This module explores the design dimension of current planning and development practice, and associated issues of investment and development objectives and processes in the UK. It explores the tensions between central and local government over design matters and the variety of ways that statutory and non-statutory documents can set a framework for local intervention. It examines the built environment preoccupations of the development industry, the design professions, local politicians and the general public and how these perspectives influence the form and quality of villages, towns and cities in the UK. It provides students with an opportunity to develop the design appraisal, evaluation, and improvement skills they have been introduced to in the earlier years of the programme. 

Students will be given the opportunity to improve their graphic skills and document production. This module will be a very useful prelude to a Masters in Urban Design and will assist in the preparation of the design portfolio necessary for admission to such a degree course level.

• understand what might constitute design criteria to guide design and control.
• understand the panoply of urban design policy and guidance in the UK and how this sets a framework for design review.
• understand the roles of landowners, property developers and financial institutions in the commercial and housing sectors and their design preoccupations/requirements.
• understand the preoccupations of the affected public and how their views might be accommodated in any revision to the plans
• evaluate the design qualities of development proposals and develop defensible qualitative judgments and suggestions for improvement.

The module will be presented through a mixture of theory and practice-led lectures and student-led presentations and seminars. The theory-led lectures will be delivered by in-house staff and will present the basic ideas and thinking and introduce the application of key concepts in practice in a range of urban settings, different types and forms of policy and guidance and different types of development. The practice-led lectures will be delivered by well-reputed practitioners and will allow students to learn how the thinking has been applied in practice in particular settings and to experience the results. The student-led presentations and seminars will allow students to practice the thinking in relation to a number of major local projects. 

• To undertake research for the evaluation of the design qualities of a development.
• To learn how to develop design policy and guidance documents.
• To apply appropriate design criteria to make more objective judgments about design quality.
• To present design opinions and defend them orally.

Students will be assessed through two exercises. The first seeks to improve their presentation and design appreciation skills in class, and the second tests their research and analytical skills through a case study of their choice. 

Type of assessment

%

Contribution

Title

Duration
(if applicable)

Approx. date of Assessment

Group presentation

30%

Evaluating the design of recent local developments

20 minutes

Spring

Individual report

70%

Student to determine the design success or otherwise of a major development project elsewhere

2800 words

Spring

Students who fail the module overall will be asked to resubmit the individual report to a pass standard.

Urban Design: its nature, concerns, definitions and principles. The value of good Urban Design. Central Government advice on Urban Design. Urban Design in the development process. Design quality review: methods and review bodies. An overview of design policy in the UK. Design guidance at different scales: design briefs, guides and codes.

• Cowan R. et al. (2010) Quality Reviewer, London, Telford.
• DETR (2000), By Design: Urban Design in the Planning System: Towards Better Practice, London, Telford.
• English Partnerships/Housing Corporation (2002/2007) Urban Design Compendium, Vols 1 & 2, London EH/HC.

• CABE (2004) The Value of Urban Design, London CABE)
• Carmona M. et al (2003) Urban Places Public Spaces, London, Architectural Press
• Cowan, R (2002) Urban Design Guidance, London: Urban Design Group
• Department for Transport/CLG (2007) Manual for Streets, London, Thomas Telford.
• Farrell T (2014) The Farrell Review of Architecture and the Built Environment, Department for Culture, Media and Sport
• Hall T. (2007) Turning a Town Around. Oxford, Blackwell.
• Hopkins, O (2012) Reading Architecture: A Visual Lexicon, London: Laurence King
• Jones, A and Matthews, C (2014) Towns in Britain: Jones the Planner, Nottingham: Russell Press
• Punter, J.V. and Carmona, M.C. (1997), The Design Dimension of Planning: theory, content and best practice for design policies, London, E&FN Spon.
• Punter, J (2010) Urban Design and the British Urban Renaissance, London: Routledge
• Tiesdell S. and Adams D. (2010) Urban design in the real estate development process, London, Wiley.