Applied Urban Design: A Contextually Responsive Approach bridges the persistent gap between urban design theory and practice, giving designers a structured, four-step framework that moves from strategic analysis through to technical design delivery across varied local contexts.
About This Book
Urban design too often splits into competing camps: the aspirational and the procedural. This book refuses that division. Authored by Philip Black, Michael Martin, Robert Phillips, and Taki Sonbli, it constructs a coherent methodology that addresses why we design, who we design for, and how we actually do it — simultaneously. The framework moves through strategic and local-scale analysis, urban design programming, design development, and technical resolution. What distinguishes it from comparable texts is its multiscalar, contextually responsive approach: the same method is tested against two live case studies in Aalborg, Denmark and Manchester, UK, demonstrating how the framework adapts across radically different urban conditions. Essential reading for practitioners and students serious about place-making at every scale.
Key Features
- 335 pages of analytical frameworks, design methodology, and original visualisation techniques including diagrams, plans, and site photography
- Authors: Philip Black, Michael Martin, Robert Phillips, and Taki Sonbli
- Live case studies in Aalborg, Denmark and Manchester, UK, supported by the authors' own images and graphics
- Published by Routledge, ISBN 9780367897543
What You'll Discover
- A four-step design framework spanning strategic analysis, urban design programming, design development, and technical design — applicable from appraisal to delivery
- How functional blueprints, liveable qualities, contextual dynamics, and technical components interact to define quality urban design outcomes
- The specific role of urban designers in shaping spaces across differing local contexts through a responsive and multiscalar methodology
- International best practice examples that demonstrate how design visualisation techniques and methods communicate intent across scales
About the Author
Applied Urban Design is co-authored by Philip Black, Michael Martin, Robert Phillips, and Taki Sonbli. The team brings together expertise across urban design practice, education, and research, with the case study work and original graphics drawn directly from their own professional and academic projects.
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 335
- Dimensions: 28 x 21 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780367897543
- Publisher: Routledge
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Urban design practitioners, architecture and planning students, academics teaching design methodology, and local government designers working across mixed-scale contexts.