Minding the gap: the professionals’ view on the interaction between urban design theory and practice

摘要

In order to better understand the relationship between the theory and the actual practice of urban design, this paper identifies and analyses the key factors that are involved in generating new theories and practices. The discussion starts by reviewing the different traditions that have been key in the formation of urban design. The gap between theory and practice in urban design is then explored, followed by the ways in which a number of successful urban designers have experienced the tension between the two. The contribution is a new reading of the context of urban design capable of describing the profession.