Abstract
© 2018 Liverpool University Press. All rights reserved. In order to better understand the relationship between the theory and the actual practice of urban design, this paper identifies and analyses the key factors that are involved in generating new theories and practices. The discussion starts by reviewing the different traditions that have been key in the formation of urban design. The gap between theory and practice in urban design is then explored, followed by the ways in which a number of successful urban designers have experienced the tension between the two. The contribution is a new reading of the context of urban design capable of describing the profession.
Highlights
Which theory and whose practice? The problem of differing conceptionsIn urban design, as in many other disciplines (Schon, 1984; Bernstein, 1972), there is a tension between theory and practice
As in many other disciplines (Schon, 1984; Bernstein, 1972), there is a tension between theory and practice
Different methodologies (Carmona, 2014a) and varying models of theory used by urban designers (Foroughmand Araabi, 2017a) cause further complications as they insinuate that there are multiple variations of urban design
Summary
As in many other disciplines (Schon, 1984; Bernstein, 1972), there is a tension between theory and practice. Pierre Bourdieu’s philosophy, in particular his concepts of habitus, field and capital may help to explain how culture (as a form of capital) is produced and functions differently in various locations; with research seen as a social methodology used to understand field in relation to power (Grenfell, 2008) This example reveals the need for further research and theorisation of urban design in this area. One of the interviewees believes that built environment-related disciplines must start from big issues, such as urban problems at a city scale, professionalised in specific issues, such as architecture, in postgraduate programmes Another believed that a more philosophical understanding of cities and the nature of change proposed by professionals would make for a more comprehensive view. The need for further research was highlighted through the interpretations of the interviews
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