The Design Pre-Thesis 2 is an advanced level architectural design studio that focuses on the Urbanism theme. It provides a unique opportunity for the students to pursue a wide range of issues, including (but not limited to) urban conservation, sustainable urbanism, future cities, smart cities, space syntax, resilient cities, urban economic issues, eco urbanisms, and so on. Each student will independently embark on an exploratory journey related to the design programme. They are required to use the brief formulated from the companion course MBEA1223 and use it as the guiding principle for their design development.

New Spirit challenges some aspects of urban design principles whilst finding new solutions of an urban regeneration spirit by addressing the social, the environmental and economy essentials (i.e sustainability) in the development of the studied area. The studio stresses the social factors by first addressing the spatial importance of the place within the city fabric.

The studio adopts a rigorous analysis of the streets connectivity with the visibility factors that will later able to formulate the central spine of a district, neighbourhood and other typologies of city district. The exercise address and readdress the primary artery, the backbone of the spatial structure of the area, that serves the place locally within the larger context in the city fabric.

New Spirit investigates and proposes a more elaborated people oriented principles for a sustainable urban design systemic measures, encompassing the surrounding route networks in the global spatial configuration of the city.