A Guide to Creating Great Cities at Eye Level

The result of a collaborative effort between five editors and 43 professionals from around the world, a new open-source book documents the essential concepts and strategies for creating great cities at eye level - along the ground floor ("plinths").

1 minute read

February 13, 2013, 8:00 AM PST

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj

Ground floors, or "plinths," are the most crucial parts of buildings for creating great cities. They define the way a city's public and private spaces interact, and are essential to creating commodious pedestrian environments. "The ground floor may be only 10% of a building, [but] it determines 90% of the building’s contribution to the experience of the environment," say editors Hans Karssenberg & Jeroen Laven.

"A great city at eye level requires a strategy based on three domains: software (use, the experience, the functions), hardware (design of plinths, buildings, streetscapes, hybrid zones and principles of sustainability) and orgware (organisation of functions and portfolio maintenance). The 215-‐page book offers ideas, solutions and examples of the best ground floors and ground-‐level planning from cities across the world. The concluding chapter proposes 75 specific lessons for good plinths."

A [PDF] of the book, "The City at Eye Level", is available for free download.

FULL STORY: The City at Eye Level

Tuesday, February 12, 2013 in The City at Eye Level

Architecture Land Use World Ground Floors Walkability Plinths View More

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

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This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.