Introducing Urban Design: Interventions and Responses is a new departure in the town planning series under the editorship of Clara Greed. The dynamic new subject and profession of urban design straddles the fields of town planning, architecture, landscape architecture and transport planning. This book recognises that a key feature of modern urban design practice is the ability to integrate a concern with the visual and aesthetic aspects of urban form, with a strong social awareness of the need of user groups, plus a sensitivity to wider environmental and sustainability issues. In this it continues the themes already introduced in earlier volumes, such as the changing nature of the profession, social problems and the means of implementing policy. Written by a team of eminent urban designers, architects and planners under the joint editorship of Clara Greed and Marion Roberts, the book introduces the reader to the subject through a discussion of current issues, approaches and user responses. Introducing Urban Design: Interventions and Responses is an ideal resource for undergraduate courses in town planning, architecture, landscape architecture, estate management and housing studies. It is also suitable as an introductory text for first year diploma and masters programmes in urban design and suitable for RTPI, RICS, CIOH, CIOB, ASI, ISVA and RIBA courses and will be of interest to professional practioners in the urban design field.

1. Unique introductory guide to urban housing design 2. An accessible text that outlines the current debate on urban planning and presents guidance for design solutions 3. Contemporary case studies showcase the best examples for high density housing design

Urban Design the American Experience Jon Lang Urban Design: The American Experience places social and environmental concerns within the context of American history. It returns the focus of urban design to the creation of a better world. It evaluates the efforts of designers who apply knowledge about the environment and people to the creation of livable, enjoyable, and even inspiring built worlds. Urban Design: The American Experience emphasizes that urban design must take a user-oriented approach to achieve a higher quality of life in human settlements. All the keys to this approach are spelled out in chapters that address: Urban design as both a product and process of communal decision-making Types of knowledge required as a base for urban design action How to apply recent environmental and behavioral research to professional design How human needs are fulfilled through design The true role of functionalism in design Urban design efforts of the twentieth century in the United States are examined within their socio-political context. Jon Lang reviews the urban design experience from the beginning of the "City Beautiful" movement, paying particular attention to developments since World War II. He explores how the twentieth-century city has developed, as well as discusses the attitudes that have driven major movements in urban design. Readers learn a neo-Modernist approach that builds on the successes and failures of Rationalism and Empiricism, the two major streams of Modernist thought in architecture and urban design. They also gain an understanding of how the environment is experienced by people, and the implications of this experiencing for architectural and urban design. Numerous illustrations throughout demonstrate how various design schemes can be used. Urban Design: The American Experience provides architects, designers, city planners, and students in these fields with a model for their own future development as professionals. It is a valuable guide to design methodology (procedural theory) and other issues related to creating optimal urban environments.

City planning is a practice and a profession. It is also a set of goals and--sometimes utopian--aspirations. Formal thought about the shaping of cities as physical spaces and social environments calls on the same range of disciplines and approaches that we use for understanding cities themselves, from art and literature through the social and natural sciences. Surrounding the core profession of city planning, also known as urban or town planning, are related fields of architecture, landscape design, engineering, geography, political science and policy, sociology, and social work. In addition, the legions of community and environmental activists influence debates and controversies within the field. This Very Short Introduction is organized around eight key aspects of city planning: street layout; congestion and decentralization; the response to suburbanization; the conservation and regeneration of older districts; cities as natural systems; cities and regions; social class and ethnicity; and disasters and resilience. The underlying assumption throughout is that decisions that we make today about cities and metropolitan regions are best understood as the continuation of past efforts to solve fundamental problems that have shifted and evolved over multiple generations. At its best, city planning utilizes technical tools to achieve goals set by community action and political debate. Carl Abbott's addition to Oxford's long-running Very Short Introduction series is a brief but concentrated look at past decisions about the management of urban growth and their effects on the creation of the twenty-first century city. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This trailblazing book outlines an interdisciplinary "process model" for urban design that has been developed and tested over time. Its goal is not to explain how to design a specific city precinct or public space, but to describe useful steps to approach the transformation of urban spaces. Urban Ecological Design illustrates the different stages in which the process is organized, using theories, techniques, images, and case studies. In essence, it presents a "how-to" method to transform the urban landscape that is thoroughly informed by theory and practice. The authors note that urban design is viewed as an interface between different disciplines. They describe the field as "peacefully overrun, invaded, and occupied" by city planners, architects, engineers, and landscape architects (with developers and politicians frequently joining in). They suggest that environmental concerns demand the consideration of ecology and sustainability issues in urban design. It is, after all, the urban designer who helps to orchestrate human relationships with other living organisms in the built environment. The overall objective of the book is to reinforce the role of the urban designer as an honest broker and promoter of design processes and as an active agent of social creativity in the production of the public realm.

Urban Design: A Typology of Procedures and Products, 2nd Edition provides a comprehensive and accessible introduction to urban design, defining the field and addressing the controversies and goals of urban design. Including over 50 updated international case studies, this new edition presents a three-dimensional model with which to categorize the processes and products involved: product type, paradigm type, and procedural type. The case studies not only illuminate the typology but provide information that designers can use as precedents in their own work. Uniquely, these case study projects are framed by the design paradigm employed, categorized by procedural type instead of instrumental or land use function. The categories used here are Total Urban Design, All-of-a-piece Urban Design, Plug-in Urban Design, and Piece-by-piece Urban Design. Written for both professionals and those encountering urban design in their day-to-day life, Urban Design is an essential introduction to the field and practice, considering the future direction of the field and what can be learned from the past.