Chapter 2: The Evolution of Urban Graphics

Graphic design techniques have been employed through the ages to explain how neighbourhoods, towns and cities work and how they can be made better.

Urban design ideas conveyed graphically have ranged in scale from practical remedies for specific urban problems and areas through to utopian visions of the perfect future city.

Whilst urban graphics have become increasingly sophisticated, the basic graphic techniques employed have not fundamentally changed in the face of radical shifts in urban design theory and technological advances. This chapter examines common types of urban graphics that have been employed through time in the communication of urban design ideas.