Mor Temor

2- Urban Design

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Every city has its intimate inner pattern: the streets, squares, and other openings that make buildings accessible and livable (Kevin, 1991). Traditional cities, in most of the countries around the world have been formed and developed organically, paying attention to the urban space and creating spaces in accordance with the citizen’s needs of that area can be seen in all cities. Looking at these cities, it can be found out those issues such as social interactions, ease of transportation routes, the role of a square as a place for gatherings and celebrations (even as a landmark) and the role of small shopping center around it have always been considered by city constructors of those periods. Today, because of the changing needs of the society, performing the traditional patterns cannot be a proper response to the needs. However, those patterns that have not undergone so much change in the course of history and time and can be adjusted and updated with the today’s needs, could be found and inserted in the modern city structures.

Urban environments must be legible. It means that they must be easy to understand and we can read them like a book. All these words mean that citizens- pedestrian or equestrian- should easily recognize that where they are, how the city’s environments arrangement is and where they should go for the access to what they need.

In traditional cities, the entrance gate could function as an efficient mark. Although these gates were used as a defensive structure mostly but when a person saw this mark he could feel that he reached the exact city. However, in modern cities the starting part of the city is not obvious. It is just an obscure passing from the suburbs along different stores and generally with ugly facades, uncultivated lands, gravities and … entering the city.

The actual arrival point of in a city or an urban environment whether is a bus stop or a train station or a parking lot, should be concerned for its place and its relation with other parts of the central areas. Also its relation with other parts should be clear so that anyone especially a new comer can recognize it. In addition to all these elements it should shows the arrival point-not any parking lot or any station in any part of the city. Places which can announce that you have arrived to a different city. This work can be done by designing and arranging the different buildings in the arrival point (Anahita, 2009).

As a result, Urban design is the art of giving form to the public realm - the shaping of buildings, streets, squares, blocks, parks, pedestrian streets, workplaces, water and open spaces and their human use. When any one basic component is overlooked, the continuity of the realm is diminished;

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