101 Things I Learned in Urban Design School, by Matthew Frederick and Vikas Mehta, offers readers key insights into the principles of urban design. Through accessible language, the authors illustrate the elements of urban planning and layout, such as community building and sustainability, that urban design professionals must understand. Learning and applying these principles is essential for creating livable, thriving, and vibrant cities.
As a UX Designer, this book is essential for understanding urban design principles and how they can inform your design process. It will provide you with insight on how to identify urban design opportunities and create effective urban layouts. You will also learn how the different principles of urban design help to contribute to the success of a city.
For further reading, consider Frederick and Mehta’s other books, such as How to Read a City and How to Speak Architecture. These titles provide practical advice on how to identify and interpret features of a city and how to understand architectural language. Additionally, consider picking up Harman and Kellett’s Designing Open Organizations to learn how to create healthy, creative, and purpose-driven organizations.
✏️ Highlights
At the 4th floor, we tend to lose identity with the street. From the 2nd floor of a building, we usually can overhear voices, recognize faces, and have a brief conversation with people on the sidewalk below. At the 3rd floor, interaction with those on the street is much more difficult. At the 4th floor, we tend to shift toward a more general awareness of the neighborhood or district. As we ascend farther, the relevant context becomes the urban skyline, the natural landscape, the horizon, and the sky.
Van Dyke and Brownsville housing projects in New York City. The projects were directly across the street from each other and had identical densities and similar demographics. But Brownsville had markedly less crime. Newman blamed the high-rise towers of Van Dyke.
Defensible space theory continues to influence urban design, although some aspects of it are contested. Newman later acknowledged overlooking some demographic differences in the two developments, and came to attach more value to tenant policies and welfare dependence.
Draw badly, and often. It’s better to communicate the essence of an idea in a bad drawing than to wait until there is time to render it perfectly.
A sketch is a vehicle for conversation, not a final, correct answer. It says, “Here is what I am thinking,” not “Here is what I figured out.”
To connect symbiotically is to link parts to parts, make parts into systems, and join systems to other systems.
We prefer enclosed spaces. Contrary to popular belief, most people shun wide-open spaces. We may occasionally enjoy hiking open fields, visiting the beach, or viewing an expansive landscape from a car, but the outdoor spaces we choose to inhabit in a civic context have a high degree of definition and enclosure.
Space doesn’t make space. Forms make space.
In walkable districts, ground coverage—the ratio of building footprint area to land area within a block—usually exceeds 50%. In ancient cities, this ratio may be over 90%.
Urban: Having high population density and mixed uses. An urban area can exist within or beyond the political boundary of a city and may be the size of a village, neighborhood, district, town,
Suburban: Literally, sub-urban—i.e., less than urban, with low population density and segregated uses.
outskirts
containing areas that are urban and suburban, and sometimes even rural. A city may or may not be an official political entity.
Urban design isn’t architecture writ large. Urban design affects and is affected by building architecture, but it is not the design of multiple buildings.
It is the design of the public realm,
It is the design of the public realm, which among many other things includes the relationships among buildings. It is shaped by many disciplines, including architecture, public policy, behavioral science, sociology, environmental science, landscape architecture, urban planning, and engineering.
Citizens, not the police department, make streets safe. The greater the number of people using and observing a space, and the more diverse they are in their interests, the safer the space will tend to be.
A city is for the familiar and the strange. In the parochial space of the city, familiar relationships prevail. One identifies with a neighborhood, in which local concerns are paramount and communal interests are shared with familiar people. A
Cosmopolitan space is more worldly and diverse. It is where one may hide or be unknown, and where we may come into contact with people very different from us.
street life isn’t street life; it’s ordinary life observed by people with time to kill. When charged with creating an urban program, embrace the prosaic. Design places that accommodate and celebrate daily life. Event-based culture yields a one-time reward. The everyday yields every day rewards.
Public spaces are for all. Consider carefully those you might be subconsciously excluding from the spaces you design.
If you’re designing a park next to a soup kitchen, it better be for the people using the soup kitchen.
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” —JANE JACOBS, The Death and Life of Great American
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” —JANE JACOBS, The Death and Life of
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” —JANE JACOBS, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Random hypothesis: more glass isn’t more open. Windows serve to negotiate the public and private realms. Whether we are outside looking in or inside looking out, our view of unfamiliar people and activities can make us curious about, and ideally tolerant of, the unfamiliar and unknown.
all-glass buildings tend to increase our sense of separation.
We become more aware that glass is not truly permeable. It disallows direct contact. It forbids our speaking to a person, touching displayed goods, or smelling food on the other side. The experiences and emotions suggested by a conventional wall—concealment, ambiguity, anticipation, revelation, and reward—are taken from us. Rather than feel more connected, we feel deprived. 31
We’re lazy…unless there’s a reward. People usually seek the simplest route to a destination, which often means the shortest path. We need a reward if we are to do extra work, such as taking the long way around or going up or down
If we can’t discern what’s in store for us, we won’t bother.
What goings-on might surprise? Who is already inside, and what will they expect of us?
What goings-on might surprise? Who is already inside, and what will they expect of us? If we enter only to turn around and leave, will we embarrass them or ourselves?
If we cannot formulate satisfactory answers, we will err on the side of safety. We will move on.
Activate, activate, activate. A suburban shopping mall is made active by the placement of anchors—large
Activate, activate, activate. A suburban shopping mall is made active by the placement of anchors—large department stores—at each end.
Anchors can be used to activate many urban spaces. For example, an office building and garage located on the same site will produce a single locus of activity. But if they are sited a block or two apart, pedestrian activity will occur between them at least twice each weekday.
This will drive demand for dry cleaners, coffee shops, restaurants, drugstores, and banks, bringing benefit to buildings, businesses, and people beyond those invested in the primary project.
Make parking lots very big or very small. Numerous medium-sized lots—of eight, ten, twenty spaces—scattered throughout a district will produce a glut of open space, destroying walkability and motivating more motor vehicle use.
But a single large lot or garage sited on the periphery of a pedestrian-intensive area can accommodate dozens or even hundreds of cars while leaving most or all of the urbanscape intact.
At the 4th floor, we tend to lose identity with the street. From the 2nd floor of a building, we usually can overhear voices, recognize faces, and have a brief conversation with people on the sidewalk below. At the 3rd floor, interaction with those on the street is much more difficult. At the 4th floor, we tend to shift toward a more general awareness of the neighborhood or district. As we ascend farther, the relevant context becomes the urban skyline, the natural landscape, the horizon, and the sky.
Van Dyke and Brownsville housing projects in New York City. The projects were directly across the street from each other and had identical densities and similar demographics. But Brownsville had markedly less crime. Newman blamed the high-rise towers of Van Dyke.
Defensible space theory continues to influence urban design, although some aspects of it are contested. Newman later acknowledged overlooking some demographic differences in the two developments, and came to attach more value to tenant policies and welfare dependence.
Draw badly, and often. It’s better to communicate the essence of an idea in a bad drawing than to wait until there is time to render it perfectly.
A sketch is a vehicle for conversation, not a final, correct answer. It says, “Here is what I am thinking,” not “Here is what I figured out.”
To connect symbiotically is to link parts to parts, make parts into systems, and join systems to other systems.
We prefer enclosed spaces. Contrary to popular belief, most people shun wide-open spaces. We may occasionally enjoy hiking open fields, visiting the beach, or viewing an expansive landscape from a car, but the outdoor spaces we choose to inhabit in a civic context have a high degree of definition and enclosure.
Space doesn’t make space. Forms make space.
In walkable districts, ground coverage—the ratio of building footprint area to land area within a block—usually exceeds 50%. In ancient cities, this ratio may be over 90%.
Urban: Having high population density and mixed uses. An urban area can exist within or beyond the political boundary of a city and may be the size of a village, neighborhood, district, town,
Suburban: Literally, sub-urban—i.e., less than urban, with low population density and segregated uses.
outskirts
containing areas that are urban and suburban, and sometimes even rural. A city may or may not be an official political entity.
Urban design isn’t architecture writ large. Urban design affects and is affected by building architecture, but it is not the design of multiple buildings.
It is the design of the public realm,
It is the design of the public realm, which among many other things includes the relationships among buildings. It is shaped by many disciplines, including architecture, public policy, behavioral science, sociology, environmental science, landscape architecture, urban planning, and engineering.
Citizens, not the police department, make streets safe. The greater the number of people using and observing a space, and the more diverse they are in their interests, the safer the space will tend to be.
A city is for the familiar and the strange. In the parochial space of the city, familiar relationships prevail. One identifies with a neighborhood, in which local concerns are paramount and communal interests are shared with familiar people. A
Cosmopolitan space is more worldly and diverse. It is where one may hide or be unknown, and where we may come into contact with people very different from us.
street life isn’t street life; it’s ordinary life observed by people with time to kill. When charged with creating an urban program, embrace the prosaic. Design places that accommodate and celebrate daily life. Event-based culture yields a one-time reward. The everyday yields every day rewards.
Public spaces are for all. Consider carefully those you might be subconsciously excluding from the spaces you design.
If you’re designing a park next to a soup kitchen, it better be for the people using the soup kitchen.
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” —JANE JACOBS, The Death and Life of Great American
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” —JANE JACOBS, The Death and Life of
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” —JANE JACOBS, The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Random hypothesis: more glass isn’t more open. Windows serve to negotiate the public and private realms. Whether we are outside looking in or inside looking out, our view of unfamiliar people and activities can make us curious about, and ideally tolerant of, the unfamiliar and unknown.
all-glass buildings tend to increase our sense of separation.
We become more aware that glass is not truly permeable. It disallows direct contact. It forbids our speaking to a person, touching displayed goods, or smelling food on the other side. The experiences and emotions suggested by a conventional wall—concealment, ambiguity, anticipation, revelation, and reward—are taken from us. Rather than feel more connected, we feel deprived. 31
We’re lazy…unless there’s a reward. People usually seek the simplest route to a destination, which often means the shortest path. We need a reward if we are to do extra work, such as taking the long way around or going up or down
If we can’t discern what’s in store for us, we won’t bother.
What goings-on might surprise? Who is already inside, and what will they expect of us?
What goings-on might surprise? Who is already inside, and what will they expect of us? If we enter only to turn around and leave, will we embarrass them or ourselves?
If we cannot formulate satisfactory answers, we will err on the side of safety. We will move on.
Activate, activate, activate. A suburban shopping mall is made active by the placement of anchors—large
Activate, activate, activate. A suburban shopping mall is made active by the placement of anchors—large department stores—at each end.
Anchors can be used to activate many urban spaces. For example, an office building and garage located on the same site will produce a single locus of activity. But if they are sited a block or two apart, pedestrian activity will occur between them at least twice each weekday.
This will drive demand for dry cleaners, coffee shops, restaurants, drugstores, and banks, bringing benefit to buildings, businesses, and people beyond those invested in the primary project.
Make parking lots very big or very small. Numerous medium-sized lots—of eight, ten, twenty spaces—scattered throughout a district will produce a glut of open space, destroying walkability and motivating more motor vehicle use.
But a single large lot or garage sited on the periphery of a pedestrian-intensive area can accommodate dozens or even hundreds of cars while leaving most or all of the urbanscape intact.
