New Urban Design Interest Group
In 1999, a group of planners in Ontario established the OPPI Urban Design Working Group. The group and its activities generated a great deal of interest. Thus it was a natural step to expand the idea at the national level.
Following the workshop we organized at the CIP/OPPI Conference in Ottawa, in July 2001, we had a brief meeting with circa 20 planners from across Canada and discussed this idea. They agreed to pursue this initiative and three of our representatives met with the CIP executives (David Palubeski, then CIP President, Steven Brasier, CIP Executive Director and Robert Shipley, Plan Canada Editor). They welcomed our idea and we submitted a formal application to the CIP Council, which was approved in November 2001.
Principles, Goals and Activities
We have adopted the following general principles:
- Urban Design is an integral part of the planning process. Good planning includes good urban design as an important element in achieving livable, successful communities.
- Urban Design is a multi-disciplinary activity involving planners, architects, landscape architects and engineers working together to create and implement a vision for our cities, towns and villages, for our neighbourhoods and for new and existing developments.
- Urban Design is a participatory activity, where the professionals involved communicate with the public, with the politicians and government representatives and with the development community.
The goal of the group is to play an active role at the national level of advocacy, advisory, research, communication, outreach and education.
What is Urban Design?
There is no commonly agreed definition of Urban Design. For the purpose of our site, we have adopted a definition written by one of the contemporary authorities in this domain:
"Urban design is the generally accepted name for the process of giving physical design direction to urban growth, conservation, and change. It is understood to include landscape as well as buildings, both preservation and new construction, and rural areas as well as cities."
Jonathan Barnett
Some contemporary concepts focus on the very important role urban design plays in place-making:
"Urban Design draws together the many strands of place making: environmental responsibility, social equity and economic viability for example - into the creation of places of beauty and distinct identity. Urban Design is derived but transcends related matters such as planning and transportation policy, architectural design, development economics, landscape and engineering. It draws these and other strands together. In summary, urban design is about creating a vision for an area and then deploying the skills and resources to realize that vision."
Urban Design Compendium, English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation, Llewelyn-Davies, UK, 2000
This section of the website is currently under review and will be updated soon. If you have any questions or are interested in the New Urban Design Interest Group, please contact Alex Taranu, NUDIG coordinator - alex.taranu@city.brampton.on.ca