Module 3

The material in our third module focused on a select list of prominent urban design theorists. The ideas and philosophies of many offered insight and new perspective. One particular theorist caught my attention more than the others. I was very interested in the ideas surrounding place and placelessness presented by Edward Relph.

Edward Relph is a Canadian geographer who is well known for his writing on place and placelessness. His work addresses how spaces are experienced and how they change over time. Relph was a professor and chair of Social Sciences at the University of Toronto from 1991-2010. The following quote is what made me decide to focus my writing on his ideologies.

Referring to place Relph says, “It has to evolve, to be allowed to happen, to grow and change from the direct efforts of those who live and work in places and care about them...No matter how sophisticated technical knowledge may be, the understanding of others' lives and problems will always be partial. Just as outsiders cannot feel their pain, so they cannot experience their sense of place. I believe, therefore, that it is impossible to make complete places in which other people can live.”[1]

This quote was very profound to me. The point that place is often designed and built by outsiders is a direct cause of the flawed urban system. The outsider (designer, planner, government agency, etc…) cannot truly understand the intricacies of a specific society inhabiting an urban space. This theory aligns with some aspects of formal theory of urban design. Formal theory maintains that the overall aesthetic and cohesiveness of the city should be emphasized and is directly correlated with a focus on the human scale. Place must be unique and reflect the society that resides within it. The success or failure of urban community depends entirely on the efforts of the society which inhabits that space. I believe this is one of the reasons that Jane Jacobs was successful in her fight for urban space. Community cannot be created from the outside. Architects, planners, and engineers cannot create effectual space by transplanting strategies from outside factors.

For example, the idea of the three main theories of urban design, discussed in my second blog, can be a flawed strategy for design. My first blog addressed the inability to successfully design in a linear method. Classifying urban theory into three distinct categories is linear design. The theories can lend insight but can also cause an inherent inability to create complete spaces. This inability is manifested if the design addresses the problem from the outside with a predetermined theory in mind. When the designer associates his/her self with one of the three prevailing theories and then progresses into designing through that “lens” the end result will be placelessness rather than a cohesive, identifiable community. Place is created from within, by the members of that place for the members of that place. Community is built from within, by the members of that space for the members of that space.

Edward Relph states that the notion of creating successful urban space is somewhat of a misnomer. Place is constantly evolving based on internal influences of those who work and live within the space. The definition of successful place making is creating a living space that allows constant evolution and adaptation due to direct input from its inhabitants.

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[1] Edward Relph