Report Organization

Cover Page

Title of the report, graphic illustration, authors, department, date.

Table of Contents

Chapter headings and subheadings.
The more detailed, the better: a Table of Contents should reveal the structure of the report.

List of Tables and Figures

Maps, site plans, historic views, charts (pie or graph) and numerical tables.
Photos throughout the report should have captions (should tell a story) but need to be listed here.

Executive Summary

Summary of major findings and recommendations. No more than two pages.
Gets written at the end, after the report is complete. Can be in paragraph or bullet format.

I Introduction

Group project members, site names and location, contact person, purpose of the project.
If applicable, short history of the site and past planning studies.

II Site Description

Site location, history (only what supports your proposal), current uses, surrounding uses.
Characteristics, both positive and negative, of access, circulation, uses, image, character, districts, edges, nodes, landmarks

• Urban Design Analysis - issues map (plan of site w/ graphics to point out pros & cons)
• Challenges - problems with existing conditions, past barriers to planning improvements, constituency or neighborhood issues, ownership issues
• Opportunities - qualities of existing conditions, potential, changing trends

III Analysis

NOT NECESSARY
For UEP 294, this is mostly a design analysis, with the addition of the first bullet, if performed.
For full urban design and planning group projects, this section would include some or all of the following.

• Interviews of resource people - what has been said, proposed and done about the site; what is the vision of the city or other constituency for this site
• Resident survey - to gather input from residents, opinions about current issues and potential futures of the site
• Shoppers survey - used to determine what's missing
• Market analysis - findings from previous studies in past 5 years (no time to do a real one)

Otherwise, the issues map, challenges and opportunities of the previous section constitute your analysis of the site.

IV Urban Design Principles, LEED-ND Criteria

From the findings of your observation and the results of your analysis, develop the urban design principles that should guide future development of the site.

• Urban Design Principles - guiding rules for the desired height, massing, setbacks, streetwall, and architectural character of the built environment; desired characteristics of the open spaces and pedestrian environment environment; relationships between built and open space; relationships between uses, private and public spaces
• LEED-ND Criteria - the criteria you have chosen to focus on. Evaluation of the points earned and level of certification achieved.

V Program of Uses

Program of Uses - a chart of the quantity (square feet, number, units, spaces) and location (building, floor level) of different land uses on the site

• Housing (number and type of units) - 1,000 SF typical
• Retail, office, institutional space (gross square feet GSF)
• Parking (number of spaces) - space and space of circulation - 300 SF/car
• Open spaces (type, GSF)
• Public realm elements (streets, sidewalks, streetscape)

Rationale for and explanation of the program. Relationships between program elements.
What would you tell the architects you want to see on the site.

VI Proposed Design

• Proposed design - a description/explanation of the design that houses the program. This can be a conceptual design for the site, showing one possible application of the urban design principles, with a detailed design of a section or component, such as streetscape elements, or it can be complete design of the whole site.
• A site plan showing roofs of buildings and circulation paths, courtyards and buildings.
• A section through the site showing changes in grade, streetscape elements, heights and shapes of buildings
• On the plan and in the text, identifying parts of the site by name (northwest corner, main entrance, etc.) and if there are several buildings, identify each building by name, letter or number.
• One good way of describing a design is to describe the experience of someone walking through the site, going through several spaces and activities in sequence. Maybe a scenario based on demographic.
• Describe the desired sense of place desired to be achieved.

VII Implementation

An outline of the steps that could be taken to implement the plan. This can be:

an action plan, with most visible actions first, to build support for future steps, OR
• a chronological plan: what needs to be done first to unlock the potential of the rest.

An outline of who would do what among different agents - city departments, state agencies, private developers, resident and/or merchant associations, local institutions and corporations. The two can be combined into a chart of action steps (y axis) and the roles of different agents in initiating them (x axis).