Urban Design and People [Hardcover]

Michael Dobbins (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470138165 | ISBN-13: 978-0470138168 | Publication Date: April 13, 2009 | Edition: 1

This introduction to the field of urban design offers a comprehensive survey of the processes necessary to implement urban design work, explaining the vocabulary, the rules, the tools, the structures, and the resources in clear and accessible style. Providing a comprehensive framework for understanding urban design principles and strategies, the author argues that urban design is both a process and a collaboration in which the different forces involved are knit together. Moving from the regional scale down to the scale of places, the book examines the goals and strategies of the urban designer from the viewpoints of the private sector, public sector, and community. The text is illustrated throughout with photographs and drawings that make theory and practice relevant and alive.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book is a distillation of what Dobbins has learned in the course of his career, aims to help readers - students, teachers, practitioners and everyday citizens - seize urban design's full potential…the content which ranges from historical observations to current advice, public-spirited philosophizing, and nitty-gritty discussions of the physical, economic, social, and organizational aspects of planning - should prove useful to serious students of public-sector urban design." (New Urban News, Oct/Nov 2009)

From the Back Cover

"Urban Design and People presents an important and critical investigation of people's roles in creating and using their environments. It is a long-awaited guide for students and citizens to engage designers as partners in creating community."
—William Gilchrist, FAIA

The People, processes, and strategies that make good urban design happen

Based on author Michael Dobbins's forty years of practice and teaching in urban design and planning, this text offers an insider's perspective on the day-to-day work of an urban designer. Readers gain a solid foundation in urban design theory, as well as commonsense design strategies and practices that work. The author's straightforward, accessible explanations coupled with plenty of photographs and drawings make everything in the text easy to understand and easy to put into practice.

Starting from the premise that urban designers must understand and work with all of the different forces involved in planning, designing, and developing urban environments, the book sets forth a comprehensive framework for urban design principles and strategies. Throughout the text, therefore, the author keeps readers focused on the importance of three key processes that are essential for effective urban design:

• Actively engaging the community in design and development decisions

• Considering the interests of all parties involved in regulating, building, and using urban spaces

• Coordinating all the disciplines responsible for designing public places, including city planning, architecture, civil engineering, and landscape architecture

With its hands-on, how-to advice, this text enables students and professionals in urban design, as well as community members, to effectively and fully participate in designing urban environments.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (April 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470138165
• ISBN-13: 978-0470138168
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 1.2 x 11.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #450,135 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm a planner, urban designer, architect, and teacher who has practiced mainly in the public sector over the last 40 years. I have come to believe that ordinary citizens can and will be the ones who make a difference in improving the shape of our urban environment. Every development initiative involves the government, the private sector and the citizenry. It's a struggle sometimes, but worth it, to assure community leaders fair representation at the table where the plans get approved. Citizens in the end are the judge of whether we're making our places better or not. We live in a time when citizens' knowledge and access to knowledge - not to mention commonsense - about the shape and condition of their communities is rapidly revving up - and the truisms of experts are unraveling. I dedicate my book and my work to assist this transformation.(google urbandesign.pro for blog)

I have directed planning and urban design agencies in New York City (Staten Island planning), New Orleans (technical director of the Comprehensive River Area Study), Birmimgham (planning director), UC Berkeley (campus planning director), and Atlanta (commissioner of planning, development and neighborhood conservation). Presently, I am a professor of practice in the schools of architecture and city and regional planning at the Georgia Tech College of Architecture.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Student Textbook is Citizen Guide Book Practitioners Reference, May 7, 2009

By 

Chris Siers (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Urban Design and People (Hardcover)

Dobbins wrote this comprehensive introduction to the theory and practice of Urban Design: What it is and how it's done, for his students. Written with humor and commonsense he intended it to also serve as a citizens' guidebook based on successes of citizens who have guided the design of projects and ensured those that benefit their communities get done. Because his practice has been unique in not only knitting together community interests with developers, but also in emphasizing the many professions involved in getting a project past design concept to completion, the book serves as a reference for practitioners to the expertise and turf of the diverse professional disciplines that must respect and work together for projects to get done.