Urban design pedagogy, an interdisciplinary approach

Among the many possible solutions to city form, urban designers are expected to create environments with some human purpose of a social, economic, aesthetic and technical merit. Education at a university graduate school should provide the necessary expertise. Questions like who to educate for a career in urban design and for what type of employment addresses the complex relationships designers navigate to build bridges between economic development, environmental quality and socio-political dynamics. Records show that applicants selecting a professional career in urban design are motivated to improve the prevailing physical, social equity and environmental conditions in cities. This article reports on the institutional prerequisites and pedagogy of an interdisciplinary urban design education sponsored jointly by the departments of City and Regional Planning, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning in the College of Environmental Design at the University of California at Berkeley.