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HDB has been efficient in creating new towns with the community spirit in mind. Each public housing block is considered a vertical community, with common area built into the design to promote social interaction. Another key priority of HDB is the building of cohesive communities within its towns.

Living environments are provided with community spaces for residents to mingle and interact. Public housing policies and schemes are formulated not only to meet changing needs and aspirations, but they also support national objectives such as maintaining racial harmony and stronger family ties, and focus on the needs of elderly and those who may be in financial difficulty.

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Gehl emphasizes four human issues that he sees as essential to successful city planning. He explains how to develop cities that are Lively, Safe, Sustainable, and Healthy. Focusing on these issues leads Gehl to think of even the largest city on a very small scale. For Gehl, the urban landscape must be considered through the five human senses and experienced at the speed of walking rather than at the speed of riding in a car or bus or train. This small-scale view, he argues, is too frequently neglected in contemporary projects.

The key is to examine cities from an eye-level rather than a bird’s-eye view, and integrate alternative modes of transportation to a degree that decreases the need for cars and focuses on the human-scale.  In doing so it’s important to consider the needs of various life stages, from the toddler to seniors.  If neighborhoods are accessible to these age groups, they’re inherently walkable by everyone.

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Irregular/organic patterns are formed or accident-grown. It is expected to develop without the contribution of the designers, not the object of the master plan, and is the subject of time, the landscape and the daily life of citizens. The resulting shape is irregular, organic, with a share of bent and crooked streets and indiscriminate open spaces.

Grids patterns can be built incrementally, on dual carriageways, one carriageway at a time. Grids have what road engineers call ‘natural redundancy’ – a highly desirable quality, whereby if a road is blocked by accident or repair, an alternative route is available. Non-hierarchical systems are very vulnerable to blockages - a problem on a major distributor can paralyze a large area. Most importantly, grids are vastly more cost effective than hierarchical systems.

In Radial patterns
the network of roads is in the form of circles emanating from the center of the area. Roads radiate outwards from a central point.

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Urban Design involves the design and coordination of all that makes up cities and towns. Buildings are the most pronounced elements of urban design - they shape and articulate space by forming the street walls of the city. Well designed buildings and groups of buildings work together to create a sense of place. Great public spaces are the living room of the city - the place where people come together to enjoy the city and each other. Public spaces make social cohesion in the city possible - they form the stage and backdrop to the drama of life. Public spaces range from grand central plazas and squares, to small, local neighborhood parks. Streets are the connections between spaces and places, as well as being spaces themselves. They are defined by their physical dimension and character as well as the size, scale, and character of the buildings that line them. Streets range from grand avenues such as the Champs-Elysees in Paris to small, intimate pedestrian streets.  The pattern of the street network is part of what defines a city and what makes each city unique. Transport systems connect the parts of cities and help shape them, and enable movement throughout the city. They include road, rail, bicycle, and pedestrian networks, and together form the total movement system of a city. The balance of these various transport systems is what helps define the quality and character of cities, and makes them either friendly or hostile to pedestrians.    Thelandscape is the green part of the city that weaves throughout - in the form of urban parks, street trees, plants, flowers, and water in many forms. The landscape helps define the character and beauty of a city and creates soft, contrasting spaces and elements.  Green spaces in cities range from grand parks such as Central Park in New York City and the Washington DC Mall, to small intimate pocket parks.