Module 4B The Way People Live Urban Design The Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao The Pompidou Centre, Paris Many homeowners, planners, engineers, architects and scientists believe that the character of a place matters They are working hard to shape and improve the environment in which increasing proportions of the world’s population spend their lives 3 Architectural developments and urban design projects intend to establish a better relationship between cities, their inhabitants and natural surroundings 4 Making these cities functional and attractive can improve the places where we live, work and play Activities 1 Answer these questions a What is urban design concerned with? b What is happening to cities today? c What engineers and architects agree on? d What architectural and urban design projects set out to do? e Can you think of any examples of these projects being currently developed in your town or city? English Toolkit - Art Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A / Richmond 2011 Urban design focuses on the shape of urban landscapes Nowadays, there is a steady movement towards urban areas, and the number of people living in cities keeps growing Module 4B 2 Discuss the following subtitles and use them to fill in the blanks in the text a New trends b Men at work c Home sweet home d A better place to live 3 Translate the following paragraph Many home owners, planners, engineers, architects and scientists believe that the character of a place matters They are working hard to shape and improve the environment in which increasing proportions of the world’s population spend their lives 4 Write the words defined here in English and Spanish Do they look similar? a You can practise a variety of sports here: b You can see a play here: c You can borrow a book here: d Valuable historical objects are exhibited here: e White-collar workers work here from nine to five: f Photographs or paintings are on display here: g You can go shopping, have something to eat and watch a film here: h Block of flats: i The government of a city is established here: 5 In groups, imagine you are architects working on the same urban design project You want to make your neighbourhood a more attractive place to live Which of the buildings mentioned in the previous activity would you include? Why? How would each of them make your neighbourhood a better place to live in? Add a sketch to your project English Toolkit - Art Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A / Richmond 2011