AR 162: Urban Design Terminologies

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering essential urban design terminology from AR 162: Fundamentals of Urban Design and Community Architecture.

Adaptive Reuse

The capacity of a building or space to respond to changing social, technological, economic, and market conditions and accommodate new or changed uses, such as converting a warehouse or historic building into a gallery or housing.

Block-Busting

The practice of forcing the old population out of an area because of social or racial differences.

Blue Space

An urban design term for visible water—such as waterfront parks, harbors, ports, marinas, rivers, streams, canals, lakes, ponds, and fountains—that improves quality of life and moderates urban heat islands.

Brownfield

Land previously used for industrial or commercial purposes that is polluted or feared to be polluted, often requiring expensive cleanup.

Centralization

An urban ecological process in city land use patterning that refers to an increase in population at a certain geographic center.

Urban Sprawl (Encroachment)

The unrestricted growth and spreading of housing, commercial development, and roads over large expanses of undeveloped land near a city with little concern for urban planning.

Form Follows Nature

An architecture and design technique using shapes and forms found in nature (such as plants, animals, insects, geological, and astronomical shapes) as a central principle of organic architecture and sustainable design.

Urban Fabric

The physical characteristics and texture of an urban area, encompassing streetscapes, buildings, soft and hard landscaping, signage, lighting, roads, and other infrastructure.

Gentrification

The transformation of a city neighborhood from low value to high value, often occurring rapidly as a result of urban-renewal programs.

Genius Loci

The spirit of a place; historically stemming from classical Roman belief in protective district spirits, and modernly used to describe design or practice that matches the culture, environment, traditions, society, and economics of a place.

Greenbelt

A policy and land-use zone designation in land-use planning used to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas.

Invasion

An urban ecological process defined as the entrance of a new population and/or facilities into an already occupied area.

Land Use

The layout and concentration of activities taking place across spatial areas, regulated by urban planning to order development efficiently and ethically to prevent conflicts.

Urban Morphology

The study of urban forms—such as streets, public squares, street blocks, plots, and buildings—and the agents and processes responsible for their transformation over time.

Placemaking

The design of public spaces created in close consultation with city or neighborhood residents, resulting in spaces with popular features for recreation, socializing, and personal reflection.

Resilient City

A city designed to endure physical, social, and economic shocks and stresses by preparing its form and infrastructure for climate change and depleting carbon-based fuels.

Urban Redevelopment

A process occurring in existing urban areas that often involves government rezoning from low-density (single-family housing) to higher-density (mixed-use or commercial) development.

Rehabilitation

An urban policy aimed at requalifying an existing city through intervention strategies that highlight social, economic, and environmental values.

Urban Regeneration

An approach to city planning designed to repair social and economic problems, improve physical/environmental conditions and buildings, and transform obsolete or blighted areas into productive zones.

Slum

An urban region accommodating residents who lack basic necessities to sustain a healthy and safe livelihood.

Neza-Chalco-Itza

Located in Mexico, it is the largest slum in the world, housing almost four million people.

Sponge City

A city designed to passively absorb, clean, and use rainfall in an ecologically friendly manner using permeable roads, green roofs, rain gardens, and rainwater harvesting to prevent flooding.

Sense of Place

A multidimensional, complex construct characterizing the relationship, perception, or feeling between people and spatial settings.

Urban Fringe

The transitional area of land where town meets country, reserved for people seeking proximity to nature or space-intensive industries like airports and wind farms.

Urban Renewal

A land redevelopment program used to address urban decay by clearing blighted inner-city areas and slums to create opportunities for higher class housing and businesses.