townscape

English

Etymology

town +‎ -scape

Noun

townscape (plural townscapes)

1. A view of a town, or a subjective image of a town
   • 2021 December 15, Robin Leleux, “Awards honour the best restoration projects: The Bam Nuttall Partnership Award: Kilmarnock”, in RAIL, number 946, page 58:

     In the latter years of its existence, BR was rationalising its estate by pulling down station buildings which were too large for its modern operational needs, or by shutting off parts of them when demolition was not an option. Kilmarnock station falls into this latter category. It dominates the townscape, but its operational importance has seriously diminished since electrification of the West Coast Main Line.

2. (art) A depiction of an urban scene

Verb

townscape (third-person singular simple present townscapes, present participle townscaping, simple past and past participle townscaped)

1. (transitive) To design and lay out (buildings) as a town.
   • 1986, Patrick Lichfield, Courvoisier's Book of the Best, page 230:

     But the houses are so delicious and the way they're townscaped on to hilly bits is absolutely wonderful.

   • 2013, Edward J. Blakely, Nancey Green Leigh, Planning Local Economic Development, page 244:

     For example, small communities in the Midwest have developed modest but well-designed approaches to townscaping that make them exceptionally visually appealing.

References

• “townscape”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.