The four schools of urban from mapped out in Jonathan Barnett’s text City Design: Modernist, Traditional, Green, and Systems Perspectives represent not only evolutions in critical theory (and definitions) of urban form, but also the lasting legacy cultural / social forces continue to have on the built environment. As contemporary culture & behaviors continue to shift demand landscapes and development patters these traditional forms will be defined, and made hybrid; taking outside of the textbook.
The four traditional approaches are broadly defined as Modernist, Traditional, Green Urbanist and Systems-based.
Modernist
Building spaces that prioritize hygiene, sunlight, separation of uses, open space, auto-oriented streets and the use of technologies. This school of thought was known to overlook historic preservation, and perpetuate social inequities. As described in the Charter of Athens:
“the city should be examined in the context of its region of influence. A plan for the total economic unit — the city-region — must replace the simple master plan of a city”.
Form in practice: Although Le Corbusier couldn’t get his way with his “Plan Voisin” Paris still boasts strong manifestations of the modernist influence. On one of the biggest scales, Corbusier’s own design stands tall as a representation of key modernist values: high-density, single use residential, prioritizing parking spaces & private auto, specific colorways, and use of mixed raw materials. The building configuration was built as a public housing shelter.
Traditional
Urban form prioritizing compact, walkable neighborhoods, with mixed uses, high access to transit, and a focus on historic preservation of form & architecture.Theories in New Urbanism have expanded the approach. From Jane Jacobs and William Whyte to Allan Jacobs and Donald Appleyard, traditional urban form is making a comeback for it’s ability to create spaces that are “comfortable, enjoyable, and participatory”.
Form in Practice: The Marais neighborhood is an archetypal representation of traditional tenets of urban design. Not only do the minor collector / local streets make for hyper-connected networks, but they also encourage pedestrian traffic with short sidewalks and corners leading to mixed use buildings. We can see that natural designs/ public spaces live within the enclosures “courtyards” of buildings. The Musée National Picasso which is housed in the original Hôtel Salé built in 1630–164044, has been preserved to maintain & even highlight the building’s traditional baroque design & public gardens.
Green Urbanist
With a focus on the natural environment and ecology, the green approach builds around contours of land as opposed to through them. From Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Cities, to Ian McHarg’s seminal text Designing with Nature, this approach ushered in the original notion of sustainable form. With a natural landscape and environment ever more subject to vulnerabilities Green city design is currently employed in many streams of resiliency & flood planning.
Form in practice: Though this urban escape / public park includes man-made lakes & manicured paths, it stands as a beacon of natural spaces & ecological preservation for the city of Paris today. Informal attractions & commercial shops have emerged along the internal paths of the park creating designs made to fit into the landscape. The park is now one of the largest honey-bee keeping retreats and plays home to a wide range of native & biodiverse wildlife/greenery all maintained by an intricate drainage & hydraulic network.
Systems
Emerging as a response to the overly compartmentalized act of planning & implementation (over long-term periods) systems city design calls for creating control systems within plans that can maintain the integrity of an original plan, while also allowing for flexibility to contemporary needs. Barnett notes that zoning itself is considered one such manifestation of the approach, created to ensure congruity, consistency, and designated codes. Using the tools at our current disposal, systematic planning is implemented through ‘pre-formative’ design functions that can be algorithmically manufactured.
Form in practice: The 15-minutes from chez moi plan is calling for the development of a system-wise design approach that would effectively impact how every element of Parisian neighborhoods are built, zoned, populated, and scaled for years to come. Creating a concentric set of commercial, residential, and transport needs would make it so that every part of the neighborhood becomes part of a larger "movement system rather than as an urban space" (Jonathan Barnett).
What could the future of urban form look like?
Algorithmically enhanced as base standard
Green infrastructure as foundation
Multi generational and multi use as zoning standard
(Please email for complete review of trends & forecasts)
Sources:
Barnett, Jonathan. 2011. City Design: Modernist, Traditional, Green, and Systems Perspectives, New York and London, Routledge, pp. 1–12; 203–211
Congress Internationaux d’Architecture moderne (CIAM), La Charte d’Athenes or The Athens Charter, 1933. Trans J.Tyrwhitt. Paris, France: The Library of the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, 1946.
Allan Jacobs & Donald Appleyard (1987) Toward an Urban Design Manifesto, Journal of the American Planning Association, 53:1, 112–120, DOI: 10.1080/01944368708976642
