What is Urbanism? Urbanism is a scientific field that deals with planning and designing urban settlements and their surroundings for existential, long-term human use and human needs in accordance with global environmental potentials. Professional applying above science is Urban Researcher or Urbanist. URBANISM AS A BASE OF URBAN DESIGN ACTIVITIES https://www.mecene.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Urbanism-Podcast-episode-4-urbanism-theory.mp3 History The human population, like almost all other living creatures, has a natural instinct to arrange their settlements for survival and prolongation of their species. First, organized human settlements appeared to be in Neolith around 10.000 years BC, at the most appropriate ecological locations on Earth. First urban settlements, (in Vinca Serbia 20,000BC; in Egypt 3000 BC; Mesopotamia 2700 BC; North China 1300 BC), appear with the development of primary technologies and the development of primary agriculture, which produced the first food reserves for survival. Ancient nations built their settlements by intuitive, ecological, and environmental boundaries. First written urban theories were extracted from the Ancient Greek period, (Plato 427-347 BC, Aristotle 384-323 BC). Roman urban experience and urban legislation are known even today from Marcus Vitruvius’s “De Architecture Urbi Decem” whose instruction guide is or should be standard for all architects after him even by today’s understanding of urban philosophy. Formal Urbanism Theories Drafted Actual urbanism theories appeared at the beginning of the 17th century with the new technologies and industrialization which were the reason for the town’s growth. At the beginning of the 20th century, urban agglomerations became larger, and new theories intended to make it more accommodating for new human activities. Doxiadis and his followers promote a theory of ecumenopolis, as the human way of urban living. In the last decades of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st-century new challenges for Urbanism and global urban planning philosophy, were numerous newly built urban agglomerations with more than 10 million inhabitants all around the world. Actual theories for future urban development would encounter a complex scientific process in organizing, designing, and reconstructing existing urban agglomerations. Modern Days Urbanism Existing, giant urban agglomerations with more than 100 km in diameter, with several million square meters of hundred stories buildings, developed traffic systems and industrial production are based on very sophisticated technologies which required sophisticated technical knowledge and scientific research. More millions of inhabitants have very different sociological needs and problems in every big city with different ethnic and economic systems, requiring special sociological, political, and economic knowledge. Government management of these urban communities is the problem for political and communal management. Ecology and Liveability At last, actual cities and their surroundings have very complex and different ecological problems of protecting the global environmental equilibrium for current and future generations. Urbanism and urban planning activities must concern and be further developed on the basis of very large scientific expertise in Urbanism as a special field of urban planning theories and practice. That is why urbanism shouldn’t be the concern of only spatial and town planners. Urbanism has to be the principal concern of the complex team of different specialists with the leadership of well-educated and experienced urbanists. Urbanism is a scientific field that delivers the design of urban settlements. If you wanted to check what is the current description of Urbanism not really clearly defining our profession you can see Wikipedia work in progress. However, Wikipedia’s description needs re-work. If you like to engage in this discussion leave a comment or contact us via Linked In, Tweeter or Facebook The post WHAT IS URBANISM? appeared first on Mecene Urban Design | A Melbourne Urban Design Company.
