Paradigm Shift in Urban Design Principles; From Physical, Social and Perceptual Components towards a Place-Making Approach

This paper provides a review of some of the key urban design approaches and an analysis examining the paradigm shift in urban design principles from physical, social and perceptual components towards a place-making approach. It argues that the place making in the last two decades has become the dominant approach in urban design. Focusing on local communities’ assets and aspiration, place-making seeks to enhance the socio-spatial role of public spaces with distinctive character. Since its emergence and rise to significance over the past 50 years urban design has been defined as a practice that gives shape to the built environment and human settlement. As an activity that has been rediscovered and reinvigorated in recent years, urban design has become a serious and significant area of academic literature, as well as the public policy and professional practice. The term ‘urban design’ came into currency in North America in the late 1950s, replacing and superseding the more traditional and the term ‘civic design’ with its narrower scope. Traditional approaches, before the early stages of urban design formation, mainly concerned with the superficial and architectural aspects; predominantly product-oriented, which focused on physical, aesthetic and visual factors of urban spaces, rather than on the social aspects. The essential value of townscape approach developed in the early 1960s lies in its uninhibited, personal and expressive response to space. Despite being greatly criticized, townscape tradition is often regarded as an artistic approach to urban design, in which the sense of place and public perception has generally been neglected. Between early 1960s and1980s, the physical components paled into insignificance in comparison with the social approach. Attempts to develope a more comprehensive framework began to be published in the 1970s and 1980s. There were several publications in which re-formulation of aesthetic factors were based on human behavior, aspirations and expectations. These design considerations were explicitly reflected in design criteria, resulted in emerging a number of principles. Synthesizing the earlier approaches, urban design faced with urban space as an aesthetic entity and behavioral setting with the conception of diversity, activity and integrity. The main consequence of this broader idea was place-making notion in early 1990s, - the new interest in urban design as a form of - and a contribution to - primarily resulting from a process-oriented approach to urban design, in which, the quality of the public realm – (both physical and socio-cultural)(– as well as making and managing the meaningful ‘places’ for people to enjoy and utilize have substantially been concerned. More recently, the quest for more sustainable urban form has become a more explicit component. Places are of crucial importance for enhancing the true meaning of urban life and increasing the sense of place, social cohesion and interaction. The method applied in this work is largely descriptive and interpretive based on secondary data analysis. This article, with a substantial contribution from the literature of the past five decades, concludes the rising significance of place-making approach in design principles with emphasis on sustainable development. The evidence shows that a good design ensures attractive. Usable, durable and adaptable places; and is a key element in achieving sustainable development.