Refocusing urban design as an integrative art of place

Urban design finds itself in an existential struggle between its parent disciplines of architecture and planning. This paper advances the case for refocusing on the art of urban design, and the potential for this artistic aspect to play a more definitive role in urban design. The scope of urban design is first briefly outlined and the core role of the art of urban design is suggested. Then, the paper identifies interpretations of urban design as an art, reports critiques of the artistic dimension of urban design, and offers rebuttals of those critiques. Using an analogy with architecture, the paper then suggests an interpretation of urban design as an integrative art and, more specifically, as the articulation of place. The paper advances an agenda for urban design as an integrative art of place, and concludes with reflections on its relation to architecture and planning.