What do you think?
Rate this book
101 Things I Learned
101 Things I Learned in Urban Design School
Providing unique, accessible lessons on urban design, this title in the bestselling 101 Things I Learned® series is a perfect resource for students, recent graduates, general readers, and even seasoned professionals. Students of urban design often find themselves lost between books that are either highly academic or overly formulaic, leaving them with few tangible tools to use in their design projects. 101 Things I Learned® in Urban Design School fills this void with provocative, practical lessons on urban space, street types, pedestrian experience, managing the design process, the psychological, social, cultural, and economic ramifications of physical design decisions, and more. Written by two experienced practitioners and instructors, this informative book will appeal not only to students, but to seasoned professionals, planners, city administrators, and ordinary citizens who wish to better understand their built world.
212 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 3, 2018
72 people are currently reading
990 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
October 22, 2018
More densely packed with more USEFUL information than I imagined. The book itself is a compact, complex successful urban design. And should be any design-minded person's library staple.
October 10, 2023
This is an easy to ready book on the principles of urban design. This would be perfect for those who are interested in the topic but might be intimidated by reading something a bit heavier.
June 9, 2020
Studio life is all about learning by doing. There are no a priori just random facts, and issues thrown at you as you dodge the fatal coup ! By design : there is no perfect urban design, which is one great opportunity to experiment your wildest ideas (and hope you get away with it).
But a safe design is ultimately human-centred, combining both form and function. This book sums this a little bit abstract fact and represent it in a funny format with visuals to help anyone :
1- Understand Urban Design;
2- Design better spaces (or was it places ? the difference inside the book ;) )
3- Remember the good old days at school, when it was fun and government representatives were only your classmates : you'll be surprised either by the nonsense or the obvious common sense of your classmates remarks = nope, no in-between : the merrier + endless team quarrels + random concept names : pocket farms (profess it as Ghandi was preaching the Ashram life) + transform an abstract art piece to a master plan (I still find it genius) + split the layers between groups and hope for a comprehensive understanding (Good luck xD), in short : Blood, sweat, tears and innovation;
4- Decide to read the other books in this collection.
This is your أضعف الإيمان in urban design !
Lovely !
But a safe design is ultimately human-centred, combining both form and function. This book sums this a little bit abstract fact and represent it in a funny format with visuals to help anyone :
1- Understand Urban Design;
2- Design better spaces (or was it places ? the difference inside the book ;) )
3- Remember the good old days at school, when it was fun and government representatives were only your classmates : you'll be surprised either by the nonsense or the obvious common sense of your classmates remarks = nope, no in-between : the merrier + endless team quarrels + random concept names : pocket farms (profess it as Ghandi was preaching the Ashram life) + transform an abstract art piece to a master plan (I still find it genius) + split the layers between groups and hope for a comprehensive understanding (Good luck xD), in short : Blood, sweat, tears and innovation;
4- Decide to read the other books in this collection.
This is your أضعف الإيمان in urban design !
Lovely !
March 30, 2019
This is one of my favorite design books and I recommend it to others often. I love urban design, but this book is also amazing for graphic designers, product designers, illustrators, and any visual artist since many of the design principles carry through. It's also just a fascinating study of what cities are and how they work, even for the non-designer. The book itself is beautifully designed, with every right-hand page holding only a paragraph or two about a principle, and its facing page showing small sketches to demonstrate. It is brief but dense with insightful and actionable knowledge.
July 19, 2024
denne boken overbeviste meg om at byplanlegging er enormt kult. det er kanskje kulere enn arkitektur, men det skal jeg ikke si for høyt.
August 2, 2024
this was so 🆒
July 18, 2018
Bite-sized insights into the thought and process behind urban design. As someone going into Urban Studies, I thoroughly enjoyed this quick read. Some of it is specific, practical design principles (ratios, layouts), and some of it is big idea/creative advice (problem-solving tips, inspiring quotes). This is a great read for both those who work in urban design and anyone who is curious about how much thought goes into the cities we dwell in.
November 3, 2018
An excellent book to teach urban design for architects. Easy to read and understand with a lot of sketches. Unfortunately it is only dedicated to western cities. It could be completed with other kind of cities such as near and far east cities. Arabic medinah could be a good example to be added for a variety of approach for human kind.
June 25, 2018
A quick way to learn the basics of Urban Design. Clear, straight to the point, and most likely prone to engage you to research more about this topic.
March 8, 2024
I genuinely enjoyed reading this book. it’s quick, brief and super insightful. As an architect who’s just jumping into the urban field, I feel like we are dense and close minded. It’s like zeroing on one tiny detail and perfecting it while neglecting the bigger picture. This book is a great introduction to urbanism.
June 29, 2025
A place in the city
A chair and a bed
I cover up all the mirrors
I can't see myself yet
I wear smoke like a wedding veil
Make a meal I won't eat
Step out into the street, alone in a sea
It comes over me
A chair and a bed
I cover up all the mirrors
I can't see myself yet
I wear smoke like a wedding veil
Make a meal I won't eat
Step out into the street, alone in a sea
It comes over me
November 2, 2020
Very concise and thought provoking. Very easy to read.
June 24, 2021
Had to wait to get another copy to finish it, finally. A lovely little book. I liked many of the rules and diagrams but the one I will most hold onto involves working on everything well enough and not sacrificing all to get one particular element perfect first. This works on renovation as well. And the old 80 -20 rule. Small improvements in several key things can sometimes be enough on their own to tip the scales towards good enough. Big moves can be good but are not always necessary to move the needle forward.
Going between the small scale and the bigger scale in city sized problems, of course makes sense. All points are a good reminder to keep your mind grounded and to tweak many different kinds of designers in the right direction. A good reference and one it would be nice to own, just to browse through and reset once in a while.
Going between the small scale and the bigger scale in city sized problems, of course makes sense. All points are a good reminder to keep your mind grounded and to tweak many different kinds of designers in the right direction. A good reference and one it would be nice to own, just to browse through and reset once in a while.
May 18, 2018
One more great volume in this great series.
March 25, 2019
Easily digestible but insightful and delightful. Great intro to the subject area!
July 22, 2024
Mange fine tanker, men jeg holder meg nok til arkitektur.
December 13, 2022
I've been dipping into this book chapter by chapter for months and always found there to be little nuggets of insight, that sometimes extend beyond urban design into other areas of design and even life. I really enjoyed this. I'm even considering buying the series and if I ever have a coffee table, place them there so that anyone can dip in and gain inspiration, because I think I might want to revisit some of these agian. In the meantime, I will be checking out other books in the series from the library.
April 22, 2023
3.5 Stars!
“Urbanism works when it creates a journey as desirable as the destination.”
PAUL GOLDBERGER
So says number 16 on the list. Did you know that when designing a town house, its important that it should only be three rooms deep or less, so that’s it’s no more than one room away from natural air and light.
This is a fairly enjoyable and undemanding read and gives you pretty much what you would expect in such a book. Very light on text, gets a tad too close to cliche and laziness at times, but still plenty in there to make for worthwhile and enjoyable reading.
“Urbanism works when it creates a journey as desirable as the destination.”
PAUL GOLDBERGER
So says number 16 on the list. Did you know that when designing a town house, its important that it should only be three rooms deep or less, so that’s it’s no more than one room away from natural air and light.
This is a fairly enjoyable and undemanding read and gives you pretty much what you would expect in such a book. Very light on text, gets a tad too close to cliche and laziness at times, but still plenty in there to make for worthwhile and enjoyable reading.
October 3, 2019
Read as a gift from my parents as I'm considering going to grad school for urban planning or design, it gave me an idea of the ways of thinking I'd use in these fields, and the differences between them. It also reflects the kind of urban studies I had in undergrad: the city should be by and for the people, it should work and it can (and should) be a little bit beautiful. Great, quick overview of urban design and great illustrations.
May 7, 2020
Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book although I personally am neither an architect nor a designer however found a lot of principles have interdisciplinary applicability.
The book is written in a very simple, compact and crisp way.
Would recommend it to anyone who is interested in knowing how urban design and cities function and how the design principles can be used in other aspects of life both work and personal.
The book is written in a very simple, compact and crisp way.
Would recommend it to anyone who is interested in knowing how urban design and cities function and how the design principles can be used in other aspects of life both work and personal.
July 27, 2020
Very useful and straight to the point advice about urban design.
This is not meant to be an academic text book, as it just outlines key concepts and ideas without going any deeper or explaining precedents and referencing key authors. Still, the little visuals are a good way to represent, understand and remember how the key ideas about urbanism and urban design take place in space.
I wish all my students got this in their first year.
This is not meant to be an academic text book, as it just outlines key concepts and ideas without going any deeper or explaining precedents and referencing key authors. Still, the little visuals are a good way to represent, understand and remember how the key ideas about urbanism and urban design take place in space.
I wish all my students got this in their first year.
December 25, 2022
Fun and digestible bites related to urban design. A handful of “epiphanies” that really help to enlighten the reader on how/ why our societies are designed the way they are. The illustrations offer additional opportunities for tangential thoughts to be found between the pages. Highly recommend as a perfect coffee table book.
July 17, 2020
As an architecture graduate who has barely touched on urban design during the course of my degree, I find this guide extremely useful in giving me the necessary information I need to start on an urban design project.
September 22, 2020
The book met expectations I guess since it was approachable (not overly technical) but there were times that I was wishing for a few examples of the axioms presented that would have shown how designers did a good job with the principle.
July 6, 2022
3.5 stars
Really enjoyed getting a lot of little tidbit insights into urban design. The graphics with each idea are helpful and planted some good seeds in my minds. I just wish for at least some of the ideas they'd give a recommended resource if you wanted to learn more in that area.
Really enjoyed getting a lot of little tidbit insights into urban design. The graphics with each idea are helpful and planted some good seeds in my minds. I just wish for at least some of the ideas they'd give a recommended resource if you wanted to learn more in that area.
February 14, 2025
Almost accurately sums up all the science (and pseudoscience) of urban design and planning. Definitely not a guide for school but eill definitely help to better understand the concepts of what constitutes urban design.
July 14, 2019
بعض الأفكار بسيطة أو بديهية..
لكن هناك بعض الأفكار الممتعة والمثيرة للاهتمام..
مدخل جميل للمهتمين بمجال التصميم المدني..
لكن هناك بعض الأفكار الممتعة والمثيرة للاهتمام..
مدخل جميل للمهتمين بمجال التصميم المدني..
June 4, 2020
Great book for newbees
August 30, 2020
Good, but not as good as the original one.
September 4, 2020
Probably my favorite of the series so far. Some interesting insights, even though i'm not an Urban designer
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews