Generative AI (GenAI) is a type of artificial intelligence that creates new content – like text, images, or ideas – by learning patterns from existing data. GenAI, particularly through large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek, is rapidly becoming part of everyday urban design research and practice.
The models can summarise literature in seconds, generate policy scenarios, and help draft complex narratives.
For urban designers and researchers working under pressure, this feels like a breakthrough. But beneath this efficiency lies a deeper question: are we enhancing urban design knowledge, or quietly reshaping it in ways we do not fully understand?
Urban design is an academic and professional field concerned with shaping the physical form and experience of cities. It looks at the relationships between buildings, spaces, people and activities within broader urban systems.
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