Today urban design has emerged as an important area of intellectual pursuit, with applications at many different scales - ranging from the block or street scale to the scale of metropolitan and regional landscapes. The field interfaces with many aspects of contemporary public policy - multiculturalism, economic development, climate change, energy conservation, sustainable development, community livability, and related issues. The Companion to Urban Design includes original contributions from a select group of internationally renowned scholars and practitioners.

Introduction Part 1: Roots Introduction 1. From CIAM to CNU: The Roots and Thinkers of Modern Urban Design 2. The Open and the Enclosed: Shifting Paradigms in Modern Urban Design 3. Pedagogical Traditions Part 2: Theoretical Perspectives Introduction 4. Urban Design: An Incompletely Theorized Project 5. The Two Orders of Cybernetics in Urban Form and Design 6. Urban Design and Spatial Political Economy 7. Critical Urbanism: Space, Design, Revolution Part 3: Influences Introduction 8. Urban Design and the Traditions of Geography 9. Influences of Sociology on Urban Design 10. Influences of Anthropology on Urban Design 11. Feminist Approaches to Urban Design 12. Environmental Psychology and Urban Design 13. The Law of Urban Design 14. Political Theory and Urban Design 15. Interactions between Public Health and Urban Design 16. Urban Design and the Cinematic Arts Part 4: Technologies and Methods Introduction 17. Design Studios 18. Media Tools for Urban Design 19. Visualizing Change: Simulations as a Decision Making Tool 20. City Design in the Age of Digital Ubiquity Part 5: Process Introduction 21. Customs, Norms, Rules, Regulations and Standards in Design Practice 22. Decoding Design Guidance 23. Urban Design Competitions 24. The Design Charrette 25. Citizen Design: Participation and Beyond Part 6: Components Introduction 26. Downtown Urban Design 27. Suburbs: Rus in Urbe, the Picturesque, and Selfhood 28. Planned Communities and New Towns 29. Neighborhood Spaces: Design Innovations and Social Themes 30. Spaces of Consumption 31. Cultural Institutions: The Role of Urban Design 32. Streets and the Public Realm: Emerging Designs 33. Mixed-Life Places 34. Urban Flux Part 7: Debates Introduction 35. Compactness vs. Sprawl 36. Living Together or Apart: Exclusion, Gentrification, and Displacement 37. Place, Identity and the Global City 38. Old vs. New Urbanism 39. Form-Based Codes vs. Conventional Zoning Part 8: Global Trends Introduction 40. City Branding 41. From Metropolitan to Regional Urbanization 42. Ethnoscapes 43. Urban Design for a Planet of Informal Cities Part 9: New Directions Introduction 44. Postmodern and Integral Urbanism 45. Ecological Urbanism 46. Metropolitan Form and Landscape Urbanism 47. Intertwist and Intertwine: Sustainability, Meet Urban Design 48. Smart Growth: A Critical Review of the State of the Art 49. Notes on Transit Oriented Development 50. Placemaking in Urban Design 51. Secure Cities 52. Design for Resilient Cities: Reflections from a Studio. Epilogue