Urban Design for Planners: Tools, Techniques, and Strategies

Urban Planners: Take the Leadership Role in Urban Design Designing a good community entails so much more than architecture. But too often architects lead the discussion on urban design. In her clarion call for real community-based urban design, Emily Talen challenges planners to reengage in urban design to ensure that it supports and promotes diverse, sustainable, vibrant, and equitable communities. This book is a step-by-step guide to observing, analyzing, and designing civic minded, well-functioning, and pedestrian-oriented places. For planners to connect urban design to social objectives, they need the proper urban design tools, and this book provides them. It is organized as an easy-to-use manual of 10 exercises that rely on three types of software: mapping/spatial analysis (GIS), 3-D modeling (SketchUp), and graphics. Anyone with a little background in GIS and a few other user-friendly software programs can get up and running with the exercises in no time. Plus, the book includes an extensive list of discussion questions and additional activities to help planners understand and execute urban design.