ABSTRACT
Urban design issues look beyond concerns with the external appearance of development to consider aspects of the relationship of buildings one to another, and particularly to the spaces between buildings. This is a concern that has been reinforced in recent central government advice (PPG 1: 1977), although interestingly, until the publication of the Quality in Town and Country discussion document (DoE, 1994d, p. 2), the actual term ‘urban design’ had been conspicuous by its absence in government publications and guidance. However, the Secretary of State for the Environment recently stated his commitment to ‘bringing urban design issues more into the public eye’, and criticized many architects and developers for failing to appreciate fully the importance of context in their planning applications (Gummer, 1994, pp. 2, 13).
