Urban beauty beyond the visible and designable

Today, beauty is a marginal topic within the scientific debate on cities. Fundamental questions such as “What constitutes urban beauty?”, “What are its origins?”, “How can planners and designers contribute to its creation?”, and “How did the urban areas that we find appealing evolve?”, largely remain unexplored. Neglecting these issues fails to serve the interests of both citizens and planners. This talk, hosted by the Art University of Isfahan, considers two principal hypotheses. First, a superficial consensus on a vague and unsatisfactory conception of urban beauty hinders substantive discussion. Second, including also the issues of action and complexity in the discourse provides better understanding of the unique characteristics of urban beauty.

From this perspective, this talk first briefly examines the general concept of beauty and its application. It then highlights key features to be considered when discussing urban beauty. The findings of the analysis reveal necessary conceptual changes and possible new approaches.