Three Sides of the Same Coin: A Scoping Review of Community Development, Urban Design Dimensions, and Proactive Urbanism

Abeer Elshater (), Hisham Abusaada and Ahmed Ouf
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Abeer Elshater: Department of Urban Design and Planning, Faculty of Engineering, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11517, Egypt
Hisham Abusaada: Department of Architecture, Housing and Building National Research Centre (HBRC), Giza 1770, Egypt
Ahmed Ouf: Department of Community and Regional Planning, Alabama A&M University, Huntsville, AL 35811-7500, USA

Land, 2025, vol. 14, issue 12, 1-27

Abstract: This review article engages with ongoing advocacy for proactive urban design that responds to user-driven transformations in public spaces. These changes often occur beyond the control of professional design intervention. Urban design and community development disciplines have made significant contributions to enhancing public spaces over the past few decades. This manuscript seeks to build on the strengths of both disciplines by integrating them into “proactive urbanism”. We conducted a scoping review and meta-analysis of relevant sources in Scopus, Scopus AI, and Google databases on urban design and community development, aiming to identify commonalities that offer proactive insights for the design of public places. The findings of the bibliometric study suggested areas of meaningful convergence between urban design, with its emphasis on spatial form, and community development, which foregrounds social dynamics and lived experiences. The nexus of urban design dimensions—socio-temporal and spatial—can provide a future framework for analysis. This approach supports the creation of public spaces that are both resilient and responsive. It aligns with designers’ aspirations and addresses the everyday needs of communities. By foregrounding both lived experience and anticipatory design practices, this manuscript argues for a more collaborative framework—one that bridges policy, design, and grassroots action to support a more responsive, community-centered urban evolution.

Keywords: design in context; contextualism; spatiotemporal dimension; people’s preferences; public spaces (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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