Integrative Urban Design
Problem-oriented work is nothing new for students of urban design. Hence, most urban design curricula focus on the implementation of engineering knowledge. However, assessing environmental problems in discussions with scientists opens up very different perspectives. Problems are no longer subdivided into a sequence of merely technical challenges. Instead the teaching approach emphasises the complexity of any assessment. Perhaps here lies the hardest task: to grasp that these more holistic design challenges are first and foremost scientific (in part, too complex for a single answer) and social (a complicated mixture of individual and group actions). Outcomes therefore are largely unpredictable.
The projects included in this publication have implicitly shifted their attention towards achieving a greater understanding of the interweaving of healthcare and urbanisation (and the problems of climate change it is causing) as both play out in their shared environment. By focusing on issues like air quality, cooling, land use, transport, waste, and water, the projects work towards that goal with commendable thoroughness.
ISBN 978-3-9819269-1-0 (softcover) published October, 2017
ISBN 978-3-9819269-2-7 (ebook) forthcoming
https://issuu.com/urbanisationhealthandenvironment/