Discussion

We designed basic urban elements (e.g. roads, parcels, building blocks, land use, etc.) based on some common and general design understanding for the first iteration. The changes and refinements can be detected by the cyclic process of iterative methodology. Urban elements like building typologies and roads are analyzed and evaluated under measurable factors (e.g. daylight, solar gain and sky exposure). In other words, improvement of the quality and functionality of spaces can be made under the iterative design process.

Although we failed to achieve generating an urban fabric with 100% “good building”, based on the results of iterative design, we found out that orientation of building envelopes has the greatest effect on heat gain and daylight access. Restriction of building setbacks and height can be set to preserve rights to sunlight resources. Setting physical rules as design guidance can be useful for the next stage of design thinking.

Nevertheless, there are lots of limitations in my project, from the framework to structure. The base of research for this chapter barely depends on iterative design. The lack of literature reviews and case studies that related to urban fabric design cannot provide perfect solutions. Furthermore, the tests and analysis of urban prototyping are subjective and imperfect due to my limited knowledge in the field of urban planning.

Further study on the relationship among physical, social and environment dimensions for revitalization of a residential community and design regulations in Singapore would be important for further iterations to provide long-term values to theories community and a more practical solution.