Framework for the Design of a Small Transport Hub as an Interdisciplinary Challenge to Implement Sustainable Solutions

Abstract

The numerous effects of climate change on the urban environment over the past decades have urged many planning professionals to implement the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Higher education institutions (HEIs) bear particular responsibility for sustainability-aware designers able to implement specific measures in this field. This paper presents a typology of design solutions for urban contexts intended to implement Sustainable Development Goal 11, which refers to making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, which can be included in university curricula. The study presents a comprehensive source base of possible interpretations of sustainability guidelines in architectural, landscape, and transport solution design and can be used to guide and assess projects in these fields. Solutions identified and analyzed were grouped into four dimensions related to sustainability aspects (accessibility, ecology, functionality, and identity). The framework proposed was developed based on the teaching experience of thesis design projects and practice-based workshop course projects featured in the curricula of first and second cycle Architecture, Landscape Architecture, and Transport programs taught at the Cracow University of Technology, Poland. The projects were prepared as a part of workshop-based public consultations for a real-world project—the construction of a transport hub in Hrubieszów, Poland. The most complex implementation of various individual sustainable design solutions was linked to the interdisciplinarity of the design team and the broadest public participation spectrum.