A Working Guide To Planning And Designing Safer Urban Environments

This guide is directed to Toronto-area planning and design professionals to help them to integrate personal safety into their designs for public spaces. The guide describes the process for planning and design of safer urban environments; factors that enhance safety and security in public spaces; and ways to improve or avoid problematic places in transportation, neighbourhoods and downtown, and in industrial areas, alleys and laneways and washrooms.

This guide is intended to be a practical document containing suggestions to build safer urban environments, based on the idea that proper design and effective use of the urban environment can help to prevent crime. It begins with a section on the basic principles of safety and security (awareness of the surrounding environment, visibility by others, and having means to find help) and the implementation of these principles by such measures as lighting, avoiding or eliminating entrapment sites, encouraging a mix of land uses, and providing adequate signs. Specific design suggestions are provided for the following areas of concern: transportation routes and facilities, neighbourhoods (streets, parks, residential areas, interior spaces, schools), downtown areas, and other areas such as industrial zones, back lanes, washrooms, shopping centres, and university campuses.

It is generally accepted that the physical environment in towns and cities can affect patterns of crime and antisocial behaviour. This report presents the proceedings of an international conference, held in Poland in October 2000, as part of the work programme of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of Europe (CLRAE) of the Council of Europe to develop and promote policies for the reduction of urban crime in its 41 member countries. The conference discussions focused on four key themes: housing and crime; open spaces, street planning and design; urban transport planning to reduce crime; and the relationship between the siting and design of sporting facilities and crime.

The NACTO Urban Street Design Guide shows how streets of every size can be reimagined and reoriented to prioritize safe driving and transit, biking, walking, and public activity. Unlike older, more conservative engineering manuals, this design guide emphasizes the core principle that urban streets are public places and have a larger role to play in communities than solely being conduits for traffic. The well-illustrated guide offers blueprints of street design from multiple perspectives, from the bird’s eye view to granular details. Case studies from around the country clearly show how to implement best practices, as well as provide guidance for customizing design applications to a city’s unique needs. Urban Street Design Guide outlines five goals and tenets of world-class street design: • Streets are public spaces. Streets play a much larger role in the public life of cities and communities than just thoroughfares for traffic. • Great streets are great for business. Well-designed streets generate higher revenues for businesses and higher values for homeowners. • Design for safety. Traffic engineers can and should design streets where people walking, parking, shopping, bicycling, working, and driving can cross paths safely. • Streets can be changed. Transportation engineers can work flexibly within the building envelope of a street. Many city streets were created in a different era and need to be reconfigured to meet new needs. • Act now! Implement projects quickly using temporary materials to help inform public decision making. Elaborating on these fundamental principles, the guide offers substantive direction for cities seeking to improve street design to create more inclusive, multi-modal urban environments. It is an exceptional resource for redesigning streets to serve the needs of 21st century cities, whose residents and visitors demand a variety of transportation options, safer streets, and vibrant community life.

This guide is directed to Toronto-area planning and design professionals to help them to integrate personal safety into their designs for public spaces. The guide describes the process for planning and design of safer urban environments; factors that enhance safety and security in public spaces; and ways to improve or avoid problematic places in transportation, neighbourhoods and downtown, and in industrial areas, alleys and laneways and washrooms.

This is an introduction to the secrets of Urban Design Management (UDM). The book examines the roles of the players involved in land-use projects and describes good collaborative methods of practice in project-based urban design and planning, putting emphasis on the creative co-operative skills and the wide knowledge of the participants in a working group. The role of the architect is examined in relation to design, planning and project management with particular emphasis on collaboration and negotiation skills. Specific issues considered include: The make-up of a good project team Ways to make the project team function together Objectives and benefits of project-orientated planning The need to take local characteristics into account in project-orientated planning The preparation required for a co-operative planning process and how initial information can be collected and used How to define project content, and outlining the project itself Partner-specific strategies Urban Design Management contains international examples and many diagrams and photographs, making it a useful and accessible guide for all built environment professionals working in the public realm and those studying architecture, urban design and planning at a graduate level.

The Global Street Design Guide is a timely resource that sets a global baseline for designing streets and public spaces and redefines the role of streets in a rapidly urbanizing world. The guide will broaden how to measure the success of urban streets to include: access, safety, mobility for all users, environmental quality, economic benefit, public health, and overall quality of life. The first-ever worldwide standards for designing city streets and prioritizing safety, pedestrians, transit, and sustainable mobility are presented in the guide. Participating experts from global cities have helped to develop the principles that organize the guide. The Global Street Design Guide builds off the successful tools and tactics defined in NACTO's Urban Street Design Guide and Urban Bikeway Design Guide while addressing a variety of street typologies and design elements found in various contexts around the world.