Summary on - The Big Rethink: Urban Design

The fundamental purpose of urban design is to provide a framework (e.g spatial, functional, circulatory, economic, legal) to guide the development of the citizen. Most of humanity is now urbanised as new settlements, some expanding into vast megacities. The ongoing trend  in developed countries for cities is to focus on improving their open spaces and quality of life. Influential examples are the transformation of Barcelona, initiated by Oriol Bohigas in the 1980s as advisor on urban affairs to two consecutive mayors, and the Slow City (Cittaslow) movement originating in Italy. The spreading Slow City movement also emphasises enhancing local characteristics and culture, including regional food and cuisine. Thus resists the homogenising impact of globalisation. Yet precisely because of this it also makes a city more attractive to skills and investment in our globalised world, where cities as much as countries compete for these economic essentials, and key assets are a city’s quality of life and individuality of character. Transition Towns movement now spreading rapidly through the towns and cities of much of the world. Its primary emphasis is on building local resilience, and so sustainability, through a wide range of community and environmental initiatives. The challenges faced by these mushrooming cities are much more than the overwhelming current concerns of number and quantity, such as housing and employment for their burgeoning populations, feeding them and disposing of wastes and emissions. Current assumption of more and more of us living in cites and mega-cities seems less than inevitable. Our current systems are heavily dependent on oil for farm machinery and transport, fertilisers and pesticides and our energy-intensive agriculture is problematic and also the emissions produced, the poisoning of land and water, the loss of biodiversity and the un-nutritious food produced. The challenge of sustainability will increasingly influence urban planning and design, as it does already in the advocacy for the Compact City. An important factor in urban design discussion is human health, not only by maintaining cleaner air and water and minimising the many environmental toxins ranging from vehicle exhausts to off-gassed chemicals from buildings as well. The city is a place of trade and manufacture, residence and recreation, education and healthcare.