Landscape Architecture vs Urban Design: 5 Key Differences (Explained Clearly)

If you’re planning an outdoor project, designing public space, or starting a landscaping business, you may have asked:

Image credit: Sil En Zio

What’s the difference between landscape architecture and urban design?

Although they often overlap, they serve different purposes in shaping outdoor environments. Understanding these differences helps homeowners, developers, and business owners make smarter design decisions.

Let’s break it down clearly.

What Is Landscape Architecture?

Landscape architecture focuses on the design of outdoor spaces such as:

• Residential yards

• Parks and gardens

• Commercial properties

• Recreational centers

• Outdoor event spaces

It combines:

• Environmental planning

• Aesthetic design

• Plant selection

• Hardscape features (walkways, patios, shade structures)

Landscape architects create spaces that are functional, sustainable, and visually appealing.

What Is Urban Design?

Urban design works at a larger scale.

It focuses on:

• Cities and neighborhoods

• Public infrastructure

• Street layouts

• Public transportation systems

• Community spaces

Urban designers shape how entire communities function — not just individual properties.

5 Key Differences Between Landscape Architecture and Urban Design

1️⃣ Scale of Work

• Landscape Architecture: Small to medium-scale outdoor spaces

• Urban Design: Large-scale city or district planning

Example:
Designing a backyard with shade structures = Landscape architecture.
Designing a city park system = Urban design.

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2️⃣ Project Focus

Landscape architecture emphasizes:

• Plants

• Soil

• Outdoor comfort

• Shade systems

• Hardscaping

Urban design emphasizes:

• Traffic flow

• Public accessibility

• Zoning

• Infrastructure integration

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3️⃣ Client Type

Landscape architects typically work with:

• Homeowners

• Property developers

• Businesses

• Event planners

Urban designers usually work with:

• Governments

• Municipal authorities

• City planners

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4️⃣ Environmental Impact

Both care about sustainability — but:

• Landscape architecture focuses on green design and eco-friendly outdoor solutions

• Urban design focuses on long-term city sustainability and population growth planning

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5️⃣ Implementation Timeline

Landscape projects:

• Weeks to months

Urban design projects:

• Years to decades

Why This Matters for Outdoor Projects

If you’re:

• Starting a landscaping business

• Designing a recreational center

• Planning outdoor shade structures

• Developing property

You’ll most likely work within landscape architecture, not urban design.

Understanding this helps you:

• Choose the right professional

• Budget correctly

• Plan realistically

• Market your services accurately

How This Applies to Shade Structures & Outdoor Spaces

For example, installing:

• Tensile shade systems

• Canopies

• Pergolas

• Event shade covers

These fall under landscape architecture design decisions.

This is where functionality meets aesthetics — and where your business can specialize.

Final Thoughts

Landscape architecture and urban design both shape the world around us — but at different scales.

If your focus is:

• Outdoor comfort

• Backyard upgrades

• Commercial shade structures

• Landscaping business growth

Then landscape architecture is your primary space.

  Key Take away:

Now UD group, on the other hand, defines Urban design thus

"it is the collaborative and multi-disciplinary process of molding the physical setting for life in towns, cities, and villages; the art of making places; design in an urban context".

Now let's quickly go through the list.

#1. The urban design appears more expensive compared to landscape architecture


Out of the top 10, most expensive construction projects in the world (the interstate highway system) worth $459 billion appeared no. 1 in the list according to the integrapeople.com's record.

Meanwhile, there has never been such a single massive, multi-billion dollars landscape architecture project of a sort ever recorded in the world history,  compared to this mega Urban design project.
#2. Urban design has a slight collaborative process  difference with landscape architecture

You will find a team of planners, designers, technical specialists in both professions to collaboratively work to provide their design goal.

But when you look closely in their team members you discover something different.

For example, Stantec is a landscape architecture firm.

They have a team of 60 professionals.

Then, 24 out of these 60 team members are landscape architects, 3 out of the remaining 36 are Urban designers, and the rest 33 are other technical specialists such as environmental scientist, principals, community development etc.

Meanwhile, the Urban design, on the other hand, tend to have more urban designers and Architects in their team.

For example, Martyn Tribe is a director and principal of Urban Design Architects Pty Ltd (Urban design firm) in his 18 years experience has 7 team members.

All 6 team members are architects.

Another example is tlf.gov.uk.

They have 7 team members and all are Urban designers.

#3. Urban design focuses most likely on the urban context compared to landscape architecture

 For example, Christoph kuffer, ETH Zurich has suggested "conservationists must learn to design the ecological landscape of tomorrow instead of mourning lost nature.

"landscape architects can serve as a model for this."

Other examples are greenscape which is producing good results with less money and environmentally friendly remedy for landscaping and also roof gardens etc.

So, landscape architecture touches more on nature compared to urban design which focuses on urban-civilized, technological context.

#4. The differences in goal setting

The goal of landscape architects is to make public spaces in ways that help enhance the environment and promote the health of the people of the community over time.

While the urban design goal is to create a vibrant and at the same time a welcoming urban environment.

#5. Urban design is a degree program on its own as well as landscape architecture

There are few Universities that offer urban design degree as one of their degree programs such as the University of Michigan, University of Colorado, University of Toronto.

Therefore, you barely find a university that offers Architecture and ecology discipline with that degree program.

Meanwhile, you can easily find a degree program on landscape architecture.

Take away: Their differences in the mode of service

Services urban designers offer includes:

• Community consultation
• Open space and recreation master planning
• Town center design
• Community modeling
• Urban design framework
• Urban Revitalization
• Subdivision design
• Strategic master planning

Services landscape architects offer includes:

• Community outreach
• Site feasibility and yield  studies
• Sight lighting design
• High-performance site planning
• Water feature design
• Rooftop garden design
• Campus design
• Park and playground design
• Waterfront design
• Landscape restoration
• Landscape development approvals
• Landscape planting and irrigation design
• Complete streets, making traffic peaceful, and streetscape design.

Conclusion: would you not give this list a second thought? Because most people find it difficult to differentiate between landscape architecture and urban design due to their similarities.

But how has this post helped you? What do you think about the list?

Let's see your contribution in the comment box below.

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