2nd week ( Reconsidering Urban Design by Thomas W. Schurch)

RECONSIDERING URBAN DESIGN:

Context of the article is composed of researching the history of urban design what it is affected, defining definion of it with the help of literature review, answering the question of urban design is a proffession or field or it is emerged from other proffesions such as architecture, urban planning or landscape planning and what it is the scale of urban design.

All the questions and answers of article are shaped around the lack of theory which usually preceds definition of a profession or field. Schurch mention that the methodology of urban design is hermeneutical and in hermeneutical terms the significance is twofold. İt confirms the idea that urban design is neither a profession nor a field. Second, the lack of academic or theory does not preclude serious consideration of a definition of urban design.

In literature, there are many definitions of urban design with the different terms. Urban design definitons starts after second world war until today. While Kevin Lynch thinks that it is extension of architecture, on the other hand some people thinks that in the history urban design starts with landscpe architecture.Besides, for example according to Jon Lang the term urban design replaced with civic design and it is associated with city beautiful movement. At the end there are also common ideas about the definition of urban design and it is devided five categories as;

1) fundamental, superficial and cursory,

2) Qualitative and prescriptive

3) Historic,

4) Propriarietary,

5) Process.

Meanwhile under these categories framework of urban design and physical characteristics of urban life is mentioned.

Urban design concerns specific types of design venues as thresholds of scale and associated with the various venues is the issue of quality of life, particularly in terms of the public realm. As a defining of urban design extension of other fields cause scale problem also but according to Schurch, urban design can be grouped into neighbourhood or district or entire city or the architecture, landscape architecture study are site specific scale of individual land parcel or the region and corridors which design area of urban planning. Urba design can be composed os combination of these too.

As a conclusion, urban design is still an emeerging field but nat an extension of other proffessions or fields. Because designing urban field city engineering, law and real estate, as well as disciplines in the natural and social sciences are important elements of urban design. It is merging particular aspects of architecture, landscape architecture and urban planning, potentially to form a true field. Inspite of the lack of consensus as to what it is, urban design may offer an enormous potential as a field. But it has no difinite prospects of such realization in the foreseeable future.

Murat Çevikayak

152002001