Course Catalogue

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This course offers an introduction to the core dimensions of urban design and an overview of how urban design can be implemented through the development process.

9x3 hour sessions

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Assessment

Assessed through a 25% (1,000 words) case study evaluation of an urban design development project selected by the student and through an 80% written examination on the dimensions of urban design and its role in the development process.

This course aims to define urban design, offer a holistic introduction to the core dimensions of urban design as a place-making activity, and identify and assess the various ways that urban design can be implemented through the development process.

By the end of the course and having undertaken the relevant reading and assignments, students should be able to:

■ Define urban design and understand its relevance and importance to contemporary debates about space and place.

■ Appreciate the significance of urban design at various spatial scales and under different regulatory and market conditions.

■ Place a focused lens on the meaning of neighbourhood and think critically about the role of security in the design of new spaces.

■ Identify the core theoretical dimensions of urban design.

■ Apply theories of urban design that focus on how people use and appropriate space, critically think about the physical elements of the public realm that create 'good' and/or 'bad' spaces

■ Critically assess and apply the practical factors that influence space design such as density, mixed urban uses and street layout.

■ Understand the relationship between urban design and development and the various ways that urban design can be implemented through development.

■ Appreciate the basic structure of the real estate development process, the various actors that shape the built environment and the crucial role that real estate can play in the urban design process.

■ Assess the various tools and instruments that public policy makers can use to shape the design of space through the development process.

■ Appreciate the importance of engaging local people in the design process and the engagement methods that planners use in day-to-day practice.

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.