Introduction
Many meanings have been used by various scholars to assign context to urban architecture. Each author has developed his or her own explanation to provide a greater and deeper understanding of the topic, and therefore these writings demonstrate the difficulty and multidimensional existence of urban design. Any of the authors' meanings have been criticized for a lack of breath, integration, and clarity.
Urban Planning as a Means of Creating
According to Francis et al. (2010), (6), urban planning is a means of creating rather than simplification and differentiation. The concept focuses on expressing urban planning as a whole rather than expressing it in terms of various disciplines. John 2000 (41) defines urban design as an art rather than science or engineering. As Francis et al 2010, (11) claims, Urban design involves the process of planning and shaping cities towns and villages. Shaping and planning does not only deal with the engineering or architectural sector but it also deals with the social and public aspect of the people. It can also be defined as the art or technical process which deals with physical arrangement of buildings, and spaces.
Historical Milestones of Urban Design
Although the professional use of the words ‘urban design’ emerged in the mid-20th century, urban design has been in existence since time immemorial. Examples of the carefully designed cities can be found in Africa, Asia, America and Europe. Some of these designs have been closely associated to Greek, Chinese and Roman culture (Moore, 2013, 102). Success in the urban design has been greatly credited to European countries. For instance, in England many of the cities which were listed were planned on a grid system. Some of the cities included Wallingford, Southampton and Wareham. These cities were created with purpose of providing defense against the Danish attackers.
It was until 12th century when the European countries adopted modernization as a way of increasing economic activities and promoting income generation. The burgage system was accredited for improving the medieval towns by organizing them. Grids were used in designing of Bastides in the 14th and 15th century Gascony and the other new towns which were developed, at that time in England (Marshall, 2012, 5). Historically, in Brighton Street designing was configured with the building and spaces. These designs were greatly influenced by social norms and religious beliefs of the people. Such beliefs and norms included the Gothic Architecture. Gothic culture was developed to solve the problems of darkness, coldness and dampness in the structures (David, 2016, 24).
Renaissance has been credited for the modernization of the urban design in Europe. Some of the European colonizers planned the colonial cities. Such countries include Spain. The cities were planned to help in better governance. During the Baroque period, some designs were created in the French gardens such as the Versailles. These designs were then transferred to the urban places. In that period, urban designing was conducted by architectures, sculptures, military engineers and garden designers due to the lack of professional urban designers (Raynsford, 2011, 46). Urban design increased in the 18th and 19th century due to increase of people in the urban places. This led to emergence of problem such as outbreak of disease, which necessitated for the establishment proper heath care policies. Some of the policies provided for regulations on building heights which would increase aerations and lighting of the houses.
Contributions of Rodger Trancik in Europe’s Urban Design
Rodger is a great teacher and practitioner of urban design. Rodgers has authored many books and other reading materials on urban design. His writings dealt with the challenge of inadequate space in most cities in Europe. This was common in Brighton, Munich and other cities in Europe. He decried the lost space due to poor urban designing (Lynch, 1990, 250).
Rodger proposal needed a formula to establish the lost space in these cities. He acknowledged that it requires proper information on the place .This step is then followed by spatial analysis. Then the lost land can then be identified to establish how it can be reclaimed. Reclaiming includes coming up with to ensure that the space is properly utilized to achieve its maximum benefits (Kostof, 1991, 32). With such procedure, design can then be considered as an important tool in ensuring that city planning is properly conducted. He came up with the following theories; Figure ground theory-deals with analyses of the city in two parts. The first see the buildings as solid and the spaces as void. This theory is considered important because it helps in understanding the urban space relationship (Marshall, 2009, 33).
Linkage theory –the theory explains the role of dynamics of circulations in promoting urban form. This theory lays its foundation on ‘collective form’, writing by Fumihiko Maki. The work deals with compositional form, mega form and group form (Watkin, 2005, 168). According to this theory, linkage is viewed has the force ordering building and spaces.
Place theory-the theory highlights the importance of cultural, historical and social values to establish urban spaces. This theory calls for great understanding of the cultural and human characteristic in determining urban space (John, 2008, 18). It is always very important to appreciate the work done by other designers in the past so as to come up with a better one. In urban designing it is important to improve from the existing structures rather than demolishing and then establishing new structures.
Conclusion
Urban design is a distinct field which requires careful study. Urban design is different to architecture in terms of the scope of work. Architecture deals with individual building while urban design involves buildings for large groups of people. Urban designing involves linkages with the following branches: urban planning, architecture, landscape architecture, and civil engineering. However, in the recent years urban design has increased more understanding on real estate, urban economics and political economy (Jean, 2008, 232). This expresses urban design further as the connections between people and places. In addition, an urban design brings together different branches which ensure creation of beautiful and distinct places. Thus, it is important to consider all aspect to promote development in the sector.
Bibliography
Baldwin, C., & Chandler, L. 2010. “At the Water’s edge”: Community Voices on Climate Change, Local Environment, 15:7, 637-649.
Cullen, G. (1961).Townscape. London: The Architectural Press.
Francis, D.K. C., Mark, J., Vikramaditya, P.2010. A Global History of Architecture 2ed. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Jean C. 2008. Architecture of Italy. London: Greenwood Press.
John H. 2000. Byzantium, A History. Gloucestershire: Tempus Publishing Ltd.
Kostof, S. 1991. The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History. London: Thames and Hudson.
Lynch, K. (1990). City Sense and City Design. London: The MIT Press.
Marshall, S. 2009. Cities Design and Evolution. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Watkin, D.2005. A History of Western Architecture: 4th Edition. London: Laurence King Publishing.
Weightman, G.2004. London’s Thames: The River that Shaped a City and Its History. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
