Editing Urban design (section)

==Urban design as an integrative profession==
[[File:L'Enfant plan.svg|thumb|L'Enfant's plan for Washington DC]]
[[File:New Road, Brighton - shared space.jpg|thumb|Gehl Architects' project for Brighton New Road employing shared space]]

Urban designers work with [[architects]], [[landscape architects]], [[transportation engineers]], urban planners, and [[industrial designers]] to reshape the city. Cooperation with public agencies, authorities and the interests of nearby property owners is necessary to manage public spaces. Users often compete over the spaces and negotiate across a variety of spheres. Input is frequently needed from a wide range of [[Project stakeholder|stakeholders]]. This can lead to different levels of participation as defined in Arnstein's Ladder of Citizen Participation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Arnstein|first=Sherry|date=1969|title=A Ladder of Citizen Participation|url=https://www.participatorymethods.org/sites/participatorymethods.org/files/Arnstein%20ladder%201969.pdf|journal=Journal of the American Planning Association|volume=35|pages=216–224|access-date=2019-12-23|archive-date=2020-05-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511051218/https://www.participatorymethods.org/sites/participatorymethods.org/files/Arnstein%20ladder%201969.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

While there are some professionals who identify themselves specifically as urban designers, a majority have backgrounds in [[urban planning]], [[architecture]], or [[landscape architecture]]. Many collegiate programs incorporate urban design theory and design subjects into their curricula. There is an increasing number of university programs offering degrees in urban design at the post-graduate level.

Urban design considers:

*[[Pedestrian zones]]
*[[Incorporation of nature within a city]]
*[[Aesthetics]]
*''[[Urban structure]]'' – arrangement and relation of business and people
*''[[Typology (urban planning and architecture)|Urban typology]], [[Urban density|density]],'' and sustainability - spatial types and morphologies related to the intensity of use, consumption of resources, production, and maintenance of viable communities
*''[[Accessibility]]'' – safe and easy transportation
*''Legibility and [[wayfinding]]'' – accessible information about travel and destinations
*''Animation'' – Designing places to stimulate public activity
*''Function and fit'' – places support their varied intended uses
*''Complimentary [[Mixed-use|mixed uses]]'' – Locating activities to allow constructive interaction between them
*''[[Neighbourhood character|Character]] and meaning'' – Recognizing differences between places
*''Order and incident'' – Balancing consistency and variety in the urban environment
*''Continuity and change'' – Locating people in time and place, respecting [[Cultural heritage|heritage]] and contemporary culture
*''[[Civil society]]'' – people are free to interact as civic equals, important for building [[social capital]]
*Participation/engagement – including people in the decision-making process can be done at many different scales.

=== Relationships with other related disciplines ===
The original urban design was thought to be separated from [[architecture]] and [[urban planning]]. Urban Design has developed to a certain extent, and comes from the foundation of engineering. In Anglo-Saxon countries, it is often considered as a branch under the architecture, urban planning, and [[landscape architecture]] and limited as the construction of the urban physical environment. However Urban Design is more integrated into the social science-based, cultural, economic, political, and other aspects. Not only focus on space and architectural group, but also look at the whole city from a broader and more holistic perspective to shape a better living environment. Compared to architecture, the spatial and temporal scale of Urban Design processing is much larger. It deals with neighborhoods, communities, and even the entire city.