How to Design Humane Cities: Public Spaces and Urbanity

This book is about renewing the city with room for people, about historical over-lay and respect for the building tradi-tions of the past, and about new archi-tecture on a human scale.

The book takes its departure in the European tradition of the dense classic city. Focus is on phys-ical and spatial relationships, develop-ment patterns, access principles, and their connection to public streets and squares: the elements that make for a rich urban life. Rooted in European traditions, this book is envisioned as a profession-al "instruction manual" that offers ex-amples of a more humane direction for urban conversion. The examples in the book come from major European cities and are set in a broad conceptual frame-work. A historical outline reviews urban development over time. The chapters are organized into tool--oriented themes that help urban planners and architects put the concepts into practice and relate them to their respective challenges.