Urban design is the process of designing and shaping cities, towns and villages.

In contrast to
architecture, which focuses on the design of individual buildings, urban design deals with the larger
scale of groups of buildings, streets and public spaces, whole neighborhoods and districts, and
entire cities, with the goal of making urban areas functional, attractive, and sustainable.

Urban design is an inter-disciplinary subject that utilizes elements of many built environment
professions, including landscape architecture, urban planning, architecture, civil and municipal
engineering.[2] It is common for professionals in all these disciplines to practice in urban design. In
more recent times different sub-strands of urban design have emerged such as strategic urban
design, landscape urbanism, water-sensitive urban design, and sustainable urbanism.
Urban design demands an understanding of a wide range of subjects from physical geography,
through to social science, and an appreciation for disciplines, such as real estate development,
urban economics, political economy and social theory.
Urban design is about making connections between people and places, movement and urban form,
nature and the built fabric. Urban design draws together the many strands of place-making,
environmental stewardship, social equity and economic viability into the creation of places with
distinct beauty and identity. Urban design draws these and other strands together creating a vision
for an area and then deploying the resources and skills needed to bring the vision to life.
Urban design theory deals primarily with the design and management of public space (i.e. the 'public
environment', 'public realm' or 'public domain'), and the way public places are experienced and used.
Public space includes the totality of spaces used freely on a day-to-day basis by the general public,
such as streets, plazas, parks and public infrastructure. Some aspects of privately owned spaces,
such as building facades or domestic gardens, also contribute to public space and are therefore also
considered by urban design theory. Important writers on urban design theory include Christopher
Alexander, Peter Calthorpe, Gordon Cullen, Andres Duany, Jane Jacobs, Mitchell Joachim, Jan
Gehl, Allan B. Jacobs, Kevin Lynch, Aldo Rossi, Colin Rowe, Robert Venturi, William H.
Whyte, Camillo Sitte, Bill Hillier (Space syntax) and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk.

Urban planning is a technical and political process concerned with the development and use of
land, planning permission, protection and use of the environment, public welfare, and the design of
the urban environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban
areas, such as transportation, communications, and distribution networks.[1] Urban planning is also
referred to as urban and regional planning, regional planning, town planning, city
planning, rural planning or some combination in various areas worldwide. It takes many forms and
it can share perspectives and practices with urban design.[2]
Urban planning guides orderly development in urban, suburban and rural areas. Although
predominantly concerned with the planning of settlements and communities, urban planning is also
responsible for the planning and development of water use and resources, rural and agricultural
land, parks and conserving areas of natural environmental significance. Practitioners of urban
planning are concerned with research and analysis, strategic thinking, architecture, urban
design, public consultation, policy recommendations, implementation and management.[3]
Urban planners work with the cognate fields of architecture, landscape architecture, civil
engineering, and public administration to achieve strategic, policy and sustainability goals. Early
urban planners were often members of these cognate fields. Today urban planning is a separate,
independent professional discipline. The discipline is the broader category that includes different
sub-fields such as land-use planning, zoning, economic development, environmental planning,
and transportation planning.
Human settlements are classified as rural or urban depending on the
density of human-created structures and resident people in a
particular area. Urban areas can include town and cities while rural
areas include villages and hamlets.

While rural areas may develop randomly on the basis of natural

vegetation and fauna available in a region, urban settlements are
proper, planned settlements built up according to a process called
urbanization. Many times, rural areas are focused upon by
governments and development agencies and turned into urban areas.

Unlike rural areas, urban settlements are defined by their advanced

civic amenities, opportunities for education, facilities for transport,
business and social interaction and overall better standard of living.
Socio-cultural statistics are usually based on an urban population.

While rural settlements are based more on natural resources and

events, the urban population receives the benefits of mans
advancements in the areas of science and technology and is not
nature-dependent for its day to day functions. Businesses stay open
late into the evenings in urban areas while, sunset in rural areas
means the day is virtually over.

The flip side of this is that rural areas do not have pollution or traffic
problems that beset regular urban areas. Many governments, though
focusing on the development of rural areas, have also tried to protect
these areas as preservation of their countrys basic culture and
traditions.
Urban areas are also classified according to land use and density of
population. But this can vary from developed countries to developing
countries. For example, in Australia, urban cities must include at least
a 1,000 residents with 200 or more people per square kilometer while
in Canada, an urban area is defined with a density of 400 people per
square kilometer In China, the density requirement for an urban area
is about 1,500 people per square kilometer Statistically, two urban
areas with less than two kilometers between them are considered one
urban zone.

Main Difference

Urban and rural stands for two different places. These are entirely different from each other on
the basis of working, earnings, services, and population, using geographical classifications. You
have read many differences between urban and rural. But the main and short and difference
between urban and rural is that urban is a place of living that is made and developed by man
while rural is a place for living that is made by God, the creator.

In human settlements, urban stands for an area that is characterized by high human population and vast
human built infrastructures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. City, towns, conurbations are
examples of urban and this term is cant be extended to villages and hamlets. At present, 3.9 billion
people out of the population of 7.25 billion people, are living in urban areas. The world is gradually
becoming more urban than rural. According to the Population Division of the United Nations Department
of Economic and Social Affairs, the urban population would grow to 6.4 billion by 2050, with 37% of
that growth to come from three countries: China, India, and Nigeria. By the process of urbanization, the
urban areas are being developed further.

Rural has simple definition, an area that is located outside the towns and cities is called rural like villages
and hamlets. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Rural is an area that
encompassing all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area. Whatever is not
urban is considered rural. Rural areas have a low population and small settlement as compare to urban
areas. In fact, there areas are means of agriculture and cultivation. For statistical and administrative
purposes, most of the countries have varying definitions for rural. Organization for Economic Co-
operation and Development of Canada defines rural region as the area having over 50% of population as
compare to rural and has a population density below 150 people per square kilometer.

Key Differences
 Urban is a place of living that is made and developed by man while rural is a place for living that
is made by God, the creator.
Health, education, employment, and development facilities are thousands times better is urban as
compare to rural.
Rural life is full with peace. Unlike urban life, it is not surrounded with machines and artificial
means for living.
Inflation has vast impact on urban while in rural areas, people can live easily with low income.
Industrial type occupation is the prime source of employment in urban areas while in rural areas,
means of living is agriculture and cultivation.
Size of community is very large is urban. Size of community is small in size in rural areas.
Social interaction is low but strong in rural areas because of people living very far from each
other. There is high social interaction in urban because of community centres and social circles.
Standard of living in urban is high as compare to rural.

A city in most parts of the world is a specific geographic and political entity: City. The definitions of
cities, towns, townships, villages, etc can vary dramatically from country to country, but cities are
generally the largest settlement-level political entities.

"Urban" refers to the actual area and environment in a city: Urban area. City is a noun and urban is
an adjective: urban

A city is a legal definition that defines a physical geographic boundary. An urban area is more flexible in
that it refers to a region of a certain population density. And a metropolitan area is the most nebulous term
in that it comprises an urban area and the outlying region(s) that share utilities, industries, and various
institutions.

So a city, like Washington DC has certain coordinates on a map that are legally established. They really
can't change without government intervention. Using that same city as an example, the urban area of
Washington DC extends up into Maryland (Bethesda and Chevy Chase), because there is a certain
population density that is not materially deifferent from the boundaries of the city of Washington DC which
they touch. And the metropolitan area of DC includes other cities like Arlington, VA, with which it shares
many of the same educational institutions and services liek cable providers and television stations.

A city is an administrative unit with finite boundaries (city limits).

The urban area is an area including and surrounding a city with high density. Think Los Angeles, Santa
Monica, Hollywood, Burbank area. The boundaries are not exactly finite and are up to the researcher, but
there's usually a set mathematical designation.

The Metropolitan area is a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated
surrounding territories. The Los Angeles metropolitan area includes Los Angeles and part of Orange
County and includes some suburban and semi-rural area. The boundaries of a metro area are the most
"fuzzy".

In China the pattern is reversed. Formal city limits can actually expand way beyond the urban and metro
areas and hinterlands in some Chinese cities.