They suggest qualities such as permeability,.
legibility, varied or mixed uses and visual appropriateness are of foremost importance in urban.
design.
Permeability or accessibility refers to the number of choices people have for routes that can be.
taken to travel through an area. Permeability is reduced by segregating uses and by the use of.
hierarchical street layouts of feeder roads and cul de sacs that have been popular in post war.
suburban development. Both visual and physical permeability is considered important for well.
designed areas.
Legibility is the quality which helps people read and understand where things are in an area. In.
traditional cities, the biggest buildings were the most important buildings and had the biggest.
spaces reserved around them. It was easy to distinguish the major public buildings from the less.
relevant private buildings. In modern cities, there is often little difference between important public facilities such as public administration buildings and even railway stations, from private office buildings. The most prominent sites are no longer reserved for the most important public.
buildings, but are awarded to the highest bidder. Skyscrapers dominate the landscape and look.
the same regardless of whether they are publicly relevant buildings or office buildings owned by.
either private or institutional interests. Kevin Lynch (1960: cited by Le Gates and Stout (1996)).
pioneered studies in legible urban layouts. He suggested features such as nodes, paths, edges,.
landmarks and districts all contribute to legibility in an area.
While visual appropriateness is a more specialised design issue, it encompasses aspects such as.
infill developments respecting and continuing or complementing existing patterns in the.
surrounding built environment. Variety or the concept of mixed uses to create activity and reduce.
the need for mobility (ie the car) is a further concept that is becoming well accepted in contributing to well designed and successful urban areas.