Contents of Urban Design

CONTENTS of URBAN DESIGN
-“Urban Design is a Public Policy”- Baykan GÜNAY
In this article contents of urban design are mentioned under the sub titles as scale, space- place dualism, physical and activity structure, built up areas and new development zones, urban design –civic design, public versus private sphere, design in one property – design for many property and object design – process design.

Under the scale title, scales that urban design consits of are defined. These are macro scale that consits of desicion making process and development strategies. Meso scale that consists of image character and functional criteria and small scale that consits 3D aspects of desicions. Space place dualism is thought in terms of planning and architecture. According to this distinction while architecture is terminology based and consists of space mass relations, planning consists of community and place relation.

Under physical and activity structure, urban form is thought as an outcome of the bonds between activities, adapted spaces and flows –channels. The activities and flows among them build up the physical strucrure (adapted spaces and circulation) of cities and part of cities. On the other hand, the problems of designing a new activites system on a existing built up area and designing new developmet zone is examined. While this process is hard and complicated in a built up area because of historic presevation and politics, it is more easy to develop a new activity system in an new development zone.

Baykan Günay explains the terms of civic design and urban design that both of them can be used to define same thing. But the differnce is while urban design covers the whole city, civic design covers the ceremonial or institutional aspects of the public realm. Designing in a public or private sphere is different. He choose to define public and private terms under the analysis of property relations.In this respect the meaning of private is clear and it refers to individuals and private corporations and their dominations over things. The meaning of public on the other hand, is more difficult and it ca be refers to common, communal, collective, social. Public requires the existence of a political authority to regulate the private. After examing the design for new development zones or built up areas and defining public and private in terms of property. He mentioned about designing an activity on existing zone that have many property or new development zone taht have on property. Property is taken as a basic component of urban transformations.He thinks that the ownership pattern of both urban land and potential land open to urban growth, constitute one of the most significant challenges of urban design. Because while architecture is defined by the demands of the owner and designers approach, urban design takes the responsibility of the creation of urban context, design strategies for future development, ownership patterns and aesthetical considerations.

Under the last title object design and process design, it is pointed out that urban is visualized as an object in architecture. But urban design consits of process. Rapoport (1980) says that it is spatial organization rather than the objects which counted.
Contents of urban design field can be changed as how a designer defines it. In this article especially dualisms between public and private sphere in terms of scale, property and the area that design will be occured are mentioned.

Murat CEVİKAYAK
152002001