Explanation of Environmental Aesthetic Factors of Urban Design

Abstract

The main objective of this manuscript is to investigate the effects of environmental aesthetics elements of urban designing on formation of the main part of the city (as the fundamental characteristics of the urban form). For this purpose, this comparative article explains the environmental aesthetic elements that are affecting the formation of main structure of the cities during the history of urbanism history (Teotihuacan, Beijing, Athena, Rome, Paris, Washington, Brasilia, and Isfahan) to pave the way for analysis of environmental aesthetics and improvement of contemporary cities' quality. For this purpose, the present study employs analytical-descriptive research methods, and literature, references, and visual documents reviews. The results from this study indicate that environmental aesthetic elements of urban designing are affecting the formation of an urban form in two ways, namely visual-form and cognitive-semantic. Visual-form elements include the quality of landscape and its factors, the quality of urban buildings and their elements, the quality of public spaces and their elements, continuity, enclosure, diversity of forms, the quality of views and vistas, and coordination with the context. Cognitive-conceptual elements include identity, legibility, concept, perceptibility, coherent mental image, customizability, social and cultural environment, and richness of activities.