ABSTRACT
How can the praxis of urban design significantly deepen and expand its ecological, social, cultural, and physical boundaries through a strategic interface with heritage conservation? This chapter discusses three different heritage sites in Asia, responding to this question in multiple ways, and offering perspectives on urban design as a geographically plural discipline: The case of the Ise Shrines in Japan examines the architectural potential of urban design as a formal, visual, and even aesthetic engagement with the built environment. The case of the qanats (subterranean water infrastructure) of Yazd, Iran, speculates on how urban design might enmesh with sustainability prerogatives through engineering and technology. Lastly, the case of the Taj Mahal, India, explores urban design as a mediation between complex social and ecological contestations and power structures.
