INTRODUCTION TO URBAN DESIGN & COMMUNITY PLANNING URBAN DESIGN concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has been linked to emergent disciplines such as landscape urbanism. However, with its increasing prominence in the activities of these disciplines, it is better conceptualized as a design practice that operates at the intersection of all three, and requires a good understanding of a range of others besides, such as real estate development, urban economics, political economy and social theory. Urban design theory deals primarily with the design and management of public space (i.e. the 'public environment', 'public realm' or 'public domain'), and the way public places are experienced and used. Public space includes the totality of spaces used freely on a day-to-day basis by the general public, such as streets, plazas, parks and public infrastructure. Some aspects of privately owned spaces, such as building facades or domestic gardens, also contribute to public space and are therefore also considered by urban design theory. Important writers on, and advocates for, urban design theory include Christopher Alexander, Michael E. Arth, Edmund Bacon, Ian Bentley, Peter Calthorpe, Alex Krieger, Gordon Cullen, Andres Duany, Jane Jacobs, Jan Gehl, Kevin Lynch, Roger Montgomery, Aldo Rossi, Colin Rowe, Robert Venturi, William H. Whyte, Bill Hillier, and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. While the two fields are closely related, 'urban design' differs from 'urban planning' in its focus on physical improvement of the public environment, whereas the latter tends, in practice, to focus on the management of private development through established planning methods and programs, and other statutory development controls. COMMUNITY PLANNING is a forward planning process, which identifies human and material resources and puts in place potential response system. It involves active participation from the people residing in that locality in making decision about the implementation of processes, programmed and projects, which affect them. In other words, a community plan is a list of activities a neighborhood, community or a group of people agree to follow to prevent loss of life, livelihoods and property in case of warning or a disaster. The Plan identifies in advance action to be taken by individuals, in the community so that each one knows what to do when a warning is received or when a disaster strikes. The major thrust is to address possible scenario of an event and focus on the impact the humanitarian operations.
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CONTEXTUALIZATION CONTEXTUALIZATION OF URBAN DESIGN & COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE
Until the 1970s, urban designers had taken little account of the needs of people with disabilities. At that time, disabled people began to form movements demanding recognition of their potential contribution if social obstacles were removed. Disabled people challenged the 'medical model' of disability which saw physical and mental problems as an individual 'tragedy' and people with disabilities as 'brave' for enduring them. They proposed instead a 'social model' which said that barriers to disabled people result from the design of the built environment and attitudes of able-bodied people. 'Access Groups' were established composed of people with disabilities who audited their local areas, checked planning applications and made representations for improvements. The new profession of 'access officer' was established around that time to produce guidelines based on the recommendations of access groups and to oversee adaptations to existing buildings as well as to check on the accessibility of new proposals. Many local authorities now employ access officers who are regulated by the Access Association. A new chapter of the Building Regulations (Part M) was introduced in 1992. Although it was
beneficial to have legislation on this issue the requirements were fairly minimal but continue to be improved with ongoing amendments. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 continues to raise awareness and enforce action on disability issues in the urban environment.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF:
1.
AESTHETICS
Ancient aesthetics We have examples of pre-historic art, but they are rare, and the context of their production and use is not very clear, so we can little more than guess at the aesthetic doctrines that guided their production and interpretation. Ancient art was largely, but not entirely, based on the seven great ancient civilizations: Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece, Rome, Persia, India and China. Each of these centers of early civilization developed a unique and characteristic style in its art. Greece had the most influence on the development of aesthetics in the West. This period of Greek art saw a veneration of the human physical form and the development of corresponding skills to show musculature, poise, beauty and anatomically correct proportions. Furthermore, in many Western and Eastern cultures alike, traits such as body hair are rarely depicted in art that addresses physical beauty. More in contrast with this Greek-Western aesthetic taste is the genre of grotesque. Greek philosophers initially felt that aesthetically appealing objects were beautiful in and of themselves. Plato felt that beautiful objects incorporated proportion, harmony, and unity among their parts. Similarly, in the Metaphysics, Aristotle found that the universal elements of beauty were order, symmetry, and definiteness. Islamic aesthetics Islamic art is not, properly speaking, an art pertaining to religion only. The term "Islamic" refers not only to the religion, but to any form of art created in an Islamic culture or in an Islamic context. It would also be a mistake to assume that all Muslims are in agreement on the use of art in religious observance, the proper place of art in society, or the relation between secular art and the demands placed on the secular world to conform to religious precepts. Islamic art frequently adopts secular elements and elements that are frowned upon, if not forbidden, by some Islamic theologians. According to Islam, human works of art are inherently flawed compared to the work of God; thus, it is believed by many that to attempt to depict in a realistic form any animal or person is insolence to God. This tendency has had the effect of narrowing the field of artistic possibility to such forms of art as Arabesque, mosaic, Islamic calligraphy, and Islamic architecture, as well as more generally any form of abstraction that can claim the status of non-represe ntational art. The limited possibilities have been explored by artists as an outlet to artistic expression, and has been cultivated to become a positive style and tradition, emphasizing the decorative function of art, or its religious functions via non-representational forms such as Geometric patterns, floral patterns, and arabesques. Human or animal depiction is generally forbidden altogether in Islamic cultures because it is said to lead to sculptural pieces which then leads to worship of that sculpture or "idol". Human portrayals can be found in early Islamic cultures with varying degrees of acceptance by religious authorities. Human representation for the purpose of worship that is uniformly considered idolatry as forbidden in Sharia law. There are many depictions of Muhammad, Islam's chief prophet, in historical Islamic art.
The calligraphic arts grew out of an effort to devote oneself to the study of the Quran. By patiently transcribing each word of the text, the writer was made to contemplate the meaning of it. As time passed, these calligraphic works began to be prized as works of art, growing increasingly elaborate in the illumination and stylizing of the text. These illuminations were applied to other works besides the Quran, and it became a respected art form in and of itself. Indian aesthetics Indian art evolved with an emphasis on inducing special spiritual or philosophical states in the audience, or with representing them symbolically. According to Kapila Vatsyayan, "Classical Indian architecture, sculpture, painting, literature (kv ya), music, and dancing evolved their own rules conditioned by their respective media, but they shared with one another not only the underlying spiritual beliefs of the Indian religio-philosophic mind, but also the procedures by which the relationships of the symbol and the spiritual states were worked out in detail." In the Pan Indian philosophic thought the term 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram' is another name for the concept of the Supreme. 'Sat' is the truth value, 'Shiv' is the good value & 'Sundaram' is the beauty value. Man through his 'Srabana' or education, 'Manana' or experience and conceptualization and 'Sadhana' or practice, through different stages of life (Asramas) comes to form and realize the idea of these three values to develop a value system. This Value-system helps us to develop two basic ideas 1) that of 'Daksha' or the adept/expert and 2) of Mahana/Parama or the Absolute and thus to judge anything in this universe in the light of these two measures, known as 'Adarsha'. A person who has mastered great amounts of knowledge of the grammars, rules, & language of an art-form are adepts (Daksha), where as those who have worked through the whole system and journeyed ahead of these to become a law unto themself is called a Mahana. Individuals idea of 'Daksha' and 'Mahana' is relative to one's development of the concept of 'Satyam-Shivam-Sundaram.' For example, Tagore's idea of these two concepts should be way above any common man's and many perceive Tagore as a 'Mahana' Artist in the realm of literature. This concept of Satyam-Shivam-Sundaram, a kind of Value Theory is the cornerstone of Indian Aesthetics. Chinese aesthetics Chinese art has a long history of varied styles and emphases. In ancient times philosophers were already arguing about aesthetics. Confucius emphasized the role of the arts and humanities (especially music and poetry) in broadening human nature and aiding li (etiquette, the rites) in bringing us back to what is essential about humanity. His opponent Mozi, however, argued that music and fine arts were classist and wasteful, benefiting the rich but not the com mon people. By the 4th century A.D., artists were debating in writing over the proper goals of art as well. Gu Kaizhi has 3 surviving books on this theory of painting, for example, and it's not uncommon to find later artist/scholars who both create art and write about the creating of art. Religious and philosophical influence on art was common (and diverse) but never universal; it is easy to find art that largely ignores philosophy and religion in almost every Chinese time period.
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COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE
In the fifteenth century in Renaissance Italy, the main cities like Venice and Florence had groups of influential individuals who met together regularly to think about and plan about the issues they were facing. These were called Operas. The terms universal design or inclusive designs are now being used how might we enable sustainable accessible multi cultural communities and work together strategically and in detail to enable equality, ecological orientation and economic sustainability or durability?
We are able to: 1. Undertake research, enable community participation, project manager, hold meetings, world cafes and conferences and develop and implement an agreed co-operative mutual vision with you. 2. Evolve personal solutions, and assist with the creation of strong social networks and life plans or maps. These would be multi-dimensional maps: Where someone has come from, where they are now, where do they wish to go Their geographical environment how accessible is it, issues, strengths, weaknesses Their social environment their relationships with institutions, communities, businesses and individuals. The attitudes they meet. Instead of negotiating a probably incomplete and institutionalized set of services for which someone may or may not be eligible we want to plan and map in detail a multi dimensional change architecture that is right for the person, their family and their community. y y y
SOCIO-CULTURAL BASIS OF DESIGN OF COMMUNITIES Theoretical (Geography, Anthropology and Cultural Landscapes): Agnew, John & James Duncan (eds). 1989. The Power of Place: Bringing Together Geographical and Sociological Imaginations. Boston: Unwin Hyman. Archer, John 2005. Architecture and Suburbia: From English Villa to American Dream House, 1690-2000. Minneapolis: Univ. of Minnesota Press. Brockman, Norbert 1997. Encyclopedia of Sacred Places. NY: Oxford Univ. Press. Carston, Janet & Stephen Hugh-Jones (eds). 1995. About the House: Levi-Strauss and Beyond. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. Crandall, Gina 1993. Nature Pictorialized: The View in Landscape History. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. Duncan, James & David Ley (eds). 1993. Place / Culture / Representation. London: Routledge. Groth, Paul & Todd Bressi (eds). 1997. Understanding Ordinary Landscapes. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. Hall, Edward 1959. The Silent Language. NY: Doubleday. The Hidden Dimension. NY: Doubleday.
Beyond Culture. NY: Doubleday. The Dance of Life: The Other Dimension of Time. NY: Doubleday. West of the Thirties: Discoveries Among the Navajo and Hopi. NY: Doubleday. Harbison, Robert 1991. The Built, the Unbuilt, and the Unbuildable: In Pursuit of Architectural Meaning. Cambridge: MIT Press. Hirsch, Eric & Michael OHanlon (eds). 1995. The Anthropology of Landscape: Perspectives on Place and Space. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Humphrey, Caroline & Piers Vitebsky 1997. Sacred Architecture. London: D. Baird Pub. Jackson, John B. 1984. Discovering the Vernacular Landscape. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. A Sense of Place, A Sense of Time. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press.
Landscape in Sight: Looking At America. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press. Jackson, Peter 1989. Maps of Meaning. London: Routledge. Kent, Susan (ed). 1993. Domestic Architecture and the Use of Space. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press.
ORIENTATION AND IDENTIFYING IN COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE Each of the methods described above is a combination of tools, held together by a guiding principle. Dozens of exercises exist to cultivate collaborative development planning and action. These are the tools with which social scientists and other development practitioners encourage and enable stakeholder participation. Some tools are designed to inspire creative solutions; others are used for investigative or analytic purposes. One tool might be useful for sharing or collecting information, whereas another is an activity for transferring that information into plans or actions. These brief descriptions are intended to provide the reader wi th a glossary of terminology that practitioners of participatory development use to describe the tools of their trade. Access to resources A series of participatory exercises that allows development practitioners to collect information and raises awareness among beneficiaries about the ways in which access to resources varies according to gender and other important social variables. This user-friendly tool draws on the everyday experience of participants and is useful to men, women, trainers, project staff, and field-workers. Analysis of tasks A gender analysis tool that raises community awareness about the distribution of domestic, market, and community activities according to gender and famili arizes planners with the degree of role flexibility that is associated with different tasks. Such information and awareness is necessary to prepare and execute development interventions that will benefit both men and women. Focus group meetings Relatively low-cost, semi structured, small group (four to twelve participants plus a facilitator) consultations used to explore peoples' attitudes, feelings, or preferences, and to build consensus. Focus group work is a compromise between participant observation, which is less controlled, lengthier, and more in-depth, and preset interviews, which are not likely to attend to participants' own concerns. Force field analysis A tool similar to one called "Story With a Gap, " which engages people to define and classify goals and to make sustainable plans by working on thorough "before and after" scenarios. Participants review the causes of problematic situations, consider the factors that influence the situation, think about solutions, and create alternative plans to achieve solutions. The tools are based on diagrams or pictures, which minimize language and literacy differences and encourage creative thinking. Health-seeking behavior A culturally sensitive tool for generation of data about health care and health related activities. It produces qualitative data about the reasons behind certain practices as w ell as quantifiable information about beliefs and practices. This visual tool uses pictures to minimize language and literacy differences. Logical Framework or Log FRAME A matrix that illustrates a summary of project design, emphasizing the results that are expected when a project is successfully completed. These re sults or outputs are presented in terms of objective ly verifiable indicators. The Logical Framework approach to project planning, developed under that name
by the U.S. Agency for I nternational Development, has been adapted for use in participatory methods such as ZOPP (in which the tool is called a proje ct planning matrix) and Team UP. Mapping A generic term for gathering in pictorial form baseline data on a variety of indicators. This is an excellent starting point for participatory work because it g ets people involved in creating a visual output that can be used immediately to bridge verbal communication gaps and to generate lively discussion. Maps are useful as verification of secondary source information, as training and awareness raising tools, for comparison, and for monitoring of change. Common types of maps include health maps, institutional maps (Venn diagrams), and resource maps. Needs assessment A tool that draws out information about people's varied needs, raises participants' awareness of related issues, and provides a framework for prioritizing needs. This sort of tool is an integral part of gender analysis to develop an understanding of the particular needs of both men and women and to do comparative analysis. Participant observation A fieldwork technique used by anthropologists and sociologists to collect qualitative and quantitative data that leads to an in-depth understanding of peoples' practices, motivations, and attitudes. Participant observation entails investigating the project background, studying the general characteristics of a beneficiary population, and living for an extended period among beneficiaries, during which interviews, observations, and analyses are recorded and discussed. Pocket charts Investigative tools that use pictures as stimuli to encourage people to assess and analyze a given situation. Through a "voting' process, participants use the chart to draw atten tion to the complex elements of a development issue in an uncomplicated way. A major advantage of this tool is that it can be put together with whatever local materials are available. Preference ranking Also called direct matrix ranking, an exercise in which people identify what they do and do not value about a class of objects (for example, tree species or cooking fuel types). Ranking allows participants to understand the reasons for local preferences and to see how values differ among local groups. Understanding preferences is critical for choosing appropriate and effective interventions. Role playing Enables people to creatively remove themselves from their usual roles and perspectives to allow them to understand choices and decisions made by other people with other responsibilities. Ranging from a simple story with only a few characters to an elaborate street theater production, this tool can be used to acclimate a research team to a project setting, train trainers, and encourage community discussions about a particular development interv ention. Seasonal diagrams or seasonal calendars Show the major changes that affect a household, community, or region within a year, such as those associated with climate, crops, labor availability and demand, livestock, prices, and so on. Such diagrams highlight the times of constraints and opportunity, which can be critical information for planning and implementation. Secondary data review Also called desk review, an inexpensive, initial inquiry that provides necessary contextual background. Sources include academic theses and dissertations, annual reports, archival materials, census data, life histories, maps, project documents, and so on. Semi structured interviews Also called conversational interviews, interviews that are partially structured by a flexible interview guide with a limited number of preset questions. This kind of guide ensures that the interview
remains focused on the development issue at hand while allowing enough conversation so that participants can introduce and discuss topics that are re levant to them. These tools are a deliberate departure from survey-type interviews with lengthy, predetermined questionnaires. Socio-cultural profiles Detailed descriptions of the social and cultural dimensions that in combination with technical, economic, and environmental dimensions serve as a basis for design and preparation of policy and project work. Profiles include data about the type of communities, demographic characteristics, economy and livelihood, land tenure and natural resource control, social organization, factors affecting access to power and resources, conflict resolution mechanisms, and values and perceptions. Together with a participation plan, the socio-cultural profile helps ensure that proposed projects and policies are culturally and socially appropriate and potentially sustainable. Surveys A sequence of focused, predetermined questions in a fixed order, often with predetermined, limited options for responses. Surveys can add value when they are used to identify development problems or objectives, narrow the focus or clarify the objectives of a project or policy, plan strategies for implementation, and monitor or evaluate participation. Among the survey instruments used in Bank work are firm surveys, sentinel community surveillance, contingent valuation, and priority surveys. Tree diagrams Multipurpose, visual tools for narrowing and priori tizing problems, objectives, or decisions. Information is organized into a treelike diagram that includes information on the main issue, relevant factors, and influences and outcomes of these factors. Tree diagrams are used to guide desig n and evaluation systems, to uncover and analyze the underlying causes of a particular problem, or t o rank and measure objectives in relation to one another. Village meetings Meetings with many uses in participatory development, including information sharing and group consultation, consensus building, prioritization and sequencing of interventions, and c ollaborative monitoring and evaluation. When multiple tools such as resource mapping, ranking, and focus groups have been used, village meetings are important venues for launching activities, evaluating progress, and gaining feedback on analysis. Wealth ranking Also known as wellbeing ranking or vulnerability analysis, a technique for the rapid collection and analysis of specific data on social stratification at the community level. This visual tool minimizes literacy and language differences of participants as they consider factors such as ownership of or use rights to productive assets, lifecycle stage of members of the productive unit, relationship of the productive unit to locally powerful people, availability of labor, and indebtedness. Workshops Structured group meetings at which a variety of key stakeholder groups, whose activities or influence affect a development issue or project, share knowledge and work toward a common vision. With the help of a workshop facilitator, participants undertake a series of activities designed to help them progress toward the development objective (consensus building, information sharing, prioritization of objectives, team building, and so on). In project as well as policy work, from preplanning to evaluation stages, stakeholder workshops are used to initiate, establish, and sustain collaboration.
CREATING & IDENTIFYING THE SENSE OF PLACE & THE SENSE OF TIME A growing number of planners and architects are seeking to design communities that have a stronger "sense of place." Their ideas focus on promoting: a more compact pattern of development;
mixed use (where residential areas are not isolated from places of employment and commerce); a strong pedestrian orientation; active civic and community life; closer links between public transit and land use; and higher housing densities.
FUNDAMENTALS OF URBAN ARCHITECTURE
Surigao Education Center Km. 2, Surigao City
PROJECT IN PLANNING 2 Submitted by: Francis Jay P. Zerda BS-ARCH 04
Submitted to: Mel Arcon Instructor
