Includes bibliographical references (pages 346-349).

Urban design is based on planning and design principles that need to meet functional demands on the one hand, but on the other hand bring the design elements together into a distinctive whole. Although designs are almost always dominated by the spirit of the times, the basic compositional principles are, for the most part, timeless.'Designing Cities' examines the most important design and presentation principles of urban design, using selected historical examples and contemporary international competition entries designed by practices including Foster + Partners, KCAP Architects & Planners, MVRDV, and OMA. At the core of the publication is the question of how the projects were designed and what methods and tools were available to the designer. In addition to the classic design that evolves in the mind of the designer, the repertoire is now expanding by means of new, computer-based methods, such as parametric design, in which variable parameters automatically influence the design and provide a range of possible solutions.

Machine generated contents note: Qualitative Traits -- Visual Principles -- Gestalt Laws And Urban Design -- Another Approach To Qualitative Traits -- Proportions -- Proportions In Urban Design -- General Organizing Principles -- The Nongeometric Principle -- The Geometric Principle -- The Relationship of the Parts to the Whole -- Additive Approach -- Divisional Approach -- Superimposition -- Urban Design As A Single Entity (Grand Form) -- "Grid" Design Principle -- The Regular Grid -- The Irregular Grid -- The Tilted Grid -- The Deformed Grid -- The Transformed Grid -- The Superimposed Grid -- Urban Building Blocks -- Classification Of Urban Building Blocks -- Standard Building Blocks -- The Layout of Development Sites, Building Lots, and Urban Building Blocks -- Principles For Combining Development Sites Into Larger Urban Districts And Building Lots Into Development Sites -- Organizing Principles For Urban Building Blocks On The Building Lot -- Road Systems -- Complete Road Networks -- Incomplete Road Networks -- Combinations -- Urban Space -- Squares -- Street Spaces -- Green And Open Spaces -- Representation in Urban Design -- Plans And Drawings -- Legal And Informal Plans -- Plan Types, Drawings, And Models In Urban Design -- Parametric Design -- Oliver Fritz: Possible Applications In Urban Design -- Examples of Best Practice -- Markus Neppl: Development Of The Master Plan For Hafencity In Hamburg -- Rolo Futterer: From Steelworks To City, Belval/Esch-Sur-Alzette -- Leonhard Schenk: Citizens Build A City: The Sudstadt District In Tubingen.