Author Description

Beautiful cities are, and always have been sustainable, as they are shaped by timeless and sophisticated architecture. Urban beauty--primarily a cultural aspiration--to portray more than just the sum of individualistic decisions or the results of manipulating marketing strategies. The pressure to include the diverse aspects of a functional, ecological, and integrated urban organisation in the design from the beginning has significantly increased. This handbook not only lists important criteria for high-quality contemporary urban architecture, it also shows its exemplary application in design. However, quality--be it in design or subsequently in reality--cannot be achieved by abstraction, but rather by concrete visualisation. This is where the actual and essential competence of architects, and thus simultaneously the key to the beauty of the city, can be found in the synergy of all of the specialised disciplines involved.