Introducing a Research Perspective in Urban Design and Representation

The chapter aims at providing a framework to the content collected in the book and, in particular, it investigates the mutual and influential relationship between representation and urban design. This topic represents the core activity and is at the very basis of the main approach developed by the research structure Laboratorio di Simulazione Urbana ‘Fausto Curti’ at the Department of Architecture and Urban Studies of the Polytechnic of Milan, where physical and digital simulation is interpreted as the anticipation of future urban environments from a perceptual and experiential point of view. In fact, the entire book deeply explores the topic of urban simulation from different perspectives and in an interdisciplinary way. This chapter presents the structure of the entire volume, a synthesis of the content for each contribution, and the relationship between the parts that are organized in thematic categories, namely: conceptual and experiential approaches, digital modelling and visibility studies, physical modelling in the professional practice, mapping and simulation, and frontier tools. The contributions by professionals and researchers address the topics of simulation and design from both theoretical and practical perspectives with sound references to case-study applications. By presenting the current state of the art and the possible future directions of research in urban simulation, the book aims to become a reference for researchers and professionals, but also for higher education in urban design