A Study On The Methodology Of Contemporary Comprehensive Urban Design In China

This dissertation studies the domestic and foreign theories of urban design, and conducts case studies in the implementations of the theories. It proposes a new approach - Comprehensive Urban Design. The goal of this approach is to devise an effective framework that is more suitable to the urban planning in macro-scope and the construction management in China. The dissertation then discusses the framework including its contents and forms, implementation strategies and methodologies in detail.The dissertation defines what urban design is, expounds why the Comprehensive Urban Design approach is needed, and specifies how to implement the Comprehensive Urban Design framework. Firstly, what is urban design? Drawing inspirations from surveys of the existing research studies, and author's own experience and understanding of the problems in the current phase of China's urban development, this dissertation analyzes and clarifies the concepts, the goals and tasks, the design phases, and the implementations and characteristics of urban design. The objective is to form a consensus about these key aspects and to conduct urban design based on the consensus.Secondly, why is the Comprehensive Urban Design approach needed? The dissertation proves that urban design and urban planning are complimentary in nature, and that the urban design implementation is subtly dependant on urban planning, using the evidences drawn from the history of urban evolutions, the modern theories and implementations of urban design and urban planning, and the urban planning systems in China. Upon exploring the effectiveness and the limitations of the urban planning and the urban design practices under the current systems, the author introduces the concept of the Comprehensive Urban Design, and discusses it's connotations, and contents in detail.Thirdly, how to implement Comprehensive Urban Design? The dissertation reviews the theoretical studies related to the comprehensive urban design, and examines a few typical domestic and foreign cases. Then it proposes a Comprehensive Urban Design implementation framework comprising four operation phases: the project planning phase, the design preparation phase, the design organization phase, and the implementation phase, together with other concept, such as the aim,criteria working extent, contents, implementation and the public participation during the stage of designing. It also proposes a "Tiered Project Management Scheme" to address the issue of project scope mismatch that may occur during the project. The Tiered Project Management Scheme can be summarized as "macro level directing, mid level control, and micro level guidance". Finally, the framework of Comprehensive Urban Design are applied to The Comprehensive Urban Design for MianYang, as an illustration of the application of the methodology developed in this dissertation.