Practical Application of Integrative Rules and Principles of Urban Design: Lessons Learned From the Past

Questions have been increasingly raised by academicians, theorists, and professionals concerning the essence, legitimacy, knowledge base and content and especially methods of inquiry of urban design. These questions were dealt with in an original study for almost four decades, the preliminary results, which were published under the title Toward an Integrative Theory of Urban Design (Bahrainy and Bakhtiar, Springer, 2016). The author's premise in that work was that because urban design is a complex and multifaceted field, the most useful theories and methods are ones that are integrative (e.g. substantive: urban space and activities; as well as procedural: integrative rules and principles: artistic-intuitive and scientific-rational). The main purpose of this book is to introduce an integrative method of inquiry for urban design through illustrating the practical application of the proposed urban design rules and principles. The authors believe this collection will be a great contribution to the understanding and application of the integrative urban design theory and, particularly, its practical rules and principles. This synthesis of theory and practice is expected to prepare thoughtful practitioners in urban design, and therefore, will be of great interest to the professionals, as well as academicians and also the students of urban design, urban planning, architecture, and the art fields.