THIS is why we need Urban Design.

[Module 1]

So when being first introduced to Urban Design i thought my personal experience with architecture would give me some insight to the field. It did, but by far not enough. The fact that all building disciplines deal with urban design and study urban design then why do we need urban designers? I went on and did some research and found some examples and articles and will go over some projects and aspects why we DEFINITELY need Urban Designers and not just other disciplines that know the general aspects.

• First i wanted to take a look at San Diego, CA. Now San Diego is one of the safest large cities in the country however often inhabitants of the city do not feel this way. This is not because of crime or persons in general it is because bad urban design has made streets feel isolating and uncomfortable. There is a theory that states that having an architectural visualization of public or private through doorways, walkways, frontyards, and signage (meaning private) and increase the experience of sidewalks, parks, and streets (meaning public). Often sidewalks become this comfortable private/public mixed space through houses, or businesses facing the street and the tree line being a wall on the other end acting almost as an enclosure, much like and outdoor room. Now the problem is San Diego has many desolate streets and sidewalks; they run along blank facades, parking lots, and vacant lots, and completely open to the streets. This keeps residents a feeling of being vulnerable which is often uncomfortable. Without the notion of doors, windows, yards and a general idea of eyes on the street one quickly feels unsafe. One issue specific to San Diego is parking garages entering the street this might be ideal for cars however as a pedestrian you are forced to walk between a blank wall and a deep hole in the ground, which already sounds like an uncomfortable ordeal. The image below shows the bad urban design streets (top) and good urban design streets (bottom).

• Now that we have seen a real life example i wanted to short list some issues that come out of bad urban design (often created by non urban designers). 
• Failing to do consumer research: often none urban designers (and sometimes urban designers) forget to do research on what the community or the residents actually want. 
• Forgetting about other options: Its not all about the building and infrastructure often designers forget about extra services that make quality of life better or life more sustainably sources. For example there is bike storage, horticulture projects, or a ride share spot. 
• Designing green spaces the public doesn't want: often green spaces are put into design just for the sake of being there or for the sake of being there is a green space in my design. This means that often these spaces are not thoroughly designed and in turn are not used the way they are meant to be used or are not used at all.  
• Not designing with community in mind: this might sound similar to dealing with community wants but this deals with designing without keeping in mind community interactions. This means we have to design to keep a healthy community dynamic, instead of closing people off from each other. 

After looking at the example and the short list i think it is clear we need the expertise of urban designers to keep our quality and comfortability up as well as keeping us connected to each other.

~ Hanna

"How Bad Urban Design Makes San Diego Feel Unsafe." Voice of San Diego. September 30, 2015. Accessed September 05, 2017. https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/land-use/how-bad-urban-design-makes-san-diego-feel-unsafe/.

Mookerjee, Claire, and Project Lead for Urbanism at Future Cities Catapult. "Five urban design mistakes that create unhealthy and inactive communities." The Guardian. July 28, 2015. Accessed September 05, 2017. https://www.theguardian.com/housing-network/2015/jul/28/urban-design-mistakes-unhealthy-inactive-communities.