The document discusses elements of urban design that shape cities, including buildings, public spaces, streets, landscape, and their interrelationships. It also summarizes Kevin Lynch's book "The Image of the City", which examines how residents mentally map their city based on paths, edges, districts, nodes, and landmarks. Finally, it provides examples of these elements in Mysore, India, highlighting landmarks like the Ambavilas Palace, focal points like Chamaraja Circle, and the city's planned layout with vistas, public squares, and response of buildings to the street network.

1. ELEMENTS OF URBAN DESIGN
IMAGE OF THE CITY
Submitted to: Ms. Sruthi Dhar.
Submitted by:
P. Joseph
M.A.Farmaan
M. Rishika
V.Siddhartha
Kamsani Rai varma
Dept. of Urban & Regional Planning;
School of Planning & Architecture;
Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture & Fine Arts
University.

2. Elements Of Urban Design
•
Urban Design involves the design and
coordination of all that makes up cities and
towns
BUILDINGS:
•
Buildings are the most pronounced elements of
urban design - they shape and articulate space
by forming the street walls of the city.
•
Well designed buildings and groups of buildings
work together to create a sense of place.
PUBLIC SPACES:
•
Great public spaces are the living room of the
city - the place where people come together to
enjoy the city and each other.

3. •
STREETS:
•
Streets are the connections between spaces and
places, as well as being spaces themselves.
•
They are defined by their physical dimension and
character as well as the size, scale, and character of
the buildings that line them.
•
Streets range from grand avenues such as the
Champs-Elysees in Paris to small, intimate pedestrian
streets.
•
The pattern of the street network is part of what
defines a city and what makes each city unique.
STREETS AND TRANSPORT

4. •
LANDSCAPE:
•
The landscape is the green part of the city that weaves
throughout - in the form of urban parks, street trees, plants,
flowers, and water in many forms.
•
The landscape helps define the character and beauty of a
city and creates soft, contrasting spaces and elements.
•
Green spaces in cities range from grand parks such as
Central Park in New York City and the Washington DC Mall,
to small intimate pocket parks.
•
Urban Design weaves together these elements into a
coherent, organized design structure.

5. •
The urban design structure defines the urban form and the building form.

6. IMAGE OF THE CITY
-By Kevin lynch
• The Image of the Environment
• He says “Every citizen has had long associations
with some part of the says, city, and his image is
soaked in memories and meanings.”
• He also concerned with how we locate
ourselves within the city, how we find our way
around.
• To know where we are within the city,
therefore, we have to build up a workable image
of each part.

7. IMAGIBILITY
•
The quality of a physical object which gives an observer a strong vivid image.
•
A highly image able city would be well formed, would contain very distinct
parts, and would be instantly recognizable to the common inhabitant.
•
The contents of the city images so far studied, which are referable to
physical forms, can conveniently be classified into five types of elements:
– paths,
– edges,
– districts,
– nodes, and
– landmarks ...

8. •
Each individual holds a unique image of his or her
city, a visual representation that guides through
daily life and maps out meaning.
•
Researching a sample of these images can help
planners discern a “public image” of their city.
•
A person's perception of the world is known as a
mental map.
•
A mental map is an individual's own map of their
known world.
•
Mental maps of individuals can be investigated .
•
This can be evaluated in terms of identity, what
makes this particular image unique among cities
structure, how the image is spatially formed and
meaning, what values are attached to the image
through which one can locate himself.
Public Image

9. Paths
•
Familiar routes followed- “Are the channels along
which the observer customarily, occasionally, or
potentially moves.”
E.g.-streets, walkways, transit lines, canals, railroads
•
The continuity depends on:
– Width
– Gradient
– activity
Edges
•
dividing lines between districts- "are the linear
elements not used or considered as paths by the
observer. They are boundaries between two phases,

10. • areas with perceived internal homogeneity- "are 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"
E.g.- center, midtown, its in-town residential areas, organized industrial areas, train
yards, suburbs, college campuses etc.
Districts

11. Nodes
•
Center of attraction that you can enter- “Are points, the strategic spots in a
city into which an observer can enter.
•
The nodes may be simply concentrations, which gain their importance
from being the condensation of some use or physical character, as a street-
corner hangout or an enclosed square .”
E.g.-primary junctions, places of a break in transportation, a crossing or
convergence of paths, moments of shift from one structure to another.

12. Landmarks
•
point of reference- “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 which makes one orient
oneself.
E.g.-building, sign, store, or mountain
Charminar
Taj mahal
Golconda fortBuddha statue

13. IMAGEABILITY OF MYSORE
•
Mysore is designed studiously as a princely city, has
an established urban form to include urban design
elements, imageability of the city and built
structures that contributed to the aesthetics and
architecture.
•
The city is characterized by the towering presence
of Amba Vilas Palace, which is the landmark and
focal point of the city.
•
It has both architectural and urban design
elements namely vistas, focal points, landmarks,
avenues, and plazas made it undoubtedly the
prominent heritage city.
•
Mysore is characterized by heritage buildings,
gardens, boulevards, and planned markets all
these are the contributions of Maharajas, Dewans,
and their talented workmanship.

14. •
The combination of different styles applied in statues, clock towers and
fountains are so well executed in terms of purity of style and located in right
places with the right proportion of open spaces incorporated in it.
•
The townscape of the city viewed from Chamundi hills present a skyline of
clock tower, statues, palaces, mansions, etc., which exists with its beauty.
•
The maintenance of beautiful gardens in the premises enhanced the
appearance of the city.
•
The imageablity of city’s aesthetics of urban design elements are expressed
through the following elements:
– Land Marks
– Focal Point
– Public Square
– Vistas
IMAGEABILITY OF MYSORE

15. Landmarks
•
“The position of a prominent or well-known
object in a particular landscape is called the
landmark, which attracts attention”.
•
There are two important landmarks in the
City of Mysore and they are Ambavilas
Palace and Chamaraja Circle.
•
Ambavilas Palace is a prominent landmark, a
three storied structure having the tallest
tower with the gilded dome rising to a level
of 145 ft from the ground.
•
The palace exhibits the following characters
namely
a. reveal the strength and power of the
place,
b. most visited tourist place and derives
income from tourist

16. Focal point
•
‘Focal point is a critical point of a distance
function.
•
Focal point focuses specifically a point of
interest which makes a place unique in
streets, market places of town.
•
Focal point will be column, cross, clock
tower which crystallises the situation and
confirms this in the spot’.
•
Seventy Five (75’0) feet square tower
topped with Indo Saracenic style and vertical
symbol of congregation.
•
It is located in the centre of the city and acts
as a main focal point, located on the old
procession street.

17. Public Square
•
Public Square is a space used by the
public.
•
A public square can acts as the focal
point, land mark and enclosure’.
•
The circle is geometrically designed with
six gateways facing each other.
•
Vasavi circle in front of the Devaraja
market including the Chikka Ghadighara
form a public square.
•
In an intersection wherein the JLB road
and Irwin road meets near railway station,
the Statue of Dr.Babu Jagajeevanram is
installed in this intersection by replacing
the beautiful water fountain circle with
landscaped traffic rotaries which with

18. Vista
•
Foreground linked by background through different elements like landscape,
water bodies or pathways etc., closed by a mass of building and it produces a
sense of power and omnipresence’.
•
The stretch of buildings on either side of the road creates a vista, with the
foreground circle.
•
Albert Victor Road leading from Harding circle to DC office via Chamaraja
circle and Krishnaraja circle forms a vista.
•
The pathway leading from Ashoka circle is a very good example of vista.

19. Nodes and Edges
•
Nodes are strategic points in a city which the observer can enter.
•
Primary junctions, transport transit, terminals and convergence of path.
•
The circles and junctions forms the nodes.
•
There are many nodes and the buildings or open spaces around them form
the edges’.
•
Krishna Rajendra Circle is a node, and four roads converge at this junction.
•
The buildings at the edges respond to the node.
•
One of the interesting characters of Mysore city is that the building
responds to the road edges in K.R.Circle, Ashoka circle and other prominent
places.
•
At all these points, the buildings respond to geometry of curvilinear pattern
by converging towards the focal point which can either be a fountain,
statue, and island. Even though, the buildings differ in their functions, the
building styles follow the pattern of uniqueness.

20. Path
•
Paths are the channels along which the observer customarily moves.
•
Paths are nothing but pedestrian networks, which links the town together in a
viable pattern.
•
Continuity and access are always maintained’.
•
All main roads in city core have pathways and are well regulated for the
movement of traffic and pedestrians with signal synchronization in the central
area.
•
Paths were provided with street furniture like lamp post, railings,
ornamented sign boards etc.

21. TRANSPORT:
•
Transport systems connect the parts of cities and help shape them, and enable
movement throughout the city.
•
They include road, rail, bicycle, and pedestrian networks, and together form
the total movement system of a city.
•
The balance of these various transport systems is what helps define the quality
and character of cities, and makes them either friendly or hostile to
pedestrians.
•
Historically, movements within cities tended to be restricted to walking, which
made medium and long distance urban linkages rather inefficient and time-
consuming.
•
Thus, activity nodes tended to be agglomerated and urban forms compact.
Many modern cities have inherited an urban form created under such

22. •
The dense urban cores of many European, Japanese and Chinese cities, for example,
enable residents to make between one third and two thirds of all trips by walking and
cycling.
•
The amount of urban land allocated to transportation is often correlated with the level
of mobility. In the pre-automobile era, about 10% of the urban land was devoted to
transportation which was simply roads for a dominantly pedestrian traffic.
•
State, regional, and local transportation and land-use policies and guidelines directly
affect how land is developed, designed, and accessed
•
The role of transit in shaping urban form is as important as its role in meeting
transportation needs. The type and nature of development around a transit station will
greatly influence that station’s effectiveness. Transportation Oriented Development
(TOD) plans provide focus for regulatory and infrastructure improvements that allow

23. Urban transportation is organized in three broad categories of collective,
individual and freight transportation.

Collective Transportation (public transit):It includes modes such as
tramways, buses, trains, subways and ferryboats.

Individual Transportation: Includes any mode where mobility is the
outcome of a personal choice and means such as the automobile, walking,
cycling and the motorcycle.
Includes any mode where mobility is the outcome of a personal choice and
means such as the automobile, walking, cycling and the motorcycle.

Freight Transportation: As cities are dominant centers of production and

24. Challenges Facing Urban Transportation
•
Traffic congestion and parking difficulties
•
Longer commuting
•
Public transport inadequacy.
•
Difficulties for non-motorized transport
•
Loss of public space
•
Environmental impacts and energy
consumption
•
Accidents and safety
•
Land consumption
•
Freight distribution.
Examples :
Metro rail
Foot over bridge (delhi)
Sky walks (mumbai)

25. Source:
•
Image of city by Kevin lynch
•
International Journal of Modern Engineering Research (IJMER)
Vol.2, Issue.2, Mar-Apr 2012 pp-134-138
•
http://www.ijmer.com/papers/vol2_issue2/W022134138.pdf
http://sdapa.org/download/Daniel_Haufschild.pdf
http://people.hofstra.edu/geotrans/eng/ch6en/ch6menu.html
http://urbanindia.nic.in/programme/ut/urban_transport.htm