newman’s groundbreakingbook, Defensible Space (Macmillan, 1973) andSherry & Stanley Carter’s “Crime Preventionthrough Environmental Design in Sarasota, Flori-da,” in PCJ #16 (part of the PCJ’s Fall 1994 “safercommunities” issue).

Editor’s Note:Meeting An Essential Need

I would venture a guess that almost allof us have – on more than one occasion –searched in vain for a public restroom.Most often, it’s when we’re visiting anunfamiliar city or town. The bad news isthat providing publicly accessiblerestrooms does not seem to be high onmost public officials’ radar. The good newsis that there are at least some signs ofchange, as evidenced by the followingreport from Mark Elliot, a doctoral studentin planning at the University of SouthernCalifornia, which recently appeared inRoadside magazine:

“Coming soon to a city near you? In abig city like San Francisco, home to cafesand coffee-houses aplenty, how much isrelief worth – maybe a quarter? On busyMarket Street in San Francisco, where arestaurant restroom is tougher to find thancheap office space, the well-designedDecaux kiosk from France is a pleasure touse. Put your coin in the slot and thecurved door retracts to reveal a spaciousArt Deco-accented interior. It is handi-capped accessible, and provides pictographdirections for use. Progress in publicaccommodation never smelled so clean!”

M.E

LL

IOT

Humanizing Our Streets

“Functional streets necessarily involveboth cars and pedestrians. Because cars havebecome integral parts of our lives, we havemany specialists with large budgets makingsure that drivers can move to and from theirdaily activities. Yet very little attention hasbeen given to the functional needs of pedestri-ans …

Our greatest challenge is humanizing arte-rial streets – those fast moving roads that linkour major goods and services. Wide lots andstreets, acres of parking, the absence of side-walks, and scattered auto-oriented shoppingall make for a treacherous pedestrian environ-ment. Addressing this situation may requirechanges such as: narrowing the road at inter-sections; constructing wide sidewalks alongmain streets; adding sidewalks on streets lead-ing to residential neighborhoods; encouraging

Wide arterial roads are often a “no-man’s zone”for pedestrians. Providing an adequate buffer stripand sidewalks can help turn this around, as seenhere along Highway 97 in Kelowna, B.C.

I.W

AT

SON

I.W

AT

SON

commercial uses that serve pedestrians atmajor intersections; and changing land usesbetween intersections to reduce auto activity.”

From: “Taming the Automobile,” by Richard Unter-mann, in PCJ #1 (November/December 1991).

For additional information on designing streets thatwork for cars and pedestrians, see Donald Apple-yard’s Livable Streets (Univ. of California Press,1981), and Richard Untermann’s “Sidewalk Essen-tials” in PCJ #27 (Summer 1997; available to down-load on plannersweb.com).

3

P L A N N I N G C O M M I S S I O N E R S J O U R N A L / N U M B E R 4 3 / S U M M E R 2 0 0 1

3 Transitions and Boundaries

Most people feel a deep need to knowwhere one neighborhood or district endsand another begins. A logical world withgood spatial definition orients us andgives us information to help us make deci-sions about where to go and what to do.

Elements such as the shape of build-ings, doorway design, paving materials,curbs, landscaping, street furniture,changes in the elevation of the ground,

Boundaries

“Many parts of a town haveboundariesdrawn aroundthem. Theseboundaries areusually in peo-ple’s minds.They mark theend of onekind of activity,one kind ofplace, and thebeginning ofanother. Inmany cases, theactivities them-selves are mademore sharp,

more vivid, more alive, if the boundary whichexists in people’s minds is also present physi-cally in the world.”

From: Christopher Alexander, et al., A Pattern Language: Towns-Buildings-Construction (OxfordUniversity Press, 1977).

For additional information on the role of boundariesand edges, see Kevin Lynch’s The Image of the City(The MIT Press, 1960).

For a look at the role of “gateways” into cities andtowns, see Suzanne Sutro Rhees’ “Gateways: Creat-ing Civic Identity,” PCJ #21 (Winter 1996; availableto download from plannersweb.com)

W.S

EN

VIL

LE

Sometimes distinctive signs or banners are used to identify districts of a city or town. When used thoughtfully, these can be effective in helpingorient visitors. In Burlington, Vermont, an arching sign (combined with information booths) demarcates the waterfront area.

4 ScaleWhen a pedestrian on

the street feels overwhelmedby the sheer bulk and size ofa structure one thing is cer-tain: it is not the pedestrianwho is “out of scale” – it isthe building. Many largeretail stores being builttoday have just a single en-trance on a two story wall,one hundred fifty feet long.An established small townretail block may, in contrast, have (in thesame one hundred fifty feet) four or fivestores at a scale that is consistent with thepedestrians who pass by. Achieving a“human scale” usually means avoidinglong, unbroken horizontal expanses, andpaying attention to how upper stories ofbuildings relate to people on the street.

Blank Walls

“The dominant feature of the townscape is coming to be the blank wall. They have amessage. They are a declaration of distrust ofthe city and its streets and the undesirableswho might be on them. … The one goodthing that can be said of them is that they areso awful anything else looks good by contrast.The best thing to do with blank walls is to doaway with them, or, at the very least, to pre-vent their recurrence.

An owner who lines his frontage with ablank wall not only deadens his part of thestreet; he breaks the continuity that is so vitalfor the rest of the street.”

From: City: Rediscovering the Center, by WilliamH. Whyte (Doubleday, 1988)

One of the most influential books on the built envi-ronment, A Pattern Language: Towns-Buildings-Construction, by Christopher Alexander, et. al.(Oxford Univ. Press, 1977) includes much on how toachieve a human scale in buildings – and in towns.

The varied rhythm of storefronts in older towns and cities — ashere in Brattleboro, Vermont — helps establish a pedestrian-orient-ed scale. Contrast this with the blank walls greeting pedestrians atmany newer stores.

and signage let us know where one catego-ry of uses gives way to another.

The transitions and boundaries of theurban world tell us when we enter andleave the town, what is public and what issomeone’s private space, where to sit andmeet people, where to stroll, where toshop, and where to drive or park. Usingurban design to clearly show these transi-tions and boundaries can be the differencebetween comfort and confusion; andbetween feeling invited and feeling unwelcome.

W.S

EN

VIL

LE

I.W

AT

SON

4

P L A N N I N G C O M M I S S I O N E R S J O U R N A L / N U M B E R 4 3 / S U M M E R 2 0 0 1

A Spring afternoon in downtown Burlington, Vermont.

5 Reasons to be TherePeople like to do a variety of things at

different times. Someone might want to sitoutside with a newspaper, another mightbe out for a brisk walk, another might wantto shop and is interested in wanderingslowly. A family might be looking for some-thing that involves their children. Perhapsa person might want to have lunch whilelistening to some live music.

Offering choices makes the world amore interesting place to be and is moreinclusive of a wider variety of people. Goodurban design creates an environment withvariety and choice which contributes to afeeling that a town has vitality and energy.

Yesterday … and Today

“In River Park [in 1940] informal socializ-ing spilled out into the street and into places ofcommerce … The more gregarious or less busycitizen might take an hour to negotiate oneblock of Main Street, for there were always agood many people walking or lounging along it during daylight hours. … The old-timersliked nothing better than to talk with the moreactive people of the community and keep upon things.

If one were to visit River Park today, onewould see quite a different place from thatwhich existed in 1940. … The people are large-ly gone from the street now, as are the physicalamenities that earlier accommodated them.

The architecture of Main Street haschanged noticeably. The earlier storefronts fea-tured large windows and the majority of themhad outdoor seating, in most cases integral totheir architecture. Wide steps and Kasota stoneslabs that flanked the entrances were heavilyused by those who found them cool places tosit in the summer. … Large windows and theencouragement to lounge at the portals com-bined to unify indoors and out and to encour-age a ‘life on the street’ as well. That outdoorseating is all but gone now. The new store-fronts are tight against the street and theirmuch smaller windows allow little seeing in or seeing out.”

From: The Great Good Place, by Ray Oldenburg(Paragon House, 1989)

One of the landmark books examining how the urbanenvironment works (and doesn’t work), Jane Jacob’sThe Death and Life of Great American Cities (Vin-tage Books Edition, 1992; originally published in1961) includes much on the importance of varietyand choice.

W.S

EN

VIL

LE

W.S

EN

VIL

LE

W.S

EN

VIL

LE

How to Use Your Knowledge

Awareness of urban design can make a difference when you view an application or work on your town plan. Here are somequestions you might keep in mind.

• Is basic physical comfort (walking sur-faces, shade, sun, lighting, garbage bins,seating) accommodated?

• Is circulation between pedestrians, carsand bikes easy to see and comprehend?

• Is there enough detail and variation froma pedestrian’s perspective?

• How does the scale of the building relateto the street?

• Does the design make it clear to thepedestrian what his options are? (sit andrelax, enter a building, walk quickly, stopand look at a window display, cross aroad)

• Does what is happening inside the build-ing interact and connect to the street?

• Can more be done to provide choices andoptions for people to be there?

• Is the site cohesive within itself, and doesit relate to the town as a whole?

5

P L A N N I N G C O M M I S S I O N E R S J O U R N A L / N U M B E R 4 3 / S U M M E R 2 0 0 1

Window Shopping

“In many cities window shopping wouldappear to be a dying activity. There are, forone thing, fewer windows to shop. … Fur-thermore, that former adjunct to the window,the door, may be on its way out, too. Increas-ingly, access is from within the buildings,sometimes along replicas of shopping streets.But the real thing still works. Where there aredisplay windows, people window-shop, andthe stores that have them enjoy a competitive

edge greater than before.”

From: City: Rediscovering the Center,by William H. Whyte (Doubleday,1988)

6 The ConnectionBetween Street andBuilding

People want to come to a vibrantcommercial area – and a vibrant commer-cial area attracts people. While goodurban design cannot be counted on tosolve broader issues of depopulation andeconomic shifts, it can have a positiveimpact on an area’s vitality.

Actions taken to improve the connec-tion between buildings and the street canmake an area more interesting and invit-ing to pedestrians, which in turn benefitsretailers. Large display windows, largeinteresting doors, detailed buildingdesign, putting buildings on the streetwith parking behind, paying attention towalking distances, and allowing for thespilling out of commercial activities ontothe sidewalk can all contribute to a morevibrant community. Set-Backs

“A building is most often thought of assomething which turns inward – towards itsrooms. But unless the building is orientedtoward the outside, which surrounds it, ascarefully and positively as toward its inside,the space around the building will be uselessand blank. … Building set-backs from thestreet, originally invented to protect the pub-lic welfare by giving every building light andair, have actually helped greatly to destroy thestreet as a social space.”

From: Christopher Alexander, et al., A Pattern Lan-guage: Towns-Buildings-Construction (OxfordUniversity Press, 1977)

For additional information on how good design canyield economic benefits by strengthening downtown,see Adele Fleet Bacow’s Designing the City (IslandPress, 1995) and Edward McMahon’s “Design Mat-ters” (PCJ #21, Winter 1996; available to downloadon plannersweb.com).

The Art of Design There is also an “art” to urban

design that goes beyond technicalknowledge – though understandingbasic design concepts is certainly a pre-requisite. Not everyone has the same tal-ents, and some are more skilled thanothers at designing buildings – or urbanareas. However, everyone can improvetheir ability to perceive their surround-ings, and consider what works and whatdoes not.

Continuing to learn about urbandesign will influence how you thinkabout your surroundings. Your planningcommission might consider inviting apanel of architects and designers to aforum on how urban design has shaped,or might shape, your community. Dis-cussion can lead to a better understand-ing of the role design plays in shapingcities and towns – and consideration ofways in which good design can beencouraged.

Over time you will come to see yourtown as more than just a collection ofstreets and buildings, but as a complexenvironment intricately bound to thepeople who use it.

Providing most of the parking behind commercialbuildings and having a broad central pedestrianpromenade are two factors that have helped makeMizner Plaza in Boca Raton, Florida (photos thispage), a highly successful mixed use development.

W. S

EN

VIL

LE

W. S

EN

VIL

LE

6

P L A N N I N G C O M M I S S I O N E R S J O U R N A L / N U M B E R 4 3 / S U M M E R 2 0 0 1

7 Detail, Variety, and Complexity

Due to the slower pace, people aremore aware of their surroundings aspedestrians than when driving a car. Asintelligent and curious individuals, weenjoy an environment with variety, detail,and complexity. A sidewalk might have abrick paving edge that changes design atintersections. A building might have amosaic of tile in front of the door thatcatches our eye, or a change in appear-ance around windows.

Details, variety, and complexity pro-vide the richness that makes things inter-esting for us.

This is not to say that infinite varietyis preferred. Too much variety and ourworld becomes hard to understand. Abuilding may have a palette of three tofive related colors, not twenty unrelatedones. Landscaping may consist of group-ings of a selected number of species, notone of everything. Variety is best provid-ed within an overall cohesive framework.

What Residents Want

“Regardless of architectural style, mostresidents prefer some degree of aesthetic com-plexity and variety in their neighborhood. In anationwide U.S. study of HUD-assisted pro-jects those developments that residents rankhigh on appearance have in common a degreeof architectural complexity. In one case rowhouses were differentiated by the use of mate-rials, textures, roof shape, trim, and size; in a second case complexity was achieved bybreaking down the total volume of buildingsinto smaller units and varying the shape, size,and placement of windows and balconies …Conversely, the least liked developmentsrange from traditional to contemporary stylesbut have in common monotonous facades,messages of institutionality (unscreenedclotheslines, pipe railings), little or no land-scaping, or very poor maintenance.”

From: Housing As If People Mattered, by ClareCooper Marcus and Wendy Sarkissian (Univ. of California Press, 1986).

Pavings

“The floor underfoot is a very immediateand personal kind ofexperience for pedes-trians, but unfortu-nately, modern citybuilders have forgottenthe visual and tactilequalities possiblethrough the floor. Itcan be patterned, tex-tured, colored, andthrown like a rich rugunderfoot. … The tex-

Something as simple as a clock can become alocal landmark – and make for a more interestingplace. Main Street, Brattleboro, Vermont.

tures of pavings can guide the activities andmovements of pedestrians, can even channeltheir direction, or prevent their encroachingon specific areas, or slow them down.”

From: Cities, by Lawrence Halprin (The MIT Press,1972)

W.S

EN

VIL

LE

W.S

EN

VIL

LE

W.S

EN

VIL

LE

I. W

AT

SON

Sidewalk paving patterns can be simple, as in Peachland, B.C. [on left] or quite decorative, as alongBarcelona’s principal boulevard [above]. But either way, they add visual interest to the streetscape. Socan building details, as on a Brattleboro, Vermont, building facade [top left].

7

P L A N N I N G C O M M I S S I O N E R S J O U R N A L / N U M B E R 4 3 / S U M M E R 2 0 0 1

8 CohesivenessCohesion allows us to feel an object’s

unity and structure. A building mayshow cohesion in design through its roofline, color, material, and overall form.Similarly, a neighborhood or district canpossess elements which provide a senseof cohesion. For example, a neighbor-hood – or even an entire town – mighthave a sidewalk with the same details. Aconsistent pattern of street trees or light-ing fixtures can also impart cohesiveness,as can the use of common, locally avail-

Downtown Newburyport, Massachusetts projects a feeling of cohesiveness through the use of buildingmaterials, window patterns, roof line, and lighting fixtures.

Ilene Watson is a plan-ner with the CentralOkanagan Regional Dis-trict Planning Departmentin Kelowna, BritishColumbia. She has workedon design guidelines, atown centre strategic plan,large neighborhood masterplanning projects, and a new zoning bylaw. Herprevious article for the Planning CommissionersJournal, “An Introduction to Design Guidelines,”appeared in Issue #41 (Winter 2001).

Not Just AestheticsUrban design is sometimes thought

of as strictly an aesthetic concern. Manytimes it’s simply seen as a way to makebuildings more attractive. Urban designis much more than that and considersboth functional design and how we feelabout our environment. Functionaldesign refers to the way things actuallywork and relate to each other. For exam-ple, buildings fronting directly on thestreet and sidewalk allow the uses insidethe buildings to be physically close to thepedestrian. Windows, recessed doors,and displays animate an exchangebetween the activities inside the buildingand the pedestrian walking by. Urbandesign involves appearance, the way usesfunction and relate to each other, andhow we perceive the results.

Legibility

“Just as this printed page, if it is legible,can be visually grasped as a related pattern ofrecognizable symbols, so a legible city wouldbe one whose districts or landmarks or path-ways are easily identifiable and are easilygrouped into an over-all pattern.”

From: The Image of the City, by Kevin Lynch (TheMIT Press, 1960)

Stability

“Cherished features of our environmentare preserved not because they are ‘beautiful’but because they reassure us by preserving, inturn, our emotional stability in a world pacedby frightening change.”

From: Icons & Aliens: Law, Aesthetics, and Envi-ronmental Change, by John J. Costonis (Univ. ofIllinois Press, 1989)

R.M

OL

DO

FF

able building materials. Even the absenceor removal of distracting or jarring fea-tures, such as overhead utility lines, canhelp bring a sense of unity to a town. ◆