1. Briefly describe the concept of “public realm.” What are the different types

1. Briefly describe the concept of “public realm.” What are the different types of public spaces in cities that constitute public realm? Discuss Jan Gehl’s idea of “necessary activities, optional activities, and social activities” and their relevance for public realm. How might Gehl’s idea of necessary activities, optional activities, and social activities be used to identify the “publicness” of urban outdoor spaces?
2. In his chapter titled The Future of Urbanism, Garde (2019) has discussed recent trends, changes, and associated challenges that are likely to influence the future of urbanism. Explain the relevance of these trends for the future of urbanism and discuss how the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic might intensify or alleviate these trends?
3. Urban environments, especially in older cities, include old buildings and neighborhoods that could be considered obsolete or outdated for future use. Discuss the different measures that could be used to assess the obsolescence of buildings and urban environments. In addition, discuss the different types of interventions that can be used to preserve and/or recreate historic buildings or historic urban environments for their continued use.
4. What is sprawl? Discuss the measures/dimensions of sprawl that can be used to identify the differences between the sprawl and non-sprawl development as Galster et al. (2001) have presented. In addition, explain how does the urban design movement called New Urbanism respond to sprawl illustrated in its principles and development practices?
5. Gary Hack has discussed the concept of “urban flux” in his chapter in the book titled Companion to Urban Design. Describe the concept of urban flux and discuss how elements of urban flux contribute to our experience of urban environment. How might city planners use the idea of “urban flux” to improve our experience of urban environments?
6. In his book Good City Form, Kevin Lynch has explained five performance dimensions and two meta criteria to evaluate the “goodness” of the city form. Given this, first briefly describe the five performance dimensions and two meta criteria. Next, select a city that you are familiar with and use the five performance dimensions and two meta criteria to explain how you might evaluate the “goodness” of its city form.