Urbanwords is a project with the ambitious aim of recording the meanings and tracking the development of the words we use to talk and write about our urban environment. Its groundbreaking 500-page book The Dictionary of Urbanism1 has been hailed as the standard reference on urban design, planning, regeneration and the culture of cities. Since its publication in 2005, the project has continued to add entries, many of which have been posted on the free-to-access online supplement (www.urbanwords.info).
Presenting some of the terms being added to the online supplement, Urbanwords will appear in each issue of Urban Design and Planning. Readers are invited to contribute their own additions or amendments (contributors will be acknowledged); please send them to urbanwords@urbandesignskills.
In a new initiative, Urbanwords is providing a word-of-the-day service. To receive an urban word and its definition in your inbox every day, click on The Dictionary of Urbanism link at www.urbandesignskills.com.
accurate visual representation (AVR) a picture showing a proposed building or structure alongside what already exists, for use in evaluating a development proposal. As Esther Kurland explains, types of AVR include: a visibility study (a simple depiction of the shape of a proposal shown on digital photographs); approximate photomontage (a rendered computer model of a proposed building or structure combined with a photograph of its surroundings); accurate silhouette (an accurate description of the position, shape and size of a proposal, shown on a high-resolution photograph); accurate photomontage (an accurate depiction of the position, shape and size of a proposal but with selected architectural details shown on a high-resolution photograph); and accurate photo-reality (an accurate depiction of the position, size, shape and external appearance of a development proposal)
astroturf organisation one that poses as a grassroots body but is really a front organisation pursuing the narrow interests of a political party or tendency, or a sector of industry. While it may invite subscriptions from individuals, the funding is likely to depend on dominant business or political interests without whose contributions the group would soon wither. Such organisations exploit the ignorance of media outlets that are eager for cheap news but have relatively weak skills in checking the credentials of those who issue press releases. AstroTurf is the trade name of a brand of artificial grass
autoguano the toxic materials and other wastes that drip or are expelled from motor vehicles. Stephen Goldsmith coined the term in 2001. As planning director for Salt Lake City, Utah, he worked with the mayor to stop a proposed inter-city highway that would bring tens of thousands more cars into the city. ‘The impacts to water and air quality would require the city to process the autoguano, some of which (like rubber dust) is not manageable’ Goldsmith recalls. ‘The word creates an immediate image for people who otherwise don't see the beast for what it is. “Autoguano” is particularly illustrative when I speak to people about all the stuff the car brings into their attached garages, as though it were a filthy pet invited into the house. Since most attached garages in the USA connect directly to the kitchen, an awareness of the health risks is easy for people to digest when the word is introduced.’
banana, the (also the blue banana) the roughly banana-shaped, urbanised region variously described as encompassing London and Milan, or Cardiff, Birmingham and Milan; it appears blue in some computer-processed satellite views
big dig, the the nickname of the Boston central artery/tunnel project, which rerouted interstate highway 93 from the elevated central artery highway through a tunnel. The elevated central artery (the construction of which in the 1950s had displaced more than 20 000 residents) had marred the landscape of Boston, Massachusetts, and cut off the city centre from its waterfront for four decades. The new road opened in 2003, five years late and wildly over budget. The six-lane elevated highway was replaced by an eight-to-ten-lane underground expressway directly beneath the existing road, culminating at its northern limit in a 14-lane, two-bridge crossing of the Charles River. The project spanned 12·5 km of highway, about half of it in tunnels, amounting to one of the largest and most technically difficult infrastructure projects ever undertaken in the USA. A former director of the project described it as ‘doing open heart surgery on a patient who continues to work and play tennis'. US representative Barney Frank commented that it would be cheaper to elevate the city than depress the artery
build (noun) that which is built at a particular time. Example: ‘a complete farmstead, all of one build…’
cable-proof (verb) to take measures to avoid the need to dig up roads or pavements. Example: ‘we won't reduce congestion in the high street until we cable-proof it’
civic pioneer defined by the UK Department of Communities and Local Government in the 2000s as a local council that is ‘committed to developing and sustaining opportunities for local people and groups to influence what happens in their communities’
clown prince of kitsch the description has been applied to the American developer Donald Trump
coffin end (Glasgow) a narrow room formed by a tenement building that comes to a sharp corner
collage in (verb) to design a development so that it fits in with its surroundings, comprising only one element in a varied urban scene. Example: ‘once we've collaged it in, the planners will love it’
crown line a cornice or other horizontal architectural feature one floor below a building's eaves or parapet level. Example: ‘what do you mean we've ignored the context? Can't you see the crown line matching the roof of the building next door?’
DanDaresville a futuristic-looking city. Dan Dare was the hero of the eponymous cartoon strip in the Eagle comic in the 1950s and 1960s. Example: ‘[Leeds] seems to think its Manhattan or Shanghai or DanDaresville … [its] skyline is due to bristle with some of the highest residential towers in Europe’
design cyclist the type of cyclist for whom a particular feature is being designed. In 2004, the UK Department for Transport identified five types of design cyclist: fast commuter; other utility commuter; leisure cyclist; child; and the user of specialised equipment, including disabled people using hand-cranked machines and the use of trailers, trailer-cycles and tricycles. Similarly, the department identified four types of design pedestrian: commuter; shopper/leisure walker; disabled person; and child
earthcast to construct a dome or other feature by building a mound of earth, covering it with concrete and then removing the earth
ecotecture ecologically sensitive architecture. Example: ‘as soon as the market for community architecture dried up, she turned to ecotecture’
energy descent the conditions that are expected to result from the declining availability of fossil fuels. The ecologist Howard T. Odum and the permaculture campaigner David Holmgren used the term in the early 2000s
entopia a place that could exist, as opposed to a utopia. The term was coined by the urbanist Constantinos Doxiadis from the Greek words en (in) and topos (place). His book, Building Entopia, was published in 1975
ethnoscape the landscape of an area whose character has been created largely by ethnic communities. Example: ‘once again the developer has failed to respond to the area's distinctive ethnoscape’
false one-way street a two-way street with ‘no entry’ signs at one end; although traffic seems to be forbidden in one direction, access is possible by way of side streets
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac two companies mandated by the US Congress to provide funding to the housing market. Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) was founded in 1938 and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation) in 1970. The companies, which buy mortgages from approved lenders and sell them on to investors, guarantee or own around half the US mortgage market. Both were effectively nationalised in the mortgage crisis of 2008
geo-engineering (1) engineering on a world-wide scale to reduce the effects of global warming and climate change. (2) Designing structures such as roads and tunnels through combining the methods of engineering with those of the geological sciences
ghostburb a suburb that has been abandoned due to changed conditions such as increased travel costs
grey space commercial property that is empty but not on the market, possibly because the owner may need to use it in the future or is planning to sell it when its value rises
H-city an image of Denmark as a continuous urban system roughly in the shape of the letter H. The term has been used by Peter Hemmersam and Tom Nielsen (2004). They write that H-city has been in the making since the 1950s with the construction of the national motorway system, but that its potential only really became clear in 1998 with the opening of the Great Belt Bridge. The H includes Denmark's five biggest cities and two thirds of its population, as well as the Swedish city of Malmo
hemcrete a building material made of hemp and lime sprayed on to a wooden framework
hole with the mint, the Llantrisant, the town in South Wales that is home to the Royal Mint (which moved there from London in 1967). The nickname is inspired by the advertising campaign for Polo mints, ‘the mint with the hole’. In this context ‘hole’ has the implication of ‘dump’. Llantrisant means ‘the parish of the three saints’
icanic characteristic of an ‘anything you can do, I can do bigger’ attitude towards tall buildings, as distinct from a desire to create iconic architecture. The term was used by the humorist Ian Martin in 2004
in-and-out-town a town that is insufficiently attractive for most visitors to spend any longer there than is necessary. Example: ‘until we do something about the public realm it will continue to be an in-and-out-town’
inclusive visioning the term was included in a list of missing skills by the UK Department of Communities and Local Government. The House of Commons Communities and Local Government Committee wrote in 2008 that the phrase ‘appears to mean working out what an area needs’
indirect potable reuse (US) reusing waste water after treating it, injecting it into the ground and drawing it from wells. This is a more publicly acceptable way of recycling waste water than just purifying it and recycling it as drinking water directly, which critics of such schemes call ‘toilet-to-tap’. Example: ‘say “indirect potable reuse” if you want people to accept the idea that their kids will be making lemonade with water that was flushed down the toilet or used to mop the porch’
invisible infrastructure infrastructure that makes a particular activity possible, without being specifically adapted to it. Example: ‘it is sometimes possible to cater for the needs of pedestrians and cyclists without providing measures such as cycle lines and subways. Such invisible infrastructure is important’
Ironopolis Middlesbrough, UK, as called in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when it was an important centre of heavy industry. Middlesbrough Ironopolis Football Club played briefly in the Football League in the 1890s
Juliet (or French) balcony a balustrade, or screen fronting French windows at an upper floor of a building so that the windows can be opened without danger, and to give the appearance of being a usable balcony. The details are sometimes styled to match genuine balconies in the same façade
landmarker a significant feature of a landscape that can be reflected in the design of new development. A hedge or the route of a path serve as examples
landscape urbanism designing and planning open space using landscape as the structuring medium
life-expired having reached the end of expected or possible life. The term tends to suggest that the life cannot be extended, although often it could be. Example: ‘everyone was glad to see the life-expired housing being demolished’
locative art projects using mobile communications technology (such as global positioning systems, wireless internet and mobile phones) to explore interactions between people and places for artistic purposes
mallercise exercise (generally walking) taken in a shopping mall
mall-walking (see also mallercise) walking in a shopping mall as a form of exercise. The term came from the USA in the early 1980s
mathematical tiles clay tiles used on the elevations of timber-framed buildings, particularly in the eighteenth century, to give the impression of brickwork. They are either a natural clay colour or glazed black
mothers and daughters a pattern of urban expansion based on building small satellite towns to an existing development. Example: ‘the “mothers and daughters” option posited the idea of a number of small satellite towns so that existing residents were not robbed of proximity to open countryside’ (David Lock 2004)
negative space that which is not consciously planned or designed. Example: ‘the large areas of negative space are proving to be a real maintenance headache’
ocean-tide loading the twice-daily depression of land by the weight of tidal sea water. The amount of tidal bounce, as it is also known, varies according to tidal variation, topography and distance from the sea. Plymouth bounces by three inches, the greatest of any British city, compared with London's bounce of less than an inch. Measurements of tidal bounce, made with global positioning systems, are taken into account in some major civil engineering projects
overbuild (US) to build more homes in a particular area than the market will bear in the foreseeable future
penny-ruled pointing brickwork pointed so that the mortar is flush with the faces of the bricks, except for a groove the thickness of a coin (2–3 mm) along the centre. This makes a colour-washed wall look as though the bricks have been tightly laid
petulance the state of being easily annoyed in a childish way. In 2005, the architect and urban designer Terry Farrell declared that the collective noun for architects was ‘a petulance’
plook on a plinth Cumbernauld, Lanarkshire, so called in 2005 after a competition organised by the architecture magazine Prospect to find Scotland's worst place for planning and architecture. The town had won a similar competition in 2001, when its shopping centre was described as ‘a rabbit warren on stilts’. Plook (or plouk) is a Scots word for a spot or pimple
plop art a pejorative term for a work of public art placed with little consideration of its setting; the term recalls the more familiar pop art. Example: ‘they hoped to persuade the planners with their offer of a few pieces of plop art’
red tape excessively restrictive bureaucratic regulations. A government's view of the difference between red tape and useful regulation can change with its policy. Example: ‘today I am scrapping the red tape so it is much easier to convert the loft into that extra bedroom and build on an extension’ (UK housing and planning minister Caroline Flint speaking in 2008)
riding the dog (US) taking a Greyhound bus. Greyhound Lines, the USA's largest inter-city bus service, was founded in 1914 and received its present name in 1926
right-size (verb) (US) to plan infrastructure and levels of service appropriate to the size that a city is expected to grow or shrink to. The term is sometimes used as a more positive way of describing the process of managing decline (downsizing)
rurty a person who has left a city to live in a rural bohemian enclave; the word combines rural and arty. Example: ‘the rurties were dismayed to find that the mobile phone signal was unreliable’
score (1) the total number of points counted. (2) A set of instructions directing someone to carry out an activity in a particular way (Lawrence Halprin used the term in the 1960s to describe a means of communicating the results of community design exercises). (3) One of the steep lanes or alleys leading from the High Street of Lowestoft (Suffolk, UK) down the sloping cliffs to the beach (originally the site of the Beach Village, the location of the town's fishing industry and Britain's most easterly community, since demolished)
shed-shifter a pejorative term for a person in the development industry whose work involves causing sheds (cheaply constructed single-storey buildings) to be built without any concern for the quality of the places that are created. Example: ‘how can you expect to win design awards when you are nothing but a shed-shifter?’
skyfarming growing produce in vertical farms in the form of high-rise buildings; also called verticulture
speedophile (usually pejorative) a lover of speed. Example: ‘all you speedophiles—share the road and cut your speed’
Stollerised photographed by the architectural photographer Ezra Stoller (1915–2004). Modernist architects were keen to have their buildings ‘Stollerised’ as the photographs, often widely published, showed the buildings at their best (and often made them look a great deal better that they were in reality)
structured parking parking provided in a purpose-built facility such as an undercroft or multi-storey garage
sunlighter a resident of the model village of Port Sunlight, Cheshire, UK
Thames Town a satellite town of Shanghai, China, built in 2006 to designs by the UK consultant Atkins in what is supposed to be the style of a traditional small English town; it consists of five gated communities
thee-thou a person from Sheffield, UK; from the traditional use of the second-person singular pronoun forms ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ in that city
Tin Pan Alley (1) the part of New York City (centred on part of West 28th Street and not an actual alley) where publishers and writers of popular music were concentrated in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; the name may refer to the cacophony of music coming from the area's buildings. (2) The popular music industry in the USA. This generic use derives from the previous definition. (3) Any part of a city where music publishers and music shops are concentrated. Denmark Street in London, known as Britain's Tin Pan Alley since the 1920s, is an example
toon, go doon the (1) to go out into town. In Newcastle, UK, the phrase is likely to be ‘gan doon the toon’. (2) to work as a prostitute; to walk the streets
transition town a town or village, or part of a town or city, whose residents aim to find alternatives to generating energy from oil and to drastically reduce carbon emissions to reduce the effects of climate change. The transition towns movement was founded in 2005 by environmentalist Rob Hopkins in Kinsale, Ireland and Totnes, England (the first to be declared a transition town)
turquoise belt a strip of green land next to a river
urban karaoke planning or designing urban development in a way that pays lip-service to guidance on best practice without showing any real creativity. Example: ‘the planners have failed to realise that this is nothing but urban karaoke’
vélopartage (French) bicycle sharing. Community bicycle-sharing schemes include Vélo'v (pronounced Vélove), a bicycle rental scheme launched in Lyon, France, in 2005, allowing subscribers to borrow cycles from racks in the streets (the system was based on a smaller pilot scheme in Vienna), Bicloo (Nantes), Cy'clic (Rouen), Cyclocity (a service developed by the company JCDecaux for various places in France and Belgium), Eco-bici (Cordoba, Spain), Vélib (Paris), V'hello (Aix-en-Provence), Velocity (Besançon and Mulhouse, another JCDecaux scheme), VélôToulouse (Toulouse), Vélam (Amiens) and Vel'oh (Luxembourg)
verticulture vertical farming in specially constructed tall buildings; also called skyfarming
vision zero an approach to road safety based on the aim of preventing any deaths or serious injury caused by road transport. The Swedish parliament introduced a vision zero policy in 1997 with the aim of achieving that goal by 2020
visuacy visual literacy; the term was current in Australia in 2008. Example: ‘how can you expect politicians to demand high standards of urban design when the standard of visuacy is so low?’
wardmote a meeting that all electors in a ward of the City of London are entitled to attend to raise issues of concern or to meet the election candidates in a contested ward. Historically, a wardmote had a role as a court of law in relation some local matters
World Capital City of Pop Liverpool, so named in the 2000s by The Guinness Book of Records. The city was the home of The Beatles, one of the world's most successful pop groups
