| This research is predicated on the belief that the physical design of the city is, in part, a result of planning that operates under the guidance of specific paradigms. The focus in this thesis is on the role of the professional physical planner whose job it is to ensure an appropriate use of land. Currently, spatial design and environmental decisions are driven by a bottom-up process of development and form considering historical factors. While "urban design" is a term that is used alternatively to refer to both city and project scales, this thesis considers urban design as the end-product of physical planning and does not differentiate between these definitions. The use of spaces has more importance than is given planning practice today. The subjects of scientific paradigms (and their implications on planners' decisions) and design are two seemingly divergent topics. This research draws a connection between them that will diagram a fundamental process that planners can acknowledge in order to create spaces that are enjoyable and profitable. From this research, planners might be able to conclude that effective urban design involves a different perspective toward the process of development. What will facilitate advancement toward a sustainable pattern of development for people and the environment is the "paradigm shift," a term borrowed from Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions to describe the process of bringing theories and judgments about the world into closer agreement with observed phenomena and the use of spaces. |
