ABSTRACT

This chapter summarizes neotraditional design (the New Urbanism) and the edge city as opposing visions of urban design. It provides the basic phases and some subphases in the urban design process. Urban designers assume that in spite of their vast scale and complexity, cities can be designed and their growth shaped and directed. Urban design falls between the professions of planning and architecture. Urban design also deals with a large number of variables, such as transportation, neighborhood identity, pedestrian orientation, and climate. Although the urban designer and planner have complementary roles, they do have separate and distinct functions. Most commonly, the modern urban designer deals with a part of the city. Planners and urban designers are each involved with a spectrum of social, cultural, and physical design issues. Numerous urban designers are employed by developers on a variety of residential, commercial, and mixed-use projects. But many urban designers are also employed by public bodies.