This document discusses the key elements and principles of urban design, including: 1. Elements of urban design include buildings, public spaces, streets, transportation, and landscape. 2. Urban design principles include permeability, variety, legibility, robustness, visual appropriateness, and richness. Permeability refers to the ease of movement through an area. Legibility means the layout is easy to understand. 3. Kevin Lynch's theory of urban legibility identified five elements that define an urban environment: paths, nodes, edges, districts, and landmarks. These elements help people navigate and understand a city.

1. Topic
review
1. Role of Urban design (Urban planning
and Community architecture)
2. Elements of Urban design: Buildings,
Public space, Streets, Transportation
and Landscape.
Lesson 2.0
Elements of Urban Design

2. PLANNING 2
URBAN DESIGN
Lesson 2.1: Urban design principles, forms and shapes or pattern

3. “Urban design is about the built environment,
providing it’s users with an essentially democratic
setting, enriching their opportunity by maximizing
the degree of choice available to them”
-Ian Bentley (1985)

4. I. Urban design
principles
1. Permeability
2. Variety
3. Legibility
4. Robustness
5. Visual appropriateness
6. Richness
7. Personalization

6. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Permeability (The movement)
Characteristics of a place is how easy it is to get to
and move through. Places should also be integrated
physically or connected to their surrounding areas.
Movement system
• Amount of choice for how people will make their
journey.
• All modes of movement: Foot, cycle, by public
transport and by car (in that order of importance)
• Connections to existing roads and facilities
1

7. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Permeability (The movement)
Large block size decreases permeability. Network
of public space divides the environmental into
blocks.
A well design movement system should
contribute to the development of small blocks.
Perimeter block development – preferred
building layout. Connected streets from plots of
land designated for building and other uses.
1

8. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Permeability (The movement)
Large block size decreases permeability. Network
of public space divides the environmental into
blocks.
A well design movement system should
contribute to the development of small blocks.
Perimeter block development – preferred
building layout. Connected streets from plots of
land designated for building and other uses.
1

9. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Permeability (The movement)
A building usually has two faces:
• Public face – front and faces the street.
• Private face – back of the building and faces
the inside of the block.
Building’s public face overlooks the street,
making it more safe and secure.
1

10. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Permeability (The movement)
A network, where possible, should:
1. Encourage walking, cycling, and using public
transport as an attractive alternative to
traveling by private cars.
2. Minimize walking distance to local facilities.
Many entrances as possible should be located around
the edges of public spaces.
1

11. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Permeability (The movement)
Decline in public permeability
• Scale of development
• Hierarchical layout
• Segregation
1

13. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Variety (The spices of life)
Variety of use unlocks the other levels of variety.
1. Varied building types and forms
2. Varied people, times and reasons
3. Varied meanings - Different users interpret the
place in different ways. Different activities.
2

14. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Variety (The spices of life)
Mixed-use development
Mix of activities to the wildest range of
possible users. At different scales from
global to local environments, village,
town or city within a neighborhood or a
street; or in a single structure.
2

15. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Variety (The spices of life)
Advantages of Mixed-use development
Experience implies places with varied
forms, users and meanings. Offers users
a choice of experiences.
Why is this a problem?
It depends on feasibility; economic,
political and functional.
2

16. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Variety (The spices of life)
Three main factors to maximize
• Locate and arrange properly the
activities.
• Supply affordable spaces to house or
accommodate activities.
• Extent to which design encourages
positive interactions.
Consider the Time element of each activity.
2

17. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Legibility (The Placemaking)
People can only take advantage of the choice if
those qualities offered in order, and they can grasp
the place’s layout.
Important two levels; Physical form and activity
patterns. Use a place’s potential to the full. Use to
complement one another.
3

18. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Legibility ( The Placemaking)
Why is legibility a problem?
Both form and use are reduced in modern environments.
Old city and new development don’t complement each
other.
3

19. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Legibility ( The Placemaking)
Legible physical layout
People can form clear and accurate image of the city.
Prioritize the users how they can grasp the image of
the city (Pedestrians and vehicles).
We may explore by getting people to draw maps from
their memory.
3

20. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Kevin Andrew Lynch pioneered the perceptual
form of urban environments and was an early
proponent of mental mapping. American urban
planner and author of “Image of the city”
Five elements of urban form are sufficient to
make a useful survey of the form of a city.

21. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Five elements of urban form
Paths – channels of movement
Diversion Road/Benigno Aquino Avenue, Iloilo City

22. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Five elements of urban form
Nodes – center of activity, focal places
and junctions of paths.

23. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Five elements of urban form
Edges – Linear elements and the
termination of a district. Elements
like rivers, railways and elevated
motorways.

24. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Five elements of urban form
Landmarks – points of reference and
which most people experience from
outside.
Festive walk, Mandurriao, Iloilo

25. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Five elements of urban form
Districts – component neighborhoods
or district; a medium to large section
of the city. Identifying character.
Molo District Jaro District

26. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Legibility (The placemaking)
Five elements of urban form
1. Paths – channels of movement.
2. Nodes – center of activity.
3. Landmarks – points of reference.
4. Districts – Identifying character.
5. Edges – The termination of a district.

27. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Legibility (The placemaking)
Combining new and existing elements solution
Develop the project by relating the new design to
existing elements on the site and in its surroundings.
Consider the path and nodes for design development.
Reinforcing paths
1. To give each path a strong character and easily
distinguished by users
2. To bring out the relative importance of each path
3

28. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Legibility (The placemaking)
Reinforcing nodes – decide how far the legibility
of each should be reinforced.
1. Functional roles of the linking streets.
2. Level of public relevance of the activities in
the adjacent buildings.
3

29. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Robustness (The use)
A desirable quality of a development is if it can be used for
many different purposes, people and can change and adapt
for different uses. Environment which can be used for many
different purposes.
1. Small-scale robustness
2. Large-scale robustness
4

30. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Robustness (The use)
Why is robustness a problem?
Owner of the development, patronage, renter or lot owner has the
ultimate power of deciding how a place should be designed lies in the
hands whoever pays for it.
4

31. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Robustness (The use)
Solve it Architecturally:
Small-scale robustness – within the building
to change to accommodate a wide range of
activities. Interior spaces.
1. Adjusting the room sizes and shapes
2. Spatial layout
3. Room details
4. Outdoor spaces
5. Private garden space
4

32. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Robustness (The use)
Solve it Architecturally:
Large-scale robustness – the ability of the buildings as a
whole or large parts of them to be changed in use.
1. Design according to the building code
o Building depth, height, and access
o Development controls
o Rule 7 & 8 of NBCP
4

33. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Robustness (The use)
Solve it Architecturally:
Large-scale robustness – the ability of the buildings as
a whole or large parts of them to be changed in use.
2. Public outdoor space
3. Designing the edge of space – active elements on
the ground floor
4

34. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Robustness (The use)
Solve it Architecturally:
Large-scale robustness
4. Importance of Microclimate design
5. Consider vehicular and pedestrian activity
4

35. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Visual appropriateness (The details)
Strongly affects the interpretations people put on the
place. When these meanings support responsiveness, the
place has a quality of visual appropriateness.
Cues are Architectural elements and details.
What makes the visuals appropriate?
Interpretation can reinforce responsiveness by:
1. Place’s legibility
2. Place’s variety
3. Place’s robustness
5

36. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Visual appropriateness (The details)
How do people interpret places?
People interpret visual cues as having meanings
because they have learned to do so. It is shared
by groups of people; whose members will make
similar interpretation.
But different social groups may create different
interpretation because of two main reasons:
• Environmental experience
• Objectives of those other groups
5

37. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Visual appropriateness (The details)
Using cues (Architectural elements) in design
• Vertical rhythms
• Horizontal rhythms
• Skylines
• Wall details (Material, color, wall patterns
and etc.)
• Windows
• Ground level details
5

38. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Visual appropriateness (The details)
5

39. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Richness (The Sense of experience)
Increases the variety of sense-experiences which
users can enjoy. Most of the information we handled
is channeled through our eyes.
Design for all senses. Richness is not purely a visual
matter; other senses also have design implication.
• Sense of motion
• Sense of smell
• Sense of hearing
• Sense of touch
6

40. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Richness (The Sense of experience)
Increases the variety of sense-experiences which
users can enjoy. Most of the information we handled
is channeled through our eyes.
Design for all senses. Richness is not purely a visual
matter; other senses also have design implication.
• Sense of motion
• Sense of smell
• Sense of hearing
• Sense of touch
6

41. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Richness (The Sense of experience)
How do users choose?
The basis of visual richness depends on the presence
of visual contrast. Two ways for users to choose from
different sense of experience:
• Focusing their attention on different experience
• Moving away from one source to another
6

42. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Personalization (The uniqueness)
Allows people to achieve an environment that
bears the stamp of their own tastes and
values, makes a person’s pattern of activities
clearer.
7

43. I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments
Personalization (The uniqueness)
Where does personalization happen?
Private personalization is within the space,
public personalization happens at in every
public boundary or thresholds and external
surfaces or façade.
Public impact – erode the balance between
pattern and variety. Private actions wear
down the quality of the public realm.
7

44. 1. Permeability – The _______t
2. Variety – The s__s __ ____e
3. Legibility – The p___ ____g
4. Robustness – The u_______
5. Visual appropriateness – The _______
6. Richness – The se_____e __ e______e
7. Personalization – The _________
I. Urban design principles
7 Responsive Environments

45. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Five elements of urban form
Diversion Road/Benigno Aquino Avenue, Iloilo City

46. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Five elements of urban form

47. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Five elements of urban form

48. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Five elements of urban form
Festive walk, Mandurriao, Iloilo

49. I. Urban design
principles
7 Responsive
Environments
Legibility
Five elements of urban form

50. PLANNING 2
URBAN DESIGN
Lesson 2.1: Urban design principles, forms and shapes or pattern

51. PLANNING 2
URBAN DESIGN
Lesson 2.1: Urban design principles, forms and shapes or pattern