Urban Design Skills
A Claude Code Skills Plugin by Abhinav Bhardwaj
18 interconnected skills covering urban design theory, quantitative standards, and computational tools. Draws from 40+ theorists, 6 sustainability certification systems, 5 international frameworks, and hundreds of numeric benchmarks. Includes 7 Python calculators for density, FAR, walkability, parking, green space, block optimization, and cost estimation.
35,000+ lines | 75 files | 18 skills | 7 Python calculators
Table of Contents
Quick Start
Option 1: Use as a Plugin
claude --plugin-dir "/path/to/Urban Design Skills"
Option 2: Copy to Your Project
cp -r skills/ your-project/.claude/skills/
Once installed, just ask Claude anything about urban design. The system activates automatically - no slash commands required for most tasks.
How It Works
Urban Design Skills uses a progressive disclosure architecture to stay lean while encoding deep knowledge:
User asks anything about urban design
|
v
urban-design-foundations (auto-fires, invisible to user)
- Applies baseline knowledge from 40+ frameworks
- Routes to specialized skills as needed
|
v
Specialized skill loads (e.g., street-design, masterplan-design)
- Follows structured workflow
- Loads deep reference files on demand
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v
urban-calculator provides precise computations when needed
- 6 Python scripts for density, FAR, walkability, parking,
green space, and block optimization
Three-Layer Context Management
| Layer | What Loads | When | Size |
|---|
| Layer 0 | Skill names + descriptions only | Always in context | ~16KB |
| Layer 1 | Full SKILL.md body | On skill invocation | ~350-670 lines each |
| Layer 2 | Reference files, templates | Only when explicitly needed | Varies |
This keeps the context window efficient. Claude never loads knowledge it doesn't need for the current task.
Skills Reference
1. Foundation (Auto-Activated)
urban-design-foundations
Invocation: Automatic (invisible to user) - Claude-only, not user-invocable
The foundation layer. Auto-fires on any urban design context and provides:
- Theorist Quick-Reference Matrix - 14+ theorists with key contributions, principles, and application contexts
- Quantitative Rules of Thumb - 35+ metrics with min/optimal/max values (density, FAR, block dimensions, street widths, H:W ratios, green space, walkability, parking, and more)
- Movement Frameworks - New Urbanism, TOD, Complete Streets, 15-Minute City, Smart Growth, Space Syntax, CPTED, Biophilic Urbanism
- Climate Zone Summary - Hot-arid, tropical, temperate, cold strategies at a glance
- Design Quality Criteria Checklist - Gehl + Bentley + PPS + Healthy Streets composite
- Anti-Pattern Catalog - Common urban design failures and how to avoid them
- Skill Router - Decision tree that activates specialized skills based on user context
Reference files (loaded on demand):
theorists-and-movements.md - Full treatment of all theorists and modern movementsquantitative-standards.md - Complete numeric standards organized by categoryglobal-frameworks.md - UN-Habitat, WHO, C40, NACTO, ITDP, TfL, PPSrules-of-thumb.md - Quick-lookup tables for 10+ design situations
2. Analysis & Research
site-analysis
Invocation: /site-analysis or auto-activates on site analysis context
Multi-scale site analysis framework operating at three scales:
- Regional - Economic drivers, transport networks, growth corridors
- Neighborhood - Street network, land use patterns, community facilities
- Site - Topography, microclimate, boundaries, constraints, opportunities
Includes a 10-step analysis workflow with checklists, 12 analysis layers (topography, hydrology, climate, ecology, transport, utilities, zoning, heritage, noise, views, access, social), and a complete site analysis report template.
Reference files: analysis-layers.md, data-sources.md
Templates: site-analysis-report.md
design-evaluation
Invocation: /design-evaluation or auto-activates on evaluation context
Composite 30-criteria scorecard synthesizing the best of:
