Design for Diversity

The city is more than just a sum of its buildings; it is the sum of its communities. The most successful urban communities are very often those that are the most diverse – in terms of income, age, family structure and ethnicity – and yet poor urban design and planning can stifle the very diversity that makes communities successful. Just as poor urban design can lead to sterile monoculture, successful planning can support the conditions needed for diverse communities. Emily Talen explores the linkage between urban forms and social diversity, and how the one impacts on the other. Learning the lessons from past successes and failures, and building from detailed case studies of different neighbourhoods, she sets out design strategies and tools to ensure that urban planning sustains and nurtures social diversity. As cities all over the world come to terms with the fact that they need to be diverse to be sustainable and successful, The Design of Diversity is a timely lesson on the crucial relationship between how a city is designed and built and the how the people of that city will live together.