Sub.

By:-
ROHIT TANGRI 15120081
SABHYATA 15120083
SAURABH RAJ 15120085
BATCH -2015
Typology; is concerned with the basic
structures which are perceived as a strong
image. A settlement, a street, a village, a
house, a space may become a strong image as
a result of spatial totalities. The components
of the typology are;
 c.1. Type

 c.2. Activity patterns

 c.3. Circulation patterns.

Urban patterns find their unique presence by
the elements that repeat in various forms. The
similarities of forms or patterns may be
graped into common features which is called
typologies. This grouping may be in the
patterns of spaces-squares-buildings, streets urban
blocks types, etc. These types may be
universal or culturally defined.
Type is defined as the general form, structure or
character distinguishing a particular kind, group,
or class of being or objects -hence a model after
which something is made.

Urban typologies connote the forms of spatial

organisations in the settlements. Culture is the
prime force that develops settlement types by
trials in long time periods reaching to solutions
which become reference for evaluation of new
types.
 Type is concerned with the particular type of
room or building which is perceived as a strong
image.In contrast to topology, typology analyses
spatial totalities and functional aspects of the
environment including activity patterns.

Activity patterns: There is reciprocal relationship

between function and activities that occur within
a place. What happens in the environment in
terms of social and cultural activities is of
importance in urban design. From behavioural
point of view activity types include dwelling,
shopping, working, playing, meeting, etc.
An emphasis on typology is characteristic of New
Urbanism. New Urbanists believe it is important to
match the physical development characteristcs of a
place within the appropriate typology for that
place, as determined by local preferences taken in
context with urban patterns as evidenced
throughout history. Modernists, in keeping with
their general disinclination to keep within the
constraints of tradition and hierarchies of patterns,
are less likely to focus on identifying the correct
typology of a site.
 URBAN DESIGN
Planners use terms such as rural, urban, and
suburban to characterize our environment. This
“urban typology” is a common language we can
use to describe our region. we’ve defined some
of the most common terms below:
• Urban typology(2000)
• Urban typology(2007)
Urban Cluster (UC) is a classification used by the
United States Census Bureau to define major
metropolitan areas. It is used to measure the size
of an urban area that extends across city, state,
and/or county lines. Urban clusters by definition
contain fewer than 50,000 people. An urban area
containing 50,000 or more people is defined as an
Urbanized Area.
 An urban area is characterized by higher population
density and vast human features in comparison to
areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities,
towns or conurbations, but the term is not
commonly extended to rural settlements such as
villages and hamlets.
The urban fringe generally consists of contiguous
territory having a density of at least 1,000 persons
per square mile.
 The urban core is the dense center of an
urban area. This is the area along our major
freeways that extends from Onion Creek in
the south to downtown Round Rock and
Cedar Park in the north.
oA metropolitan area refers to a labor market, or the area
from which the urban area draws its employees . The
boundaries of the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area
fall within the Capital Area.
o Suburban areas are commonly defined as
residential areas on the outskirts of a city or
large town. Residents of suburbs tend to live in
single-family homes and commute by
automobile to work. Suburbs tend to have some
degree of political autonomy and lower
population density than urban neighborhoods.
This is the portion of the urban area outside the
urban core. Great Hills, Forest Creek, and Plum
Creek are examples of suburban areas.
oExurban areas refer to non-rural development that
is within a metropolitan area, but outside the urban
area. Exurban areas can simply be suburban areas
separated by rural territory from the principal urban
area, or large lot residential development that is not
of sufficient density to be considered urban and is
not agricultural.
Types of open spaces and their characteristics:
 PUBLIC PARKS
o Public/Central Park
Publicly developed and managed open space as part
of zoned open space system of city; open space of
city-wide importance; often located near center of
city; often larger than neighborhood park.

o Downtown Parks
Green parks with grass and trees located in
downtown areas; can be traditional, historic parks or
newly developed open spaces.
o Commons
A large green area developed in older New England cities and
towns; once pasture area for common use; now used for leisure
activities.

o Neighborhood Park
Open space developed in residential environments; publicly
developed and managed as part of the zoned open space of
cities, or as part of new private residential development; may
include playgrounds, sport facilities, etc.

Mini/Vestpocket Park
Small urban park bounded by buildings; may include fountain or
water feature.
 Squares and Plazas
o Central Square
Square or plaza; often part of historic development of city
center; may be formally planned or exist as a meeting
places of streets; frequently publicly developed and
managed.

 Memorials
Public place that memorializes people or events of local
and national importance.

 Markets
o Farmers Markets
Open space or streets used for Farmer's Markets or Flea
Markets; often temporary or occur only during certain
times in existing space such as parks, downtown streets or
parking lots.
 Streets
o Pedestrian Sidewalks

Part of cities where people move on foot; most commonly

along sidewalks and paths, planned or found which connect
one destination with another.
o Pedestrian Mall

Street closed to auto traffic; pedestrian amenities provided

such as benches, planting; often located along main street in
downtown area.
o Transit Mall

Development of improved transit access to downtown areas;

replacement of traditional pedestrian malls with bus and
"light rail" malls.
o Traffic Restricted Streets
Streets used as public open space; traffic and vehicle
restriction can include pedestrian improvements and sidewalk
widening, street tree planting.

o Town Trails
Connect parts of cities through integrated urban trails; use of
streets and open spaces planned as setting for environmental
learning; some are designed and marked trails.
 Playgrounds
o Playground
Play area located in neighborhood; frequently includes
traditional play equipment such as slides and swings;
sometimes include amenities for adults such as benches; can
also include innovative designs such as Adventure
Playgrounds

o Schoolyard

Schoolyard as play area; some developed as place for

environmental learning or as community use spaces.
 Community Open Spaces
o Community Garden/Park

Neighborhood spaces designed, developed or managed by

local residents on vacant land; may include viewing gardens,
play areas, and community gardens; often developed on
private land; not officially viewed as part of open space
system of cities; often vulnerable to displacement by other
uses such as housing and commercial development.

o Greenways and Linear Parkways

Interconnected recreational and natural areas connected by
pedestrian and bicycle paths.
 Urban Wilderness
Undeveloped or wild natural areas in or near cities. Often popular
for hiking, dog walking and recreation. Frequently involves
conflicts between users and ecological preservation/restoration.

 Atrium/Indoor/Marketplaces
o atrium
Interior private space developed as indoor atrium space; an
indoor, lockable plaza or pedestrian street; counted by many
cities as part of open space system; privately developed and
managed as part of new office or commercial development.

o Marketplace/Downtown Shopping Center

Interior, private shopping areas, usually freestanding or
rehabilitation of older building(s); May include both interior
and outdoor spaces; sometimes called “Festival
marketplaces”; privately developed and managed as part of
new office or commercial development.
 Found/Neighborhood Spaces
o Everyday spaces
Everyday Spaces Publicly accessible open places such as
street corners, steps to buildings, etc., which people claim
and use.

o Neighborhood Spaces
Publicly accessible open space such as street corners, lots, etc.
near where people live; can also be vacant or undeveloped
space located in neighborhood including vacant lots and
future building sites; often used by children and teenagers,
and local residents.

 Waterfronts
o Waterfronts, Harbors, Beaches, Riverfronts, Piers,
Lakefronts
Open space along waterways in cities; increased public
access to waterfront areas; development of waterfront parks.
 Many planners instinctively understand, however,
that the patterns of buildings and open spaces
comprising an existing environment are
fundamental to the creation and preservation of
the context. In other words, the basis of the
coherence they seek to restore (or preserve) with
aesthetic controls is typological. Aesthetic control
as commonly practiced fails to address the real
reasons for the visual blight it is meant to remedy.
Facade control
The most common definitions are associated with
generic building programme. These definition
have these components:
o A type is characterized by a certain
morphological configuration governing its
internal organization and its relationship to
adjacent structures and spaces. For example
whether a house has a porch, how it sits on its
lot, and how much spaces exist between
adjacent houses could be defining
characteristics of a type.
o The elements of a given type usually have “global”
functions associated with them such as circulation,
entry, public space, private space and so on.
Specific functions such as sales, reading, learning,
etc. are not considered aspects of a type. A
building designed for a specific use may change its
function over time without undergoing a
typological transformation.
o Types exist at a variety of scales. Individual
buildings (even rooms) may belong to a type; so
may streets, blocks and entire urban districts, The
typologies found at the urban scale are of course
much different than those found at the scale of
individual buildings.
o The typology at a given scale is partially
determined by those at smaller scales which are
present in the same environment. A given type of
two- family house, for example, tends to create
certain Street types which in turn tend to create
certain block and district types.
o There may be critical scale relationships among the
elements of a given type which must be respected.
This is sometimes necessary if the exemplars of
the type are to insert themselves properly in the
typological hierarchy of their urban environment.
For example, the proportion between the solid
base of a storefront and the glass above it cannot
vary too much from building to building if a street
type requiring a row of such storefronts is to be
created.
Urban coherence depends much more on typological
consistency defined in this way than on uniformity of
architectural style, signage, materials or colors. It is easy
to see why this is so often overlooked. Historically, a
certain type evolves in association with particular styles
and construction techniques based on certain materials.
When people visit a well-preserved historic town,
they see both typological and stylistic/material
consistency. If a community’s goal is to create a
coherent physical environment capable of
adapting to changing conditions (rather than to
recreate a “vintage” atmosphere), it is much
better served to look at its typological structure
than the details of its building architecture.
By basing design controls on typology, the
legitimate goals of design guidelines can be
achieved while eliminating most of the problems
with routine design guidelines practice. The
result is a flexible and responsive system which
respects the historical continuity of the city
without embalming the architecture. Since
typology reflects the complex, organic
relationships among such urban factors as
economics, function and social structure, basing
design controls on typology tends to reflect
ongoing processes of change and growth within
The concept of type is different from style or use. For
an example, look at the two commercial types. These
buildings have a variety of appropriate uses and these
uses may change over time. They may be detailed with
different style characteristics: classical, modern, and so
on. While these aspects of design are important for the
individual building, in the context of the whole
community it is the adherence to the type that builds
consistency. Buildings of different styles and uses can
sit very comfortably side by side if they have certain
elements in common. Types help define fundamental
relationships between a building and its neighbors; how
it sits on its site and how it relates to the street and the
sidewalk.
The following summarizes the advantages of using typo
morphological analyses as the bases for urban design
guidelines:
1. Analysis helps establish why things look and operate
the way they do. Simply observing a “hodge podge” is
not definitive enough a diagnosis to begin treatment. In
sorting out the aesthetic problems, for example, one of
ten finds that the underlying typological order of the
area is quite sound, while the aesthetic problems are
really problems of maintenance, economic
obsolescence, subtle transformations in progress, or (as
in Fairborn) conditions of morphological change outside
the study area.
 2. Although the analysis and the subsequent urban
design guidelines are unique and precisely developed
for a particular area, many types are common to towns
and cities through the region. It is valuable to have a
store of comparative experience with typomorphology
to aid the diagnosis of urban design problems.
3. Design guidelines or controls which use typology as a
basis are relatively easy to translate into regulation,
even with a typical zoning code. Zoning codes already
regulate setbacks and height. By rethinking the code as
describing typomorphologies rather than land uses,
town planning may be implemented with a minimum of
discretionary decision making.
4. Approaching the urban design problem from this
perspective decreases the importance of specific
building design or style and allows the planner to be
effective without being dictatorial. In existing
environments which are not valued historic districts, it
is important to allow great flexibility in building design
or redevelopment, for two reasons. One, it is not
appropriate or beneficial to the public for local
government planners to be specifying awning colors,
sign typefaces, or even material choices. Second, urban
areas need the chance to change, to transform over
time. Original, even startling, interpretations of building
types and the subtle transformations of these types
over time is vital to the evolving relevance of city form.
5. Preparation of guidelines based on typomorphology is
a way of imbedding planning and urban design
decisions within the context of the existing city in a
systematic and flexible way. Working within the existing
typologies also makes the process of urban
improvement work faster.
 There are some disadvantages of using
typomorphology as well:
1. Using this method requires a high degree of
specific area analyses that preparation of typical
design guidelines and zoning maps do not
require. For example, our project in Fairborn
called out seven distinct sub-areas within a
relatively small downtown. Each sub-area needed
one or two pages of specific description and
guidelines.

2. Restricting design review to the review of

typological elements means a certain amount of
“letting go”. For some design reviewers, this is
especially difficult. They see poor design
decisions about materials or signs or other non-
type elements and do not understand the need to
allow such flexibility. While we were concerned
3. Judgments about which elements are essential to the
definition of a building or street type can be difficult to
make. In our case, we had a running battle about
whether the proportions of a storefront were
“typological”. Other examples include whether
traditional sign placement, or the use of materials in
specific locations (e.g. the same material on upper and
lower floors) could be considered important to the
urban continuity.
THANK YOU