As architects, we often use a niche set of words that are sometimes unnecessarily complex and confusing to our non-architect friends. In 2015 we compiled a list of these, ranging from ?typology? to ?Blobitecture.? Here we?ve rounded up 50 urban planning terms that might be a bit less familiar but just as important to know. 

Superkilen / Topotek 1 + BIG Architects + Superflex. Image © Iwan Baan

As architects, we often use a niche set of words that are sometimes unnecessarily complex and confusing to our non-architect friends. In 2015 we compiled a list of these, ranging from ?typology? to ?Blobitecture.? Here we?ve rounded up 50 urban planning terms that might be a bit less familiar but just as important to know. From weird portmanteaus such as ?Boomburb? to cute-sounding acronyms such as "YIMBY", here is a fun A to Z in urban planning language that will make future collaboration easier. AAbutter: Means the same as ?adjacent landowner.? Usually, the person who hates progress and wishes everything still looked the same as it did in 1800.Arcology: What happens when you splice the words ?Architecture? and ?Ecology.? Used to describe self-contained megastructures that reduce human impacts on the environment (basically, the conceptual projects that architects love to design and no-one loves to pay for.)
Archigram's Walking City proposal.. Image © Deutsches Architekturmuseum

BBoomburb: Boom(ing) (su)burb. Areas that have the populat...