Assignment for Urban Design

1. What is Heritage Zone?

Heritage zones are areas of unique architectural, cultural and historic value, whose character
needs to be maintained and enhanced. They were created when a need was felt to improve the
‘quality life which had suffered through neglect, decay on congested historic precincts of a city
which needed to be ameliorated, thus restoring a sense of pride in the heritage. These include
World Heritage sites, Pilgrim destinations areas under threat from unplanned growth and
tourism or endangered by development projects. The architectural Heritage division undertakes
multidisciplinary studies to ensure a holistic approach to conservation by forging links between
scientific research and local wisdom. The approach ensures that conservation is part of
development of the local community. Some examples are
 Streetscape project in Jaiselmer
 Development of Eco – city development plan for chanderi.
 Heritage development plan for Varanasi.

2. What is an Urban Catalyst?

Urban catalysts are new redevelopment strategic comprised of a series of projects that drive
and guide urban development. Redevelopment efforts in the past, such as urban renewal and
large scale redevelopment projects, have often jeopardized the vitality of downtowns. The
difference between the urban catalyst and these redevelopment strategies is that catalytic
redevelopment is a holistic approach, not s clean slate approach, to revitalizing the urban
fabric. Many cities have considered urban catalyst as a means for revitalization. The urban
catalyst theory says design can be linked to place through the study of contextual factors in
urban design. These factors include morphological, social, functional, perceptual, visual and
temporal. For the urban catalyst to respond to its setting it also must possess a strong sense of
place and authenticity.

3. What is a TOD?
TOD – A transit-oriented development (TOD) is a mixed-use residential and commercial area
designed to maximize access to public transport and often incorporates features to encourage
transit ridership. A TOD neighborhood typically has a canter with a transit station or stop (train,
metro station, tram stop or bus stop), surrounded by relatively high density development with
progressively lower density development spreading outward from the center. TODs with
generally are located within a radius of one-quarter to one-half mile (400 to 800m) from a
transit stop as this is considered to be an appropriate scale for pedestrians, thus solving the last
mile problem.

4. Define the term “Serial vision” in a city environment.

Gordon Cullen’s major contribution to the field of urban designs is his 1961 townscape, deals
with the “art of relationship” between the various components of the urban landscape. The
purpose of this art is “to take all the elements that go to create the built environment:
 buildings, trees, nature, water, traffic, advertisement and so on and to weave them in such a
way that drama is released”. (Cullen, 1961, p.9)

Cullen’s approach to urban design is therefore primarily visual, but it is also based on the
physical relationship between movement and the environment: “ the scenery of towns is often
revealed in a series of jerks of revelations.

It is for this reason that Cullen developed the concept of serial vision. This method of
representation can be used as tool for surveying, analyzing and designing. A serial vision is a
series of sketches that represent the changes and contrasts in the character of the built
environment that one experiences when moving around the city. The sketches should be shown
along with a map identifying the ‘journey’ and the viewpoints from which the sketches are
drawn.

5. Write briefly on the “scale” in human settlements according to Rossi.

The task of human geography is to study the structures of the city in connection with the form
of the place where they appear; this necessitates a sociological study of place, but before
proceeding to an analysis of place, it is necessary to establish a prior the limits within which
place can be defined. Tricart thus establishes three different orders or scales.

1. The scale of the street, including the built areas and empty spaces that surround it;
2. The scale of the district, consisting of a group of blocks with common characteristics.
3. The scale of the entire city, considered as a group of districts.
The principle that renders these quantities homogeneous and related them in social content.

6. Discuss the elements of a city through which the “Image of the city” is constructed as per
Kevin Lynch.
Image of the city according to Ar. Kevin Lynch give various appreciative elements in cities. We
have the opportunity of forming our new city world into an imaginable landscape: visible,
coherent and clear. It will require a new attitude on the part of the city dweller, and a physical
reshaping of his domain into forms which entrance the eye, which organize the themselves
from level to level in time and space, which can standard as symbols of urban life.
The city and its elements:
 Landmarks
 Paths
 Districts
 Nodes
 Edges
These elements may be defined as follows:
1. Landmarks
Landmarks are another type of point reference, but in this case the observer does not enter within
them, they are external. They are usually a rather simply defined physical object: building, sign, store or
 mountain. Their use involves the singling out of one element from a host of possibilities. Some
landmarks are distant typically seen from many angles and distances, over the tops of smaller elements,
and used as radial references. They may be within the city or at such a distance that for all practical
purposes they symbolize a constant direction. Such are isolated towers; golden domes great hills.

2. Paths
Paths are the channels along which the observer customarily, occasionally or potentially moves. They
may be streets, walkways transit lines, canals, railroads. For many people, these are the predominant
elements in their image. People observe the city while moving through it, and along these paths the
other environmental elements are arranged and related.

3. Districts
Districts are the medium to large sections of the city, conceived of as having two dimensional extent,
which the observer mentally enters “inside of” and which are recognizable as having some common,
identifying character. Always identifiable from the inside, they are also used for exterior reference if
visible from the outside. Most people structure their city to some extent in this way, with individual
differences as to whether paths or districts are the dominant elements. It seems to depend not only
upon the individual but also upon the given city.

4. Nodes
Nodes are points, the strategic spots in a city into which an observer can enter and which are the
intensive foci to and from which he is travelling.

They may be primarily junctions places of a break in transportation, a crossing or convergence of paths,
moments of shift from one structure to another. Or the nodes may be simply concentrations, which gain
their importance from being the condensation of some use of physical character, as a street corner
hangout or an enclosed square.

5. Edges
Edges are the linear elements not used or considered as paths by the observer. They are the boundaries
between two phases, linear breaks in continuity: shores, railroad cuts, edges of development walls. They
are lateral references rather than coordinate axes.

Such edges may be barriers, more or less penetrable, which close one region off from another; or they
may be seams, lines along which two regions are related and joined together. These edge elements,
although probably not as dominant as paths are for many people important organizing features,
particularly in the role of the holding together generalized areas, as in the outline of a city by water
feature.

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7. Describe the life on streets and between buildings according to Jane Jacobs.
“This is something everyone knows: A well – used city street is apt to be a safe street. A deserted city
street is apt to be unsafe”
Jane Jacobs argued, contrary to common wisdom in the 1960’s, that streets are safer when more people
are on them. They are also safer when people are able and willing to watch the street from windows. In
the Death and Life of Great American Cities, she explains how to make public streets and public spaces
secure. Her ideas are a prescription for real crime prevention not simply a way to achieve a feeling of
security. Safe, well-used streets are inherently livable streets.
Qualities of a Safe Neighborhood Street
1. Buildings must be facing the street. They should not turn their backs on the street, and they should not
be security gated so what happens in their neighborhood. Active buildings fronts (porches, shops,
restaurants) are best.
2. There should be eyes upon the street from the buildings lining the street. Good building design provides
windows and porches that allow a clear view of the street and the neighborhood.
3. The sidewalk should be used continuously, at nearly all hours, to not only add a sense of community but
also encourage neighbors to watch the street: “nobody enjoys sitting on a stoop or looking out a
window on an empty street. Almost nobody does such a thing.
4. Children are able to play on sidewalks and streets. Attempting to create secure, isolated courtyards or
gated play area is futile. “no normal person can spend his life in some artificial haven, and this includes
children. ”well used streets and public spaces are the best defense against potential criminals.
5. Neighborhood streets should be as narrow as possible and accommodate only slow moving traffic. Not
only are they easier to cross, narrow streets are much more pleasant for all activities, such as walking
along the sidewalk or sitting in an outdoor café. The best way to discourage street use is to build wide
roads with high volumes of high – speed traffic. Motor vehicles, en masse make streets unlivable.
6. A large number of shops and public places, particularly those that are bustling at night, should be
sprinkled throughout a neighborhood. Such attractions give people a reason to use sidewalks and help
to populate places ”which have no attractions to public use in themselves but which become travelled
and peopled as routes to somewhere else”[1].This kind of street activity helps to attract pedestrians and
other street users. Shopkeepers also have a vested interest in neighborhood safety, serve as street
guardians.`
7. Good lighting offers reassurance to people who wish to use the sidewalk at night, who then become
street watchers simply by their presence. While lighting helps to increase the range of view, it alone
cannot guarantee safety:”Without effective eyes to see, does a light cast light? Not for practical
purposes” [1]. A sufficient number of street users is key.

Defensible Space
When residents exert control over the spaces immediately around their homes, streets tend to be safer.
Building design should create a sense of territorialism, which encourages people to maintain their own
portion of the sidewalk and street.

In Creating Defensible Space, architect Oscar Newman asserts that only certain building layouts promote
neighborhood security. Inhabitants of single family homes –including detached houses and row houses-
feel that they own the street space outside their doors. On the contrary ,those living in high rises are
disassociated with the common areas in and around the building. Newman explains:
“When the number increase, the opportunity for reading such an implicit understanding diminishes to
the point where no usage other than walking through the area is really possible, while every use is
permissible. The larger the number of people who share a communal space, the more difficult it is for
people to identify it as being theirs or to feel they have a right to control or determine the activity
taking place within it.”

The number of units per building entry is therefore very important. If very few families share an
entrance or landing ,they are able to better control these spaces. Residents are more likely to linger in
safe, inviting areas, which will attract more people. On residential blocks , acting building fronts are
created when neighbors socialize outdoors.