Icebreaker 

Importance of Urban Design

Is Urban design all that important? The Architects are designing the buildings, the Landscape experts are taking care of the flora, the Planning committee is in charge of all the rules and regulations. Together, are they not enough for the proper functioning of spaces and society?

Well of course they are. But the deeper we study the needs of people and public spaces, the more we know the in depth and design flaws. Urban design bridges the gap between mindless designs and user needs. 

  Fig. 1: Urban space showcasing different use of spaces by people.

We can understand a lot from early work and study of existing cities. Further, we can analyse the strength and flaws of design.

From these studies we can even see the social and cultural development in different places at different point of time.

Thus, we can compare the change in requirements with changing times and effectively use design elements, which will be beneficial to us for a specific place and time, taking a lot of different aspects of the city in consideration.

Different Architects/Designers have different ideologies and techniques. It’s not called for to replicate those designs, but only take positive reinforcements through them into our designs. 

Fig. 2: Different activities people tend to do in outdoor spaces

 With all these documented data, we have information required to take best design approach in terms of urban spaces. By developing a holistic understanding of open, closed, private and public spaces, we can make better spaces for people.