How can we contribute to the realm of Urban Design
Urban design is my favorite profession, it exists in every corner of the city. Urban design can help improve the appearance of the city and rejuvenate an originally abandoned place. Urban design involves buildings, infrastructure, streets and larger-scale public spaces, entire blocks and regions, and the entire city. It uses the procedures and elements of architecture and other related disciplines, including landscape design, urban planning, civil engineering and municipal engineering. We are committed to creating inclusive cities to protect public resources, ensure equal access and distribution of public goods, and meet the needs of all residents. Through design intervention, urban designers are committed to revolutionizing the way we conceptualize social, political, and spatial systems as strategies for producing and reproducing a fairer and innovative future.
As a developing country, China consumes a lot of resources in the process of pursuing development, and damages the environment more or less. Although it is inevitable because of the development of urbanization, urbanization has made the natural environment worse and worse. At the same time, the space for human activities has been reduced between reinforced concrete and high-rise buildings, making people’s life in the city somewhat depressing. Therefore, improving and protecting urban ecology and establishing a sustainable urban model are issues that should be taken seriously in our urban planning and development.
Today, urban design seeks to create a sustainable urban environment with durable structures, buildings and overall livability. Walking urbanism is another practical method defined in the New Urbanism Charter. It aims to reduce the impact on the environment by changing the built environment to create a smart city that supports sustainable transportation. Compact urban communities encourage residents to reduce driving and protect the environment. However, infrastructure urbanism is the study of how to use major investments in infrastructure systems to improve the sustainability of communities. Infrastructure urbanization is not just a system that focuses on cost and production efficiency, but strives to use these investments to solve social and environmental problems more equitably.
The field of urban design has great potential to help us deal with today’s biggest challenges: growing population, large-scale urbanization, increasing inequality, resource consumption and climate change.
I used to study environmental design at a Chinese university as a bachelor, and now I have come to Newcastle University to study urban design. I think I have gained a lot this month, learned a lot about urban design, and learned about the background of different regions and cultures. We also know that we need to respect the opinions of local people more in the design and understand people’s real needs for the venue. In addition, I also learned about the practice of physical field modules at Newcastle University and the use of some model cutting machines. This helped us better understand the changes in the terrain of the site and so on, and it also enhanced my hands-on ability. I think this is a very good improvement for me.
This is my first time writing a blog, and I think blogging is a very interesting experience. We have weekly lectures to help us learn more about urban design courses and provide materials for our blog. We can talk about our understanding and thoughts about weekly learning by publishing the blog. You can also learn the opinions of other students through the blog. In the follow-up learning process, my classmates and I will also publish blogs on various topics to share our ideas and design examples on urban design, hoping to discuss related issues with more people who are interested in urban design. We hope that more people can participate.
