Lesson 1: Introduction to Urban Design & Community Planning

Characteristics of the Urban

From the writing of V. Gordon Childe, 1950
Primary Characteristics
1. Size and Density of Cities
Larger population sizes higher population densities than rural settlements
characterize urban areas. This concentration of people in a limited space is a
fundamental aspect of urbanization.
2. Full – time Specialization of Labor
In urban settings, individuals tend to specialize in various occupations and
professions beyond basic agriculture. Childe noted that cities fostered the
development of diverse skills and trades, contributing to economic growth and
complexity.
3. Concentration of Surplus (Economic Surplus)
The shift to urban living was made possible by agricultural surpluses that allowed
some individuals to engage in non-subsistence activities. This surplus production
could sustain non-agricultural specialists and the overall growth of the city.
4. Class-Structured Society
Urban societies tend to have more pronounced social hierarchies and class
divisions. Childe suggested that the development of cities led to the emergence of
distinct social classes, such as rulers, priests, merchants, and laborers, who each
played specific roles in the urban economy and administration.
5. State Organization (Centralized Authority)
Urban areas often have centralized political and administrative structures. Childe
believed that the emergence of cities led to the concentration of power in the hands
of rulers or governing bodies responsible for maintaining order, enforcing laws, and
organizing public services.
Second Characteristics
1. Standardized, Monumental Architecture
Cities often feature large-scale and impressive architectural structures, such as
temples, palaces, walls, and public buildings. These structures can serve religious,
ceremonial, administrative, and defensive purposes, contributing to the urban
landscape’s distinctiveness.
2. Long-Distance Trade (Trade and Exchange)
Urban areas are hubs of economic activity, often serving as centers for trade and
exchange of goods. Childe emphasized the role of cities as places where
resources from different regions could be gathered, processed, and redistributed.
3. Monumental Public Works
Urban areas require more advanced infrastructure, such as water supply systems,
sanitation facilities, roads, and public spaces. The development of such
infrastructure is closely linked to the growth of urban centers.
4. Writing and Record-keeping
With the growth of urban societies, the need for record-keeping and
communication increased. Childe highlighted the development of writing systems
as a crucial aspect of urbanization, enabling the recording of laws, transactions,
and other important information.
5. Cultural Innovation (Arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy)
Childe believed that the close proximity of diverse groups of people in cities
facilitated the exchange of ideas, leading to cultural innovations and intellectual
development.
Groupings of the Theoretical Approaches
From M. Pacione, 2001 | Grouping of Explanatory Literature on Why and How Cities Start
1. Hydraulic Theory Group
Because large-scale water management needed centralized coordination and
direction, this tended to concentrate settlements.
2. Economic Theory Group
Complex and large-scale trading networks stimulated the growth of urban society.
Supply and demand for resources shaped settlement location and expansion.
 3. Military Theory Group
The need for common protection against an external threat may have caused
population concentration or intensification of preexisting urban development.
4. Religious Theory Group
A well-developed power structure for formation and perpetuation of urban spaces
was often appropriated into the hands of the religious elite. This is unlikely to have
been the sole factor of urbanization.
Defining the Urban
Urban
- Of or belonging to the city. Found in the city or originating from a town.
Rural
- Areas outside of the población (in the Philippines) or CBD where more than 50%
of the population is engaged in agricultural activities. Also refers to areas outside
of a designated urban area.
Urban Design
- The design of towns and cities, streets and spaces. It is the collaborative and multi-
disciplinary process of shaping the physical setting for life – the art of making
places. Urban design involves the design of buildings, groups of buildings, spaces
and landscapes, and establishing frameworks and procedures that will deliver
successful development by different people over time.
Urban Planning
- A process of elaborating solutions that aim both to improve or requalify an existing
urban area, as well as to create a new urbanization in a given region. As a
discipline and as a method of action, urban planning deals with the processes of
production, structuring and appropriation of urban space. In this sense, its main
objective is to point out what measures should be taken to improve the quality of
life of the inhabitants, including matters such as transport, security, access
opportunities and even interaction with the natural environment.
Urbanization
- Growth of the proportion of a population living in urban areas. It takes place when
there is development. It is a process that clearly has a beginning and an end (e.g.
Singapore is 100% Urban).
- Refers to the phenomenon by which a community or settlement gradually or rapidly
acquires an urban character.
How urban is the word today? – the world is 50% urbanized (2010). More than 50% of
the people live in the cities.
Language of Urban
Level of Urbanization
- Proportion of people living in urban areas (Urban vs Non-Urban Areas).
Urban Growth Rate
- Population rate of growth within urban areas
Pace of Urbanization
- Average change in level of urbanization (change in level/time period)
Philippine Urbanization
- Occurs at low levels of development, push and pull factors are prominent, and
labor is absorbed into the service sector, infrastructure does not always anticipate
growth.
Who is the Spatial Planner?
Planners are professionals whose duties and responsibilities include:
- Providing a “Big Picture” to decision makers based on expert technical, procedural,
and legal knowledge.
- Organizing a community to make decisions or sort out debatable issues.
- Protecting and enhancing the natural and built environments in a balanced
manner, in coordination with a team of professionals.
- Designing human settlements and their essential socioeconomic and technical
flows, especially from the site-scale to the metropolitan scale, together with other
related professionals
Urbanism
- Refers to the conditions of life associated with living in cities. This is seen in terms
of changes in values, customs, and behaviors of the population as a result of living
in a city. It is a ‘response to places’, hence can be influence by the urban planner.
- As a perspective sees traditional cities as important to society and to the
development of local culture.
Note:
Areas can have high urbanization but low urbanism, such as in many 3rd World cities
where rural migrants crowd in cities to search for jobs, without necessarily learning more
than the most essential attitudes and behavior of city dwellers. Conversely, there are
countries with low urbanization but high urbanism, where citizens are highly educated
with cosmopolitan attitudes, but choose to live in rural areas, connected only by phone
and internet, for example (Scandinavian Countries).
Suburbanization
- Refers to a process of expansion of the city, primarily of residential areas spreading
into the countryside.
Gentrification
- The transformation of an urban neighborhood into a haven for the well to-do or
“gentry”, either because of direct investment or gradual selective replacement
overtime.
Disurbanization or Counter-Urbanization
- Refers to the overall population loss in an urban area, so that the resulting
agglomeration may shrink in terms of activity, and eventually in actual form as built-
up areas break down.
Planning
- Is a deliberate or concerted effort or activity directed towards the formulation or
production of a combination of strategies, actions, programs, policies, and targets
which will lead to the accomplishment of desired goals. These objectives are
intended for the enhancement and betterment of existing conditions, the
maximization/optimization of benefits from scarce resources, and the reduction
 within tolerable limits of impending undesirable economic, social, political, and
physical occurrences (Philippine Planning Journal).
Urban Sprawl
- The haphazard, unregulated spread of the built-up area that constitutes the city,
as well as the activities that go with it.
Urban Renewal
- Also called urban redevelopment, a program for building modification, alteration,
and selective demolition in medium to high density areas, which can have major
impact on cities, especially when it revitalizes decaying neighborhoods, or
beautifies existing sites.
Urban Classification, National Statistics Coordination Board
Updated August 2014
(https://www.nscb.gov.ph/activestats/psgg/articles/con.urbanrural.asp)
1. In their entirety, all municipal jurisdictions which, whether designated chartered
cities, provincial capital or not, have a population density of at least 1,000 persons
per square kilometer: all barangays;
2. Poblaciónes or central districts of municipalities and cities which have a population
density of at least 500 persons per square kilometer
3. Poblaciónes or central districts not included in (1) and (2) regardless of the
population size which have the following:
a. Street pattern or network of streets in either parallel or right-angle
orientation.
b. At least six establishments (commercial, manufacturing, recreational and/or
personal services);
c. At least three of the following:
i. A town hall, church or chapel with religious service at least once a
month.
ii. A public plaza, park, or cemetery
iii. A marketplace, or building where trading activities are carried on at
least 1x a week
 iv. A public building, like a school, hospital, puericulture and health
center or library
4. Barangays having at least 1,000 inhabitants which meet the conditions set forth in
(3) above and where the occupation of the inhabitants in predominantly non-
farming or non-fishing.
2004 alternative signs of urbanization, NSCB:
- Barangays having population size of 5,000 or more; or barangays having at least
1 establishment with at least 100 employees; or barangays with 5 or more
establishments with a minimum of 10 employees, and 5 or more facilities within
the two-kilometer radius from the barangay hall.
How do we define “the urban”?
- Population Size Measures
- Population Density Measures
- Historical or Customary Designation
- Characteristic Physical Features (Built-up)
- Employment Characteristics
- Legal Declaration
- Income
- Land Area
- Presence of Characteristic Structures (Institutional or Economic)
Types of urban areas
Metropolis/ Metropolitan Region
- (From the Greek “mother city” or mater polis), a big city, in most cases with at least
a million inhabitants (e.g. Manila)
Extended Metropolitan Region
- A region made of metropolitan areas with a distinct character or geography
Megalopolis/Megacity
- An extended metropolitan area, or a chain of roughly continuous metropolitan
areas, as first coined by geographer Jean Gottman (1915-1994); or the growth of
a single metropolitan region to a huge size.
Conurbation
- A term coined in 1915 by Patrick Geddes, Scottish Biologist and Botanist (1854-
1932), to describe a built-up area created by the coalescence of once separate
urban settlements. It is nowadays often used to describe multi-nodal functional
urban units. (e.g. New York Tri-State Region - including 30 counties spread among
New York State, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, with an estimated
population of 21,961,994 in 2007).
World City, or Global City
- A city with a direct and tangible effect on global affairs by socioeconomic means;
its use is often attributed to American sociologist and economist, Saskia Sassen.
Lesson 2: Brief History of Urban Design: Roman, Greek & Egyptian
Aesthetics/Community Architecture (City Beautiful)
Evolution of Settlements
Paleolithic Age
- Nomads and Hunters
Mesolithic Age
- Nomads and Hunters
How do nomads select their places?
- Food
- Potable Water
- Materials for Shelter, Tools, Weapons, Other artifacts
- Safety from predation
- Health and Comfort
- Strategic Location
Secondary Consumers
1st Trophic Level Producers
- Green Plants
2nd Tropic Level (Primary Consumers)
- Herbivores
3rd Tropic Level (Secondary Consumers)
- Carnivores
4th Tropic Level (Tertiary Consumers)
- Secondary Carnivores
Apex Predators
- Vultures
- Eagles
- Lions
- Tigers
Agricultural Revolution
Neolithic Age
Between 10,000 to 8,000 years ago (8,000 to 6,000 B.C.E)
Human groups began to discover that certain edible plants could be cultivated, and that
if the ones with most desirable qualities were selected and properly nurtured, these could
provide for food during lean seasons and augment the diet.
Domesticated Crops
Temperate Zone:
Crops: Wheat, Barley, and Millet
Fruits: Figs and Olives
Tropical Countries
Crops: Rice and Corn
Fruits: Diverse (Abundant)
Domesticated Livestock & Pets
Certain species of animals were domesticated
- Cattle
- Sheep
- Goat
- Pig
Evolution of Settlements
Neolithic Age
- Farmers and Herders
Tools and Material Usage
From Crude to Sophisticated
- The shaping of tools out of available materials determined the advance of building
technology
- All human groups started working with stone and wood
- After the Bronze Age that lasted from around 3,500 B.C. to 1m200 B.C. societies
that learned how to use iron tools, many in the Mediterranean area, soon acquired
district tool-making advantage. This was the beginning of the Iron Age, which
lasted to around 600 B.C., and was followed by historical/classical times.
To Roam Free or to Settle Down?
Mode of Living Features Advantages Disadvantages
Mobility, Seasonal Flexibility, low- Vulnerable to Control by
Nomadic/Semi-
Diet, Small Egalitarian impact, simple Stronger groups, limited
Nomadic
Community technology & lifestyle childbearing (rearing)
Large and Structured Stable Food Supply
Vulnerable to site-
Community, over sort time, Short
Settled specific disaster, may
Permanence, Birth Spacing,
form rigid hierarchies
Characteristic Diet Learning & High Tech
List of Well-Known Ancient Civilizations
- Sumerian
- Indus Valley
- Ancient Egypt
- Ancient China
- Minoans
- Mycenaeans
- Hittites
- Ancient Greece
- Ancient Rome
- Persian Empire
- Maurya Empire
Sumerian Civilization
- Around 4500 BCE – 1900 BCE
- Mesopotamia (Greek word meaning Land between Rivers)
- Tigris and Euphrates (twin rivers)
- Now-Modern day Iraq, Turkey
- Emerged gradually as farming communities settled in the fertile region of
Mesopotamia
Key Features
- Cuneiform Writing
- City-states
- Agriculture and Irrigation
- Social Hierarchy
- Religious Beliefs
- Ziggurats
- Mathematics and Astronomy
The Decline
- Invasions and Warfare
- Internal Strife
- Economic Difficulties
- Environmental Changes
- Rise of New Powers
- Trade Disruptions
Indus Valley Civilization
- Aka “Harrapan” Civilization
- 2500 – 1700 BCE
- Modern day Pakistan and Northwest India
- Developed in the Indus River Valley (aka Sindhu River)
- Has two large cities – Harrap and Mohenjo-daro
Key Features
- Advanced Urban Planning
- Complex Drainage Systems
 - Standardized Weights and Measures
- Writing System
- Trade and Economy
- Craftsmanship and Art
- Agriculture
- Religion and Rituals
- Urban Centers and Granaries
The Decline
- Environmental Changes
- Urban Overuse
- Natural Disasters
- Decline in Trade
- Internal Conflicts
- Migration and Population Shifts
- Health Issues
Ancient Egypt
- One of the most iconic civilizations in the world
- Oasis in the desert of northeastern Africa
- Developed in the Nile River
- 3000 BCE – 332 (lasted over 3000 years)
Key Features
- Hieroglyphic Writing
- Pharaohs and Monarchy
- Pyramids and Monumental Architecture
- Mummification
- Religions and Gods
- Nile River
- Agriculture
- Social Structure
- Art and Culture
- Mathematics and Astronomy
 - Trade and Economy
- Legal and Administrative System
Ancient Greece
- The period between the end of the Mycenaean civilization (1200 BCE) and the
death of Alexander the Great (323 BCE) that significantly influenced later Western
culture in politics, philosophy, and art.
Key Features
Agora
- A central public serving as a marketplace, civic center, and a place for social
interaction
Grid Layout
- Hippodamus of Miletus (498 BC – 408 BC) is considered the father of urban
planning, (was an ancient Greek architect, settlement planner, and philosopher).
Public Baths, Prominence of Temples, Amphitheaters and Theaters, Streetscapes and
Monuments, Planning for Public Events
Ancient Rome
- Beginning in the eighth century BC, Ancient Rome grew from a small town on
central Italy’s Tiber River (the third longest river in Italy) into an empire that, at its
peak, encompassed most of western Asi., northern Africa and the Mediterranean
islands.
Key Features
In Engineering and Architecture
- The construction of aqueducts, roads, bridges, and monumental architecture such
as the Colosseum, Pantheon, and Roman Forum. Their use of concrete
revolutionized construction methods. (Pozzolana – Volcanic Ash).
Cardo and Decumanus
- Roman cities often had two main roads: the “cardo”, running north to south, and
the “decumanus,” running east to west. These roads divided the city into quadrants
and provided easy navigation.
Forum
- The scene of public meetings, law courts, and gladiatorial combats in republican
times and was lined with shops and open-air markets.
Housing Blocks (Insulae)
- High population density led to the construction of apartment – like buildings. These
structures housed a mix of residential and commercial spaces.
Ancient China
- The civilization of ancient China first developed in the Yellow River region of
northern China, in the 3rd and 2nd millennia BCE.
- The Xia Dynasty is considered the first legendary dynasty of ancient China.
- Shang Dynasty marked the beginning of recorded history in China. It established
a system of writing using oracle bone inscriptions, which provides valuable insights
into early Chinese society, politics, and religious practices.
Key Features
City Walls and Layout
- Many cities were surrounded by defensive walls for protection against external
threats. The city layout often followed a grid-like pattern, with streets aligned in a
north-south and east-west orientation.
Street Markets and Commercial Areas
- Commercial districts and markets were important elements of urban planning,
fostering trade and economic activities.
Palaces and Officials’ Residences
- The homes of government officials, nobles, and the emperor were strategically
placed within the city layout, reflecting their status and responsibilities.
Feng Shui
- The concept of feng shui (the way of wind and water – Chinese Geomancy – the
art of placing or arranging buildings or other sites auspiciously), the arrangement
and orientation of buildings to harmonize with natural forces, played a significant
role in urban planning. The selection of auspicious sites was believed to bring
prosperity and balance.
The Forbidden City
- A city within city in Beijing, China.
- A palace a complex that covers an area of about 180 acres and consists of more
than 980 buildings with over 8700 rooms.
- Served as the imperial residence for emperors and their household. It was off-limits
to ordinary citizens, hence the name “Forbidden City.”
- Follows a precise north-south central axis layout. This axis is a common feature in
traditional Chinese architecture and urban planning, reflecting the concept of
cosmic harmony and political authority.
Lesson 3
What is Urban Design?
- Urban Design is concerned with the arrangement, appearance and function of our
suburbs, towns, and cities.
- It is both a process and outcome of creating localities in which people live, engage
with each other, and engage with the physical place around them.
- It involves the design and coordination of all that makes up cities and towns.
Elements of Urban Design
- Buildings
- Public Spaces
- Streets
- Transport
- Landscape
Buildings
- Buildings are the most pronounced elements of urban design.
- They shape and articulate space by forming the street walls of the city.
- Well-designed buildings and groups of buildings work together to create a sense
of place.
Example of Buildings
- Residential Buildings
- Commercial Buildings
- Institutional Buildings
 - Educational Buildings
- Government Buildings
- Industrial Buildings
Public Spaces
- Great public spaces are the living room of the city – the place where people come
together to enjoy the city and each other.
- Public spaces make high quality life in the city possible – they form the stage and
backdrop to the drama of life.
- Public spaces range from grand central plazas and squares, to small, local
neighborhoods.
Streets
- These are the connections between spaces and places, as well as being spaces
themselves.
- They are defined by their physical dimension and character as well as the size,
scale, and character of the buildings that line them.
- The pattern of the street network is part of what defines a city and what makes
each city unique.
Example of Streets
- Main Street
- High Street
- Fore Street
- Overpass
- Skyway
- Freeway
- Boulevard
- Avenue
- Esplanade
- Alley
Transport
- Transport systems connect the parts of cities and help shape them, and enable
movement throughout the city.
- They include road, rail, bicycle, and pedestrian networks, and together form the
total movement system of a city.
- The balance of these various transport systems is what helps define the quality
and character of cities and makes them either friendly or hostile to pedestrians.
- The best cities are the ones that elevate the experience of the pedestrian while
minimizing the dominance of the private automobile.
Example of Transport
- Tricycle
- Bicycle
- Private Automobile
- Sidewalks
Landscape
- It is the green part of the city that weaves throughout in the form of urban parks,
street trees, plants, flowers, and water in many forms.
- The landscapes help define the character and beauty of a city and creates soft,
contrasting spaces and elements.
- Green spaces in cities range from grand parks to small intimate pocket parks.
Example of Landscapes
- Trees along boulevard
- Planters along sidewalk
- Walkways
Lesson 4
Community Architecture
- Architecture carried out with the active participation of the end users. Term also
used to describe a movement embracing community planning, community
landscape and other activities involving community technical aid.
 - According to this book, community architecture emerged as a response to the
failures of mainstream architecture and urban planning to address the needs and
aspirations of ordinary people.
What does an Architect do for Community Architecture?
- The architect in community architecture acts as a facilitator, translator, and
advocate, working closely with the community to create spaces that are
meaningful, functional, and reflective of the community’s identity.
Orientation Exercises for Development Planning and Action in Community
Architecture
- Access to Resources
- Analysis of Tasks
- Logical Framework
- Assessment of Needs
- Participant’s Observation
- Seasonal Diagrams
- Socio-Cultural Profiles
- Village Meetings
- Identifying Sense of Time and Place
Access to Resource
- A series of participatory exercises that allow development practitioners to collect
information and raise awareness among beneficiaries about the ways in which
access to resources varies according to gender and other important social
variables. This user-friendly tool draws on the everyday experience of participants
and is useful to men, women, trainers, project staff, and fieldworkers.
Analysis of Tasks
- A gender analysis tool that raises community awareness about the distribution of
domestic, market, and community activities according to gender and familiarizes
planners with the degree of role flexibility that is associated with different tasks.
Such information and awareness is necessary to prepare and execute
development interventions that will benefit both men and women.
Logical Framework
- A matrix that illustrates a summary of project design, emphasizing the results that
are expected when a project is successfully completed. These results or outputs
are presented in terms of objectively verifiable indicators The Logical Framework
approach to project planning, has been adapted for use in participatory methods.
Assessment of Needs
- A tool that draws out information about people's varied needs, raises participants'
awareness of related issues, and provides a framework for prioritizing needs. This
sort of tool is an integral part of gender analysis to develop an understanding of
the particular needs of both men and women and to do comparative analysis.
Participant's Observation
- A fieldwork technique used by anthropologists and sociologists to collect qualitative
and quantitative data that leads to an in-depth understanding of peoples' practices,
motivations, and attitudes
- Participant's observation entails investigating the project background, studying the
general characteristics of a beneficiary population, and living for an extended
period among beneficiaries, during which interviews, observations, and analyses
are recorded and discussed.
Seasonal Diagrams
- Show the major changes that affect a household, community, or region within a
year, such as those associated with climate, crops, labor availability and demand,
livestock, prices, and so on. Such diagrams highlight the times of constraints and
opportunity, which can be critical information for planning and implementation.
Socio-Cultural Profiles
- Detailed descriptions of the social and cultural dimensions that in combination with
technical, economic, and environmental dimensions serve as a basis for design
and preparation of policy and project work. Profiles include data about the type of
communities, demographic characteristics, economy and livelihood land tenure
and natural resource control, social organization, factors affecting access to power
and resources, conflict resolution mechanisms, and values and perceptions.
Together with a participation plan, the socio-cultural profile helps ensure that
 proposed projects and policies are culturally and socially appropriate and
potentially sustainable.
Village Meetings
- Meetings with many users in participatory development, including information
sharing and group consultation, consensus building, prioritization and sequencing
of interventions, and collaborative monitoring and evaluation. When multiple tools
such as resource mapping, ranking, and focus groups have been used, village
meetings are important venues for launching activities, evaluating progress, and
gaining feedback on analysis.
Identifying Sense of Time and Place
- A growing number of planners and architects are seeking to design communities
that have a stronger "sense of place." Their ideas focus on promoting: a more
compact pattern of development; mixed use (where residential areas are not
isolated from places of employment and commerce); a strong pedestrian
orientation; active civic and community life; close links between public transit and
land use; and higher housing densities.
Types of Architectural Forms in Planning
Centralized Organization
- A linear sequence of repetitive spaces.
Radial Organization
- A central space from which linear organizations of space extend in a radial manner.
Liner Organization
- A linear sequence of repetitive spaces.
Grid Organization
- Spaces organized the field of a structural grid or other 3D framework.
Clustered Organization
- Spaces grouped by proximity or the sharing of a common visual trait or
relationship.
Identity in Community Architecture
Building Organization
Linear Organization
- Repetitive spaces which are alike in size, form, and function.
Central Organization
- Stable, Concentrated Composition
Clustered Organization
- The principal work units are permanent and temporary teams of individuals with
complementary skills
Radial Organization
- Combine elements of both centralized and linear organizations
Grid Organization
- Skeletal structural system of columns and beams