"Urban design is the art of making places for
people. It includes the way places work and matters such as community safety, as well as
how they look. It concerns the connections between people and places, movement and urban
form, nature and the fabric, and the processes for ensuring successful villages, towns and
cities."
"Urban design is a key to creating sustainable
developments and the conditions for flourishing economic life, prudent use of natural
resources and for social progress. Good design can help create lively places with
distinctive character; streets and public spaces that are safe, accessible, pleasant to
use and human in scale; and places that inspire because of the imagination and sensitivity
of their designers." (By Design,
Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, Department of Environment,
Transport, and the Regions, UK, 2000.)
Developing design guidelines begins with an analysis
of context for design. This analysis focuses on specific aspects of the community that
should influence the development of design standards. These aspects include:
CHARACTER - The positive features of a place and its
people that contribute to its special character and sense of identity. These features
include landscape, building traditions and material patterns of local life, and other
factors that make one place different from another.
CONTINUITY AND ENCLOSURE - New development either
contributes to making the urban fabric coherent or undermines it. Positive design is often
a matter of adopting good manners, recognizing that every building is part of a greater
whole. Successful urban space (including street space) is defined and enclosed by
buildings, structures and landscape.
QUALITY OF THE PUBLIC REALM - The quality of the
public realm depends on the arrangement of its paving, planting, lighting, orientation,
shelter, signage, street furniture, and the way it is overlooked as well as the routes
which pass through it and the uses in and next to it. The public realm is made up of the
parts of a village, town or city that are available, without special charges, for use by
everyone. This can include streets, parks, squares, arcades and public buildings, whether
publicly or privately owned. Anyone who is designing a building, or any other structure,
is helping to shape the public realm.
EASE OF MOVEMENT - The convenience, safety and comfort
with which people go to and pass through buildings, places and spaces play a large part in
determining how successful a place will be. Streets are more than just traffic channels
for vehicles, and should offer a safe and attractive environment for all. Well-designed
streets encourage people to use them, and make going outside a safe and pleasant
experience.
LEGIBILITY - Landmarks, gateways and focal points help
people find their way. Vistas create visual links between places. Visible routes and
destinations, and visible choice of routes will contribute to making a place feel safe and
unthreatening. Places where form, layout and signage make them easy to understand are
likely both to function well and to be pleasant to live in or visit.
DIVERSITY - The mix of uses (whether within a
building, a street or an area) can help to determine how well-used a place is, and what
economic and social activities it will support. A mix of uses may be appropriate at a
variety of scales: within a village, town or city; within a neighborhood or a street; or
even in a particular building.
(By Design, Commission for Architecture and
the Built Environment, Department of Environment, Transport, and the Regions, UK, 2000.)
A common failing of design guidelines is a disconnect
between the guidelines and the community’s implementing ordinances and regulations
(e.g., zoning and subdivision codes). Zoning codes establish minimum standards for new
development, treating land as merely a receptacle for any type of development that is
permitted in a given zoning district and that can comply with the minimum development
standards. Very often development requirements are expressed as performance standards that
give the applicant broad discretion in deciding how the project design will address the
standard. For example, the Zoning Code will require a minimum number of parking spaces,
depending on the particular use, but will not specify where the parking must be located.
When considering urban design, the location of parking is equally as important as the
amount of parking, particularly where the community’s objectives include maintaining
and creating people places, improving mobility, and encouraging greater social
interaction.
PJA believes that community design processes should
result in clear guidance for infill, redevelopment and greenfield projects. Guidance
should be expressed in text, graphics, concepts plans, master plans, and/or other forms
and that there should be a strong regulatory link between design objectives and
implementing codes. Designers should be given the maximum freedom to create but must show
sensitivity for the design context and community design vision. Although community design
must take into account market and economic realities it should not be emasculated by
corporate models for how to best capture market potential. The highest and best use of
land should be determined in a community design context as much as in an economic and
regulatory context.
Through many years of experience
PJA has gained
valuable insights into the strengths and weaknesses of traditional development codes,
particularly zoning and subdivision codes, and the capacity of these tools to guide
development in a manner that is consistent with the community’s expectations.
Innovative approaches to guiding community design are often required where expectations
are for quality development that incrementally builds on and enhances the existing
community’s character. Development design
is critical to insure that the qualities of our
immediate environment positively contribute to our daily lives.
PJA brings this type of
knowledge and experience to the planning process.
Peter Johnston & Associates,
LLC 416 Goldsborough Street Easton
Maryland 21601
Telephone 410.822.9630
Fax 410.820.5039 Email
plj@peterjohnstonassociates.com
