Port of Nagoya:
Nagoya is one of the most populated cities in Japan. The port of the Nagoya is located at south of the city. The aquarium of Nagoya , terminal and sea food restaurant are located around the port. There is a pedestrian bridge that connects the terminal to aquarium. This area do not have enough planting. The walkway around of the port is too vast with out special design for pavement. Although there are some simple benches for seating the walkways seems empty. The design of the bridge seems better when someone walk on it. But from the walkways on the port it is a simple structure. The only things that can could draw attention are the aquarium and terminal building with curve design. Generally this port have potential to become more alive.

https://plus.google.com

Manhattan high line:
In 1930s elevated rail line was built in Manhattan. In order to provide goods for manufactures , there were stations inside the manufactured buildings. The railway was elevated to be safe for pedestrians and cars. But after a while manufacture disappeared from Manhattan and the rail station remained unused. In 2000s the city decided to chang it to elevated park. Today most part of the park have been constructed. The elements of the park are included different planting, pavement and benches. Designers kept some  of the rail way. The shape of some part of elevated rail line have been changed. As people walk in the park they experience different spaces. In some parts of park high rise building are closer but in other part the gap between building and park is further. Sometimes park crosses inside a high rise building. High line park have a good view to river,streets and high rise buildings, however in other parts it has view to parking lots and roof of other buildings. Totally it can be seen that this structure is successful now. large amount of people come to this park every day and it makes them to walk long distant in the city.

http://www.nycgovparks.org

 

Source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_W2Yq1zzxAc#t=146

http://www.geograph.org.uk

Finsbury Avenue Square:

Finsbury Avenue Square is located in London and surrounded by 8 storeys office buildings. LED lights in pavement of this square  makes it distinguished. Other elements such as trees,Sculpture and benches

http://www.panoramio.com

http://www.panoramio.com

help to shape the square and complete it. Different colours in lighting makes people to feel different about the space in different times. Except LED lighting on the floor there are not special lighting around it and the most emphasis were on the LED lighting. Commercial buildings around the square have glazed facade which can reflect the light and make it more interesting.People can seat on benches and watch the lighting or walk on LED. This is how This square engage and attract people. In day time there is no colourful lighting and it does not seem to attract people at that time. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JWySNfEhHc

La Ramble, Barcelona:

La Ramble is a street in Barcelona that connect Catalonia plaza to the sea coast. Every year this street attract large number of tourist and local people. It has a wide walkway in the middle and two narrow street in both side of it. The wide walkway is filled with benches,Classic street lights, kiosks, restaurant`s table and chairs, tall trees, pedestrian and artists activities. In two side the street there are mixed use classic buildings that are included stores,hotel and restaurants and residential settlements and etc. These kind of varieties and activities draw people`s attention and make this street attractive for pedestrians. Furthermore encourage people to walk long distance to reach the sea coast. Although pedestrian activity is high in this street, it is not completely pedestrain friendly. The grand flour of buildings are mostly filled with stores and restaurants. Because of this pedestrians from wide walkway, try to cross the street to reach stores and restaurants. This could be dangerous because the volume of traffic is usually high in there. Another problem is about the kiosks that are located in the wide walkway.They block the view for pedestrians and motor vehicles that could be dangerous and make the street scape less interesting from appearance point of view.

http://www.travelblat.com

google map

http://bikefriendlyoc.org

Urban podium in Rotterdam:
This modern podium is located in on side of a square that is srrownded by residential appartments,Saint Laurens cathedral and Delfsevaart canal. I saw the pictures before this podium and notice that this area was so dull, boring and there were no special activities (Figure 1 and 2). It seems that city built this podium to make this area more vital. This simple structure is a stage for performance and  define the square with other buildings. Two side of it is open, therefore it can not reduce the view to canal an church whether there is performance or not. Other people in residential areas also could watch performance from their places. At nights because of the lighting it can draw more attention to itself but in days it does not seem to be attractive and the gray color makes it worst. Furthermore the confliction between this modern structure and old church from certain views is interesting. In general this structure can help to increase activity in this area.

Google Map (Figure 1)

Google Map (Figure 2)

http://architype.org

http://europaconcorsi.com

Solar access:
Today  because of the large number of population, high rise buildings is going to increase. High rise and dense buildings could decrease the accessibility to sun light. According to King (2011 p2) lack of exposure to sunlight which has vitamin D ,for worker housing in19th century in Europe caused bone disease. Today sunlight should be provided to improve both human health and reduce the usage of non-renewable sources. Photovoltaic tiles, solar heat water and other solar power systems need enough sunlight to produce energy. Furthermore private and public open spaces and areas for drying cloths should have access to sun light (Waverley Development Control Plan 2010). For this reason urban design play important role to increase solar accessibility. Designing urban areas should be according to sun path of that area. In winters buildings should absorb sunlight by windows, but in summer shadow is more demanded for a building (King 2011 p1). Therefor sun path can determine the direction of buildings, blocks and streets. Before the construction of a building the shadow of it should be assess. In Sydney pavement needs at least 2 hour  sunlight in winters (King 2011 p7) Trees height and location in the street should be considered as well.
sources:
-http://www.academia.edu/4326214/Our_place_in_the_sun_urban_design_implications_of_solar_access_controls
-http://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/3470/Part_G2.pdf

Rain gardens: 

http://dcplanning.org

Storm waters usually caries pollution that mostly caused by motor vehicles and industrial activities. According to Water Resource Education (2009) Storm water carries metal, phosphorus, nitrogen, bacteria, pesticides and other kind of toxic. These materials that are harmful for nature reach to water sources with drains and make them polluted. One of the solutions to this issue is to use rain garden in urban green areas. Because storm water could not be absorbed from surfaces like parking, walk ways , drive ways roofs and other impervious surfaces it flows in drain system. But instead it could be easily absorb by depression gardens. Soil filters the water which plants in the garden absorb and flows to ground water and recharge it with less pollution (City of Des Monies 2009). These gardens could provide other advantages such as making the appearance of the city better and reducing the air and noise pollution. According to City of Desmond it is better to use native plants, because they have adjusted to that area and they need water in driest time of the year.


 Source:
-City of Des Monies Park and Recreation 2009,Rain Gardens, United State,accessed 18 May 2014,<http://clean-water.uwex.edu>
-University of Wisconsin Extension 2009,Polluted urban runoff, United State,accessed 18 May 2014 <http://www.dmgov.org>