The Smart “Enough” City The smart city concept arguably dates back to the invention of automated traffic lights, which were first deployed in 1922 in Houston, Texas. The exact origin of the concept is not tied to a specified time or individual. However, Smart cities have been around for a long time. We can also Read the full article…

Hello and welcome! My name is Ng Yue Qyng, from Malaysia, a passionate explorer of design and built environment. I am currently a final year postgraduate student in the M.Arch degree programme here at Newcastle University. As a newbie! (for  both urban design and international student life) The journey so far has been rewarding, and Read the full article…

I am Liuqing He, a student majoring in Urban Design, my parents are architectural engineers, and their upbringing led me to choose landscape architecture as my undergraduate major. During my third year of undergraduate studies, I took the course of Urban Planning Principles and began to understand and develop an interest in urban planning. The real Read the full article…

Philosophical reflections on urban design (glorification)  Urban design, for me, is a field where people combine various ingredients (architecture, sustainability, planning) to create the perfect fragrance – a city where residents can comfortably and safely develop, work, relax, and raise children. It’s hard to imagine a more multifaceted and all-encompassing profession than urban design, and Read the full article…

Figure 1. 6 Reasons to Write Your Own Blog (John Heoschele, 2016)   The  Journey of Learning Urban Design As I said in the last Reflective Summary, urban design was completely new field for me. My previous major was in industrial design. This led to the fact that every moment of learning urban design was new Read the full article…

How do passive houses work? The Princedale Road project designed by Paul Davis and Partners, which is the first project in the UK to be certified as a fully passive house conversion (Bere, 2019). The design methodology of which the design methodology involves various aspects, including: 1 Insulation systems: in passive houses, the design focusing Read the full article…

The rise of cohousing communities In modern urbanization, co-housing is a new form of living. It is attracting wide attention. Co-housing communities advocate shared resources and collective decision-making. They aim to improve residents’ lives through close community relations and efficient use of resources. However, we enjoy these advantages. But, we also need to soberly look Read the full article…

Loneliness is gradually becoming a contemporary urban problem In 2022, 49.63% of adults (25.99 million people) in the UK reported feeling lonely occasionally, sometimes, often or always [1]. Approximately 7.1% of people in UK (3.83 million) experience chronic loneliness, meaning they feel lonely often or always [2]. This has risen from 6% (3.24 million) in 2020, indicating that there has Read the full article…

The origin of co-living community Around 2013, major cities around the world began another O2O revolution under the sharing economy: co-living community[1]. From London, New York and San Francisco in the West. Go to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tokyo, and Seoul in the east. In addition to the high cost of living, most of its residents are Read the full article…

Understanding the Residential back alleys Alleys are often forgotten spaces in an urban setting that holds a sense of drama with the nature of linearity.  This blog discusses about, how transforming the back alleyways of terraced housing in the UK could lead to a creation of community driven, environmentally attractive zone for mental health and Read the full article…

Published by Georgina Walker on 28 March 2024   Getting Started Throughout the semester the module has focussed on self-directed meetings, peer-reviewing blogs, academic insights and gaining experience with the use of a short form content method of academic expression. As a MArch student, I have thoroughly enjoyed gaining knowledge and experience in urban design Read the full article…

Figure 1. Back View of Women Walking on a Street (Igonkin, no date). Women experience cities differently from men. Despite the fact that women make up half of the population. Urban design often ignores women’s perspectives, which makes women face many issues in urban life, such as safety. How to design cities that work for Read the full article…