City

1. What do you feel were the author's key points in this chapter?

I think the author's key point is that city needs design. While chaos and disorder are essential parts of a city experience, they need to planned. Things that make a city a successful place, like traffic (foot and otherwise) flow, shopping and food, and attractive layout, can all be laid out and controlled.

2. Compare Whyte's ideas on design to Norman's concepts that we studied earlier. What's similar? What's different?

Norman's ideas of design focused around three categories of design appeal, visceral, behavioral, and reflective. All of these ideas are found in in Whyte's reading: visceral design is found in his statements about successful businesses with shock value (Icarus, etc). Behavioral design is, of course, found in his description of street workings and trash cans. In the design of streets he uses some of Norman's principles, but in reverse. Whyte advocates the creation of crowd, of slowing people down and delaying them, practices that Norman would probably believe overly-manipulative. I think he would agree with Norman as regards trash cans. He talks extensively about affordances the trash cans in New York. Their design provides passers-by with many opportunities for varied use, almost none of it relating to waste disposal, and even goes so far as to recommend adding a ledge for shoelace-tying. Reflective design would vary extensively for both writers. Norman's subject matter deals with products that must sell some reflective appeal to consumers. I would argue that cities must hold some inherent reflective value for people. Consumers must want to be seen shopping or eating in the city, they want to feel part of the community no matter which aspect of it they try to fit in.

3. Create a checklist, based on Whyte's chapter, that could be used to analyze an urban area.

1. Are buildings laid out well? According to Whyte, they must be flush with the sidewalk to provide a city environment.
2. Are there displays in the windows of shops and stores along the street frontage? This is necessary for a city shopping experience. Consumers, particularly women, want to window-shop in this environment.
3. The sidewalk should be a very particular size. Whyte prescribes 15-25 feet depending on the region of city.
4. Are passers-by slowed enough by design? Successful retail needs delay. Trees, seating and other amenities, and well-designed entrance ways facilitate delay.