You Don't Have to Be a Professional to Understand Urban Design

Looking around your city, it’s easy to feel like the roads, buildings, and sidewalks were created through a series of complex, bureaucratic processes that are totally out of your control.

How did that sign get there? And why is that window facing this direction instead of another?

Moreover, what is it about a beautiful city like Paris or New Orleans that makes the experience of being there feel a certain way? How come some streets feel safe while others feel dangerous?

At Strong Towns, we believe that everyone can be a part of building a stronger town, and that the tools to understand our places shouldn’t be gatekept in the hands of people with urban planning degrees. That’s why we created our newest class —a crash course in urban design called Urban Design Principles for a Strong Town.

Ready to become an active citizen who knows about the built environment and can be part of making it better?

Charles Marohn (President of Strong Towns) is here to show you the way, and he’s using a very fun backdrop for these lessons: Disneyworld. Yes, you read that right, but don’t run in the other direction if you’re not a fan of Mickey. Disney actually provides the ideal place to understand core urban design concepts, because the people who built Disneyland were surprisingly thoughtful about the way they did it.

The course is broken down into dozens of 4-7 minute lessons on topics including:

• Creating public spaces.

• Using color.

• Framing blocks and orienting buildings.

• Designing parking.

• Trees, monuments, and public art.

• And a lot more!

We built this course to be accessible to anyone who’s curious about urban design and eager to learn. No background knowledge required.

And if you’re an urban planner who wants to brush up on some basic design concepts from a Strong Towns perspective, you can get 4.5 continuing education credits through the AICP by taking this course.

It’s time to stop feeling like the future of your city is out of your control, and instead be equipped with the knowledge to start building a stronger town.

Cover image via Pixabay.