Lesson 13 Urban Design

Question 1

Context-Sensitive Design (CSD) refers to roadway standards and development practices that are flexible and sensitive to community values. The CSD allows design decisions to better balance economic, social and environmental objectives within the community. design.

Answer 1

It promotes several key principles:

1. Balance safety, community, and environmental goals in all projects;
2. Involve the public and affected agencies early and continuously;
3. Use an interdisciplinary team tailored to project needs;
4. Apply flexibility inherent in design standards;
5. Incorporate aesthetics as an integral part of good

Question 2

A Form-based code is a type of zoning code that regulates development to achieve a specific urban form.

Answer 2

Form-based codes address the relationship between building facades and the public realm, the form and mass of buildings in relation to one another, and the scale and types of streets and blocks. Form-based codes also make use of “place types”.

Question 3

Form-based codes vs. conventional zoning

Answer 3

The regulations and standards in form-based codes, presented in both diagrams and words, are keyed to a regulating plan that designates the appropriate form and scale (and therefore, character) of development rather than only distinctions in land-use types. This is in contrast to conventional zoning’s focus on land use. In simple terms, the conventional zoning code focuses on use over form whereas form-based codes focus on form over use.

Question 4

New Urbanism promotes compact, walkable neighborhoods.

Answer 4

Its principles are defined in the Charter of the New Urbanism, which was adopted by the Congress for New Urbanism. These principles apply at regional, neighborhood and block levels.

Question 5

At the neighborhood level, New Urbanism

Answer 5

promotes mixed-income, walkable neighborhoods with a variety of architectural styles. The neighborhood should be well-defined with an edge and a center. It should include public green spaces. People should be able to access shopping, work, and school within a five-minute walk, or at least be able to access transit within a five-minute walk.

Question 6

The Transect is a conceptual device for orienting development on a rural to urban continuum.

Answer 6

This concept is used in New Urbanist planning practices and is often the basis of a form-based code.

Question 7

Tactical Urbanism (aka DIY Urbanism, Planning-by-Doing, Urban Acupuncture, or Urban Prototyping), refers to low-cost temporary changes to the urban environment that are intended to demonstrate the potential impacts that change can have.

Answer 7

For example, adding a temporary bicycle lane, street furniture, or turning empty storefronts into pop-up shops. Park-ing Day which turns parking spaces into temporary park spaces is one example of tactical urbanism.

Question 8

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is a mixed-use development designed to maximize access to public transportation.

Answer 8

This type of development typically has a light rail, bus, or other types of transit station located at the center.

Question 9

Biophilic Design concerns the need to create habitat for people as biological organisms.

Answer 9

DIRECT EXPERIENCE OF NATURE
•    Light
•    Air
•    Water
•    Plants
•    Animals
•    Natural Landscapes and Ecosystems
•    Weather

INDIRECT EXPERIENCE OF NATURE
•    Images of Nature
•    Natural Materials
•    Natural Colors
•    Mobility and Wayfinding
•    Cultural and Ecological Attachment to Place
•    Simulating Natural Light and Air
•    Naturalistic Shapes and Forms
•    Evoking Nature
•    Information Richness
•    Age, Change, and the Patina of Time
•    Natural Geometries
•    Biomimicry