A Systematic Approach Towards Creative Urban Design

Abstract

The last few decades have witnessed a shift from utopianism towards systematic approaches in urban design thinking. The shift has been faced by challenges emerging from the mutual belonging of architecture to both art and science domains. In addition to the widely held claims that a knowledge-based urban design approach would restrain creativity, systematic approaches have been challenged by the complex nature of cities. A full account of the conflicting and overlapping variables in urban design is seen to be unfeasible due to the linear nature of design process. For that, we present a prioritized structure model of design thinking that builds on the generic function of movement in cities. On this ground, we prioritize spatially-determined variables over other quantitative and qualitative variables. We implement the prioritized structure in designing a hypothetical city. From our experiment, we conclude that a knowledge-based design approach can help defining the parameter constrains for solution space. In this process, a creative design input is seen to be inevitable to further define design features and allocate functional relationships. It is seen, however; that by externalizing this process we make explicit the dialectic of design hermeneutics. This approach can be of high value as it enables users and other parties to engage in determining the course of actions required to reach to desirable design criteria.