Normative theories of urban design deal with the question of how to create the best urban environment, or, as Lynch (1981) puts it, Ôhow to know a good city when you see oneÕ. However, what is best is a question of values as well as how cities are conceptualized in terms of what they are for. For some, the most important aspect of a city may be its aesthetic qualities. Although aesthetics may b...

More and more people are concerned about the negative phenomenon resulted by the negative effects of the growing traffic motorization. Traffic congestion is the primary direct impact which became everyday occurrence in the last decade. As world trade is continuously increasing, it is obvious that congestions represent also a growing problem. The capacity of the traffic networks saturates during...

Although urban planning has used computer models and information systems since the 1950s and architectural practice has recently restructured to the use of computer-aided design (CAD) and computer drafting software, urban design has hardly been touched by the digital world. This is about to change as very fine scale spatial data relevant to such design becomes routinely available, as 2dimension...

importance of security and sense of peace is a one of the most important factors of urban environment. therefore, the necessity of security in urban spaces has caused the emergence of authentic theories like defensible spaces and crime prevention through environment design (cpted)*. in this paper, various literatures related to defensible space theories have been reviewed and the related keywor...

This paper presents a literature review on urban design indicators addressing the impact of urban geometry and vegetation on the outdoor thermal environment at the pedestrian level, as urban geometry and vegetation have been regarded as the most influential urban design factors that affect outdoor microclimate. The thermal balance concept is first introduced to elaborate how each component of e...