The first consideration of Urban Design is the public domain. Public domain refers to the layout and design of the streets, infrastructure, parks and squares; and the hierarchy of public space and buildings, community facilities and monuments that represent our urban culture.
Many factors influence the design of the public domain, including the underlying geography and historical pattern of development. In successful urban areas, the public domain provides access to the benefits of the city to all people. Urban Design should ensure the public domain is continuous and that infrastructure, universal access and circulation using public transport is equitably distributed. Urban Design provides the setting for public events and the everyday life of cities and towns focussing on achieving high levels of public amenity and flexibility.
Architecture is a substantial contributor to the design of our cities and towns and which, compared to Urban Design initiatives, occurs over a relatively short time period. Urban Design involving many private property owners takes place over a longer term. Urban Designers have a duty, as guardians of the public domain, to ensure its improvement and increasing sustainability.
The Institute believes that three major concerns require attention by government, Institute members and the community:
The continued expansion of cities and towns into hinterland
The continued expansion of cities and towns into their hinterland is not sustainable and should be checked. In most areas, density and amenity need to be increased in order to maximise the efficiency and sustainability of infrastructure in particular, that of public transport. The Institute does not support government urban policies, for mature cities with existing large areas of developed land, that result in new land releases.
Ensure adequate co-ordination of, and access to, information on the physical characteristics of major cities and towns
Access to comprehensive information on the physical characteristics of our major cities and towns is a fundamental basis for Urban Design practice. Urban Design research provides data on the existing and past composition of cities and towns, and evaluates processes of change in relation to increased sustainability.
Governments at every level are in the best position to secure comprehensive research data to assist Urban Design practice and those interested more generally in cities and towns.
Unwarranted controls over architecture in the private domain extending beyond the interrelationship between the private and public domains
Urban Design also considers the interrelationship between the private and public domains. The private domain is diverse, individual and changing, while the public domain is more continuous, interconnected, cohesive and permanent. The private domain is dependent on the public domain. In turn, control over private land is best derived from its interrelationship with the public domain.
Whilst accepting of this relationship, the Institute believes that the design of the private domain should remain relatively private and free from unwarranted control, unless warranted by public interest. This allows density on private land to be maximised in areas of high public amenity, thus improving the efficiency of infrastructure. Accordingly, the practice of architecture, which is also controlled by legislation, could then ensure reasonable amenity and appropriate building standards, in order to contribute more effectively to the process of change in cities and towns.