How CRAP makes your cities look great

Contrast means making different elements look different. Even when elements are arranged randomly, creating contrast can make chaos appear orderly.

Tall buildings contrast well with smaller buildings. The transition can be subtle

or the contrast can be sudden.

1x1 and 1x4 plots contrast well with larger plots but even different colour trees can distinguish a private yard from a public path.

Repetition means reusing the same elements throughout your city.

Repetition means reusing the same elements throughout your city.

While hard to see, re-using the same service interchange along a stretch of highway gives your city a nice consistent look. Repeating a vertical grid pattern with 4x4 plots then repeating a horizontal grid with 2x4 plots creates a nice looking contrast.

Alignment means there is an order to your design. A straight road connecting key landmarks is an obvious example.

Aligning your curves to a coast creates a nice "natural" look.

Even in suburbia without major landmarks or geographic features, there is a logic and alignment to the seemingly random curves. It may be the logic of the property developer to maximize the available space or historical tastes and preferences.