城市設計題（urban design）是 Part 3 的新興主題——隨著氣候、住宅、交通成為全球議題，考官越來越愛問「公園夠不夠」、「車跟人怎麼分」、「老城區該保留嗎」。台灣考生有得天獨厚的素材：Taipei、Kaohsiung、台南都有非常具體的設計問題可以舉例。
五個常見角度
| 角度 | 題目範例 | |------|----------| | 公園綠地 | Why are parks important in modern cities? | | 行人 vs 汽車 | Should city centres restrict private cars? | | 公共交通 | What makes public transport successful? | | 住宅密度 | Is high-density housing a good or bad thing? | | 公共空間 | Are public spaces becoming less welcoming? |
5 題代表題 + Band 7+ 範例
Q1. Why are parks and green spaces important in modern cities?
Several layers. Generally speaking, the immediate function is health — exposure to greenery measurably reduces stress and improves air quality. There’s also a social layer: parks are some of the few genuinely shared spaces left, where strangers can coexist without commercial pressure. Singapore has built an entire urban brand around being a "city in a garden", and arguably that integration is becoming the new global standard for liveable cities.
Q2. Should city centres restrict private cars?
Probably yes, based on the evidence from cities that have done it. Copenhagen and Amsterdam have largely de-prioritised cars in their cores, and the result hasn’t been chaos — it’s been more pedestrians, more local business, less pollution. That said, the policy only works if public transport is genuinely competitive, otherwise you’re just penalising lower-income drivers. So the right sequence is: build transit first, then restrict cars.
Q3. What makes a public transport system successful?
A few things have to come together. Frequency matters more than coverage — most users will give up on a system if they have to wait twenty minutes. Reliability matters almost as much; if buses are unpredictable, people drive instead. And integration of payment, schedules and modes is crucial — Tokyo’s genius isn’t any single line, it’s that everything connects seamlessly. Taipei’s MRT plus YouBike combination has gone in a similar direction and it shows.
Q4. Is high-density living better or worse for quality of life?
Honestly, it cuts both ways. High density supports better public transport, more amenities and more social interaction — Hong Kong and Tokyo demonstrate density doesn’t automatically mean misery. On the other hand, badly designed density — towers without ground-floor shops, no green spaces, poor sound insulation — produces the worst of all worlds. So density itself is fine; what matters is whether it’s designed for daily life or just for unit count.
Q5. Are public spaces becoming less welcoming over time?
Arguably yes, in subtle ways. Many city benches now have armrests specifically designed to prevent people lying down — what designers call "hostile architecture". CCTV blankets most public squares. And a lot of what looks public is actually privately owned, so the rules are set by whoever owns the building. So even where space looks more open, the underlying control is often tighter. Cities that consciously protect open inclusive public space — Vienna, parts of Barcelona — stand out partly because they’re becoming rarer.
三層結構提醒
Claim — Generally speaking / Probably yes / It cuts both ways
Reason — because / since / the evidence shows
Example — Copenhagen / Tokyo / Taipei MRT / hostile architecture主題詞彙（Band 7 級）
| 詞彙 | 中文 | 範例 chunk | |------|------|------------| | urban planning | 都市規劃 | thoughtful urban planning | | pedestrianisation | 行人化 | the pedestrianisation of city centres | | green space | 綠地 | integrate green space throughout the city | | public transport | 大眾運輸 | frequent reliable public transport | | high-density living | 高密度居住 | well-designed high-density living | | liveability | 宜居性 | measurable improvements in liveability | | hostile architecture | 排他建築 | the rise of hostile architecture | | mixed-use development | 混合用途開發 | mixed-use neighbourhoods | | walkability | 適行性 | high walkability scores | | urban sprawl | 都市蔓延 | the costs of urban sprawl | | public realm | 公共領域 | protect the public realm | | transit-oriented | 大眾運輸導向 | transit-oriented development | | commons | 公共財 | parks as urban commons |
台灣考生常見陷阱：抱怨 + 沒例子
"Taipei traffic is bad. Cars everywhere. We need more parks." ——Band 5 等級的個人抱怨，沒分析、沒對比城市。
修正：把抱怨升級為跨城對比 + 設計分析：
Before: Taipei traffic is bad.
After: Taipei has actually made significant progress with the MRT and YouBike — the bones of a good transit-oriented city are there. On the other hand, motorbike density on side streets remains very high, and arguably the issue is less about transport supply and more about how street space is allocated. Copenhagen-style protected lanes for non-cars would probably help, though the political will is the harder part.