Democratizing Urban Design

Architects and designers have made efforts to democratize urban designs and production for purposes of narrowing the existing gap between the demand for architecture and accessibility to its production. For instance, Isaac’s book of (1974), focused on increasing sensitivity to tools that people would use to make their designs and creations. Urban design issues have risen continuously on many agendas addressing global questions. Cities, where majority people live have consumed a greater number of the world’s resources. Therefore, it can be concluded that urban regions have become the value of a single green building or eco-labelled product which is marginal if not sustained by proper urban infrastructure and a sustainability-oriented culture.

Arguments and talks on the democratization of planning became apparent in the 1960s in Australia, North America and the United Kingdom. There were various reports published on the same topic, for instance, the UK’s Skeffington Report was published to advocate for the public voice in planning processes. All these arguments have philosophically been categorized to have had similar concerns centred on the crisis of expert knowledge, the seeming failure of city-building into the production of environments that meet the needs or expectations of the residents (Sandercock, 2005).     

Urban design plays a significant role in the re-democratisation of a country by securing social function of the public realm (Hunter et al. 2015). The realization of the quality of public spaces and services has resulted in questions regarding democratization of urban designs with major issues for citizenships as well as amelioration of the existing gap between rich and poor (Kruijt, 2007). City planning and urban projects in most major cities are structured to recuperate the city while pursuing to foster the extension of public services and cultural, social amenities to larger groups (Landry, 2012). 

Objectives

The primary objective of this research is to explore and analyze the interrelation between democratizing and urban design in relation to the provision of joint solution to sustainable urban development.

Objective 1: access the compatibility of urban design and dimerization through a review of international experience.

Objective 2: determine the extent to which the current United States planning system advocates and sustains the integration of urban design and democratization.  

Objective 3: explore the current spatial relationship between democratization and urban design in old U.S. urban core.

Objective 4: analyze the perceptions and attitudes displayed by various policy makers and key stakeholders with regards to integration of democratizing urban design.

Objective 5: formulate fundamental principles in relation to policy integration.

Research question

The primary research question guiding the research will be: what are the designers’ democratization techniques and aspects for urban design?

Other research questions that the study will seek to answer include; how to effectively manage a sustainable urban change in a democratizing urban design theory and practices? 

How does the current planning system advocate for integration of democratizing urban design?

What is relationship between democratizing urban design and the existing urban core?

Significance

The research will provide useful information to help understand the relevant theories of urban design. An in depth analysis of theories of urban design including land-use plan and policies, actors involved in project and implementation will be detailed in relation to urban projects. Compressive analysis of the real life practice of urban practice will be detailed in the paper to provide adequate information regarding the practical application of democratizing urban design. Comparison between theories and practices involved in urban design will be presented in the research paper. Democratizing urban design tools that could be applied in the design or project planning process will be pointed out in the research study to help project planners in facilitating quality outcomes. Through the exploration of the tools, a compressive examination of the urban context, encouraging of community involvement and increased understanding of urban design issues will be possible. The research paper will be a good basis for researcher seeking to explore on the topic or issue of democratizing urban designs on a large scale level.    

The success of urban projects require appealing guidelines by the government authority covering public interest, and stakeholders. The continuity of urban culture that is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable to all people would only be possible through condition planning legislation focused on ensuring appropriate development outcomes. Therefore it can be argued that effective management of a sustainable democratizing urban change requires analysis and comprehension of urban design theory and practices. Urban design guides evolutions should be based on reacting to changes in cultural values and defining the consequences concentrating on public interest.

A hypotheses will be formulated for purposes of achieving the research objectives and answering the research question. A counter hypotheses will also be examined to proof the validity of the research.

H1; effective management of a sustainable democratizing urban change requires analysis and comprehension of urban design theory and practices.

H0; effective management of a sustainable democratizing urban change does not require analysis and comprehension of urban design theory and practices.

Bibliography

Hunter, Ruth F., Hayley Christian, Jenny Veitch, Thomas Astell-Burt, J. Aaron Hipp, and Jasper Schipperijn. “The impact of interventions to promote physical activity in urban green space: a systematic review and recommendations for future research.” Social Science & Medicine 124 (2015): 246-256.

Kruijt, Dirk. Fractured cities: social exclusion, urban violence and contested spaces in Latin America. Zed Books, 2007.

Landry, Charles. The creative city: A toolkit for urban innovators. Earthscan, 2012.

Sandercock, Leonie. ”The democratization of planning: elusive or illusory?.” (2005): 437-441.