Toward a Definitional Framework for Urban Design

Abstract

The term "urban design", and, indeed, the field or discipline of urban design at a much broader scale, tends to be characterized by vagueness and ambiguity. Responding to this observation, the following essay makes a plea for, and an initial step toward, a definitional framework that aims to identify and define key - heretofore vague - concepts, in order to more directly engage with the meaning and scope of urban design. Three definitions provide the foundations for the proposed framework, which seeks to improve and make consistent the communication between academicians, practitioners, policymakers, and, especially, students and other comparatively uninitiated participants in the urban design discourse.

Keywords: urban design, urban form, urban fabric, planning education