Masters of Urban Design
Practices of Urban Design (UD729)
This course exposes the students to urban design as it is practiced in the United States, including the practical constraints and collaborations, and its interdisciplinary nature. There are many ways in which urban design is practiced; there are also many factors typically outside of designers’ control that ultimately affect the design of our environment. Students will be encouraged to expand the definition of urban design and the role of the urban designer—to explore the question: “What can urban design be?”
The course will cover some of the different roles that urban designers play; the types of projects and clients; how projects get implemented and the roles of other participants in the process. The influence of design and development processes on the landscape will be explored, including real estate practice and law, public policy, economic feasibility, political and financial institutions, zoning, planning law, utility infrastructures, transportation systems and planning, and environmental impacts and controls.
The course will be a seminar format, with discussion based on case studies and reading assignments. Several 1-page essay assignments will be given throughout the semester. These will form the basis for the final project, an implementation plan for a studio project, in which students will be encouraged to think through the best strategies, mechanisms, and presentation formats that will build support for the implementation of their ideas.
Format
This is a discussion course. It follows that the value of our meetings will hinge even more on your advance preparation, and on your willingness to engage the issues actively in class, than on my contributions. The course will evolve over the semester, influenced by your interests and steered by the progress of your studio. We will try to apply as many of the course topics to your studio project as possible.
Readings
To allow for flexibility in the course, reading assignments and study questions will be handed out in class every 2-3 weeks. A copy of the reading material will be posted on Course Tools, as well as placed on reserve at the Media Union. In addition, the following book will be required:
Calthorpe, Peter and William Fulton The Regional City. Washington: Island Press, 2001.
Newman, Peter and Jeffrey Kenworthy Sustainability and Cities: Overcoming Automobile Dependence. Washington: Island Press, 2004.
Readings from the Calthorpe/Fulton and Newman/Kenworthy books will not be posted on Course Tools, so you are strongly encouraged to purchase these books.
The readings are a mix of analytic materials and case studies, but you are encouraged as well to draw on your direct knowledge of locales where you have lived and/or worked. This course covers urban design as it is practiced in the U.S., but I hope that discussions will include the practices of your home countries.
Requirements:
You will be assigned several 1-page papers applying discussion topics to your studio project, as listed in the course schedule.
These papers will form the basis of your final project, an implementation plan for your studio project. Sample implementation plans are on reserve at the Library. You are encouraged to refer to these throughout the semester, and use these as a guide in writing your papers so that they will be reusable in your implementation plan.
You are strongly encouraged to refer to the books On Writing Well by William Zinsser and The Craft of Research by Booth, Colomb and Williams in preparing your papers and presentations. These books will be on reserve at the Library.
Grading: The implementation plan will comprise 50% of your grade. The 1-page papers will comprise 25%, and your participation in the class discussions the remaining 25%.
| March 6 |
What is urban design? What does an urban designer do? Paper 1: Two role models, one contemporary figure and one historical figure, and their modes of practice. DUE March 8 |
| March 8 | Brief overview of the history of urban design as a profession |
| March 13 | Designing the Region Paper 2: The regional context of your project. DUE March 15 |
| March 15 | The Sustainable City Paper 3: The sustainability of your project. DUE March 20 |
| March 20 | Regional Transportation and Street Design Paper 4: The design of streets and transportation systems and your project. DUE March 22 |
| March 22 | The Commercial and the Guardian: Public v.Private Development Paper 5: The roles of the public and the private sectors in your project. DUE March 27 |
| March 27 | The Role of Money: The Real Estate Development Process Paper 6: The impact of private finance on the built outcome of your project. DUE March 29 |
| March 29 | Market Analysis: a Critique Paper 7: The market for your studio project and its impact on the design program. DUE April 3 |
| April 3 | Designing for Retail |
| April 5 | Public Controls on Private Development Paper 8: The regulatory controls and processes that can have the most impact in shaping the built outcome of your project. DUE April 10. |
| April 10 | Public Sector Development Paper 9: The role of the public sector and possible public funding mechanisms for your studio project. DUE April 12 |
| April 12 | The Public Planning Process Paper 10: The proposed audience and format for your implementation plan. DUE April 17 |
| April 17 | Communicating Urban Design |