URBAN DESIGN( GROUP 4)

No. Book Name Registration number

1 A pattern language Mercy Ritah Kaso B02/81015/2017
Ganijee Abbasali K. B02/100567/2017
Ngugi Alphaeus B02/47198/2017
Ongaro Catherine Kerubo B02/41443/2011
Mazera Ithiel Tembo B02/81009/2017
Obonyo Michael B02/81013/2017
2 Image of the City Moturi Mercy Nyanchama B02/102514/2017
Njiraine Mumbi B02/30402 /2015
3 Urban Design: Method &Technique Waweru Dennis Kimani B02/103066/2017
Washalla Josephine M B02/45386/2017
4 Street as public spaces for urban prosperity Oywecha Nicholas Mauteri B02/44078/2017
Muthoga Joseph Mwithiga B02/34292/2015
5 City-Wide Public Space Strategies: A Compendium Tolu Semeyian Muteyian B02/101714/2017
of Inspiring Practices
Oguna Andyemson Macharia B02/101700/2017
6 Compilation of work Kimang’a Calvin Kamau B02/100898/2017
Moturi Mercy Nyanchama B02/102514/2017
 1. A pattern language
2. Image of the city
TABLE OF 3. Urban Design: Method &Technique
CONTENT 4. Street as public spaces for urban prosperity
5. City-Wide Public Space Strategies: A Compendium
of Inspiring Practices
 INTRODUCTION
The main theory in ‘A pattern language’ seeks to explain a set of patterns and solutions that demonstrate how the built environment promotes human life and sense of wellbeing;
illustrating how the built environment promotes human activities. The language begins with patterns that define towns and communities demonstrating how these patterns are an
outcome of piecemeal growth, designed in such a way that every individual act is always helping to create or generate these larger global patterns slowly and often times over a
number of years in order to make a community that has these global patterns in it. There is clear demonstration of how larger city patterns are built from grass roots and how
networks encourage growth through connecting of communities in centers and neighborhoods and whose character is built within particular policies and principles. It then
proceeds to explain the language that gives shape to groups of buildings, individual buildings, on the land and the basic elements that make up buildings as a whole. The last part
of the book provides a guide on considerations to have in the construction process after considering all the patterns that make up a particular language.
A PATTERN 1. Patterns on Towns
LANGUAGE
2. Patterns on Buildings
3. Patterns on Construction
PATTERNS ON TOWN
REGION INSTEAD OF COUNTIRES
Independent regions
Metropolitan areas do not come into balance till one of the regions within is autonomous enough to be an independent sphere of culture. If possible, work toward the evolution of
independent regions, each with a seat in the world government and with autonomy from other world powers.

REGIONAL POLICIES
Distribution of towns
If the population is weighted too much to the cities, the earth is bound to be neglected, yet too many people living rurally means modern civilization is likely never to touch the
area. Implement regional zoning laws, land grants and incentives that allow industries to develop according to the distributional dictation.

City country fingers

City country fingers- this is the balancing of open and country land and urban environments within the towns themselves; the distribution of land to create a balanced region.
Cities are important , but excessive urbanization makes city living uncomfortable. Maintain the interlocking fingers of urban and farm land, even near and within the centre of the
metropolis, the city and urban fingers never being more than a mile each.

Agricultural valleys
Agricultural valleys make the independent regions more viable, agriculturally, while creating city fingers automatically. Always seek to preserve viable agricultural valleys,
though they are also best suited for building development. Preserve the valleys for agricultural lands, even when not cultivated, by zoning them as parks, wilds or agricultural
areas.

Lace of country streets

Where the city and the country meet, place the country roads at least a mile apart, so the farmlands have at least one square mile in the area, with the houses along the road, just
but a lot deep, lots of at least half an acre.

Country towns
Smaller towns support larger cities and towns. Cities, however, act as magnets and smaller towns struggle in the face of central urban growth. Always try to maintain country
towns, encouraging the growth of new ones, towns with populations of 500-10 000 completely surrounded with farmland, at least ten miles from every major city.

Raised walks
Where fast cars meet pedestrians on city streets, vehicles are dominant. Pedestrian walks should therefore be on one side of the street, and raised. The raised walks should be
delineated by a balustrade or a low wall, and be as raised as possible.
Bike paths- create a separate path surface for bikes, easily identifiable, running along local roads or major pedestrian paths (maintain it as lower than pedestrian path). Bring the
bike path system to a hundred feet of every building, providing a bike rack at the front of each.

Children in the city

Children in the city- cities can be dangerous places for children. As a part of the bike path network, provide an extra safe path for kids, with lights or bridges at every crossing,
with shops and homes along it so there are always eyes on the street. This path should run along every neighborhood, so there is little need of crossing any main road, throughout
the city, so that the kids can roam freely and ultimately become adults.
Local transport areas
A system should be established that maintains the use of cars but only for long trips and alternatives used for local ttrips such as bicycles, scooters, horses, bicycles and such. This would
involve coming up witj a road networl that discourages the use of cars in local trips by laying them out as parallel one way roads that are kept away from the centers and establishing
footpaths,bicycle paths and such at right anles to main roads and making them go directly through to the centers.
COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBOURHOODS
Community of 7000
A system of governance to be established where each local government is respnsible for 5000-10000 people ( the government control is given to the locals and they are in charge of
decisions on matters that affect them directly such as housing, land use, neighbourhood services and such.

Subculture boundary
As much physical separation (200 feet) as possible should be done between subcultures to allow thme to thrive undettered.

Identifiable neighbourhood
This pattern involves coming up with clearly defined neighbourhoods, of not more than 500 people, by which people identify. Keeping major roads out of these neighbourhoods so as to not
destroy them is an important aspects. The roads should be kept towards the edges instead.

Neighbourhood boundary
Aside from the subculture boundaries, it is important to establish boundaries that define neighbourhoods within the subcultures. The boundaries can be formed by limiting access to them for
example by having gates at points and by closing down streets leading to them.
COMMUNITY NETWROKS
Web of public transportation
It is important for the workiing of the system of public transportation that all its parts are well connected. It is therefore important to create incentives to promote the connection of these
systems at interchanges.

Ring roads
In order to ensure that high speed roads, which are essential in modern society, do not destroy communities, it is important that they are sunken or shielded to protect against noise, that
every main road is provided with at least one of its sides bounded by countryside instead of a high speed road and that at least one high speed road lies tangent to a local transport area.

Network of learning
In order to encourage learning instead of teaching, it is important to decentralise the learning process by taking it out of the fixed school situation and into places of contact all over the city.

Web of shopping
Shops should be located at intervals from each other in the areas most in need of them rather than in competition with each other.
Mini-buses
This pattern talks about a dial a bus system that provides services as per the passengers' needs. Bus stops are provided with phones for dialing a bus and a computirised system is used to ensure
minimum detours and waiting times.

CHARACTER OF LOCAL ENVIRONMENTS

Four story limit
Most buildings in urban areas should be limited to four stories or less especially if they are for human habitation due to the adverse effects on mental health that high rise buildings seem to
have.

Nine percent parking

In order to avoid the problems that will result in an area by the cars attracted by large parking spaces, it is important to limit the percentage of parking spaces of the land in all aread to nine
percent.

Parallel roads
In order to solve the issue of congestion brought about by net-like road patterns, a system of parallel roads is proposed. Major roads should have no intersection, in essence, one way roads
that carry the traffic to ring roads. The major roads should be kept at 100-400 yards apart to allow for neighbourhoods to form between them.

Sacred sites
Special places in neighbourhoods that symbolise the area and the people's roots must be protected by establishing ordinances to nesure that the people's roots are sustained.
Access to water
In order to avoid the destruction of water bodies by human settlements, it is essential to maintain a belt of land for public use right next to the watre such as a riparian land reserve.

Life cycle
The full cycle of life i.e from infantry to old age should be accommodated for in a community in a way that ensures comfort and thriving.

Men and women

In order for each community to thrive, it is important to ensure that both the masculine and feminine aspects are catered for in every project and at every scale.
LOCAL CENTERS
Eccentric nucleus
This pattern discourages the random accumulation of densities that causes chaos and encourages the accumulation of densities in a nucleus in which the greatest densities are nearer to the
downtowns while the areas further away have lower densities. Each nucleus is ideally made up of a community of 7000.
Density rings
In the nucleus of a community, housing densities should be defined in rings of decreasing housing densities with the densities varying due to the people’s intuition and their need for green and
quiet (further from the center of the nucleus) and the need for excitement and convenience (nearer to the center)

Activity nodes
This pattern focuses on the creation of nodes of activity by first identifying the points at which activities mostly take place in a community and organizing paths to lead towards the place in a
way that forms a node and then forming public spaces such as squares at the center of each of the nodes
Promenade
People usually prefer to be in places where they can see and interact with other people, a centre where the public of a subculture collects. Care should be taken in the design of such
a promenade, where the all the activity nodes in an area are less than a ten minute walk from the promenade.

Shopping streets
Shopping streets complete the promenade and the magic of the city. They require access to the main transport arteries of the city, care being taken to protect shoppers from traffic
noise. They therefore should be conceived as short pedestrian streets connected at right angles to main roads.

Nightlife
The nightlife of most cities usually revolves around or in connection to the promenade. Put together the activities that do not close down in the night. The space should be open, safe
and well lit, so that it attracts most people still in the city to the few active nightly activity nodes. These should be evenly distributed throughout the city.

Interchange pattern
Interchange pattern defines the point which generates the web of public transportation, as well as complimenting the local transport areas. Always try to surround the interchange
with businesses and housing where public transportation would be needed. The interior of the interchange should also be continuous with the exterior pedestrian network. Also,
maintain the distance of at most 600 feet as the transfer distance between different modes of transport in the interchange.
HOUSING
Household mix
As no stage in life is permanent, encourage a variety of different households in every cluster, for single people, small and big families as well as older people, with group households
side by side.

Degrees of publicness
People prefer different kinds of homes, naturally. A distinction ought to be made between houses in quiet backwaters, right in the city streets, and those in between. The houses in the
twisted paths ought to be on twisted paths to be secluded. More public houses should be on the busy streets with passers- by walking by all day long.

House cluster
In order to make people feel comfortable in their houses, houses should be encouraged in clusters of 8-12 with common land and paths in the center

Row houses
Row houses should be placed along pedestrian paths running at right angles to local roads and each house given frontage.
WORK
Work community
This pattern talks about the creation of work communities by the clustering of courtyards of up to 10 to 20 workplace courtyards in a centralized square.

Industrial ribbon
This pattern talks about the placement of industries as ribbons that form boundaries between communities and the treatment of the said ribbons as areas where the neighboring
communities can benefit from the industrial activity.

University as marketplace
Universities should be established as marketplaces for education. This can be done by allowing all the peoples of the population to take classes and teach classes. In the physical
sense, the university has a central location where its offices are located and the laboratories and lecture halls ripple out from it.

Local townhall
To ensure that the local control of communities is tangible, it is essential to establish a local townhall at the heart of the community.

Necklace of community projects

Allowing the growth of shop size spaces and any other relevant community buildings and providing the shops with frontage on busy paths at minimum rent encourages
community groupings for various purposes.

Market of many shops

In the place of the modern supermarkets that are about the selling of different products under the same management, the creation of many shops under the same roof should be
encouraged ( where the building merely provides the roof and the shops are individual establishments)

Health center
Since hospitals cannot cure all the diseases of the population in a community, health centers should be created (at least one per community of 7000) with emphasis activities, both
educational and recreational that keep people in good health.

Housing in between
This pattern is about the creation of residential buildings (housing) in between shops and other such areas that would otherwise be termed as non- residential to encourage
the mixing of functions and make the entire area lived in.
 Portion of land that should be left for
public use

The idea of ring roads can also be applied to the site by ensuring that the major roads such as Landies road remain to be the high speed roads while the roads within the
site, that can be perceived to be a community, remain to be low speed roads.

The idea of a web of shopping can be applied to the site by ensuring that the proposed redevelopment and zoning of Gikomba market ensures that shops for various types
of goods are separated from each other in order to better serve the community of shoppers.

The idea of nine peercent parking can be apllied by ensuring that the parking spaces allocated in the redeveloped area does not exceed nine percent of the netire area.
 LOCAL ROADS AND PAT NETWORKS
Pattern 49 LOOPED LOCAL ROADS
These are the roads found in neighborhoods and work
environments. A looped road is one that makes it impossible
for cars that do not have a destination on it to use it as a
shortcut. They should not allow through traffic and vehicles
should not be at top speeds. They should be kept narrow
Pattern 50 T- JUNCTIONS
They describe the nature of intersection of already laid local
roads. Lay out the road system such that any two roads which
meet form a T junction, nearly at 90 deg. If possible. Avoid
four way intersections
Pattern 51 GREEN STREET
Next to the roads of local roads with minimal traffic/ through
traffic. Characterized by occasional paving stones and grass.
Pattern 52&56 NETWORK OF PATHS AND CARS /
BIKE PATHS &RACKS
With exception to high density traffic, layout pedestrian paths
to right angles to the roads and not along them, so that the
paths begin to form a second network distinct from the roads.
This will separate pedestrian traffic and vehicles.
Where the paths run along make them higher than the roads
Bikes are threatened by booth cars and pedestrians and
therefore should have their own paths with distinct material
finish.
 PUBLIC OPEN LAND
 Pattern 58. CARNIVALS Pattern 60. ACCESSIBLE
. GREEN

 There is a need for socially sanctioned activities that take the Ideally, in work or home communities people should be able to access
pressures off life. These activities can take place in circuses parks and green outdoor spaces in three minutes. Green parks are linked to
and carnivals where man’s madness is let out in an acceptable identifying neighborhoods, a work community or a subculture boundary.
manner.
 This pattern is closely linked to promenades, night life, Pattern 61. Small public squares
dancing streets. It allows for activities e.g. street theatre and These are the largest most public rooms that the town has, they create
performances , preaching and concerts. nodes that public streets lead to and out of. Should be able to accommodate
Uhuru park, high grounds public gatherings, small crowds, festivals and concerts
 Pattern 63. DANCING IN THE STREETS Pattern 62. High places
 This is made possible by promenades, night life, magic of the
city, small public squares , music and public out door rooms. Build occasional high places as landmarks in your town or community,
We could design for band stands where bands could perform they can be a natural part of the topography , towers or part of a roof of the
in squares and parks. highest locale buildings, in any case they should include a physical climb.
Pattern 64 pools and streams
 We do not see a lot of street dancing usually with exception, An amphitheater; space is
during demonstrations and the election campaigning season. used for carnivals, concerts, These are natural occurring storm water drainage channels. These natural
it enables dancing and
recreation, accessibility to
features in a city or town should be preserved and allowed to run through a
Pattern 59. QUIET BACKS
green space city . Paths along them should b designed to bring people close to the water
and bridges to take the across. Kids play in shallow ponds and streams.

In` the busy parts of towns , the backs of the buildings offer
a quieter space , here one can think, pause reflect or have a Pattern 65 birth places
private conversation.
Uhuru park Specific hospitals that give care to expectant mothers. Should allow for
grounds: extended family to come and be with new born and mother.
The front part of buildings that view the street are noisier people can
and more crowded. interact with Pattern 66 holy ground
a water body
in an urban Places of worship, spirit and contemplation. Identify sacred sites as
Therefore buildings should have a front accessible to the setting.
street and a back more secluded with private/ secluded Recreation: consecrated grounds. Form a series of nested precinct with a gateway, each
boat rides one progressively more private and more sacred than the last.
walkways.
 LOCAL COMMON LAND
Pattern 67: COMMON LAND
Pattern 71: still waters
Need for a smaller and more private kind of land, shared by a
few work groups or families. This public land forms the very Natural occurring still water for swimming and recreational
heart and soul of any cluster purposes. Provide public with a communal modern kind still
water hole with shallow edges for children safety.
Pattern 68: Connected play Boundary/natural edges between water and shore marked with
slow rough transition , clear sequence of change in material,
Children need other children to play with and should have a ecology and texture as one moves from land to water.
common area that connects each child’s house to the grounds.
Connected play
Common play grounds help to increase the no. of children one
child interacts with, this will help him/ her with their social Pattern 72: Local sports
skills and general functioning in adulthood.
In the urban areas with long hours spent in schools, offices and
Pattern 69: Public outdoor rooms work environments, bodies are not exercised enough hence a
need for a space where all manner of sports and sporting
These are small open spaces that are roofed, with columns but activities can take place unobstructed.
without walls,. They provide the necessary balance of openness Out door room, semi enclosed, see through, transparent and with
and closedness. In neighborhoods and work communities make views into the environs. Pattern 73: Adventure playground
a piece of common land into an outdoor room, partly enclosed
space placed on a important path and with views of the many
homes and work shops. This pattern is linked to common areas, Inside the neighborhood with the connected play (68) or
paths, shapes and courtyards. common land (67), it is essential there be a small part that is
different in building material where children are allowed to
Pattern 70: Grave sites create and make their own toys using materials in he
playground. The space could have a junk yard, highly unfinished
According to life cycle(26), the transition of a person's life must raw materials the children can interact with.
be available and visible in every community. This pattern helps
to integrate the fact of death with public spaces of each Pattern 74: Animals
neighborhood. This pattern helps to link other patterns e.g.
identifiable neighborhood(14), holy grounds(66) and common This pattern is linked to green streets (51), common land (67).
land (67).
These spaces should have qualities to sustain animal life,
provision of people to keep animals on their private lot, stables,
Instead of cemeteries we allocate pieces of land throughout as
grave sites with an edge. A path and a quiet area. fenced protected common land for grazing and provision of still
Still waters, a lake with children swimming. water(71) for drinking
Shallow waters by the edge, deeper in the middle
 TRANSFORMATION OF THE FAMILY
Pattern 75: THE FAMILY Pattern 77: House for a couple

Each family needs a private space, realm or area The problem may arise where an individual of the
which they call their own. These private couple lacks the opportunity for solitude company.
dwellings enable the family members to have It is a shared couple's realm but without the
common spaces, communal eating and children in the picture. Hence need to create own
entertaining guests. The nuclear family should in personal realms within that will link with the
essence be part of a bigger family group which in Family setting space hierarchy Family with children space hierarchy common shared spaces. This is to encourage a
turn acts as a community or extended family. person to get an opportunity to be alone without
the partner feeling left out
Extended families may need communal spaces
for working, cooking, gardening. Meeting areas Pattern 78: House for one person’
where people can sit and watch the neighborhood
Everything in the space is important and needed..
Pattern 76: House for a small family The design is closely suited to one's personal
Couple only space hierarchy
needs, the bare bones of necessity and every inch
Single occupant
Link small family homes with large family counts. The intimacy of space should be high. It
homes. Generate some larger possible group can essentially just be a room with nooks around it.
household by tying it together with the next door
household (house clusters). Relationship between Pattern 79: Your own space (Home).
the adults and children is most crucial. There is a
need for a couple’s realm and one for the children This pattern sets down the need for a territory
and also a common where the two realms are which will, help form higher density house
connected. clusters. With ownership one has to control what
goes on in these spaces. These gives people an
Treat the house as a distinct piece of territory. opportunity to spaces theirs, legal power/ physical
opportunity to modify or repair own spaces.

Example of a Typical two bedroom house

 TRANSFORMATION OF WORK AND LEARNING
Pattern 80: Self governing workshops and offices. Pattern 82: Office connections:

A man enjoys his work when he understands the whole and he In any work community or any office, there are always various human
is responsible for the quality of the whole. We should enhance groups - and it is always important to decide how these groups shall be
man’s skill and power and not turn him into a machine. placed, in space. Connectivity matrix.

In a self governing workshop no one has a fixed role instead Pattern 83: Master and Apprentice
Connectivity matrices
men/ women deploy themselves depending on the
requirements of the ongoing group tasks. This is closely linked to pattern 80 and network of learning(18). Work and
learning should go hand in hand. Division of work spaces into spatial
Small self governing groups are more effective and possible clusters for each master and his apprentice to work and meet together.
source of job satisfaction. House such a work group in a space
of its own. Pattern 84: Teenage society

Pattern 81: Small services without red taping. Teenagers in an urban area should be encouraged to form their own
miniature societies, they should be differentiated and responsible mutually
1. Make each service or department autonomous as far as as adults in a full scale society.
possible.
Master and apprentice connectivity matrix Their society should be a microcosm of the adult society.
2. Allow no one service more than 12 staff members total.
Pattern 85 and 86: Shop front schools: Children’s home
3. House each one in an identifiable piece of the building.
Mini schools for children aged between 7- 12 years the ratio of teacher to
4. Give each one direct access to a public thoroughfare student ideally should be 1:20 . This increases the quality of service and it
unburdens the public school facilities and amenities.

Boarding facilities and homes for orphaned children where they are taken
care of by a number of adults. Children grow surrounded by their peers.
PATTERNS ON BUILDINGS
 OVERALL ARRANGEMENT OF A GROUP OF BUILDINGS
1. BUILDING COMPLEX 2. NUMBER OF STORIES 3. SHIELDED PARKING 4. CIRCULATION REALMS 5. MAIN BUILDING

Never build large monolithic Rule 1: Set a four-story height limit Put all large parking lots, or Lay out very large buildings and For any collection of buildings,
buildings. Whenever possible translate on the site. parking garages, behind some kind collections of small buildings so decide which building in the group
your building program into a building Rule 2: For any given site, do not of natural wall, so that the cars that one reaches a given point houses the most essential function -
complex, whose parts manifest the let the ground area covered by and parking structures cannot be inside by passing through a which building is the soul of the
buildings exceed 50 per cent of the seen from outside. The wall which sequence of realms, each marked group, as a human institution. Then
actual social facts of the situation.
site. surrounds the cars may be a by a gateway and becoming form this building as the main
A gothic cathedral - though an Rule 3: Do not let the height of building, connected houses, or smaller and smaller, as one passes building, with a central position,
your building(s) vary too much housing hills, earth berms, or from each one, through a gateway, higher roof.
immense building - is an example of a
from the predominant height of shops. Make the entrance to the to the next. Choose the realms so Even if the building complex is so
building complex. Its various parts, surrounding buildings. parking lot a natural gateway to that each one can be easily named, dense that it is a single building,
the spire, the aisle, the nave, the the buildings which it serves, and so that you can tell a person where build the main part of it higher and
chancel, the west gate, are a precise place it so that you can easily see to go, simply by telling him more prominent than the rest, so
reflection of the social groups - the the main entrance to the building which realms to go through. that the eye goes immediately to the
from the entrance to the parking. part which is the most important.
congregation, the choir, the special
mass, and so forth.
 OVERALL ARRANGEMENT OF A GROUP OF BUILDINGS (CONT.)
7. BUILDING THOROUGHFARE 8. FAMILY OF ENTRANCES 9. SMALL PARKING LOTS
6. PEDESTRIAN STREET
Lay out the entrances to form a Make parking lots small, serving
Arrange buildings so that they Wherever density or climate force the main lines of circulation family. This means:
indoors, build them as building thoroughfares. Place each thoroughfare no more than five to seven cars,
form pedestrian streets with
in a position where it functions as a shortcut, as continuous as possible each lot surrounded by garden
many entrances and open stairs 1. They form a group, are visible
with the public street outside, with wide open entrances. And line its walls, hedges, fences, slopes, and
directly from the upper stories to together, and each is visible from all
edges with windows, places to sit, counters, and entrances which trees, so that from outside the cars
the street, so that even movement the others.
project out into the hall and expose the buildings' main functions to the are almost invisible. Space these
between rooms is outdoors, not
public. 2. They are all broadly similar, for small lots so that they are at least
just movement between
instance all porches, or all gates in a 100 feet (30m) apart.
buildings.
Make it wider than a normal corridor - at least 11 feet (3.4m) wide and wall, or all marked by a similar kind
more usually, 15 to 20 feet (4.5 - 6m) wide; give it a high ceiling, at of doorway.
least 15 feet(4.5m), with a glazed roof if possible and low places along
the edge. If the street is several stories high, then the walkways along
the edges, on the different stories, can be used to form the low places.

Overview of services
 THE POSITION OF INDIVIDUAL BUILDINGS
1. SITE REPAIR 3. POSITIVE OUTDOOR 4. WINGS OF LIGHT 5. CONNECTED BUILDINGS 6. LONG THIN HOUSE
SPACE
On no account place buildings in the Arrange each building so that it Connect your building up, wherever In small buildings, don't cluster all
places which are most beautiful. In Make all the outdoor spaces which breaks down into wings which possible, to the existing buildings the rooms together around each
fact, do the opposite. surround and lie between your correspond, approximately, to the round about. Do not keep set backs other; instead string out the rooms
Consider the site and its buildings as a buildings positive. Give each one most important natural social between buildings; instead, try to one after another, so that distance
single living eco-system. Leave those some degree of enclosure; surround groups within the building. Make form new buildings as continuations between each room is as great as it
areas that are the most precious, each space with wings of buildings, each wing long and as narrow as of the older can be. You can do this horizontally
beautiful, comfortable, and healthy as trees, hedges, fences, arcades, and you can - never more than 25 buildings. - so that the plan becomes a thin,
they are, and build new structures in trellised walks, until it becomes an feet(7.6m) wide. long rectangle; or you can do it
those parts of the site which are least entity with a positive quality and vertically – so that the building
pleasant now. does not spill out indefinitely becomes a tall narrow tower. In
around corners. either case, the building can be
2. SOUTH FACING OUTDOORS
surprisingly narrow and still work -
Always place buildings to the north of 8, 10, and 12 feet (2.4m, 3m &
the outdoor spaces that go with them, 3.7m) are all quite possible.
and keep the outdoor spaces to the
south. Never leave a deep band of
shade between the building and the
sunny part of the outdoors.

Buildings that create negative, leftover These buildings pretend to be

space . . . independent of one another -
buildings that create positive outdoor and this pretense leads to useless space
space. around them.
 ENTRANCES, GARDENS, COURTYARDS, ROOFS & TERRACES

1. MAIN ENTRANCE 2. HALF-HIDDEN GARDEN 3. ENTRANCE TRANSITION 4. CAR CONNECTION 5. HIERARCHY OF OPEN
SPACE
Place the main entrance of the Do not place the garden fully in Make a transition space between Place the parking place for the car
building at a point where it can be front of the house, nor fully to the the street and the front door. Bring and the main entrance, in such a Whatever space you are shaping -
seen immediately from the main back. Instead, place it in some kind the path which connects street and relation to each other, that the whether it is a garden, terrace,
avenues of approach and give it a of half-way position, side-by-side entrance through this transition shortest route from the parked car street, park, public outdoor room, or
bold, visible shape which stands out in with the house, in a position which space, and mark it with a change of into the house, both to the kitchen courtyard, make sure of two things.
front of the building. is half-hidden from the street, and light, a change of and to the living rooms, is
half-exposed. sound, a change of direction, a always through the main entrance. First, make at least one smaller
change of surface, a change of Make the parking place for the car space, which looks into it and forms
level, perhaps by gateways which into an actual room which makes a a natural back for it.
make a change of enclosure, and positive and graceful place where Second, place it, and its openings,
above all with a change of view. the car stands, not just a gap in the so that it looks into at least one
terrain. larger space.

Seat and garden

 ENTRANCES, GARDENS, COURTYARDS, ROOFS & TERRACES (CONT.)

2. CASCADE OF ROOFS 3. SHELTERING ROOF 4. ROOF GARDEN

1. COURTYARDS WHICH LIVE
Visualize the whole building, or Slope the roof or make a vault of it, Make parts of almost every roof
Place every courtyard in such a way
building complex, as a system of roofs. make its entire surface visible, and system usable as roof gardens. Make
that there is a view out of it to some
Place the largest, highest, and widest bring the eaves of the roof down these parts flat, perhaps terraced for
larger open space; place it so that at
roofs over those parts of the building low, as low as 6'0" or 6'6" at places planting, with places to sit and
least two or three doors open from the
which are most significant: when you like the entrance, where people sleep, private places. Place the roof
building into it and so that the natural
come pause. Build the top story of each gardens at various
paths which connect these doors pass
to lay the roofs out in detail, you will be wing right into the roof, so that the stories, and always make it possible
across the courtyard. And, at one edge,
able to make all lesser roofs cascade off roof does not only cover it, but to walk directly out onto the roof
beside a door, make a roofed veranda
these large roofs and form a stable self- actually surrounds it. garden from some lived-in part of
or a porch, which is continuous with
buttressing system, which is congruent the building.
both the inside and the courtyard.
with the hierarchy of social spaces
underneath the roofs.

One roof lived in, the other stuck on.

 PATHS AND SQUARES
1. ARCADES 2. PATHS AND GOALS 3. PATH SHAPE 4. BUILDING FRONTS 5. PEDESTRIAN DENSITY

Wherever paths run along the edge of To lay out paths, first place goals at Streets should be for staying in, and On no account allow set-backs For public squares, courts,
buildings, build arcades, and use the natural points of interest. Then not just for moving through, the between streets or paths or public pedestrian streets, any place where
arcades, above all, to connect up the connect the goals to one another to way they are today. open land and the buildings crowds are drawn together, estimate
buildings to one another, so that a form the paths. The paths may be Make a bulge in the middle of a which front on them. The set-backs the mean number of people in the
person can walk from place to place straight, or gently curving between public path, and make the ends do nothing valuable and almost place at any given moment (P), and
under the cover of the arcades. goals; their paving should swell narrower, so that the path forms an always destroy the value of the open make the area of the place between
around the goal. The goals should enclosure which is a place to stay, areas between the buildings. Build 150P and 300P square feet.
never be more than a few hundred not just a place to pass through. right up to the paths; change the
feet apart. laws in all communities where
obsolete by-laws make this
impossible. And let the building
fronts take on slightly uneven angles
as they accommodate to the shape of
Path to a goal. the street.

Series of goals.

The actual path

 PATHS AND SQUARES (CONT.)

6. ACTIVITY POCKETS 7. STAIR SEATS 8. SOMETHING ROUGHLY IN THE MIDDLE

The life of a public square forms naturally around its In any public place where people loiter, add a Between the natural paths which cross a public square or
edge. If the edge fails, then the space never becomes few steps at the edge where stairs come down courtyard or a piece of common land
lively. or choose something to stand roughly in the middle: a
where there is a change of level. Make these fountain, a tree, a statue, a clock-tower with seats, a
Surround public gathering places with pockets of activity raised areas immediately accessible from windmill, a bandstand. Make it something which gives a
- small, partly enclosed areas at the edges, which jut below, so that people may congregate and sit strong and steady pulse to the square, drawing people in
forward into the open space between the paths, and to watch the goings-on. toward the center. Leave it exactly where it falls between
contain activities which make it natural for people to the paths; resist the impulse to put it exactly in the
pause and get involved. middle.
APPLICATION TO SITE 5
Site repair – To minimize damage on the healthier
parts of the site, push and shove the building into odd
corners. This preserves the beauty of an old vine, a
bush you love, a patch of lovely grass.
Above all, leave trees intact and build around them
with great care.

Main building – “A complex of buildings with no

center is like a man without a head.” There is no clear
hierarchy among the permanent riverfront buildings.
Having a main building, which would also be the
functional soul of the complex, is the most likely
candidate for a reference point when navigating the
riverfront.

Number of stories – The Gikomba market, being

made up of single-storey structures, relates well to the
human scale. The permanent buildings, on the other
hand, are tall and imposing.
There is a large height disparity between the two
groups of buildings. Adjacent buildings should be
roughly the same height.
Due to the high population density of the area,
buildings have to occupy more than 50 per cent of the
site. Nevertheless, devote at least 50 per cent of the
upper floors to open gardens.
 APPLICATION TO SITE 5

Entrance articulation – It is difficult to discern the main entrances from secondary Small parking lots - Large parking lots have a way of taking over the landscape,
entrances and shopfronts. The entrances are abrupt, with no transition, no feeling of creating unpleasant places, and having a depressing effect on the open space around
arrival. This can be solved with a change of color, a change of direction, a change of them; They make people feel dominated by cars.
surface material. Create small parking lots that are pedestrian and human in nature. Shield even these
quite modest parking lots with garden walls, and trees, and fences.
Connected buildings – The buildings, having been built from edge to edge, and
lacking setbacks, connect well to each other to form one continuous building envelope. Cascade of roofs – The vast majority of permanent structures are flat-roofed. There is
Connect buildings with arcades, and outdoor rooms, and courtyards where they cannot a lack of continuity between roofs of different buildings. To unify the building
be connected physically, wall to wall. complexes, make the roofs a combination of steeply pitched or domed, and flat shapes
which have a clear flow and hierarchy, one to another.
 GRADIENTS AND CONNECTIONS OF SPACE
1. INTIMACY GRADIENT: 2. INDOOR SUNLIGHT: a) At the end (not suitable) 4. ENTRANCE ROOMS: 5. FLOW THROUGH
From intimacy gradient, we – a deliberate effort needs ROOMS:
Achieved either vertically of have a general layout of to be made for people to go This is the first room one passes
horizontally. For horizontal spaces relate with each Avoid the use of corridors and
there hence not the best through, both the inside the
privacy gradient, lay out the other. In that case, indoor passages. Instead, use public
location. building when leaving and
spaces of a building so that they lighting can be done as such: rooms and common rooms as
b) At the centre with outside it when arriving. On the
create a sequence which begins Public spaces can be well lit rooms for movement and for
circulation path cutting inside could be the entrance Short passage:
with the entrance and the most gathering. To do this, place the
and as privacy increases, through it (Not Suitable): lobby and from outside could be Lively - furnishings
public parts of the building, then common rooms to form a
lighting conditions can be the space will be too a porch. chain, or loop, so that it Well lit
leads into the slightly more constrained. Place the most exposed, it will not be becomes possible to walk Short – not overwhelming
private areas, and finally to the important rooms along the comfortable to linger there CHARACTERISTICS OF from room to room - and so Long corridor:
most private domains. south edge of the building, and settle down. ENTRANCE ROOMS: that private rooms open Dead – no
and spread the building out c) Tangent to Circulation directly off these public
rooms. furnishings
along the east-west axis path and at the centre ( 1Well lit space. Poorly lit
Most Suitable): Increases Long –
privacy and is easily 2. Should have window
overwhelming
accessible from any side of openings to see who’s at the
the building. door. 7. STAIRCASE AS A
3. COMMON AREAS AT d) Must have the right STAGE:
THE HEART: components: Kitchen and 3. Porches should be sheltered
dining space from weather elements. Key space that needs to
This is a space provided for be rejoiced, centrally
informal contact between 4. Often have a shelf for storage placed so that its visible.
members within a formal
of keys, coats, shoes, children’s
setting. For instance, in a
house, the living room acts as bike.
the common are at the heart.
The location of common areas 5. SHORT PASSAGES:
is key:
In cases when you cant avoid
corridors, use short passages
with activities along.
 THE MOST IMPORTANT AREAS AND ROOMS (IN A HOUSE)
1. COUPLE’S REALM: 2. CHILDREN’S REALM: 4. FARMHOUSE 5. PRIVATE TERRACE
KITCHEN: ON THE STREET:
Once two partners get marred If children do not have space to
and have children, their lives release a tremendous amount of Back in the days, the The relationship of a
are oriented towards their energy when they need to, they kitchen space was isolated house to a street is often
children. This often destroys will drive themselves and which was found confused: either the house
the closeness and special everybody else in the family up opens entirely to the
the wall. unpleasant. Therefore,
privacy which a man and wife 3. SLEEPING TO THE EAST: street and there is no
kitchens are made bigger
privacy; or the house
need together. Therefore:
. and are located within the
Give those parts of the house turns its back on the
where people sleep, an eastern living room ( Common street, and communion
A space with a sitting area, Start by placing the small area orientation, so that they wake up areas at heart) with a dining with street life is lost.
bedroom, dressing room and which will belong entirely to with the sun and light. space and living space
washroom is needed. the children - the cluster of adjacent to it. This has Let the common rooms
Currently known as Master their beds. Place it in a separate shown to create a open onto a wide terrace
position toward the back of the This means, typically, that the
en-suite bedroom. This space sleeping area needs to be on the communal eating space and or a porch which looks
house, and in such a way that a into the street.
creates a level of privacy and eastern side of the house; but it if the room is bright, it
continuous play-space can be
intimacy for the couple. made from this cluster to the can also be on the western side makes it comfortable to be Raise the terrace slightly
street, provided there is a courtyard or a in. above street level and
terrace to the east of it. protect it with a low wall,
touching those family rooms
which children need – the which you can see over if
bathroom and the kitchen most you sit near it, but which
of all - passing the common prevents people on the
area along one side (but street from looking into
leaving quiet sitting areas and the common rooms.
the couple's realm entirely
separate and inviolate),
reaching out to the street, either
through its own door or
through the entrance room
 THE MOST IMPORTANT AREAS AND ROOMS (IN A HOUSE)
6. A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN: 7. SEQUENCE OF Public – Outside, porch, and
SITTING SPACES: inside of the entrance, entrance Therefore: 9. BATHING ROOM:
No one can be close to others, lobby.
Every corner of a building Place the children's beds in alcoves Concentrate the bathing
without also having frequent Semi-public – Common areas at or small alcove-like rooms, around
opportunities to be alone. is a potential sitting space. heart, children’s realm, private room, toilets, showers,
But each sitting space has a common play-space.. and basins of the house in
terrace on the street. a single tiled area. Locate
Therefore: different needs for comfort
and enclosure according to Private – Couple’s realm. this bathing room beside
Give each member of the family its position in the intimacy Make each alcove large enough the couple's realm - with
a room of his own, especially gradient. to contain a table, or chair, or private access - in a
adults. A minimum room of shelves - at least some floor area, position half-way
one's own is an alcove with Therefore: where each child has his own between the private
desk, shelves, and curtain. The things. Give the alcoves curtains secluded parts of the
maximum is a cottage - like a Put in a sequence of graded looking into the common space, house and the common
TEENAGER'S COTTAGE, or sitting spaces throughout but not walls or doors, which will areas; if possible, give it
an OLD AGE COTTAGE . In all the building, varying tend once more to isolate the beds access to the outdoors;
cases, especially the adult ones, according to their degree of too greatly perhaps a tiny balcony or
place these rooms at the far ends enclosure. Enclose the walled garden.
of the intimacy gradient - far most formal ones entirely,
in rooms by themselves; 10. BULK STORAGE:
from the common rooms.
put the least formal ones in 8. BED CLUSTER:
corners of other rooms, In houses and workplaces there
without any kind of screen Every child in the family needs a is always some need for bulk
around them; and place the private place, generally centered storage space; a place for things
intermediate one with a around the bed. But in many like suitcases, old furniture, old
partial enclosure round cultures, perhaps all cultures, files, boxes - all those things
them to keep them young children feel isolated if which you are not ready to throw
connected to some larger they sleep alone, if their sleeping away, and yet not using
space, but also partly area is too private. everyday.
separate.
Therefore provide 20% of floor
area for bulk storage. Shouldn’t
be an after-thought.
THE MOST IMPORTANT AREAS AND ROOMS (IN AN OFFICE, WORKSHOP AND PUBLIC
BUILDINGS)
1. FLEXIBLE OFFICE 6. SMALL MEETING ROOMS:
SPACE:
The larger meetings are, the less people
Is it possible to create a kind of get out of them. But institutions often
space which is specifically 3. SMALL WORK GROUPS: 4. RECEPTION WELCOMES YOU: put their money and attention into large
tuned to the needs of people meeting rooms and lecture halls.
working, and yet capable of an 2. COMMUNAL EATING: When more than half a dozen Arrange a series of welcoming things
infinite number of various people work in the same place, it immediately inside the entrance - soft Therefore:
arrangements and combinations Without communal eating, no is essential that they not be chairs, a fireplace, food, coffee. Place
within it? human group can hold forced to work in one huge the reception desk so that it is not Make at least 70 per cent of all meeting
together. undifferentiated space, but that between the receptionist and the rooms really small - for 12 people or
Therefore: instead, they can divide their welcoming area, but to one side at an less. Locate them in the most public
Therefore: workspace up, and so form angle - so that she, or he, can get up and parts of the building, evenly scattered
smaller groups. walk toward the people who come in, among the workplaces.
Lay out the office space as
greet them, and then invite them to sit
wings of open space, with free Give every institution and
Therefore: down
standing columns around their social group a place where
edges, so they define half- people can eat together. Make
private and common spaces the common meal a regular Break institutions into small, 5. A PLACE TO WAIT:
opening into one another. Set event. In particular, start a spatially identifiable work
groups, with less than half a 7. HALF PRIVATE OFFICE:
down enough columns so that common lunch in every work In places where people end up waiting (for
people can fill them in over the place, so that a genuine meal dozen people in each. Arrange a bus, for an appointment, for a plane),
years, in many different ways - around a common table (not these work groups so that each Avoid closed off, separate, or private
create a situation which makes the waiting
but always in a semi-permanent out of boxes, machines, or person is in at least partial view offices. Make every workroom, whether
positive. Fuse the waiting with some other
fashion. bags) becomes an important, of the other members of his own it is for a group of two or three people or
activity - newspaper, coffee, pool tables,
comfortable, and daily event group; and arrange several for one person, half-open to the other
horseshoes; something which draws people
with room for invited guests. groups in such a way that they workgroups and the world immediately
DISADVANTAGES: in who are not simply waiting. And also the
share a common entrance, food, beyond it. At the front, just inside the
Poor acoustics, partitions are opposite: make a place which can draw a
ADVANTAGES office equipment, drinking door, make comfortable sitting space,
expensive, cost of moving person waiting into a reverie; quiet; a
fountains, bathrooms. Max 6 with the actual workspace(s) away from
partitions is expensive, affects positive silence.
people per group the door, and further back.
lighting and ventilation of other Team bonding activity,
spaces, lacks privacy. appreciation of several human
groups in the society, better
results received from the
 OUTBUILDINGS AND ACCESS TO THE STREET AND GARDENS:
1. ROOMS TO RENT: 2. TEENAGER’S COTTAGE: 2. Cottage breaks up the family, 3. OLD AGE COTTAGE:
isolates the teenager.
The building must be able to Space given to teenagers in a Old people, especially when they are alone,
adapt to this irregular increase family setting. SOL: Attach to main building but face a terrible dilemma. On the one hand,
and decrease in the need for have its own entrance. there are inescapable forces pushing them
.If a teenager's place in the home toward independence: their children move
space.
does not reflect his need for a away; the neighborhood changes; their
measure of independence, he will 3. Too much freedom is given to the friends and wives and husbands die. On the
Therefore: teenager.
be locked in conflict with his other hand, by the very nature of aging, old
Make at least some part of the family. people become dependent on simple
SOL: Entrance to the cottage could conveniences, simple connections to the
building rentable: give it a Therefore: also be through communal part of society about them.
private entrance over and above the house.
its regular connection to the rest Therefore:
To mark a child's coming of age,
of the house. Make sure that the
transform his place in the home into a
regular entrance can be easily Build small cottages specifically for old
kind of cottage that expresses in a
closed off without destroying the people. Build some of them on the land of
physical way the beginnings of
circulation in the house, and larger houses, for a grand parent; build
independence. Keep the cottage
make sure that a bathroom can be others on individual lots, much smaller than
attached to the home, but make it a
directly reached from this room ordinary lots. In all cases, place these
distinctly visible bulge, far away
without having to go through the cottages at ground level, right on the street,
from the master bedroom, with its
main house. where people are walking by, and close to
own private entrance, perhaps its own
roof. neighborhood services and common land.

Most families resisted this concept

due to:

1. Cottage is used fro a few years

then stands empty.

SOL: Multifunctional space; guest

room, workshop, place for
grandparents
 OUTBUILDINGS AND ACCESS TO THE STREET AND GARDENS:
4. SETTLED WORK: 5. HOME WORKSHOP: 6. OPEN STAIRS:

The experience of settled work is a As the decentralization of work Internal staircases reduce the connection between upper stories and
prerequisite for peace of mind in old becomes more and more effective, the the life of the street to such an extent that they can do enormous
age. Yet our society undermines this workshop in the home grows and grows social damage.
experience by making a rift between in importance.
working life and retirement, and Therefore:
between workplace and home. Therefore:
Therefore: Do away, as far as possible, with internal staircases in institutions.
Make a place in the home, where Connect all autonomous households, public services, and
Give each person, especially as he grows substantial work can be done; not just a workgroups on the upper floors of buildings directly to the ground.
old, the chance to set up a workplace of hobby, but a job. Change the zoning Do this by creating open stairs which are approached directly from
his own, within or very near his home. laws to encourage modest, quiet work the street. Keep the stair roofed or unroofed, according to climate,
Make it a place that can grow slowly, operations to locate in neighborhoods. but at all events leave the stair open at ground level, without a door,
perhaps in the beginning sustaining a Give the workshop perhaps a few so that the stair is functionally a continuation of the street. And
weekend hobby and gradually becoming a hundred square feet; and locate it so it build no upstairs corridors. Instead, make open landings or an open
complete, productive, and comfortable can be seen from the street and the arcade where upstairs units share a single stair.
workshop. owner can hang out a shingle.
 KNIT THE INSIDE OF THE BUILDING TO THE OUTSIDE
1. LIGHT ON TWO SIDES OF EVERY ROOM 4. DARKER PLACE
Make the north face of the building a cascade which
The arrangement of daylight in a room, and the slopes down to the ground, so that the sun which
presence of windows on two sides, is fundamental. normally casts a long shadow to the north strikes the
The light on two sides allows people to understand ground immediately beside the building.
each other: creating less glare and a social atmosphere
2. BUILDING EDGE It is essential to find a way of making these north-
facing areas alive, at least in their own terms, so that
A building is most often thought of as something they help the land around them instead of breaking
which turns inward - toward its rooms. it apart.
5. OUTDOOR ROOM
Crenelate the edge of buildings with places that
invite people to stop. Make places that have depth Build a place outdoors which has so much enclosure
and a covering, places to sit, lean, and walk, round it, that it takes on the feeling of a room, even
especially at those points along the perimeter which though it is open to the sky.
look onto interesting outdoor life.
A partly enclosed space, outdoors, but enough like a
3. SUNNY PLACE
room so that people behave there as they do in
rooms,
Inside a East facing court, or garden, or yard, find
the spot between the building and the outdoors 6. STREET WINDOWS
which gets the best sun.
The street window provides a unique kind of
Develop this spot as a special sunny place - make it connection between the life inside buildings and the
the important outdoor room, a place to work in the street.
sun, or a place for a swing and some special plants, Where buildings run alongside busy streets, build
a place to sunbathe. Be very careful indeed to place windows with window seats, looking out onto the
the sunny place in a position where it is sheltered street. Place them in bedrooms or at some point on
from the wind. a passage or stair, where people keep passing by.
On the first floor, keep these windows high enough
to be private.
 KNIT THE INSIDE OF THE BUILDING TO THE OUTSIDE

7. OPENING TO THE STREET 9. SIX-FOOT BALCONY

When people can see into spaces from the street Whenever you build a balcony, a porch, a gallery,
their world is enlarged and made richer, or a terrace always make it at least 2.4m deep.

In any public space which depends for its success A balcony is first used properly when there is
on its exposure to the street, open it up, with a fully enough room for two or three people to sit in a
opening wall which can be thrown wide open, and small group
if it is possible, include some part of the activity on Recesses seem to have a similar effect. On a
the far side of the pedestrian path, so that it actually cantilevered balcony people must sit outside the
straddles the path, and people walk through it as mass of the building; the balcony lacks privacy and
they walk along the path. tends to feel unsafe
-The wall along the street is made essentially of
glass, and the view in is of some inviting
activity.
-a wall which is actually open -
with a sliding wall or shutter - creates a far more
valuable and involving connection.
-Having some part of the activity actually crosses 10. CONNECTION TO THE EARTH
the path. A house feels isolated from the nature around it,
unless its floors are interleaved directly with the
earth that is around the house.
8. GALLERY SURROUND Connect the building to the earth around it by
Whenever possible, and at every story, build building a series of paths and terraces and steps
porches, galleries, arcades, balconies, niches, around the edge.
outdoor seats, awnings, trellised rooms, and the like
at the edges of buildings and connect them by
doors, directly to the rooms inside.
 ARRANGE THE GARDENS, AND THE PLACES IN THE GARDENS
5. GARDEN WALL
1. TERRACED SLOPE Form some kind of enclosure to protect the interior
On all land which slopes - in fields, in parks, in of a quiet garden from the sights and sounds of
public gardens, even in the private gardens passing traffic. If it is a large garden or a park, the
around a house - make a system of terraces and enclosure can be soft, can include bushes, trees,
bunds which follow the contour lines. Make them slopes, and so on. The smaller the garden, however,
by building low walls along the contour lines, and the harder and more definite the enclosure must
then backfilling them with earth to form the become. In a very small garden, form the enclosure
terraces. with buildings or walls; even hedges and fences
will not be enough to keep out sound.
2. FRUIT TREES
Plant small orchards of fruit trees in gardens and on common 6. TRELLISED WALK
land along paths and streets, in parks, in neighborhoods: Where paths need special protection or where they
wherever there are well-established groups that can need some intimacy, build a trellis over the path
themselves care for the trees and harvest the fruit. and plant it with climbing flowers. Use the trellis to
help shape the outdoor spaces on either side of it.
3. TREE PLACES
If you are planting trees, plant them according to their
7. GREENHOUSE
nature, to form enclosures, avenues, squares, groves, and
In temperate climates, build a greenhouse as part of
single spreading trees toward the middle of open spaces. And
your house or office, so that it is both a
shape the nearby buildings in response to trees, so that the
"room" of the house which can be reached directly
trees themselves, and the trees and buildings together, form
without going outdoors and a part of the
places which people can use.
garden which can be reached directly from the
4. GARDEN GROWING WILD garden.
Grow grasses, mosses, bushes, flowers, and trees in a way 8. GARDEN HOUSE
which comes close to the way that they occur in nature: Make a quiet place in the garden - a private
intermingled, without barriers between them, without bare enclosure with a comfortable seat, thick planting,
earth, without formal flower beds, and with all the boundaries sun. Pick the place for the seat carefully; pick the
and edges made in rough stone and brick and wood which place that will give you the most intense kind of
become a part of the natural growth. solitude.
 ARRANGE THE GARDENS, AND THE PLACES IN THE GARDENS

9. VEGETABLE GARDEN 10. COMPOST

Set aside one piece of land either in the private Arrange all toilets over a dry composting chamber.
garden or on common land as a vegetable garden. Lead organic garbage chutes to the same chamber,
About one-tenth of an acre is needed for each and use the combined products for fertilizer.
family of four. Make sure the vegetable garden is in
a sunny place and central to all the households it
serves. Fence it in and build a small storage shed
for gardening tools beside it..
 INSIDE, ATTACH NECESSARY MINOR ROOMS AND ALCOVES

1. ALCOVES
Make small places at the edge of any common room, usually 5. WORKSPACE ENCLOSURE
no more than 6 feet wide and 3 to 6 Give each workspace an area of at least 60 square feet. Build walls
feet deep and possibly much smaller. These alcoves should and windows round each workspace to such an extent that their
be large enough for two people to sit, chat, or play and total area (counting windows at one-half) is 50 to 75 per
sometimes large enough to contain a desk or a table. cent of the full enclosure that would be there if all four walls
around the 60 square feet were solid.
2. WINDOW PLACE Let the front of the workspace be open for at least 8 feet in front,
In every room where you spend any length of time during the always into a larger space. Place
day, make at least one window into a "window place." the desk so that the person working at it has a view out, either to
the front or to the side. If there
are other people working nearby, arrange the enclosure so that the
3. THE FIRE person has a sense of
Build the fire in a common space - perhaps in the kitchen - connection to two or three others; but never put more than eight
where it provides a natural focus for talk and dreams and workspaces within view or
thought. Adjust the location until it knits together the social earshot of one another.
spaces and rooms around it, giving them each a glimpse of the
fire; and make a window or some other focus to sustain the 6. COOKING LAYOUT
place during the times when the fire is out. To strike the balance between the kitchen which is too small, and
the kitchen which is too spread
4. EATING ATMOSPHERE out, place the stove, sink, and food storage and counter in such a
Put a heavy table in the center of the eating space - large way that:
enough for the whole family or the group of people using it. 1. No two of the four are more than 3m apart.
Put a light over the table to create a pool of light over the 2. The total length of counter - excluding sink, stove, and
group, and enclose the space with walls or with contrasting refrigerator - is at least 3.6m
darkness. Make the space large enough so the chairs can be 3. No one section of the counter is less than 1.2m long.
pulled back comfortably, and provide shelves and counters
close at hand for things related to the meal.
 INSIDE, ATTACH NECESSARY MINOR ROOMS AND ALCOVES

7. SITTING CIRCLE
Place each sitting space in a position which is protected, not cut 10. BED ALCOVE
by paths or movement, roughly Don't put single beds in empty rooms called
circular, made so that the room itself helps to suggest the circle - bedrooms, but instead put individual bed alcoves
not too strongly - with paths and off rooms with other nonsleeping functions, so the
activities around it, so that people naturally gravitate toward the bed itself becomes a tiny private haven.
chairs when they get into the
mood to sit. Place the chairs and cushions loosely in the circle,
and have a few too many.

11. DRESSING ROOM

8. COMMUNAL SLEEEPING
Give everyone a dressing room-either private or
Arrange the sleeping area so that there is the possibility for
shared - between their bed and the bathing room.
children and adults to sleep in the
Make this dressing room big enough so there is an
same space, in sight and sound of one another, at least as an
open area in it at least six feet in diameter; about
occasional alternative to their more
six linear feet of clothes hanging space; and another
usual sleeping habits.
six feet of open shelves; two or three drawers; and
a mirror.

9. MARRIAGE BED
At the right moment in a couple's life, it is important that they
make for themselves a special bed -an intimate anchor point for
their lives; slightly enclosed, with a low ceiling or a canopy,
with the room shaped to it; perhaps a tiny room built around the
bed with many windows. Give the bedsome shape of its own,
perhaps as a fourposter with head board that can be hand carved
or painted over the years.
 FINE TUNE THE SHAPE AND SIZE OF ROOMS AND ALCOVES

1. CEILING HEIGHT VARIETY flowing space and closed cell-like space. Do not take
Vary the ceiling heights continuously throughout the building, especially it for granted that each space is a room; nor, on the
between rooms which open into each other, so that the relative intimacy other hand, that all spaces must flow into each other.
of different spaces can be felt. In particular, make ceilings high in rooms
which are public or meant for large gatherings (3-3.6m), lower in rooms
for smaller gatherings (2.1-2.7m), and very low in rooms or alcoves for 5. INTERIOR WINDOWS
one or two people(1.8-2.1m). Windows are most often used to create connections
between the indoor and the outdoors. But there are
2. THE SHAPE OF INDOOR SPACE many cases when an indoor space needs a connecting
With occasional exceptions, make each indoor space or each position of window to another indoor space.
a space, a rough rectangle, with roughly straight walls, near right angles
in the corners, and a roughly symmetrical vault over each room.
6. STAIRCASE VOLUME
Do not assume that all stairs have to have the "standard"
3. WINDOWS OVERLOOKING SPACE angle Of 30 degrees. The steepest stair
In each room, place the windows in such a way that their total area may almost be a ladder. The most generous stair can be as
conforms roughly to the appropriate figures for your region (25 per shallow as a ramp and quite wide. As
cent or more of floor area, in the San Francisco Bay Area), and place you work out the exact slope of your stair, bear in mind
them in positions which give the best possible views out over life: the relationship:. riser + tread=600mm
activities in streets, quiet gardens, anything different from the indoor
scene.
4. HALF-OPEN WALL 7. CORNER DOORS
Rooms which are too closed prevent the natural flow of social occasions, and the natural process of The success of a room depends to a great extent on the
transition from one social moment to another. And rooms which are too open will not support the position of the doors. If the doors create a pattern of
differentiation of events which social life requires. movement which destroys the places in the room, the
room will never allow people to be
Adjust the walls, openings, and windows in each indoor space until you reach the right balance comfortable.
between open,
 GIVE THE WALLS SOME DEPTH
THICK WALLS OPEN COUNTER
Houses with smooth hard walls made of prefabricated Cupboards that are too deep waste valuable space, and it always seems
panels, concrete, gypsum, steel, aluminum, or glass always that what you want is behind something else.
stay impersonal and dead. Therefore:
Therefore: Cover the walls with narrow shelves of varying depth but always
Open your mind to the possibility that the walls of your shallow enough so that things can be placed on them one deep - nothing
building can be thick, can occupy a substantial volume - hiding behind anything else.
even actual usable space - and need not be merely thin
membranes which have no depth. Decide where these thick WAIST-HIGH SHELF
walls ought to be. Build waist-high shelves around at least a part of the main rooms
where people live and work.
CLOSETS BETWEEN ROOM Make them long, 225m deep, with shelves or cupboard underneath.
Mark all the rooms where you want closets. Then place the Interrupt the shelf for
closets themselves on those interior walls which lie between seats, windows, and doors.
two rooms and between rooms and passages where you need
acoustic insulation. Place them so as to create transition BUILT-IN SEATS
spaces for the doors into the rooms. On no account put Built-in seats are great. Everybody loves them. They make a building
closets on exterior walls. It wastes the opportunity for good feel comfortable and
acoustic insulation and cuts off precious light. luxurious. But most often they do not actually work.
Now build a seat that is just as wide as your comfortable armchair ,
SUNNY COUNTER
and just as well padded - and your built-in seat will work.
Dark gloomy kitchens are depressing. The kitchen needs the
sun more than the other rooms, not less.
Therefore:
Place the main part of the kitchen counter on the south and CHILD CAVES
southeast side of the kitchen, with big windows around it, so Wherever children play, around the house, in the neighborhood, in
that sun can flood in and fill the kitchen with yellow light schools, make small "caves"
both morning and afternoon. for them. Tuck these caves away in natural left over spaces, under
stairs, under kitchen counters.
Keep the ceiling heights low.
PATTERNS ON CONSTRUCTION
 WORK OUT THE COMPLETE STRUCTURAL LAYOUT
1. FLOOR AND CEILING LAYOUT
To maintain reasonable structural integrity in the system of vaults as a whole, we therefore suggest that every vault be placed so that its loads come down in a
position from which the forces can go to the columns which support the next vault down, by following a 45 degree diagonal.

2. THICKENING THE OUTER WALLS

it is important for the walls of a building to have "depth" and "volume," so that character accumulates, in them, with time. But when it comes to laying out a building and constructing it,
this turns out to be quite hard to do.

if the framework of a wall is made of columns standing away from the back face of the wall, then the wall invites modification - it becomes natural and easy to nail planks to the
columns the very smoothness of the wall makes it much less likely to happen

a thick wall becomes effective when it is a volume defined by columns.

3. COLUMNS AT THE CORNERS
This is done by fixing the corner of every major space by putting a stake in the ground. There are no more than a few dozen of these corners in a building

These simple marks are all you need to build the building. Once construction starts, you can start very simply, by building a column, over each of these marks.

These columns will then generate the rest of the building, by their mere presence, without any further need for detailed measurements or drawings, because the walls will simply be built
along the lines which connect adjacent columns: and everything else follows.
 MARK THE COLUMN LOCATIONS AND ERECT THE MAIN FRAME
ROOT FOUNDATIONS
The best foundations of all are the kinds of foundations which a tree has - where the entire structure of the tree simply continues below ground level, and creates a system entirely integral with
the ground, in tension and compression.

When the column and the foundations are separate elements which have to be connected, the connection becomes a difficult and critical joint. Both bending and shear stresses are extremely
high just at the joint.

Incase a wooden column is in use it can be protected from dry rot and termites by pressure dipping in pentachlorophenol. Also painting with thick asphalt or damp-proof mastic might work
partially but is prone to termites with time.
GROUND FLOOR SLAB
The slab is the easiest, cheapest, and most natural way to lay a ground floor.
The slab should be, raised slightly - six or nine inches above the ground - by first building a low perimeter wall around the building, tied into the column foundations, and then filling
it with rubble, gravel, and concrete.

Wood can also be used as a slab but has some disadvantages such as Wood floors are expensive, need air space underneath them, and need to be built up on continuous foundation
walls or beams. Prefabricated floor panels also need a structure of some sort to support them.

A slab floor, on the other hand, uses the earth for support, and can supply the foundations which are needed to support walls, by simple thickening.
The one trouble with slabs is that they can easily feel cold and damp.
PERIMETER BEAMS
Build a continuous perimeter beam around the room, strong enough to resist the horizontal thrust of the vault above, to spread the loads from upper stories onto columns, to tie the
columns together, and to function as a lintel over openings in the wall. Make this beam continuous with columns, walls and floor above, and columns and walls below.

The perimeter beam has four structural functions:

1. It forms the natural thickening between the wall membrane and vault membrane.
2. It resists the horizontal thrust of the ceiling vault, wherever there are no outside external buttresses to do it, and no other vaults to lean against.
3. It functions as a lintel, wherever doors and windows pierce the wall membrane.
 MARK THE COLUMN LOCATIONS AND ERECT THE MAIN FRAME
4. It transfers loads from columns in upper stories to the columns and the wall membrane below it, and spreads these loads out to distribute them evenly between the columns and the
membrane.

Use of wood as a beam has several difficulties which include wood being unavailable in many places, and even where it is available, it is becoming scarce and terribly expensive,
especially in the large sizes needed for beams.

WALL MEMBRANE
Walls are essentially part of the structural integrity : they are continuous in two dimensions; together with stiffeners and columns they resist loads in compression; and they create a
continuous rigid connection between columns, beams, and floors, both above and below, to help resist shear and bending.

By contrast, curtain walls and walls which are essentially "infill," do not act as membranes. They may function as walls in other respects - they insulate, enclose, they define space - but
they do not contribute to the overall structural solidity of the building. They let the frame do all the work; structurally they are wasted.

ROOF VAULTS
Roof vaults are in different shapes and sizes and are majorly influenced by:

1. The feeling of shelter - This requires that the roof cover a whole wing (that is, partial spaces). It requires that some of the roof be highly visible - hence, that it have a fairly steep slope -
and that some of the roof be flat and usable for gardens or terraces.
2. The roof must definitely contain lived-in space - This means it needs rather a steep slope at the edge - because otherwise there is no headroom. This requires an elliptical section dome, or
a barrel vault (which starts going up vertically at the edge), or a very steep slope.
4. The roof shape must be relaxed - that is, it can be used in any plan layout - and can be generated very simply from a few generating lines which follow automatically from the plan - that
is, it must not be a tricky or contrived shape which needs a lot of fiddling around to define it
5. Structural considerations require a curved shell, dome or vault to eliminate as much bending as possible, to the extent that wood or steel or other tension materials are available, this
requirement can be relaxed.
 FIX THE EXACT POSITIONS FOR OPENINGS AND FRAME THEM
NATURAL DOORS AND WINDOWS
It is important to realize that the final placing of windows and doors can only be done on site, with the rough frame of the building in position. It is impossible to do it on paper. But on the
site it is quite straightforward and natural:
However, although there is no constraint on the exact dimension of the windows, there is a general rule of thumb, which will make window sizes vary: Windows, as a rule, should become
smaller as you get higher up in the building.
1. The area of windows needed for light and ventilation depends on the size of rooms, and rooms are generally smaller on upper stories of the building – the communal rooms are generally
on the ground floor and more private rooms upstairs.
2. The amount of daylight coming through a window depends on the area of open sky visible through the window. The higher the window, the more open sky is visible (because nearby trees
and buildings obscure less) - so less window area is needed to get sufficient daylight in.
3. To feel safe on the upper stories of a building, one wants more enclosure, smaller windows, higher sills - and the higher off the ground one is, the more one needs these psychological
protections.

LOW SILL
One of a window's most important functions is to put you in touch with the outdoors. If the sill is too high, it cuts you off. Thus
When determining exact location of windows also decide which windows should have low sills. On the first floor, make the sills of windows which you plan to sit by between 12 and 14
inches high. On the upper stories, make them higher, around 20 inches.

People are drawn to windows because of the light and the view outside - they are natural places to sit by when reading, talking, sewing, and so on, yet most windows have sill heights of 30
inches or so, so that when you sit down by them you cannot see the ground right near the window. This is unusually frustrating - you almost have to stand up to get a complete view.
On the other hand, glass all the way down to the floor is undesirable. It is disturbing because it seems contradictory and even dangerous.
It feels more like a door Than a window; you have the feeling that you ought to be able to walk through it. If the sill is 12 to 14 inches high, you can comfortably see the ground, even if
you are a foot or two away from the window, and it still feels like a window rather than a door.
 FIX THE EXACT POSITIONS FOR OPENINGS AND FRAME THEM
LOW DOORWAY
High doorways are simple and convenient. But a lower door is often more profound.
Therefore:
Instead of taking it for granted that your doors are simply 2100mm to 2400mm rectangular openings to pass through, make at least some of your doorways low enough so that the act of
going through the door is a deliberate thoughtful passage from one place to another. Especially at the entrance to a house, at the entrance to a private room, or a fire corner make the
doorway lower than usual, .
An extreme case is the Japanese tea house, where a person entering must literally kneel down and crawl in through a low hole in the wall. Once inside, shoes off, the guest is entirely a
guest, in the world of his host

FRAMES AS THICKENED EDGES

Any homogeneous membrane which has holes in it will tend to rupture at the holes, unless the edges of the holes are reinforced by thickening.
Thus:
Do not consider door and window frames as separate rigid structures which are inserted into holes in walls. Think of them instead as thickenings of the very fabric of the wall itself, made
to protect the wall against the concentrations of stress which develop around openings.
The frames should be built as thickenings of the wall material, continuous with the wall itself, made of the same materials, and poured, or built up, in a manner which is continuous with
the structure of the wall.
The same is true for doors and windows in a building. Where the walls are made of wood planks and lightweight concrete fill , the thickened frames can be made from the same wood
planks, placed to form a bulge, and then filled to be continuous with the wall. If other types of skin are used in the wall membranes, there will be other kinds of thickening:
 PUT IN THE FOLLOWING SUBSIDIARY PATTERNS
COLUMN PLACE
Thin columns, spindly columns, columns which take their shape from structural arguments alone, will never make a comfortable environment.
Therefore:
When a column is free standing, make it as thick as a man - at least 12 inches, preferably 16 inches: and form places around it where people can sit and lean comfortably: a step, a small Seat
built up against the column, or a space formed by a pair of columns.
The fact is, that a free-standing column plays a role in shaping human space. It marks a point. Two or more together define a wall or an enclosure. The main function of the columns, from a
human point of view, is to create a space for human activity.
with steel and reinforced concrete, it is possible to make a very slender column; so slender that its social properties disappear altogether. Four inch steel pipes or 6 inch reinforced concrete
columns break up space, but they destroy it as a place for human action, because they do not create "spots" where people can be comfortable.
When the column is too thin, or lacks a top or bottom, this entire volume around it is lost. It cannot be a satisfactory place in its own right: the column is too thin to lean against, there is no
way to build a seat up against it, there is no natural way to place a table or a chair against the column.., The column still breaks up the space. It subtly prevents people from walking directly
through that area: people tend to give these thin columns a wide berth; and it prevents people from forming groups.
DUCT SPACE
In most buildings electric conduits, plumbing, drains, gas pipes, telephone wires, and so on, are buried in the walls, in a completely uncoordinated and disorganized way. This makes the
initial construction of the building complicated since it is difficult to coordinate the installation of the various services with the building of various parts of the building. It makes it difficult
to think about making any changes or additions to the building once it is built since you don't know where the service lines are. And it leaves a gap in our understanding of our
surroundings: the organization of utilities and services in the buildings we live in are a mystery to us.
All the services be located together and run around the ceiling of each room in the spandrel between the vaulted ceiling and the floor above -Heating and electrical conduits will be
universal throughout the building and should thus be run around every room. Plumbing and gas lines will be around some rooms only. All lines will also be concentrated vertically at the
corners of rooms. Thus the lines form vertical trunks from which horizontal loops spring.
This configuration of pipes and conduits is easy to understand and plug into.
 PUT IN THE FOLLOWING SUBSIDIARY PATTERNS
DORMER WINDOWS
Obviously, if there is habitable space inside the roof, it must have some kind of windows; skylights are not satisfactory as windows - except in studios or workshops - because they do
not create a connection between the inside and the outside world
Dormers make the roof livable. Aside from bringing in light and air and the connection to the outside, they relieve the low ceilings along the edge of the roofs and create alcoves and
window places.
ways of building dormer windows depend on the construction system you are using. Whatever you are using for lintels, columns, and walls, can simply be modified and used in
combination to build the dormer

ROOF CAPS
Caps are so important and have such a powerful effect on the building as a whole in that
1. They crown the roof. They give the roof the status that it deserves. The roof is important, and the caps emphasize this fact.

2. They add detail. They make the roof less homogeneous, and they relieve the roof from being a single uninterrupted thing. The walls get this relief from windows, doors, balconies,
which add scale and character; when a roof has many dormers, it seems to need the caps less.

3. The caps provide a connection to the sky, in a way that might have had religious overtones at one time. just as the building needs a sense of connection to the earth.
 PUT IN THE SURFACES AND INDOOR DETAILS
FLOOR SURFACE
The problem cannot be solved. The conflict is fundamental. The problem can only be avoided by making a clear distinction in the house between those areas which have heavy traffic and
so need hard wearing surfaces which are easy to clean, and those other areas which have only very light traffic, where people can take off their shoes, and where lush, soft, beautiful rugs,
pillows, and tapestries can easily be spread
zone the house so that the floor material Changes as one gets deeper into the house. The pattern INTIMACY GRADIENT (127) calls for a gradient of public, semi-public, and private
rooms. It follows that one wants the floor to get softer as one goes deeper into the house - that is, the entrance and the kitchen are better floored with a hard, serviceable surface, while the
dining, family room, and children's playrooms need a serviceable floor but with comfortable spots, and the bedrooms, studies, rooms of one's own need
soft comfortable floors, on which people can sit, lie, and walk barefoot.
SOFT INSIDE WALLS
Modern construction has gone more and more toward materials for inside walls that are hard and smooth. This is partly an effort to make buildings clean and impervious to human wear. But it
is also because the kinds of materials used today are machine made - each piece perfect and exactly the same.
Buildings made of these flawless, hard and smooth surfaces leave us totally unrelated to them. We tend to stay away from them not only because they are psychologically strange, but because in
fact they are physically uncomfortable to lean against; they have no give; they don't respond to us.
The solution to the problem lies in the following:
1. Gypsum plaster as opposed to cement plaster. Soft baked tiles as opposed to hard fired ones. When materials are porous and low in density they are generally softer and warmer to the touch.
2. Use materials which are granular and have natural texture, and which can be used in small pieces, or in such a way that there is repetition of the same small element. Walls finished in wood
have the quality - the wood itself has texture; boards repeat it at a larger scale. Plaster has this character when it is hand
finished. First there is the granular quality of the plaster and then the larger texture created by the motion of the human hand.

SOLID DOORS WITH GLASS

What is needed is a kind of door which gives some sense of visual connection together with the possibility of acoustic isolation: a door which you can see through but can't hear through.
Glazed doors have been traditional in certain periods - they are beautiful, and enlarge the sense of connection and make the life in the house one, but still leave people the possibility of
privacy they need.
A glazed door allows for a more graceful entrance into a room and for a more graceful reception by people in the room, because it allows both parties to get ready for each other. It also
allows for different degrees of privacy: You can leave the door open, or you can shut it for acoustical privacy but maintain the visual connection; or you can curtain the window for visual
and acoustic privacy.
And, most important, it gives the feeling that everyone in the building is connected - not isolated in private rooms.
 1. Image of the environment

IMAGE OF THE CITY 2. The Cities image and elements

3. City form
4. Qualities of Urban spaces
IMAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT
 THE IMAGE OF THE ENVIRONMENT

• The main consideration of the book is to analyze the visual quality of cities by 3. STRUCTURE & IDENTITY; a workable image requires the following:
studying the mental image held by its citizens and how legibility is crucial in
the city setting. It also serves to show how the concepts presented can be used • identification of an object(distinction from other things)
today in rebuilding our cities.
• the spatial/pattern relation of the object to the observer
• The book describes the city as a temporal art that is ever changing or being
• meaning to the observer; which is widely and differently interpreted hence
modified as it has to be experienced in relation to its surroundings, the sequences
focus will be on structure and identity.
of events leading up to it and the memory of past experiences.
4. IMAGEABILITY; can be described as the quality in a physical object that gives it
• Therefore a city can be designed for different experiences that bring about
a high chance of evoking a strong image in any given observer. The focus is on
general improvement of quality of life for its users
physical qualities which relate to the attributes of identity and structure.
A highly imageable city would include:
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD CITY IMAGE
• Proper Orientation
1. LEGIBILITY; which can be described as the ease with which something can be
• Ease of Movement
recognized and organized into a coherent pattern. Therefore, A LEGIBLE CITY; is
one whose elements(land marks, paths , nodes , etc.) are easily identifiable and • Well Planned
grouped into an overall pattern.
• Distinctive
Legibility can be established by incorporation of techniques of orientation such as;
Order in environment and use of way finding devices(maps, street numbers & names, • Expressive in nature or
bus placards, landmarks, other people, etc.) • Offers Meaning
2. ‘PUBLIC IMAGE’; Images are as a result of a two way process between the • Has Rhythm
observer and their environment and therefore the image of a given reality may vary
with individuals. A substantial group that carries a common mental picture create what • Choice
is referred to as public image ; and is of what is of interest to urban city planners. This
is the external agent in the interaction which produces the environmental image. • Stimulus
THE CITIES IMAGE AND ELEMENTS
 THE CITIES IMAGE AND ELEMENTS
 The physical forms of City image can be classified into 5 elements ;
2. EDGES
1. PATHS
They act as lateral references. They are linear elements not considered as paths and are
They are the predominant system of interconnecting different spaces, areas or zones and usually the boundaries between two kind of areas but
are very fundamental in influencing and shaping the overall environmental image. This
also may occasionally change depending on the circumstances of the viewer.( motorist not in all cases. Edges could also fall into categories like; fragmentary edges(continuous but
vs pedestrian) only visualized at discrete points), overhead edges(e.g. elevated railways)
HOW CAN PATHS BE MADE IMPORTANT FEATURES OF IMAGEABILITY? Although they generally serve as isolating barriers, some act as uniting seams and others
may act as both.
1. Customary Travel
HOW ARE EDGES IMPORTANT FEATURES OF IMAGEABILITY?
2. Obstacles to traffic
1. Visually prominent
3. Concentration of Special Use or Activities along a street
2. Continuous in Form
4. Spatial Qualities
3. Impenetrable to cross movement
5. Special Façade Characteristics
4. Continuity
6. Proximity to Special Features of the City
5. Directional Quality
7. Visual Exposure to the path itself or the Visual Exposure from the path to other parts
of the city 6. Other functions
8. Structural purposes.
9. Identity 3. DISTRICTS
10. Continuity/Functionality They are the relatively large city areas in which the observer can mentally go inside of and
usually have some common character. Occasionally, they can be used as external reference
11. Directional Quality as a person navigates them as they are often recognized internally.
12. Alignment Districts can be recognized through a variety of ways. Some are primarily ethnic or class
districts with little physical distinction. Others can be linear, street front districts with strong
characteristic areas.
 THE CITIES IMAGE AND ELEMENTS
A City with well-defined characteristic districts set in an ordered frame be it of 8. Stand-alone districts and those that are linked together; creation of a continuous
rivers or streets can be recognized as a well-oriented city and the identification mosaic of distinctive districts. The contrast and proximity of each area can heighten
of the area as a district is easily made. the thematic strength of each.
In some areas, Districts are viewed as the basic elements of the city image. 4. NODES
They are actively used for orientation.
These are typically the places or areas that facilitate entry and exit of a particular
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS THAT DETERMINE DISTRICTS AND region like junctions of paths or even entire cities depending on the scale of the study.
ASSIST IN CREATING THE CITY IMAGE ; Nodes are important as they provoke decision making as ones attention is heighten at
1. Thematic continuities these areas.

2. Homogenous façade materials , modeling, ornament , color, skyline and At times the transition from one transportation channel to another seems to mark the
fenestrations give basic ques in identifying major districts. transition between major structural units.(strong junction nodes). They can still derive
importance even when physical form is shapeless and slippery.
3. Sensory cues; visual as well as auditory are important.
TYPES OF NODES INCLUDE:
4. District Names
1. The junction, or place of break in transportation
5. Boundaries: some have them while others do not. They can be hard,
definite , precise or soft and uncertain. 2. Transport stations ; subways, BRT, LRT and MRT stations, bus stations, airports
etc.
3 Thematic concentration Nodes; highly typical space, planting and activities can
render an area as a sharp point of a city’s image.
4 Nodes can be both junctions and concentrations
FACTORS THAT ENABLE NODES TO INFLUENCE CITY IMAGE;
1. Clear Visibility; Nodes that are clearly visible serve as better elements in the
creation of the city image. Sometimes they are associated with some key surface
features.
6. A strong node may create a district in a broader homogeneous zone simply 2. Strategic Location; one that would encourage organization of the rest of the city
by its proximity to the nodal point. around them. A Location that is convenient for most users ; a connector.
7. The level of connectivity; can be in terms of structures, nodes, sub- 3. Easily recognizable; one that is visually stimulating or conspicuous as this
regions, introverted regions and extroverted (different levels of connectivity separates it from the usual intersections of streets which are theoretically Nodes
to surrounding environment)
 THE CITIES IMAGE AND ELEMENTS

4. Strong Physical Form; it is not absolutely essential as some nodes that CHARACTERISTICS OF LANDMARKS/ FACTORS THAT MAKE THEM EASILY
lack this feature also serve to create a good city image. A space with a strong IDENTIFIABLE IMAGES.
form can impact the users much more and hence more memorable. 1. A clear form
5. Presence of unique or Contrasting features of surrounding elements; 2. 2. Contrast with background ; can be in terms of shape, hygiene, scale, colour, age, etc.
which serves to enhance the importance of such a node. The node should The background against which an element stands out should not be limited to its immediate
also intensify some surrounding characteristics. surroundings.
CHARACTERISTICS/QUALITIES OF NODES:
1. They can be introverted or Extroverted.
Introverted nodes; this is whereby little directional sense is when one is in its
environs. That is, the principle direction in its surroundings is either towards or
away from it. C Fig 32.

Extroverted nodes; in this case, directions are clearly explained and D Los Angeles, on 7th Street at the
corner of Flower Street. “the little
connections are clear. grey lady”
2. They should offer directional quality and exact location in the path grid
around/along it.
B
3. Sometimes having a sharp contrast to the general character of the city
while still being tied to other major features serves to enhance its influence.
4. Distinct entry and exit points; having oriented shapes that clarify the 3. Spatial Prominence ; this can establish elements as landmarks in two ways
direction from which to enters.
 Making the element visible from many locations.
5. Should be structured and have distinctive landmarks.
 Setting up a local contrast with nearby elements, i.e., a variation in setback and
height/angle.
5. LANDMARKS 4. Location ; placement of an element at a junction involving path decisions strengthens it as a
landmark.
These can be described as point references considered to be external to the
observer, are simple physical elements which may vary widely in scale. Use 5. Activities ; ones associated with an element may make it a landmark. An example of one
of landmarks heavily depends on singling out of one element from a host of that derives its strength as a landmark from the contrast and irritation felt between its function
possibilities, the key physical characteristic is therefore, Singularity. and physical nature in that the cultural status did not coincide with its physical invisibility.
 THE CITIES IMAGE AND ELEMENTS

7. Distance ; Landmarks which are at a distance and visible from many positions are highly HOW ARE THESE 5 ELEMENTS INTERRELATED/ IMPORTANCE OF THIS INTERRELATION?
memorable and spark a sense of familiarity to most city dwellers.
Simply put, these elements are the raw material of the environmental image at the city scale.
Hence they must be patterned together to provide a satisfying form. As we have already
discussed the interaction of groups of similar elements we can look at those of different
elements.
1. These pairs may serve to reinforce one another.
2. They can also conflict and destroy themselves.
3. Districts being of larger scale /size than the other elements is always inclusive of them and is
therefore related to various paths, nodes, landmarks and edges. These elements not only
structure the region internally but also intensifies the identity of the whole by enriching
and deepening its character.
4. Paths usually have intimate interrelationships with other element types in that, junction
Fig 33. The Duomo of Florence nodes occur automatically at major intersections and termini.
5. Nodes in turn, are strengthened by the presence of landmarks and also provide a setting
The Duomo of Florence has been used as a prime example of a distant landmark, dominant by
which almost guarantees attention for any such mark.
size and contour, coincident with the religious and transit center of its context and paired
with a campanile( a bell tower especially one that is free standing) in a way that allows the 6. Paths are also given identity and tempo by a number of things such as; their own form, their
direction of view to be estimated from a distance. It is visible from near and far, by day or night. nodal junctions, the regions they pass through, the edges they move along and the landmarks
distributed along their path. All these elements operate together in a context.
8. Arrangement/Sequence ; a sequential series of landmarks assists in directing and influencing
THE SHIFTING IMAGE & IMAGE QUALITY: In conclusion, one may agree that the images of
the flow of movement as well as giving a sense of nearness to the final destination or to
greatest value are those most closely approach a strong total field; dense, rigid, vivid. One that
intermediate goals. It influences this flow by bringing about anticipation of the next and key makes use of all element types and form characteristics without narrow concentrations which can
details that will be experienced along certain networks. It is important that these sequences be be put together either hierarchically or continuously as occasion demands.
fairly continuous to facilitate recognition and memorization by the users, offer emotional security
and give functional efficiency. When reshaping Cities it should be possible to provide the inhabitants with a form which
facilitates these organizing efforts and ensure that the environment is geared to the appropriate
A landmark should be reinforced by other forces such as sensory elements, activities, historical cultural type or shaped in many ways so as to satisfy the varying demands of the inhabitants.
importance, etc. They should not be isolated, single events except for large and singular marks in
which these characteristics do not affect their imageability.
 APPLICATION TO SITE (ZONE B) : A PATTERN LANGUAGE CITY
WIDE SPACES
1. Proper zoning: Zone B will require improvement in the demarcation and planning of 3. Zebra Crossing: Due to the presence of Educational facilities along Kamukunji
activities in specific zones ;preferably aligned with major roads and extensive NMT Road and Landhies road, establishment of clearly defined zebra crossing zones should
networks connecting to the main centers of these activities. They should also be in close be a priority so as to ensure safety of children in the city and urban space. The Nairobi
proximity to each other and easily accessible from multiple areas. City Council in conjunction with the schools should ensure the presence of crossing
guards especially during opening and closing time of the schools.
2. NMT Network : The site will require more connector bridges linking the northern and
southern parts of zone B as well as an effective and efficient non motorized transport 4. Motorized Transport: A clear demarcation of Public transport Stations by
network. This will include; expansion of the existing bridges in terms of width, creation establishing safe and secure local transport areas; such as the formalization of the
of raised pedestrian walkways with defined bike lanes, The pedestrian paths should take informal matatu stage along Digo road junction with 1stMeru Loop Lane, the tuk-tuk
into account the setup zones that already exist as well as those of customary stage right next to Nacico Plaza and the motorbike station set up along Landhies road
travel.(assumed pathways majorly used by majority ) they should also be at right angles and Kamukunji road. We could also introduce these local transport areas at major
to the major roads and not along them. Where they are along, the paths should be raised. nodal points and ensure proper connection to the different destinations.

Approx. 1800mm

Pedestrian pathways too narrow and in poor condition; proposed expansion

connector bridge too narrow; proposal to expand up to 3600mm and paving with features of landscaping as well as commercial side zones.
 APPLICATION TO SITE (ZONE B) : A PATTERN LANGUAGE

Gikomba Block A market(landmark)

Current state of encroached riparian reserve with high levels of pollution;

proposed reclamation as well as appropriate landscaping and design of the
open spaces.

Informal Local Transport Area

5. Public Spaces and Green Zones: Zone B as well as the entire site require
introduction of a number of green spaces to help alleviate the strain of all the human Possible rehabilitation of Nairobi river with inclusion of a rich green
activities on the immediate environment as well as foster well being of the users. This corridor
will also ensure proper care of the surroundings in terms of hygiene and will also be a
major connector of the different zones in Gikomba. Green spaces and Public areas can
serve as landmarks to the area in the same way Kamukunji ground functions. Other
landmarks include: Machakos Country bus station, Nacico plaza, Gikomba block A
market building as well as Shell petrol Station. An extension of the Kamukunji grounds
back to its former original size which includes the Market area between the grounds and
Muthurwa Primary School is therefore necessary.
6. Riparian Reserve: A proposal of the complete reclamation of the riparian reserve up
to a maximum of 10-30m. This will allow introduction of a green corridor as well as a
promenade and other landscaping features to best serve the residents of the Site.
Different variations in the location of riverfront open spaces with respect to the location
of Nairobi River should be considered as shown. This will directly affect the land value
and influence certain actions of the users in accordance with the demarcated areas of
activity.
THREE CITIES
The author analyses the existing form of three major cities( Boston, New Jersey and Los
Angeles, its qualities and its effects on the citizen as the foundation stones of city design

There was an analyses of elements such as concentrations of travel paths or of work place in a
bid to establish consistency of the group image by presenting the same elements to the view of
many individuals. Some of the results included associations of status or of history, coming from
non-visual sources in order to describe the city image.

Features within the cities:

-open space and vegetation
-sense of motion on the paths
-visual contrasts

Image of the city of New Jersey

Image of the city of Boston Image of the city of Los Angeles

BOSTON CITY
The image that a majority of the people in Boston have for the city is that it is
made up of very distinctive districts and of crooked, confusing paths.
The built form is characterized by red-brick or the general character of
continuous mosaic of a portion of areas: the sequence Back Bay—Common—
Beacon Hill—central shopping.
The city is symbolized by the open space of the Boston Common, the State
House with its gold dome, and the view across the Charles River from the
Cambridge side.
The Charles river and its bridges define the city’s edge and is the point from
which Beacon street and Commonwealth avenue are parallel. Atlantic avenue
and the harbor front define the opposite edge of the city reinforcing the city as a
peninsula, however many people are unable to make the visual connection of this
side of the city.
The city’s narrow streets are congested with people and cars; with limited
parking space, but there are clear contrasts between wide main streets and
narrow side streets on the lower side of the Common. The only ordered paths are
limited to historically conditioned preponderance of main radials running from
the base of the peninsula. The main highways in the city are perceived more as
barriers and difficult to relate to rather than connecting elements

Generally, Boston’s city image is characterized by confusions, floating points, weak

boundaries, isolations, breaks in continuity, lacks of character or differentiation.

Visual forms of Boston city

JERSEY CITY
Jersey city lies between Newark and New York City, and is a fringe area of Image of
both. The edges are defined by railroads and elevated highways. Jersey city
The city had a central shopping center but after the development of Journal
Square, they are now five centers
The city lacks a general form and the structures exhibit a heterogenous
character.
The circulation network with the city is uncoordinated.

Visual form of Jersey city

Journal Square strong imageability is attributed to its intensive shopping and
entertainment activity making it a major node, but its traffic and spatial chaos are
confusing. Hudson Boulevard is another shopping node rivaling the Square
reinforcing the image of the city. The street signs, the big advertising signs of
Journal Square, the factories and tiny grass triangles at certain street intersections
are what act as landmarks within the city.
West Side Park, the only large open space and park in the city and was associated
as a relief due to its distinctive general texture.
Unfortunately in Jersey city, for a majority of the people, the city was hard to
symbolize as it lacked distinctive sections and character.

Visual form of Jersey city

 LOS ANGELES
As the core of a metropolis, central Los Angeles imageability is associated meaning and activity.
The built forms are arranged along regular grid of streets and characterized by large and
presumably distinctive buildings
The metropolitan region is decentralized therefore several cores exist that orient people. The
impact of the central activities lacks a big impact due to the spatial extension and shifting that
occurs within them.
The city is structured into different parts:
1)Nodal point of Pershing Square, which lies in the crook of the L formed by two shopping streets,
Broadway and 7th Street.
2) The Civic Center area at the far end of Broadway
3) The Plaza-Olvera Street which is a sentimentally important node
4)The Spring Street financial district which is alongside Broadway and next over is Skid Row (Main
Street).
5)The Hollywood and Harbor Freeways bound the two open sides of the L- one of the strongest
elements in which the nodal center of the Plaza-Olvera Street characterized by s shape, trees,
benches, people; the brick-paved tiles street, the tight space, the goods being sold

The main landmarks in the city were black and gold Richfield Building and the pyramided top of the
City Hall
Pershing square is the largest landscaped open space in downtown that could be easily identified by
people, either through is physical character or the use associated with it such as political forums,
camps, old peoples rest area. Despite knowledge of the space there was a challenge in locating it
within its particular context

Despite some describing the city as expansive, the apparatus of regional orientation included the
ocean, the mountains and hills, the valley regions such as San Fernando and the large development
districts such as Beverly Hills, the major freeway and boulevard system, and, finally, a central
gradient of age over the whole metropolis, evidenced in the condition, style, and type of structures Visual form of Los Angeles
appropriate to each era in the successive rings of growth
CITY FORM
 CITY FORM
There is opportunity of forming out new city world into an imageable landscape that is : visible, coherent, and clear while still being plastic to the purposes and perceptions of its
citizens, open-ended to change of function and meaning and receptive to the formation of new imagery
A pattern of a city allows it to be well organized and symbolic of a society's past and aspiration
In order to heighten the imageability of the urban environment it is necessary to facilitate its visual identification and structuring. The elements —paths, edges, landmarks,
nodes, and regions— are the building blocks in the process of making firm, differentiated structures at the urban scale.
PATHS LANDMARK
Paths are a network of habitual lines of movement through the urban complex that provide the The essential characteristic of a landmark is its singularity, its
most potent means by which the whole can be ordered. The key lines should have some contrast with its context
singular quality which marks them off from the surrounding channels: a concentration of some
special use or activity along their margins, a characteristic spatial quality, a special texture of
hour or facade, a particular lighting pattern, a unique set of smells or sounds, a typical detail or
mode of planting in order to provide the element of continuity
A street is perceived as a thing which goes toward something while a path supports it by having
a kinesthetic quality and a strong termini
A city is structured by an organized set of paths. The strategic point in
such a set is the intersection and it requires a certain simplicity of form
KICC building as a landmark in Nairobi CBD
to make a clear image. Paths can be imaged in a specific pattern or as a
network which explains the typical relations between all paths in the set
The characteristics along the path—landmarks, space changes, dynamic
sensations—might be organized as a melodic line, perceived and imaged
as a form which is experienced over a substantial time interval.

Tom Mboya statue that was put up in 2011 in Gikomba ‘Block A’ is a landmark in site 5, its
honor of Tom Mboya is a way of enhancing the contrast in height compared to its context brings out
historical image in modern times this characteristic
 CITY FORM
EDGES REGIONS
NODE
Edges require certain continuity of form throughout A city district is an area of homogeneous character,
Node is a coherent spatial form that is more defined
their length. It can be accentuated by making it recognized by dues which are continuous throughout
if it has a sharp, closed boundary
laterally visible for some distance, marking a sharp the district and discontinuous elsewhere
gradient of area character, or clearly joining the two
bounded regions.
Some visual or motion penetration is allowed Spatial characteristics that bring out
through and it becomes a seam rather than a barrier homogeneity
a) Continuity of color
Increasing the visibility of an edge b) Texture or material of floor surface.
a)Increasing its accessibility or use, as c) Scale or facade detail
when opening a waterfront d) Lighting
b)Construct high overhead edges, visible Nodes are a classic concept of forming static outdoor spaces e) Planting
for long distances- f) Silhouette
Techniques for the expression and definition : g) Definiteness and closure of its
transparencies, overlapping's, light modulation, perspective, boundary
surface gradients, closure, articulation, patterns of motion
and sound.

Amphitheatre at Michuki Park as

Nairobi River waterfront as an Michuki Park enclosure defining
a smaller node within the open
edge as seen in Michuki Park the open space as a node
space
QUALITIES OF URBAN SPACE
 QUALITIES OF URBAN SPACE
1)Singularity- closure, contrast of 2) Form Simplicity- clarity of the geometric form in a
The Sense of the Whole
surface, size, use, spatial location geometrical sense
Paths would expose and prepare for the districts, and
link together the various nodes. The nodes would
joint and mark off the paths, while the edges would
bound off the districts, and the landmarks would
indicate their cores.
3)Continuity: continuance of edge or 4)Dominance: dominance of one part over others by means It is the total orchestration of these units which
surface nearness of parts repetition of of size, intensity, or interest, resulting in the reading of the would knit together a dense and vivid image
rhythmic interval whole as a principal feature with an associated cluster

Methods of composing a pattern

1)Region composed as
5)Clarity of Joint: high visibility of joints 6)Directional Differentiation: asymmetries, gradients, and a static hierarchy
and seams clear relation and interconnection radial references which differentiate one end from another

7)Visual Scope: qualities which increase 8)Motion Awareness-improve the clarity of slopes, curves, 2)Use of one or two very large
the range and penetration of vision, either and interpenetrations; give the experience of motion dominant elements, to which
actually or symbolically, overlaps, vistas parallax and perspective; maintain the consistency of many smaller things may be
and paranomas, articulating elements that direction related
visually explain a space

9)Names and Meanings: non-physical characteristics

which may enhance the imageability of an element
 RELATION TO A PATTERN LANGUAGE
Patterns that give image to towns and communities
These patterns are an outcome of gradual growth, such that every individual act has helped to generate these larger global patterns over a number of years in order to make a community
that has these global patterns in it. There is clear demonstration of how networks encourage growth through connecting of communities in centers and neighborhoods and whose character
is built within particular principles.
Definite edges- this define a particular area and reinforce the image of a particular place as seen in the civic center of Los Angeles
Ring roads and streets- visual dominance of paths and influence from which people experience their surroundings
Web of shopping- major points dedicated to shopping activities exist within a region and activities along streets
Open spaces- importance and meaning of open spaces and their particular location within the urban scale as seen in Pershing square in Los Angles and in Jersey city.
Variety of vegetation as seen in the exotic vegetation in Pershing square
Promenade- places where people can see and interact with other people, a center where the public of a subculture collects.
Looped local roads -roads found in neighborhoods and work environments. The road makes it impossible for cars that do not have a destination on it to use it as a shortcut.

Patterns that give image a groups of buildings

This refers to individual buildings on the land and the basic elements that make up buildings as a whole. Built forms are arranged around a particular pattern such as grid or radial as seen
in Los Angeles grid pattern
Character of built forms having homogenous quality as seen along Charles river in Boston makes spaces more memorable

Patterns of construction
Having considerations in the construction technology of the building such as the built material enhances the mental image that people have about a particular place as seen in the city of
Boston where the built form is characterized by red-brick
APPLICATION IN SITE 5 Parking lot- limit the
percentage of parking
Types of elements and patterns used in the city image, and the qualities that make them spaces in the area to 9%
strong or weak percent
Map of Eastlands section Shopping area – informal
market and shopping
REGIONS- Eastlands as a whole region is made up of a number of smaller sections such as complex located in areas of
Shauri Moyo, Kariokor, Majengo, Pumwani, Gikomba) most need to promote trade
Open spaces- provide
relief spaces and access
to these spaces
Public school-Network of
learning in places of
contact within site
Offices – to accommodate
various human groups and
ensure connection matrix
Map of site 5a&5b exists

PATTERN OF PATHS WITHIN SITE 5

EDGES:
Nairobi
River as an Ladhies Road
edge
PATHS: Road network moves from the Major road
wide highways to local looped roads,
streets and lanes then to alleys Secondary road

DISTRICT: Built form arranged Activity Pocket

along grid circulation network
Street within Gikomba Market Pathway within Gikomba market
 Accessible green- open spaces within
The Sense of the Whole in Nairobi the CBD of Nairobi and its environs

 Map of city of Nairobi, showing the extent of the city and the static hierarchy of the
different areas that make up the city i.e Karen, Embakasi, Kamulu, Kahawa

Nairobi National park

Uhuru park

Road network connecting different Pattern of open spaces within

areas of the city, clear hierarchy of the city, Nairobi national park
roads from 60m wide road reserves being the largest to Kamkunji
to 9m wide road reserves Grounds in site B

Kamkunji Grounds
 1. Definitions
2. Negotiating the program
3. Survey techniques
4. Analysis
URBAN DESIGN:
METHOD & TECHNIQUE 5. Generating alternatives
6. Project evaluation
7. Presentation
8. Project management
9. Conclusion
 DEFINITIONS
URBAN DESIGN METHOD AND PEOPLE
 Method can be defined as the procedure for attaining an object, a special form of
procedure adopted in any branch of mental activity’, or ‘a way  Public participation in the process of design and implementation is a key factor in the
of doing anything, especially according to a regular plan. In urban design terms, it definition of sustainable development. Urban design,
refers to the structure and form of the Urban Design management process. therefore, can be described as a people’s use of an accumulated technological knowledge
to control and adapt the environment in sustainable ways for social, economic, political
and spiritual requirements.
 Techniques can be defined as; ‘The systematic procedures by which a
complex or scientific task is accomplished’ this different from methods since it is  Urban design, therefore, can be described as a people’s use of an accumulated
specific to tasks as opposed to Method which is the description of a total process. In technological knowledge to control and adapt the environment in sustainable ways for
urban design terms, it refers to refers to the set of detailed social, economic, political and spiritual requirements.
operations used in the various stages of the Urban Design process.
 It is therefore the task of an urban planner to design the city with the needs of the citizens
and people in mind. This can be achieved anthropological studies establishing essential
GOALS OF URBAN DESIGN cultural data, user studies and planning surveys, through informative techniques such as
 There are three main goals of urban design: the exhibition, press notice and other media means of communication, to administrative
procedures such as planning appeals and public inquiries.
1. To design and build urban developments which are both structurally and functionally
sound while at the same time giving pleasure to those who see the development. THE URBAN DESIGN PROCESS

2. Sustainability, that is, development which is nondamaging to the physical environment This can be used through the RIBA practice and management handbooks, which divides the
and which contributes to the city’s ability to sustain its social design process into four phases:
and economic structures, is one important aspect of ‘commodities’. 1. Phase 1 Assimilation: the accumulation of general information and information specially
related to the problem.
2. Phase 2 General Study: the investigation of the nature of the problem: the investigation
of possible solutions.
3. Phase 3 Development: the development of one or more solutions.
4. Phase 4 Communication: the communication of the chosen solution/s to the client.
 DEFINITIONS
The description of design method is taken a little further by Markus and Maver, who divide the design process into This sequence is described as
1. Analysis: Goals and objectives are classified and patterns of information are sought.
2. Synthesis: is the stage where ideas are generated.
3. Appraisal : a critical evaluation of the alternative solutions against objectives, costs and other constraints.
4. Decision: Decisions are made depending upon the findings of the evaluation.

The decision process, however, is not defined as a simple linear progression: return loops between stages in the process are important, the process being iterative. In the case below In this case,
decisions at the higher level should inform the design process at the next lower order of design, for example, from regional to town planning. It is,
however, not simply a one-way process from large to small scale. It could be argued that each individual building should have some effect upon the larger urban grouping and that this three-
dimensional design of large city areas should inform the planning of the city as a whole.

REGIONAL ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS APPRAISAL DECISION

PLANNING

TOWN PLANNING ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS APPRAISAL DECISION

URBAN DESIGN ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS APPRAISAL DECISION

BUILDING DESIGN ANALYSIS SYNTHESIS APPRAISAL DECISION

 NEGOTIATING THE URBAN DESIGN PROGRAM
 Urban design method like planning method is related to the main theoretical Negotiating The Urban Design Program
schools of thought which explain the procedures of public action in planning,
 Concerned with the contrasting roles of design normally associated with protecting the
development and design. According to Hudson there are five major schools of community’s interest in the environment and with the role of maximizing a developer’s
thought within normative planning theory: profit.
 Synoptic planning  Emphasizes the benefits which ensue when good environmental design is the goal of both
developer and local authority.
Proceeds from analysis to target definition followed by a search for alternatives and
their comparison.  A) Architects and Planners- the stormy affair
 Incremental Planning  Ten years ago, the debate between architects and planners was furious; architects being
concerned that planners were not trained in the areas of design, therefore they considered
According to this theory it is not possible to define clear goals based on commonly any design criticism from a planner invalid.
accepted values. A good solution in incremental planning
is not defined by the degree of goal achievement, but by how feasible implementation  Now, the development of urban design has provided an intellectual bridge for architects
is with the means available and the degree of agreement among key decision makers. and planners, permitting each profession to view development from a new and different
perspective.
 Transactive Planning
 Now, the development of urban design has provided an intellectual bridge for architects
places great emphasis on mutual learning and dialogue between those affected by and planners, permitting each profession to view development from a new and different
planning. perspective.
 B) ) Impoverished local authorities and development opportunities
 Advocacy Planning
 Most authorities are desperately underfunded and therefore fear refusing permission for
Implies that planners become spokesmen and spokeswomen for various groups. The major developments which might bring resources to the area.
planner contributes to the development process by creating a situation with
many competing plan proposals.  In order to improve design advice and reduce the possibility of expensive conflict with
developers some city authority planners form a close working alliance with architects and
 Radical Planning urban designers.
 C) Negotiating Development
 Design guidelines of a cohesive structure and planning rationale which dictate how any
development at a given site should be done make it more difficult for developers to
produce mediocre development – quality control.
 NEGOTIATING THE URBAN DESIGN PROGRAM
 D) Identifying Sites Planning Requirements which Affect Development Costs

 All too often urban design is limited by individual land holdings. 1. Infrastructure

 Local authorities have the power to compulsorily acquire land (Compulsory Purchase 2. Topography – drainage, sewer, engineering works
Order - CPO), is rarely used because: 3. Cost of on-site construction
1. Local authorities do not have the time to identify a vision for the future of the area and 4. Cost of off-site construction
are involved in a great deal of reactive and abortive work.
5. Landscape
2. Local authorities are under resourced – staff and finance.
6. Play areas
3. The process is not widely understood in local authorities nor is the legal expertise
always available. 7. Public transport

4. Process is time consuming. 8. Affordable housing

 E) Preparation of Design Guidance 9. Community facilities – schools, religious centers, hospitals etc. j) Leisure facilities –
sports pitches etc.
 Site development guidelines should be drawn in advance of serious development
negotiations ensuring a more strategic approach to regional development preventing 10. Retention of existing landscape and ecology
development done in a piecemeal and incoherent fashion – illegible development.
G) Securing development
 F) Development Cost
The creation of the site development guidance provides an imaginative framework which
 The creation of the site development guidance provides an imaginative framework allows the developer the freedom to Retention of existing landscape and ecology
which allows the developer the freedom to develop his own vision which is then
H) Design brief content
tempered with a realistic look at the costs of achieving development.
The design brief should consider: means of access, the relationship of the pedestrian,
cyclist and the car, safety in the public realm, quality of design in street and public square,
achieving vitality and permeability , the identity and legibility of place, features of
sustainable development and open space and landscape strategy.
 SURVEY TECHNIQUES
HISTORICAL ANALYSIS
TOWNSCAPE ANALYSIS
 Looking back on the past of a city can give someone incite into how its
 Aspects include:
present form and function is.
1. The first concerns the legibility of the urban structure, that is, the
 If the site has an ancient history the study may include a detailed ways in which people perceive, understand and react to the
archaeological investigation. More simply, it may identify those buildings, environment.
trees and other structures which have been listed for protection, including 2. The second aspect of townscape analysis concerns the
sites of scientific or ecological interest. permeability of the
environment, that is, the choice it presents to the user.
 The second design where conservation of a place is in question has the
3. The third aspect of the analysis, a visual study, conforms more
greatest role in urban design. closely to the more traditional meaning of townscape.
 Historical planning can be achieved through: fundamental geographical PERCEPTUAL STRUCTURE
reasons for settlement formation, including topography, geology, soils and
This how the user of the city relates to the city. This is through five
drainage; the dominant axes of development, including lay lines and vistas
key physical features by which the user structures city image; they are
of symbolic importance; dominant buildings of historic significance; focal
paths, nodes, districts, edges and landmarks.
points of activity; movement patterns of ancient origin, including
processional routes; changing seats of power and influence; changing
economic patterns as evidenced by the ebb and flow of land values, the
density of development, building conditions and their occupation; the
patterns of population intrusion, invasion and succession; and finally, the
developing patterns of functional areas in relation to changing modes of
transport.
 ANALYSIS
PERMEABILITY STUDY: PRIVACY AND ACCESSIBILITY
 This involves the analyses of techniques for accessing development
constraints as well as assessing possible interventions.
 Trend, forecast and scenario - may stimulate ideas about the nature of the
problem and actions necessary to modify a trend leading to an undesirable
outcome.
 Constraints and possibilities mapping
 Sieve mapping - a series of transparent overlays to an survey map of the
project.
 SWOT analysis
RELATION TO A PATTERN LANGUAGE

 Pattern: Life cycle; The full cycle of life i.e. from infantry to old age should be  CIRCULATION REALMS; Lay out very large buildings and collections
accommodated for in a community in a way that ensures comfort and thriving of small buildings so that one reaches a given point inside by passing
ensures that urban developments which are both structurally and functionally sound
while at the same time giving pleasure to those who see and use the development. through a sequence of realms, each marked by a gateway and becoming
smaller and smaller, as one passes from each one, through a gateway, to the
 Ring roads; In order to ensure that high speed roads, which are essential in next. Choose the realms so that each one can be easily named, so that you
modern society, do not destroy communities, it is important that they are sunken or can tell a person where to go, simply by telling him which realms to go
shielded to protect against noise, that every main road is provided with at least one of
its sides bounded by countryside instead of a high speed road and that at least one through, this will come to improve the Townscape of the area and also the
high speed road lies tangent to a local transport area; this will improve the perceptual perceptual structure of the area in question as it becomes easy to read the
structure of the urban area as they end up forming the edges defining it. area as a user, thus fulfilling the urban design techniques.
 Sacred sites; Special places in neighborhoods that symbolize the area and the  PEDESTRIAN STREET; Arrange buildings so that they form pedestrian
people's roots must be protected by establishing ordinances to ensure that the people's streets with many entrances and open stairs directly from the upper stories
roots are sustained, this is in cooccurrence with the survey technique of historical
analysis which stresses the fact that history of a place can inform the present planning to the street, so that even movement between rooms is outdoors, not just
of the area movement between buildings, is in cooccurrence with the survey
techniques of PERMEABILITY STUDY: PRIVACY AND
 NUMBER OF STORIES;
ACCESSIBILITY.
Rule 1: Set a four-story height limit on the site.;
Rule 2: For any given site, do not let the ground area covered by buildings
exceed 50 per cent of the site.; Rule 3: Do not let the height of your building(s) vary
too much from the predominant height of surrounding buildings; this encourages the
local authorities to set up guidelines of a cohesive structure and planning rationale
which dictate how any development at a given site should be done make it more
difficult for developers to produce mediocre development – quality control.
APPLICATION IN SITE 5B
PERCEPTUAL STRUCTURE TOWNSCAPE ANALYSIS TOWNSCAPE ANALYSIS TOWNSCAPE ANALYSIS
This how the user of the city relates The first concerns the legibility of The second aspect of The third aspect of the
to the city. This is through five key the urban structure, that is, the ways townscape analysis concerns analysis, a visual study,
in which people perceive, the permeability of the conforms more closely to the
physical features by which the user
understand and react to the more traditional meaning of
structures city image; they are environment, that is, the
environment. townscape.
paths, nodes, districts, edges and choice it presents to the user.
landmarks.

Photo showing how it is very difficult to

read the urban arrangement of the site
hence loosing out in urban design
Photo showing the major landmarks, edges and techniques defined in the book.
Photo showing how roads within Photo showing how there is a mixture of formal
node in site 5. Site 5 are dilapidated hence and informal building in the are within site 5 but
reducing user choice and majority of the site is filled with informal buildings
permeability within the site which reduce the visual appeal of the area as one
only sees old and rusted iron sheets.
 GENERATING ALTERNATIVES
 Central to the urban design process is the exploration of problems through an examination and testing of solutions. Many of the problems in urban design could be described as
‘wicked’ in the sense that they are difficult to define and they are without an obvious and generally agreed solution.
 The iterative nature of the process, therefore, by which these problems are approached, is dialectical, taking the form of a dialogue between problem and solution. Inevitably the
designer expends considerable energy understanding the problems with which he or she is confronted. The designer clarifies the definition of the problem and the direction of the
investigation necessary to seek the solution, as the process itself evolves.
 The nature of the problem only becomes clear as the process develops. The solutions used in solving urban design problems will be termed concepts. Generating design ideas for
solving problems of urban structure is fundamental to urban design.
 Design concepts are the basis of the creative process; an act of the imagination. Concepts, or the ideas which inform alternative ways of perceiving the problem, can be generated
using a number of techniques

Ideas can be gleaned from:

1. an analysis of the site
2. from a study of historical precedent
3. from theoretical propositions,
4. by using synectical techniques or the art of analogy

5. by techniques of lateral thinking including brainstorming and by seeking ideas directly from the public.
 PROJECT EVALUATION
 Moderate to large scale urban design projects are aimed at improving social, economic and infrastructure conditions rather than focusing on the single objective of physical urban
renewal.
 For instance, projects aimed at regenerating inner cities are planned as a series of interrelated actions in which the increase of employment levels is interlinked with sustainable
improvement in general. For this type of project the issue of methods and techniques needs to be considered from an economic and social perspective.
 There is the need to integrate the traditional urban design evaluation instruments with methods and techniques which can give an insight into the social, economic and environmental
impacts the project is intended to produce.

PRESENTATION
 The communication of ideas is central to the design process.
 Ideas, however good they may be, remain still-born until expressed in terms which engage the support of key actors in the development process.
 Therefore, ideas which infuse an urban design project, together with a supporting argument, have to be expressed with clarity, economy and enthusiasm. The presentation
of urban design proposals often involves reports and sets of documents similar in form and content to those prepared for planning projects.
 Urban design reports may include:
i) description of the survey
ii) analysis
iii) fully evaluated final proposal with its cost.
This written material is accompanied by maps, drawings, photographs and models. The proposal may then be presented in a number of arenas and defended at Public Inquiries
and planning appeals.
 PROJECT MANAGEMENT
 Project management entails 3 major stages;
1. Project planning stage- stage is to translate the overall project aims into a series of identifiable activities which can be set out in a logical way that will achieve the desired end.
2. Project implementation stage- is to actually follow the project plan and keep track of how the project is progressing.
3. Project closure stage- is to achieve a coordinated and satisfactory completion of all work phases within time, cost and quality requirements.
 Project requirements such as schedules, deadlines, resources, as well as budget and cost constraints, have to be clearly defined. The ultimate objective of the planning stage is to
produce a total project plan.
 The work break-down structure assists in establishing in detail what, who, how and when subject to the project.
WORK STRUCTURE
 RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION TO A PATTERN LANGUAGE.
The basis of examination and testing of solutions begins with analyzing existing aspects of the site through a detailed site analysis. From this we are able to deduce;
Sacred sites- Special places in neighborhoods that symbolize the area and the people's roots must be protected by establishing ordinances to ensure that the people's roots are sustained. Such
important landmarks within site B include; The Mosque and Kamkunji Grounds.
Access to water- In order to avoid the destruction of water bodies by human settlements, it is essential to maintain a belt of land for public use right next to the water such as a riparian land
reserve. As designers too, we are tasked with making interventions to relate the riparian way leave with existing buildings, socio economic activities, existing climate and vegetation etc.
Life cycle- The full cycle of life i.e. from infantry to old age should be accommodated for in a community in a way that ensures comfort and thriving. In order to achieve full cycle,
accommodating begins with understanding not only the long term plans for a city but also from infantry. This ensures designers seek to learn history of a site for example the rich history of
Kamkunji grounds as a meeting point in the colonial era with significant leaders having held meetings there.

 The Nairobi Metropolitan Services Improvement Project NAMSIP and Project on Integrated Urban Development Master Plan for the city of Nairobi are among critical documents for
urban planning.
 NaMSIP aimed to produce a comprehensive cross-sectorial program that would integrate a metropolitan vision on public transport, land-use and water/environment, within a strategy of
economic positioning and response to local social needs.
 The goals of the plan include: To provide spatial order of physical investments; Enhance quality of life for inhabitants; Guide investments by providing location criteria; Embrace the
evolving urban policy regime in integrating social economic, environmental and political issues under one unitary framework.
 The County Government has identified priority programs in various sectors to be undertaken under the NIUPLAN. The sectors include urban development; urban transport; infrastructure
development; Environment and urban development management.
 The 2 proposals meet the presentation criteria where it begins with
i) introduction which entails background, its aims and planning process
ii) Socio economic and existing urban conditions; framework and urban renewal principles and relevant case studies
iii) Institution and regulatory conditions; land use plan and thematic strategies
iv)Action plans
v) Implementation framework
  Chapter 1: street as public spaces: A Historical Perspective
 Chapter 2: Prosperous Streets: Concepts, Methods and
STREET AS PUBLIC Measurements
SPACES FOR  Chapter 3: The State of Streets in Europe, North America
URBAN and Oceania
PROSPERITY  Chapter 4: The State of Streets in Africa, Asia and Latin
America and the Caribbean
 Chapter 5: Streets as public spaces and drivers of urban
prosperity
STREET AS PUBLIC SPACES: A HISTORICAL
PERSPECTIVE
 A HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE
PRE-INDUSTRIAL SETTLEMENTS
 There are 3 main traditional purposes: 4
• mobility,
3
• Commerce
• social interaction. 2
 Other functions:-
 Links
1
 Had commercial, economic, civic, ceremonial, political, cultural and social values

pre-industrial urban settlement:

central meeting place for transactional activities, such as commerce or
governance, surrounded by housing, workshops, and neighborhood
services, which is typical of the monocentric cities

1. Nucleus: Seat of political power Religious Structure.

2. High in-come Housing.
3. Low In-come Housing.
4. Neighborhood Services.
 CASES OF CITIES FROM A HISTORICAL VIEW
Cases of cities from a historical view:

1. Indus Valley
The Indus Valley that date back to 2600 BC
Composed of two sections connected via large streets of about 30 meters of width intersecting at right
angles: one located on an artificially raised mound and another at ground level.1 Houses were located at the
lower level while other buildings of the city, such as assembly halls and religious structures, were located at
the elevated level.
Layout of the grid system promoted:
- social interactions
- commercial exchanges
- facilitated the provision of basic services

2. China since 1500 BC

Guidelines outlined that the design of streets should consider three gates on each side of the perimeter leading The Marketplace
into the nine main streets of the city. the Chinese grid-pattern was shaped along four main directions, linking
other important enclosed public spaces such as the Royal Court situated in the south, the marketplace in the
north, the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the east and the Altar to the Gods of Land and Grain in the west.

The Altar To The Imperial Ancestral Temple

The Gods Of Land
And Grain

Royal Court
 CASES OF CITIES FROM A HISTORICAL VIEW
3. Athens, Greece. 1832

• 1832Athens became the capital of Greece.

• population of about 10,000 inhabitants.
• December 1832- first plan drafted and submitted.
• June 29, 1833- approved.
• 1836-Revision, after protests.

T O D AY ’ S O M O N I A S Q U A R E

ERMOU STREET
PROSPEROUS STREETS: CONCEPTS, METHODS AND
MEASUREMENTS
 RECLAIMING STREETS AS PUBLIC SPACES

• “The desire to go ‘through’ a place must be balanced with the desire to go ‘to’ a place.”
Once streets are recognized as public spaces, they can be planned and designed to serve
communities and ease mobility to enhance economic productivity and social engagement.
• Various notions of streets have been proposed, such as “livable” streets, “complete” streets,
“streets for all”, “quality” streets; “friendly” streets, and “healthy” streets.
• The “livable streets” movement emphasizes streets as the fabric of social and urban life.
Safety, security, social interactions are among the key components of livable streets.
• The notion of inclusiveness encompassed in “complete streets” is present in various projects
around the world that advocate the planning and design of streets that take into consideration
the needs of all users (ages, gender, economic status, modal means)
Hardware Lane, Melbourne Australia
• In the 1990s, Melbourne, Australian expanded and improved sidewalks on the commercial
streets, turned some side streets into permanent or part-time pedestrian zones and added new
public plazas. Over 10 years, public spaces for pedestrians grew by 71%. pedestrian volume
on the main street jumped by 50%. The number of outdoor cafés nearly quadrupled.

Meru Road, Nairobi (Gikomba Site B)

 STREETS DRIVERS OF URBAN PROSPERITY
Prosperous streets facilitate access to basic service
Evidence from most cities across the world show that areas of the city endowed with adequate streets
are also areas with laid down pipes for water supply, drainage and sewerage networks, as well as
power lines and information and communication technologies.
Prosperous streets accommodate both motorized and non-motorized modes of transport
Good street connectivity not only reduces traffic congestion, commuting time, motor vehicle
commuters, also reduces fares, fuel consumption, traffic fatalities, and greenhouse gases in cities.
Prosperous streets safeguard environmental sustainability
Nonmotorized forms of transport, pedestrianization, cleaner fuels and reduced traffic congestion are
measures that can limit the damaging effects of motorized transport and traffic congestion.
Prosperous streets enhance quality of life Traffic jam in Beijing’s Central Business District, China
Streets that promote walkability and cycling as elements of an active lifestyle contribute to healthy
living, as well as reduction in vehicle emissions.
Prosperous streets enhance equity and social inclusion
Streets as public spaces also promote social inclusion by providing the opportunity for communities
to interact and discuss various issues of common interest.
Prosperous streets promote productivity
Efficient and fast transport, in turn, can increase labor productivity by reducing commuting times,
and increasing worker productivity.

Digo Road, Nairobi Kenya

STREET COMPONENTS USED TO MEASURE OF CONNECTIVITY

Gikomba Area Near Digo Road

Indicator Definition
Street Density measured as the total length of linear kilometers of streets per one square kilometer of land.
Intersection Density measured as the number of intersections per one square kilometer of land.
Proportion of Land Allocated to Streets the total land area covered by streets as a percentage of the total land area.
Connected Node Ratio is the number of street intersections divided by the number of intersections plus cul-de-sacs. The maximum value is 1.0. Higher value
indicates that there are relatively few cul-de-sacs and, theoretically, a higher level of connectivity. A perfect grid, that implies absence
of cul-de-sacs, will be a ratio of 1. A connected node ratio of 0.75 is desirable
Link-to-Node Ratio is equal to the number of links divided by the number of nodes. Links are defined as street or pathway segments between two nodes.
Higher link node ratio implies higher street connectivity. A ratio of 1.4 is the minimum requirement for a walkable community.
Accessibility Index-Pedestrian Route is calculated as actual travel distances divided by direct travel distances (Actual Walking Distance / Direct Distance). It’s also called
Directness Index Pedestrian Route Directness index (PRD). An index of 1.0 is the best possible rating, indicating that pedestrians can walk directly to a
destination. An average value of 1.5 is considered acceptable.
THE STATE OF STREETS IN EUROPE, NORTH
AMERICA AND OCEANIA
This is an analysis of the state of urban areas and suburban areas
based on different cities[ united states, Canada, Northern,
Eastern, western, & Southern Europe, .
This report is a first attempt to globally
assess street connectivity

LAND ALLOCATED TO STREETS

In cities- More than 25 per cent of land allocated to streets. Suburban areas
In suburban areas- it is less than 15 per cent.  <15% street allocation
 Narrower streets
 Shorter networks
 Lower intersection densities
Street density refers to length of street network per km2

Land allocated to streets is determined by :

The length of the street network
The width of streets
Intersection density refers to number of intersections per km2

Street connectivity refers to the directness of links and density of connections in a street
network.
THE STATE OF STREETS IN AFRICA, ASIA AND
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
LAND ALLOCATED TO STREETS
Based on the level of land allocated to streets (LAS) in the city core, African, Asian and Latin American
and Caribbean, (LAC) cities have been classified into four groups:
1) Cities with low levels of land allocated to streets in the city core(<15%);
2) Cities with low to moderate levels of land allocated to streets(15-20%);
3) Cities with moderate to high levels of land allocated to streets(20-25%);
4) Cities with high levels of land allocated to streets(>25%).
This analysis is based on 40 cities: 18 cities in Africa, 13 cities in Asia and 9 cities in Latin America
and the Caribbean.
 SLUM PREVALENCE LINKED TO LACK OF STREET NETWORKS

1. Lack of streets an obstacle to provision of basic services in slums and suburban areas
2. Lack of adequate drainage systems, the source of flooding in cities of the developing world
3. Lack of streets – obstacles to mobility in slums and suburban areas
4. Cycling
5. Public transport
STREETS FOR ALL: WALKING, CYCLING AND USING PUBLIC TRANSPORT
The movement aims to promote streets for all and make cities livable and become more pedestrian- and
cyclist-friendly by reducing motorized transport. Within the existing street network, cities are re-
designing their streets by allocating more spaces for walking, cycling and promoting the use of public Better Road Network
spaces

Slum, Nairobi Kenya Gikomba Area Nairobi Kenya

 LAND ALLOCATED TO STREETS
1) Cities with low levels of land allocated to streets in the city core (<15%);
COMPOSITE STREET CONNECTIVITY INDEX
 Kenya’s capital Nairobi, has only 11.5%, land allocated to streets. Intersection The Composite Street Connectivity Index (CSCI) aims to assess the
density is also relatively low at 36%. connectivity of a street considering its width, its length and the number of
intersections, all in relation to the total land area of a city.
 Urban expansion is often the result of poor households moving to the outskirts because
they cannot afford to live in the citycentric. The suburban areas have street connectivity 1. Cities with a CSCI equal to or above 0.800;
levels similar to those of slum areas, with irregular street patterns with multiple 2. Cities with a CSCI of between 0.600 and 0.800;
unplanned dead-end roads.
3. Cities with a CSCI of between 0.500 and 0.600;
 In Kenya, the slum of Kibera, has the lowest level of land allocated to streets (3%) in a
short network with few intersections, holds the highest population density. However, in 4. Cities with a CSCI of between 0.400 and 0.500;
the case of Nairobi, low population density does not translate into higher levels of 5. Cities with a CSCI below 0.400.
land allocated to streets. In Muthaiga, the proportion of land allocated to streets is
Cities in this group have very poor street connectivity due to low levels of land
similar to that allocated to Kibera. allocated to streets, low street density and low intersection density. Their CSCI
is less than half the highest level of the CSCI, which is 1. The city of Abuja has
 Muthaiga is not densely populated; the land in this neighborhood is more dedicated to a land allocated to street index of 0.500, but an intersection density index of
stand-alone houses within large plots (1 acre or more) than to streets or other public 0.200 that lowers its CSCI. Similar trends have been observed in Accra, Dar es
spaces. Salaam and Nairobi

Land allocated to street example of Kibera slums and Muthaiga in Nairobi

STREETS AS PUBLIC SPACES AND DRIVERS OF URBAN
PROSPERITY
La Rambla in Barcelona, Spain. Thousands of people walk daily by this popular
pedestrian
area 1.2 kilometer-long
City Prosperity Index (CPI) is based on five components which are the spokes of the
wheel of urban prosperity:
• infrastructure development.
• environmental sustainability.
• Productivity.
• quality of life.
• Equity
• social inclusion.

The Composite Street Connectivity Index (CSCI) is an integral part of the CPI and
expresses the determining factors of urban form and structure on city’s
prosperity.
 CITIES WITH A CPI OF BETWEEN CITIES WITH A CPI BELOW 0.500
0.500 AND 0.599
• Four African cities belong to this group, namely, Dakar, Nairobi, Accra and Dar es  Dhaka, Johannesburg, Addis Ababa and Lagos are four cities that belong to this
Salaam. In these cities, except Dakar, the CSCI is below 0.300, a level characteristic group. They have low scores in all the components of prosperity, including street
of under-served suburban areas. connectivity.

• In addition to that Nairobi and Accra suffer from huge inequalities, with wide gaps  It is unacceptable for a city to be considered prosperous when a large segment of its
between the poor and the rich. Although the coverage of water is relatively good, citizens are left behind and languish into chronic poverty.
access to sewerage systems constitutes an obstacle in all these cities. Nairobi has a  Except Johannesburg, in most cities with weak or very weak prosperity factors,
better infrastructure development index than Accra, but scores poorly when it comes much remains to be done in terms of city planning, quality of life, infrastructure and
to equity and social inclusion, compared to Accra and Dar es Salaam. environment. Production of goods and services is still too low, a reflection of
underdevelopment.
 CONCLUSION
1. City Prosperity Index is higher than 0.800 among cities that enjoy high street connectivity,
good infrastructure development, good environmental sustainability, high productivity and
quality of life, and also high levels of equity and social inclusion. They do well in all
components of prosperity, including street connectivity.
2. With good street connectivity, these cities also enjoy high productivity with optimal
commuting time to work and other services. They have a high productivity index associated
with reduced traffic congestion and improved walkability through better street connectivity.
3. In these cities the quality of life associated with health and safety is amongst the highest
globally due to public spaces, green spaces and walkable streets. By promoting walking and
cycling, obesity and related heart diseases will decrease
4. Cities which are at the bottom of the CPI bracket are those that perform poorly in almost all
components of the CPI and for this reason much remains to be done in terms of city planning, Street off Pumwani Road, Nairobi, Kenya
quality of life, infrastructure and environment.
5. Production of goods and services is still too low, a reflection of underdevelopment. Historic
structural problems, poor urban planning, chronic inequality of opportunities, widespread
poverty, and inadequate capital investment in public goods are critical factors contributing to
such low levels of prosperity.
6. Infrastructure for non-motorized transport (e.g. pavements or sidewalks for walking and
bicycle lanes for cycling) is often lacking, poorly developed, on the decline or does not appear
to rank high among city planners’ priorities. This has led to high incidences of traffic fatalities
involving pedestrians and cyclists. To be prosperous, these cities need well-connected streets.

Hardware Lane, Melbourne Australia

 CITY-WIDE
PUBLIC SPACE
STRATEGIES: A
COMPENDIUM
OF INSPIRING
PRACTICES
 UN-HABITAT (2019) CITY-WIDE PUBLIC
APPROACHES FOR CITIES:
SPACE STRATEGIES All cities can use traditional planning tools such as zoning ordinances, land use, and building
A city-wide public space strategy is a comprehensive, action-orientated game plan to secure, codes to incentivize public spaces.
plan, implement and maintain public spaces in a city or town
The benefit of a city-wide strategy is the protection and creation of a network of high-
quality public spaces which if properly distributed can help to reduce inequalities. Rapidly Urbanizing Cities-‘recover and rehabilitate’
They help local governments to: To planning and protecting urban spaces.
(i) Prioritize, spend and plan resources Allocation of resources to their development and maintenance.
(ii) Mitigate the negative effects of site-specific interventions e.g., gentrification Developers to provide public spaces themselves.
Street vending activities may have to be restructured and parkin lots redesigned for use as
public spaces.
Factors affecting/ influencing the creation and usage of public spaces
1. Geographic conditions
2. Cultural behaviors Consolidated Cities –‘improve and densify’
3. Legal framework To enhance public spaces.
4. Economic development Achieved via improving the availability, quality and distribution of good public spaces
5. Existing urban fabric Streets provide an opportunity to reclaim and retrofit existing public spaces
Complete street strategies encourage pedestrian and cyclist activities moving away from the
All cities can use traditional planning tools such as zoning ordinances, land use, and building prioritization of vehicles as dominants of the public open space.
codes to incentivize public spaces.

Unplanned/badly-planned Cities –‘infill and connect’

To establish and improve public places and their connectivity within a city

Shrinking Cities –‘revitalize and renature’

To expanding and improving public space by organizing and restructuring of public spaces from
the periphery to the core of the city.
 Types of Public Spaces
Public space can be grouped into three categories based on accessibility and versatility. The
three discrete groups include
(1) Streets
(2) Open spaces
(3) Urban facilities.
Streets
Thoroughfares that are based inside towns, cities and neighbourhoods most commonly lined
with houses or buildings used by pedestrians or vehicles in order to go from one place to
another in the city, interact and to earn a livelihood. The main purpose of a street is
facilitating movement and enabling public interaction. Moreover, they provide the necessary
rights-of-way for public utilities.

Open spaces
Areas within the urban environment that are freely accessible to the public for use,
regardless of ownership, and are intended primarily for outdoor recreation and informal
activities irrespective of size, design or physical feature. They include: parks, gardens,
playgrounds, public beaches, riverbanks and waterfronts.

Urban Facilities
Publicly-owned facilities might either be accessed freely or in some cases an access fee is
requested. Such facilities typically have operating hours within which people can access
them. These facilities include: civic/community centres, public libraries, public sports
facilities and municipal markets.
A Pattern Language-City Wide Public Spaces Application
Site B Open spaces
Creation of parks and spaces on the riparian land to be
used as recreation spaces and for informal activities.

Pattern 58. CARNIVALS

Introduce promenades, night life and dancing streets which will
allow for activities e.g. street theatre and performances,
preaching and concerts.
Pattern 63. DANCING IN THE STREETS
This is made possible by promenades, small public squares,
music and public out door rooms. We could design for band
stands where bands could perform in squares and parks.
Pattern 60. ACCESSIBLE GREEN
Ensure that people are able to access parks and green outdoor
spaces in three minutes.
Pattern 61. SMALL PUBLIC SQUARES
One can design these in the green spaces/parks that will create
nodes that public streets lead to and out of. They should be able
to accommodate public gatherings, small crowds, festivals and
concerts.
Pattern 66. HOLY GROUND
Retain the Mosque along Digo Road.
Pattern 72. LOCAL SPORTS
Plan for an area with sports facilities where all manner of sports
Streets
and sporting activities can take place unobstructed.
Improve on the already built road
Pattern 73. ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND
network and join roads to ensure
It is essential that there be a small area in public spaces where
there are no cul-de-sacs. Introduce
children are allowed to create and make their own toys using
pedestrian walkways and cycling
materials in the playground. The space could have a junk yard,
paths along the roads and along
highly unfinished raw materials the children can interact with.
the river to facilitate movement
Also playgrounds with swings, slides and swings ought to be
and enable public interaction. Existing Digo Road incorporated into the Master Planning.
TYPOLOGIES OF CITY-WIDE PUBLIC SPACE STRATEGIES
• Data is classified into two categories(cluster) and further analyzed by two elements in each case:
1. Scale and scope analyzed by :
a. Ambition and Practicality
b. Potential Impact
2. Role and governance analyzed by :
a. Means or ends
b. Government led or network led
1. Scale and scope : examines extent of strategy, municipal boundary and contiguous built-up area
2. Role and governance : examines if the improvement of public spaces is the ends (primary goal) or the means (way in which to attain a broader goal) and if the
primary champion/ initiator is/ was a centralized actor.
SCALE AND SCOPE
• This creates a relationship between municipality boundaries, contiguous built-up area and scale of the proposed or implemented strategy. Analysis is in 2 parts :
1. Ambition and Practicality
2. Potential Impact
1. AMBTITION AND PRACTICALITY
 Involves mapping of the following elements:
1. size of area of municipal government , x-axis
2. size of area addressed by the strategy, y-axis
3. net area that results when the unbuilt area within the scope of the strategy is subtracted by the built-up area outside the scope of the strategy (which can be
positive or negative) , z-axis
 Comparing (1) scale of municipal boundary with (2) scale of strategy, we can assess jurisdictional alignment.
 Smaller strategies to municipal boundary suggest functional logic in terms of built up extent of city region.
 Larger strategies to jurisdictional boundaries imply high degree of ambition that may be unmatched by practicality.
 Smaller strategies to jurisdictional boundaries imply high degree of practicality that may not be met by ambition.
2. POTENTIAL IMPACT
 Compares (1) scale of municipal boundary with (3) net unbuilt area within the territory covered by the strategy. The same comparison is done for (2) scale of strategy with (3) net
unbuilt area. With these, we assess the potential impact of a given strategy.
 High degree future potential is characterized by large net unbuilt area within the strategy. This is because, with yet to used land, one can set the stage and rules for land conversion .
 Conversely, public space strategies that may be city-wide in the jurisdictional sense but not cover significant amounts of contiguous built-up land in the functional metropolitan area
can be said to have a relatively low degree of potential impact over future development.
ROLE AND GOVERNANCE
 This is a two dimensional approach that looks at
1. The role of the strategy where the strategy is either seen as a means to a broader goal or as the ends in itself.

2. Governing character of a strategy. The players might be the government of a network approach.

1. MEANS AND ENDS

 A city-wide public space strategy serves as means to other broader social/ economic/ environmental goals in some of the cases and as an ends in itself in other cases.
ATTRIBUTES OF STRATEGIES AS MEANS
 Wider goals denote the claim of broader goals which a pub_x0002_lic space strategy is supposed to serve like climate change.
 Broader frameworks/plans mean the strategy is an element of a plan and/or aligned with other planning documents.
ATTRIBUTES OF STRATEGIES AS ENDS
 Supporting policy, this refers to presence of complementary policies, programs etc. designed to promote the accomplishment of the public space strategy.
 Ad hoc administrative structure for purposes of supervising and implementing a strategy.
 Implementation plan referring to the preparation of implementation plans to realize the strategy goal.
 Special funding specific for the implementation of the strategy.
 Evaluation standard referring to design of an evaluation process in advance and predefinition of evaluation criteria.
2. GOVERNMENT AND NETWORK LED

 What are at both ends of a dimension are sometimes not exclusive to each other. For example, a strategy that is characterized by the participation of diverse actors in the preparation can
be initially started by the municipal government and highly depends on public financing to be implemented.

 Typology here is more a heuristic tool for appreciating the different indications of strategy than a strict framework for normative judgement.

From the table, one can see a fairly strong tendency for governments to
employ city-wide public space strategies as means to wider goals and
for network-led strategies to employ public space as an end it itself.
Strategies that have been designated as ambitious (red) are all
government led. This could be a result of the desire for greater
municipal control of areas driven by government ambition.
ATTRIBUTES OF STRATEGIES THAT ARE GOVERNMENT LED
 Leadership by government agencies that take initiative to develop the strategy and play the lead role.
 Dedicated public agencies designated to be responsible for strategy implementation.
 Public land and its leverage to developing public spaces.
 Public funding and investment in the development of public spaces.
 Legal measures that the government takes to promote the goals underlying a strategy.

ATTRIBUTES OF STRATEGIES THAT ARE NETWORK LED

 Multiple levels of government refer to the engagement of higher or lower levels of government alongside the municipal-level government

 International actors denote the presence of foreign parties in the development of a strategy.
 Community engagement means the inclusion of local communities in preparing, implementing, and evaluating the strategy.
 Private sector consultancy in the development of the strategy.
 Public-private-partnership (PPP) to finance the strategy implementation.
 Flexible land ownerships which thrives on the leverage of privately owned land.

 Local knowledge which highlights the respect for local community’s understanding of their living environment in strategy development.
 RELATION TO A PATTERN LANGUAGE Pattern 71 : STILL WATERS
Pattern 67 : COMMON LAND The provision of the government for resources to provide pools for a
It suggests fewer smaller lands for the people which further accentuates the need for community is them enabling the people to take back the public spaces and
public space strategies to be network led so as to have a greater impact on the area build a network to improve those spaces.
where they are planned for.
Pattern 72 : LOCAL SPORTS
Pattern 68 : COMMON PLAY Networks at ground level may organize communal sports for physical
This involves the connection of play areas for children mainly for social growth. This wellbeing which is more so planning at network level. This type of strategies
is a basis for future well linked networks at ground level. It provides a means for draws from the needs of the community rather than the ambitions of the
which a government-led strategy as a means has a way to have long term impact when government.
passed on to the network as an ends.
Pattern 74 : ANIMALS
Pattern 69 : PUBLIC OUTDOOR ROOMS The government may provide the facilities that allow for sustenance of animal
This is a network led strategy as a means as the community creates the spaces from life as they are more likely to have the resources and know-how on provision.
the resources they have. It increases the practicality of a strategy as the scale is small This empowers the community both mentally and economically as they learn to
enough to work for the group. take care of animals while having reason to protect their habitat.

Connected play Outdoor rooms Still waters