Urban Density Contextualized: Design Strategies for Building Density in Cities

Urban Density Contextualized provides planners with the tools to understand, assess, and implement urban density successfully.

It systematically explores the social context of urban density, and how it plays a role in urban design and planning strategies. Cities and places have unique cultures and identities, and a wide range of considerations need to be considered in the attempt to insert more density. This book acknowledges this relationship--between urban density and social and physical context--and investigates the ways in which density can use this context to enhance livability and promote a more sustainable world. Chapters include the following topics: density and housing, accessibility, affordability, zoning, typology, and history, as well as case studies of design strategy from across the U.S.

It is essential for urban planners, architects, landscape architects, and others working in design and planning fields.

Sungduck Lee is Assistant Professor in the Department of Design Innovation at the University of Minnesota, with a background in urban design and urbanism. Her research and teaching interest lies at the intersection of social geography and visual communication. She directs the Geosocial Visualization Research Lab that explores various social characteristics of communities, and their relationship to geospatial context.

Emily Talen is Professor of Urbanism at the University of Chicago, where she teaches urban design and directs the Urbanism Lab. Her previous books include New Urbanism and American Planning; Design for Diversity, Urban Design Reclaimed; City Rules; Neighborhood; and What Cities Say.