Parameters of Success in Urban Design

A case study in New Urbanism

What are the measures of success in Urban Design? 

The players and factors come from all directions.  There are the obvious yardsticks which include: public areas that facilitate the interactions of people; designs that consider and accommodate ecological impact; facilities that embrace mixed socio-economic classes; atmospheres that feel safe and comfortable; spaces that are time, place and technology appropriate; and many others. 

These are all outcomes of a successfully planned urban space.  But the process of how we get there is as equally important as the goals we seek to accomplish.  The ‘how’ in the process of Urban Design is where UD and Development meet.  Planning for development (whether large-scale new development or miscellaneous plug-in objects of existing neighborhoods) and awareness of models for development that influence the process (specifically economic and political forces) are the first step in successful urban design.

Orenco Station

Orenco Station is a transit-oriented development (TOD) in Hillsboro, Oregon, a suburb of Portland.  Part of Portland’s 2040 regional plan, the fully planned mixed-use community located along the light rail has been considered one of “the most ambitious and most successful such communit[ies] to date” (Mehaffy, n.d.).

Hillsboro is a high-tech industrial area which created an abundance of jobs but lacked housing.  With the extension of the Westside MAX light rail, Portland’s regional government sought to fill the gap by designating sites as ‘Town Centers,’ which was the beginning of the greenfield site of Orenco as it exists today.

Architects, landscape architects, engineers and experts in retail and homebuilding were brought together by developers PacTrust and Costa Pacific Homes to work with local jurisdictions in the planning of Orenco Station.  During charrettes and consultation sessions, nationally-known planners and community design experts were invited and consulted.

In searching for models of success, the design team identified that a series of open spaces to link “the pedestrian experience through vistas and visual monuments, [to create] a stronger sense of place” (Mehaffy, n.d.) was a key aspect to their goal realization.

Furthermore, historical architecture was mimicked—but not copied—to establish emotional connection.

The next step involved the design team and City of Hillsboro planners creating an entirely new zoning ordinance.  Features of the new ordinance included 20’ “skinny” streets, close maximum street setbacks, accessory dwellings (“granny flats”), live/work homes, and alley-facing garages.  Within the town center, buildings are required to line the street with all parking in the rear.  The town center has been planned to the extent of retail options: the community’s uses and needs were accounted for to ensure that all services and entertainment exist to provide livability without the need for a vehicle.  The mixed-use urban center and high density housing that account for sense of privacy (about 18 units per acre) are additional key concepts to functionality of the town.

However, success is not overwhelming.  While it is theoretically possible to live in Orenco Station without a car, the train to Portland takes 40 minutes (not including walking and waiting time) and the surrounding area that provides still sought-after chain restaurants, fast food and strip malls are outside of walkable distance.  Also, despite attention to community needs in regard to retailers, few restaurants exist and shops are rather specialized.  Adding to potential downfalls, because of the quality of the neighborhood, the cost of housing is prohibitive.  And while open space exists, the question Kevin Lynch posed in 1972, How open are our open spaces? (Banerjee, 2001, p. 11) seems especially relevant.  The grand open spaces, carefully manicured shop fronts, and standard landscaped features purposely invite only certain behaviors and people to its public and public/private spaces.

Despite some arguable missteps, Orenco Station serves as a model for pedestrian-oriented TODs, both in planning and design.  Integrating mixed-use, open space and high density living into a desirable and economically viable town design, Orenco Station is overall an example of success.

This case represents just one typology of UD, and the most extreme.  More common are projects that do not seek to create entire communities.  In my opinion, total urban design, the creation of fully planned communities, inherently seems to feel exclusive and homogenized, despite efforts to synthesize diversity and inclusivity.  As Madanipour argues, there is a direct correlation between the size of a development and the size of the developing agency involved, and the larger-scale these two are, there is a tendency toward a standardization of design (1996, p. 138).  Reshaping existing communities and neighborhoods, or addressing functionality within urban spaces may better fit our growing population and its needs. 

Regardless, the restructuring of codes and regulations is the first step in designing successful spaces.  I believe that Orenco Station was successful in that aspect; not only was the town effective in carrying out a multi-step, multi-actor plan, but it challenged the status-quo of regulations in the area to prove viability of alternative visions of community.

Banerjee, Tridib. "The Future Of Public Space: Beyond Invented Streets And Reinvented Places". Journal of the American Planning Association 67.1 (2001): 9-24.

Madanipour, A. (1996). Design of urban space: An inquiry into a socio-spatial process. Chichester: Wiley.

Mehaffy, Michael. "UpSprawl Case Study." Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built Natural Environments. Terrain Publishing, n.d. http://www.terrain.org/unsprawl/10/ Accessed 8 Nov. 2016.