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Design for Diversity
The city is more than just a sum of its buildings; it is the sum of its communities. The most successful urban communities are very often those that are the most diverse – in terms of income, age, family structure and ethnicity – and yet poor urban design and planning can stifle the very diversity that makes communities successful.
Just as poor urban design can lead to sterile monoculture, successful planning can support the conditions needed for diverse communities. Emily Talen explores the linkage between urban forms and social diversity, and how one impacts the other. Learning the lessons from past successes and failures, and building from detailed case studies of different neighborhoods, Design for Diversity provides urban designers and architects with design strategies and tools to ensure that their work sustains and nurtures social diversity.
Just as poor urban design can lead to sterile monoculture, successful planning can support the conditions needed for diverse communities. Emily Talen explores the linkage between urban forms and social diversity, and how one impacts the other. Learning the lessons from past successes and failures, and building from detailed case studies of different neighborhoods, Design for Diversity provides urban designers and architects with design strategies and tools to ensure that their work sustains and nurtures social diversity.
252 pages, Paperback
First published March 12, 2008
57 people want to read
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February 1, 2017
Much food for thought! Digging into these concepts and suggestions has made me think a lot more about the subtle things that are woven into town planning and design that I'd totally taken for granted.
According to interviews she conducted, lots of people think diversity is great, but haven't really considered the role design plays in facilitating that. Interestingly, a lot of her proposals seem to match things that have been implemented in Singapore already, like creating semi-enclosed neighbourhood spaces and playgrounds to unite families over the care of their kids. On the contrary, despite racial quotas in HDBs and stuff, how much interracial interaction do we get to see? How much of any interaction at all?
(A: actually it was a pretty awesome amount when I was a kid running around the blocks with the other kids)
Ultimately a healthy balance of diversity is something that needs an integration of both top-down and bottom-up initiatives to help sustain the stable growth of a diverse community. And the possibilities for design to play a part in them are endless and exciting.
According to interviews she conducted, lots of people think diversity is great, but haven't really considered the role design plays in facilitating that. Interestingly, a lot of her proposals seem to match things that have been implemented in Singapore already, like creating semi-enclosed neighbourhood spaces and playgrounds to unite families over the care of their kids. On the contrary, despite racial quotas in HDBs and stuff, how much interracial interaction do we get to see? How much of any interaction at all?
(A: actually it was a pretty awesome amount when I was a kid running around the blocks with the other kids)
Ultimately a healthy balance of diversity is something that needs an integration of both top-down and bottom-up initiatives to help sustain the stable growth of a diverse community. And the possibilities for design to play a part in them are endless and exciting.
Displaying 1 of 1 review