Drawing for Urban Design

"Drawing for Urban Design" explores a range of ways to represent the city, from freehand sketching to the sophisticated interactive computer model of the city of the future. There are many ways to engage with images of the city by exploring and considering what exists as well as imagining future ideas for the development of the city. Many professionals need to describe city environments in the course of their work. This can be done through maps, sketches, computer renderings or models. This book provides an introduction to these techniques while explaining the processes associated with describing and designing urban environments. Following a brief introduction the book is divided into five parts. Chapter one traces the historical context of urban design. Chapter two explores traditional and contemporary methods of drawing and representing cities. Chapter three introduces and describes a range of tools and techniques for analyzing and mapping cities and urban spaces. Chapter four deals with the imagined city of the future and the virtual city, and chapter five showcases eight masterplanning projects from around the world by internationally renowned architects, ranging from the regeneration of a historic environment to the creation of an entirely new city. This book is illustrated throughout with examples of representations of the city created using a range of techniques, from simple freehand pencil sketches through to the most complex CAD visualizations and computer mapping techniques. This book will provide the architecture and urban planning student with an invaluable visual grammar for representing the contemporary city.