by

AA Dipl MSc(CS) DIC MIEEE

Assistant Professor, School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hong Kong, China

and

BSc(Hons) AA Dipl RIBA

Director, GAS-KL Building Workshop

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / Hong Kong, China

This paper is the result of several years of research by the Authors into the new field of generative design, as applied to urbanism. Its purpose is to formulate a concept of parametric urbanism and data-driven urban design, and how it departs from existing concepts of urban analysis and resulting design methods.

This paper first gives a definition and description of the notion of generative urban design, and its relevance to current the practice of architecture and global political, sociological and economic developments. The difference between dogmatic forms of urban design and new parametric research methods is explained, and the Authors argue the fundamental relevance of using examples of post-colonial large-scale projects.

In support of this, the Authors explore the widening field of research into parametric and data-driven architecture and urban design and the history of rule-based and evolutionary design methodologies. The paper illustrates examples of successful research in the field of parametric and rule-based urban design, by the Authors as well as colleagues within the field. It surveys the Authors’ work done at the Architectural Association School of Architecture, at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design, as well as in practice and research-oriented consultancy. The projects illustrated support the thesis of parametric urbanism by showing its power and versatility when applied to very large-scale projects, in particular within the People’s Republic of China.

Hong Kong, 06.09.99