Urban Design Shaping the Environment — A Note

Abstract

Regional and interregional growth of socio-economic activities and consequently of physical assets — usually referred to as the infrastructure, consists of innumerable increments, which ideally would have been consciously shaped and designed. Let us assume that some deliberate form-giving action is present in each process of defining the shell, but also the content of the increment to the growth. Professionals and general public, engaged in this process, and the respective form-giving action might be more or less aware of social, psychological, esthetic, economic and other aspects of an artifact. Therefore we so often speak of well-designed, ill-conceived, functional, dis-functional, beautiful or ugly artifacts or, if you will — interventions into the natural environment. One particular aspect is inviting considerable attention over the last year or two, is the sudden awareness of constraints, imposed by the world-wide energy crisis. In my Yugoslavia, and I can see also elsewhere, steps have been taken to reconsider relative role of various sources of energy in modes of production, transportation, heating etc. Policies have been adopted to impose new limits on travel-speeds, illumination of cities and the like. Prices of fuel, power and consequently of most industrial and agricultural products went soaring up. Up to now, little “institutional” attention has been given to the studies which would explore impacts of higher energy costs on the form of our settlements and regions. Is this partly caused by the fear that some fundamental shifts in the values, social systems, political structure, would be required for implementation of the new solutions, hopefully derived from such studies?