Seminar I –History of Planning

Seminar II – Utopia – can it be Urban ??

Housing Scenario in history of planning
 Seminar I

History of Planning
What is Planning

A universal human activity involving the consideration of

outcomes before choosing amongst alternatives

A deliberate, self-conscious activity

Primary Function of Planning

Improve/ Optimize efficiency of outcomes

counterbalance market failures

balance public and private interests

widen the range of choice

enhance consciousness of decision making

civic engagement
expand opportunity and understanding in community
What is the role of history and theory in Understanding Planning

Planning Theory is the body of scientific concepts, assumptions

based on observations, definitions, behavioral relationships, and that
define the body of knowledge of urban planning. 

Planning is rooted in applied disciplines

primary interest in practical problem solving

Early planning theories emerged out of practice

planning codified as a professional activity originally transmitted by
practitioners via apprenticeships

Efforts to develop a coherent theory emerged in the 1950s and

60s
Need to rationalize the interests and activities of planning under
conditions of social foment
The social sciences as a more broadly based interpretive lens
Type Of Theories in Planning

Theories of system operations

How do cities, regions, communities, etc. work?
disciplinary knowledge such as economics and environmental
science

Theories of system change

How might planners act?
Disciplinary knowledge such as decision theory, political science,
and negotiation theory

Applied disciplines such as public administration and engineering

Pre-Modern Planning:
Focusing on Urban Design and Street System
1682 Philadelphia Grid system &
plan neighborhood
parks
Source: www.google.com

1733 Savannah Ward park system

Source: www.google.com

1790 Washington Grand, whole city

plan

Source: www.google.com

1856 Central Park First major

purchase
of parkland
1890 Chicago Model for “City
onwards Beautiful”

Source: www.google.com
 Industrialization :
Urbanization in Industrial
Regions , corresponding
often to the presence of
railroad.
 Urbanization is the
movement of population
from rural to urban areas

 A theory is an organized
system of accepted
knowledge that applies in a
variety of circumstances to
explain a specific set of
phenomena.

 In 1950 only 30% of the

world’s population was
urbanized

 The big question was how

do towns come about to be?
Pre-Modern Planning Movements : Timeline

Source: History and Theory of Planning PPT

Georgia Planning Association AICP Exam Review February 3, 2012

During the Period of late 18th and early 19th century, the Industrial Revolution
was on the pick. Due to that new Urban forms were evolved/generated in
fringes of the settlement later known as suburban areas.
In the response to the development process, many movements had started
taken shaped, which leads to idea of planning and planning theories.
Response to the Emerging Industrial City: Public Health & Sanitary Reform
Movement
1867 - San Francisco - First modern land-use zoning in US for bad slaughterhouses
in
geographic districts

1867/ 1879 New-York City - First major tenement house controls

1879 - Memphis - 60% of city flees from yellow fever; of those who remain, 80%
get sick; 25% die

Federal Government in USA

1876 US Supreme Court upholds regulation of private enterprise
1887 Interstate Commerce Commission - First federal regulatory agency
1892 US federal study of slums - First federal action on city problems

Parks Movement
Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux - Design of Central Park

Horace W. S. Cleveland, Minneapolis - park system proposal 1883;

Charles Eliot & Sylvester Baxter, Boston - extensive regional park system (1891-
1893 and beyond)
The Rise of a Social Conscience: Settlement House & Reform Movement
1888 - “Looking Backwards”- Promoted city and national planning - Boston -
Edward Bellamy
1890/1892 “How the Other Half Lives” and “Children of the Poor” Focused on
slums and poverty - Jacob Riis
1889 - Hull House in Chicago - Settlement house movement - Jane Addams
1902 - Greenwich House helped organize the first National Conference on City
Planning Mary K. Simkovitch

City Beautiful Movement

1893 - Columbian Exposition - The “White City” Burnham,Olmsted Sr,
1902 - McMillan Plan for Washington DC Update of L’Enfant’s Plan Burnhan
Olmsted Jr
1906 - San Francisco Plan First major application of City Beautiful in US Daniel
Burnham
Edward Bennett
1909 - Chicago Plan Burnham First metro regional plan

Garden City Movement

Major Events which Impacts on history of Planning

Source: History and Theory of Planning PPT

Georgia Planning Association AICP Exam Review February 3, 2012
 Seminar I

Utopia – can it be Urban ???

 Modern Planning Theories
 The Garden city concept (three Magnets ) – Sir Ebenezer Howard 1850 – 1928
 Redburn Theory – 1929
 Patrick Geddes (neighborhood Unit ) – 1854 – 1932
 Concentric zone model by Ernest Burgess - 1925
 Sector Model by Hoyt 1939
 Multi Nuclei Model by C.D Harris and Edward L. Ullman (1945)
 Neighborhood Planning – C A Perry
 Radiant City Concepts- Le Corbusier
 Broad acre City – F L W
 Ekistics
 Sprawl
 Compact City
 Sustainable Development
The Garden city concept (three Magnets)

Found by Ebenezer Howard on 1902 with his book

“Garden Cities of Tomorrow” resulted in the founding of the garden city
movement

Howard was heavily influenced by the utopian visions of Edward Bellamy

and his publication Looking Backward (1888).

The main objectives of Garden City concept is to overcome problems of

congestion and increase in population.
 Timeline – Garden City Concept

18th century - Industrial revolution and the urban encroachment

1899 Published ‘Garden City of Tomorrow’

1903 Garden City Association was formed

LETCHWORTH was designed for 35000 persons

1920 WELWYN was designed for 40000 persons

1947 LETCHWORTH had 16000 population & 100 factories

WELWYN had 18000 population & 75 factories

UK – Europe – US – rest of the world

The Concept
‘Garden City’ – an impressive diagram of
THE THREE MAGNETS diagram which
addressed the question 'Where will the
people go?', the choices being 'Town',
'Country' or 'Town-Country'.

The town magnet

Country magnet with their advantages
and disadvantages
Attractive features of both town and
country life. – According to Howard
Settlement would be has advantages of
both urban and the rural life styles
Massive immigration from the countryside to the cities was
taking place with London.
Naturally people preferred the third
one namely Garden City.
That would attract the most of the
unhappy inhabitants of the British
suffocating industrial cities, and thus
resolve one of the biggest national
problems of the time.
Core garden city principles
 Strong community
 Ordered development
 Environmental quality

These were to be achieved by:

 Unified ownership of land to prevent
individual land
 speculation and maximize community
benefit
 Careful planning to provide generous living
and working space while maintaining
natural qualities
 Social mix and good community facilities
 Limits to growth of each garden city
 Local participation in decisions about
development
Garden city Data
Central City:
 Area: 12000 acres.
 Population : 58000 people

Agglomeration Cities:
 Area: 9000 acres
 Population: 32000 people
Distance between central main city and the
agglomeration: ~10km .
Conceptual layout

Layer one – Central Park / Garden

 Divided into six equal wards, by six
main Boulevards that radiated from the
central park/garden.
 Circular city growing in a radial manner
or pattern.

Layer Two – Glass Castle

 The central park enclosed by a crystal
palace acts as an arcade for indoor
shops and winter gardens. Conceptual Layout

Layer Three- Institution/Public Amenities

 Civic institutions (Town Hall, Library,
Hospital, Theatre, Museum etc.) are
placed around the central garden.

Central Park / Garden

Conceptual layout
Layer Four – Residential Area
 The streets for houses are formed by a
series of concentric ringed tree lined
avenues.
 A 420 feet wide , 3 mile long, Grand
avenue which run in the center of
concentric rings, houses the schools and
churches and acts as a continuous public
park.
 Distance between each ring vary between
3-5km . Layer Two – Glass Castle
Layer Five – Industrial Zone
 Industrial activities such as factory and
warehouse.
 The municipal railway was placed in
another ring closer to the industrial ring
,so that the pressure of excess transport on
the city streets are reduced and the city is
connected to the rest of the nation.
Fixed green area :
 located outside of the layer. provided for
agriculture and farming.
 Affordability
Howard wanted garden city for all incomes Most originally for those of modest
incomes Their attractiveness as living environments has often made them
become more popular with better off people

City Growth

 Assuming the Garden City model was implemented and found to be successful
Howard begins to describe how the City could grow and become part of an
integrated network of Garden Cities.

 The principle of “always preserving a belt of country” around cities should

always be maintained, argues Howard, so once a city has reached capacity a
new one must be founded outside the agricultural belt (the influence of
colonial-models prominent).

 Eventually there a central city (of perhaps 58,000 inhabitants) would be

surrounded by a number of smaller off-shoot cities, connected by railroad and
canal infrastructure.
Urban Form as Per Garden City Concept (Assumption)
 Garden City Principle in Practice
 The first Garden City evolved out of Howard’s
principles is Letchworth Garden City designed
by Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker in 1903.

 The second one to evolve was Welwyn Garden

City designed by Louis de Soissons and Frederic
Osborn in 1920.

 Another example was Radburn City designed

by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright in 1928.
Latchworth
 Officially Letchworth Garden City, is a town in Hertfordshire, England, with a
population of 33,600
 It was designed by Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker.
 Letch worth – 35 miles from London
An Analysis
 Land of 3822 acres
 Reserved Green belt- 1300 acres
 Designed for a maximum of 35000 population
 In 30 years – developed with 15000 population & 150 shops, industries
Latchworth- A New Vision

Grand avenue Residential Area

Continuous Public Amenities

tree lined avenues.

 Welwyn
 Welwyn Garden City  is a town
within the Borough of Welwyn
Hatfield in Hertfordshire,
England.
 It is located approximately 19
miles from Kings Cross and 24
miles from London.
 On 29 April 1920 a company,
Welwyn Garden City Limited, was
formed to plan and build the
garden city, chaired by Sir
Theodore Chambers. Louis de
Soissons was appointed as
architect and town planner
and Frederic Osborn as
secretary.
large scale Open and green Cul-de-sec streets in housing
Criticisms about theory

As with most instances of social engineering, the garden city movement

didn’t quite achieve what it set out to do.

Its laudable motives and egalitarian vision contrast with the often
depressing artificiality of ‘garden cities’, and the fact that they merely
function as dormitories to the larger cities they so often adjoin.
Redburn Theory – 1929

 Radburn was planned by architects Clarence Stein and Henry Wright in 1928.
 It is America’s first garden community, serving as a world wide example of
the harmonious blending of private space and open area.
 Radburn provided a prototype for the new towns to meet the requirements
for contemporary good living.
 Radburn was designed to occupy one square mile of land and house some
25,000 residents.
 However, the Great Depression limited the development to only 149 acres.
 Radburn created a unique alternative to the conventional suburban
development through the use of cul-de-sacs, interior parklands, and cluster
housing.
 Although Radburn is smaller than planned, it still plays a very important role in
the history of urban planning.

 The Regional Planning Association of America (RPAA) used Radburn as a

garden city experiment.
Radburn consists of-
 Residential areas
 149 acres of interior parks,
 Walkways.
 2 swimming pools,
 4 tennis courts,
 2 playgrounds,
 Archery plaza and a school,
 2 outdoor basketball courts
 A community center, which houses
administrative offices, library, gymnasium,
clubroom and service and maintenance
areas.
Elements of the Radburn city
 Park as backbone of the neighborhood. The
2900 residents of Radburn share 23 acres
of interior parks, which yield 345 square
feet / person.

 Specialized Highway system, Complete

separation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic
with 21% of road areas. The Radburn
planners achieved the separation of vehicular
and pedestrian traffic through the use of the
superblocks, cul-de-sacs, and pedestrian-
only pathways.

 Through the use of the superblock

(Comprehensive Planning) with all
amenities and services like sewer, paving,
water supply to be given equally.
 Houses in Radburn were uniquely designed to
have two fronts te get good sunlight, air and
ventilation to the smallest and cheapest house.

 The ‘back side’ of the house, what we would

normally consider the front side, faced the
culs-de-sac and parking.

 Turned around houses The kitchen was

normally placed in the back to provide visitors
a place to enter the house to minimize denger.
The ‘front side’ of the house faced towards the
green spaces or parks encouraging pedestrian
traffic to avoid noise.

 Since automobiles were given limited access

to the ‘backs’ of the houses, the ‘fronts’ of the
house were relatively quiet, therefore, the
bedrooms were always placed on this side of
the house.

 Arrangement the occupancy of houses on fair

bases of cost and services.
Housing blocks

Parks and greenbelt

Plaza building the shopping center

RADBURN’S reviews:
Criticisms about theory
 The industrialization of the United States after World War I led to a dramatic
growth of the cities during the 1920's. and the superblock was widely applied
in suberban areas (post war housing projects) so the carefully articulated
human densities was destroyed due to Population shift led to a severe housing
shortage.
 Redburn theory was fail to meet the housing demand as it offers low density
development with green backyards. As suberban properties are abandoned, the
redburn theory was not attracted to land developers .

Design Critics
 The design of Radburn believed that people would actively use the front of the
houses facing the greenways.
 In reality, people come and "leave" from the back of the houses and the
vehicles, not pedestrian access.
 More people and children walking and playing in the little driveways and cul-
de-sacs than on the actual greenways.
 Second, the market has repeatedly shown that homeowners prefer more
personal land around their homes to living on tiny lots and sharing a large
green space in common.
Some other Critics
Patrick Geddes (neighborhood Unit ) – 1854 –
1932
Patrick Geddes explained an organism’s relationship to its environment as
follows:

“The environment acts, through function, upon the organism and conversely
the organism acts, through function, upon the environment.“  

(Cities in Evolution, 1915)

Geddes was a supporter of a mode of planning that sought to consider

"primary human needs" in every intervention, engaging in "constructive and
conservative surgery“ rather than the "heroic, all of a piece schemes” popular in
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 
Geddes Trio Representation Patrick Geddes was influenced by many social
theorists and expanded upon earlier
theoretical developments that lead to the
concept of regional planning.
WORK
He adopted Spencer's theory that the concept
.
of biological evolution could be applied to
explain the evolution of society, and drew on
FOLK PLACE Le Play's analysis of the key units of society as
constituting "Lieu, Travail, Famille"
("Place, Work, Family"), but changing the last
from "family" to "folk". In this theory, the
family is viewed as the central "biological unit
of human society "from which all else
develops.
According to Geddes, it is from "stable,
healthy homes" providing the necessary
conditions for mental and moral development
that come beautiful and healthy children who
are able "to fully participate in life".
Concentric zone model by Ernest Burgess - 1925

Concentric Zone model Also known as The Burgess Model, The Bulls Eye Model
Developed in the 1920s by the urban sociologist Ernest Burgess.

The model portrays how cities social groups are spatially arranged in a series of
rings. The size of the rings may vary, but the order always remains the same.
ZONE 1 : centre of district business Model
truth central zone..
support all economic activities, social and politics.
central city area surrounded area..
business activities has been carried out and if the area
located near to the beach, it will turn into port.
ZONE 2 : transition zone
known as characteristics changing land zone.

gs
  Chicago, years ‘20

lin
el
w

t nt
D

e n ra
ZONE 3 : occupational residential zone

ily

m ig
s
se

le m
Fa
ou

tt m I
contained residential for factory staff, labor, and others.

le
tH

nd
ng
en Two Plan

co
Se
Si

Se
m
rt Area
usually the residents are former residents from zone 2. Ap
a
Ghetto`
  LOOP

Black Belt
ZONE 4: moderate residential area
zone to place professional officer and middle group. Residential District Bungalow
the condition in this area more neat than previous Section

zone.
  I - Loop (downtown; CBD)
zone 5 : high class residential area II – industries
the most outer zone and located in the edge of town. III – transition area
IV – working class area
V – residential area
VI – suburban area
Criticisms about concentric zone theory

Physically
land may restrict growth of certain sectors
Decentralization of shops, manufacturing industry, and entertainment
It assumes an isotropic plain - an even, unchanging landscape
The model does not fit polycentric cities

Socially
It describes the peculiar American geography, where the inner city is poor
while suburbs are wealthy; the converse is the norm elsewhere.
Sector Model by Hoyt 1939

 Developed in 1939 by land economist Homer Hoyt

 It is a model of the internal structure of cities.
 Social groups are arranged around a series of sectors, or wedges radiating out
from the central business district (CBD) and centred on major transportation
lines
 low-income households to be near railroad lines, and commercial
establishments to be along business thoroughfares.
Criticisms about sector model Sector
Applies well to Chicago. 2 3
Low cost housing is near industry and
4
transportation proving Hoyt’s model
3
Theory based on 20th century and does 3
1 3
not take into account cars which make 5
commerce easier 3
With cars, people can live anywhere and 3 4
2
further from the city and still travel to the
CBD using their car. Not only do high-class
residents have cars, but also middle and
lower class people may have cars. 1 CBD
2 Wholesale and light manufacturing
3 Low-class residential
4 Middle-class residential
5 High-class residential
Multi Nuclei Model by C.D Harris and Edward L. Ullman
The ‘Multiple Nuclei Model’ was given by C.D Harris and
Edward L. Ullman in 1945. It was written on a article named
‘The Nature of Cities’.
Basic Concept

The model describes the layout of a city. It says that even though a city
may have began with a Central Business District, or CBD, other smaller
CBD's develop on the outskirts of the city near the more valuable housing
areas to allow shorter commutes from the outskirts of the city. This
creates nodes or nuclei in other parts of the city besides the CBD thus the
name multiple nuclei model.

The theory is based upon the notion that the cities have an essentially
cellular structure, in which distinctive types of land use have developed
around certain growing points, or “nuclei” within the urban area. The
nuclei have been encouraged by four factors.

 The location of CBD.

 Concentration of a certain working group.
 The close juxtaposition of harmful activities
 Rent of the most desirable site.
Reasons of the model
 The theory was formed based on the idea that people have greater
movement due to increased car ownership. This increase of movement
allows for the specialization of regional centers (e.g. heavy industry, business
park, Retail Areas).
 The model is suitable for the big and expanding cities. The number of nuclei,
around which the city expands, depends upon the situational as well as
historical factors. Multiple nuclei develop because.
 Certain industrial activities require transportation facilities e.g. ports, railway
stations etc to lower transportation costs.
 Certain activities tend to stay apart e.g. residential zoning and airports etc.
 Certain activities are found together to their mutual advantage e.g.
University, bookstore, coffee shops, etc.
Assumptions

 The internal geography of cities owes much peculiarities(land is

flat) of their individual sites.
 Well-drained and wooded terrain often favors the development of
a high-class residential area.
 Heavy industry may be attracted by a flat, ill-drained area, provided
that suitable transport facilities are available and that is kind of
industry is present in a particular city.
 Residential area is evenly distributed.
 Even Distribution of Resources
 Even Transportation Costs
Criticisms

 The concepts may not be totally applicable to oriental cities with

different cultural, economic and political backgrounds.
 The model is not based on any particular city.
 It has a very weak spatial rule – in that it doesn’t provide a clear picture.
 The model cannot produce a simple model of urban structure.
 Negligence of height of buildings.
 Each zone displays a significant degree of internal heterogeneity and not
homogeneity.
 Unawareness of inertia forces.
 No consideration of influence of physical relief and government policy.
Radiant City Concepts- Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier, a French architect and urban planner, intended to design a city

structure on principles of rationality, orderliness, and social improvement.

His theories were in reaction to the emerging Industrial Age. The new
ideals of mass production and democracy inspired his vision of the built
environment, while the pollution and chaos of new industrial cities
compelled him towards idealistic notions of social improvement

Le Corbusier hoped to create a scientifically rational and

comprehensive solution to urban problems in a way that would
both promote democracy and quality of life.
CAIM 1928

( Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne ). At the request of a rich

patron of architects, Madame Hélène de Mandrot(1867–1948), in 1928,
organized a meeting of leading Modern architects including Berlage , Le
Corbusier , El Lissitzky , Rietveld , and Stam

The organization was hugely influential. It was not only engaged in

formalizing the architectural principles of the Modern Movement, but also
saw architecture as an economic and political tool that could be used to
improve the world through the design of buildings and through urban
planning.

It affirmed that town planning is the organizations of functions of collective

life – this applies to both rural and urban settlements
four functions of any settlement
 dwelling
 work
 recreation
 transportation, which connects the first three with one another.
It resulted in the publication of ‘The Three Human Establishments’.
The examination of working conditions in a mechanistic society led to the
recognition of the utility and necessity of three unit establishments
indispensable for human activity :

The Farming unit – the cooperative village : a unit for agricultural

production

The linear industrial city

The radio concentric city - same as Radiant city (Ville Radieuse) for the
exchange of goods and services.
philosophy of Le corbusier

 No matter how open and green, cities should be frankly urban, urban
surroundings are to be definitely contrasting with rural surroundings

 Densities are in themselves not a problem. Congestion and slum

conditions in the cities are due to excessive coverage, persistence of
old street patterns and unrestricted land speculation

 Slums exist because of the failure to provide the proper surrounding

for high density living

 He protests against strict functionalism : “Human creations that survive are

those which produce emotions, and not those which are only useful”
La Ville Contemporaine (contemporary city)

1922 City for 3 million people was proposed by Le Corbusier in 1922, which
was based on four principles :

 Decongestion of the centre of the cities

 Augmentation of the density
 Enlargement of the means of circulation
 Increase in the number of parks and open spaces
 The Plan with three Zones
Central city
Protected green belt
Factories & satellite towns

 Rectangle containing
two cross axial highways
 At its heart was a six-
level transport
interchange – centre for
motor, rail lines
(underground and main-
line railways) and roof of
which is air-field
 24 cruciform skyscrapers
- 60 storied office
building with density
1200 ppa and covers 5%
of the ground
 Surrounding skyscrapers
was apartment district –
8 storey buildings
arranged in zigzag rows
with broad open spaces
with density of 120 pp
 The buildings in the central area were raised on stilts (pilotis) so as to leave
panoramas of unbroken greenery at ground level

 The general impression was more of a city in a park than of a parkland in the
city

 The city espoused space, speed, mass production and efficient organization,
but also offered combination of natural and urban environments

1
2

4 3
Movement system

 Heavy traffic would proceed at

basement level

 lighter traffic at ground level

 fast traffic should flow along

limited-access arterial roads that
supplied rapid and unobstructed
cross city movement

 Pedestrianised streets, wholly

separate from vehicular traffic and
placed at a raised level.

 The number of existing streets

would be diminished by two-thirds
due to the new arrangements of
housing, leisure facilities and
workplaces, with same-level
crossing points eliminated wherever
possible.
Criticism

 Class based conception of life – different classes being separately housed

 Doubts were expressed about the scale and degree of centralisation

 Critics attacked its focus on the central city, where land values were highest
and dislocations most difficult

 The creation of vast empty spaces in place of close-knit streets with their
varied civic life
Linear industrial city

 Leaving the ‘evils of the sprawling town’, the new industrial communities are
located along the main arteries of transportation – water, rail and highway
connecting the existing cities.

 Factories are placed along the main arteries, separated from the residential
section by the highway and a green strip

 The residential areas include the ‘horizontal garden town’ of single houses
and vertical apartment buildings with civic center. Sports, entertainments,
shopping and office facilities are distributed in this district and all
community facilities are placed within ample open space.
La Ville Radiuse
(radiant city)

Le corbusier rearranged
the key features of the
Ville Contemporaine.

The basic ideas of free

circulation and greenery
were still present, but the
juxtaposition of different
land-uses had changed.
For example, the central
area was now residential
instead of a skyscraper
office core.
Elements of le Corbusier plan
very high density
 1,200 people per acre in skyscrapers
 overcrowded sectors of Paris & London ranged from 169-213 pers./acre at the
time
 Manhattan has only 81 pers./acre
 120 people per acre in luxury houses
 6 to 10 times denser than current luxury housing in the U.S.

multi-level traffic system to manage the intensity of traffic

Analogy of the city with the abstract image of a

man
The skyscrapers (business area) of the Ville Contemporaine
were rearranged away from the city center at the ‘head’…
[The] ‘body’ was made up of acres of housing strips laid
out in a stepping plan to generate semi-courts and
harbours of greenery containing tennis courts, playing
fields and paths.

Traffic pattern – an orthogonal system with super

imposed diagonals & the civic center is on the main axis
The logic of increasing urban density

“The more dense the population of a city is the less are the
distances that have to be covered.”

traffic is increased by:

the number of people in a city
the degree to which private transportation is more appealing (clean, fast,
convenient, cheap) than public transportation
the average distance people travel per trip
the number of trips people must make each week

“The moral, therefore, is that we must increase the density of the

centers of our cities, where business affairs are carried on.”
road acre City – Frank Lloyd Wright ‘s Urban Utopia

Broadacre City was an urban or suburban development concept

proposed by Frank Lloyd Wright. He presented the idea in his book The
Disappearing City in 1932.

A model of four square miles of a typical countryside developed on

the acre as unit according to conditions in the temperate zone and
accommodating around 1,400 families

“…bring the country to the city and take the city to the country— and
I believe there is the city of the future. I think the city of the future is
no longer a concentration. I think it is a decentralization.”
According to him, cities would no longer be centralized; no longer
beholden to the pedestrian or the central business district
“When every man, woman and child may be born to put his feet on his own acres and every unborn
child finds his acre waiting for him when he is born– then democracy will have been realized.”
The principles of broad acre city

Decentralization and redistribution-

 Cities should flow over land in 1-acre increments (1-40 acre parcels)
 Traffic congestion will be relieved by spreading out across the countryside
 Decentralized government and cultural activities.
Symmetry with rhythm, no standardization
 Fits within existing Township and Range land system.
Architectural reintegration
Free use of the ground
 Individual family farms provide for the basic needs of families.
Public utilities and government itself owned by the people of Broadacre City
 City administration through radio contact
 The Chief Executive of the decentralized city should be its architect, the person
best equipped to see that buildings and occupants are in harmony.
Economic Independence
 The city starts with the single family house. Due to Broadacre's economical
logic it is being built by oneself . Using standardized elements and partly
prefabricated building modules it is fairly extendable .
The characteristics of Broad acre city

Quality of the buildings is the same

Due to Broadacre's economical logic it is being built by oneself (in a DIY network).
Using standardized elements and partly prefabricated building modules it is fairly
extendable .
Coordination wherein all are employed
All public utilities are concentrated in the hands of the county government
Materials used at constructions: fireproof materials, glass, copper
Every citizen has his own car
Ekistics

“In order to create the cities of the future, we need to

systematically
develop a science of human settlements.”
- Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis

 The term Ekistics was coined by Greek architect and urban planner
Konstantinos Apostolos Doxiadis in 1942.

 Doxiadis posited a convenient way of organizing information and

mapping out the components and relationships of the elements
within the human settlements realm.

 He suggests to have a Classificatory System that will be a methodology

to establish the hierarchical structure and links among elements of a
system.
Ekistics is the science of human settlements
this characteristic refers to functions expressed
in space by area of certain dimensions.
In practice, Ekistics has set the goal of human
happiness
Two Classificatory Dimension of Ekistics
1. First Dimension- relative to Scale
 Minor shells or elementary units-
Man(Anthropos), room, house;
 Micro-settlements-
units smaller than, or as small as, the traditional town
where people used, do & still do achieve
interconnection by walking (housegroup, small
neighbourhood)
 Meso-settlements-
Between traditional town & conurbation within which
one can commute daily (small polis, polis, small
metropolis, small eperopolis, eperopolis);
 Macro-settlements-
whose largest possible expression is the Ecumenopolis
2. Second Dimension- man's
five Environmental Elements

Nature
Society
Shells
Networks
Culture

 The first principle is maximization of man's potential contacts with the

elements of nature (such as water and trees), with other people, and with the
works of man (such as buildings and roads).

 The second principle is minimization of the effort required for the

achievement of man's actual and potential contacts.

 The third principle is optimization of man's protective space, which means

the selection of such a distance from other persons, animals, or objects that
he can keep his Contacts with them (first principle) without any kind of
Sensory Or Psychological discomfort.
 The fourth principle is optimization of the quality of man's relationship with his
environment, which consists of nature, society, shells (buildings and houses of
all sorts)and networks (ranging from roads to telecommunications). This is the
principle that leads to order, physiological and aesthetic, and that influences
architecture and, in many respects, art.

 Finally, and this is the fifth principle, man organizes his settlements in an
attempt to achieve an optimum synthesis of the other four principles, and this
optimization is dependent on time and space, on actual conditions, and on
man's ability to create a synthesis.

Ekistics & other Disciplines:

In the first five volumes, it is interesting to note

that out of a total of 105 papers, 66 (or 62.9%)
are papers in economics, mainly regional
economic analysis. Six papers(or5.7%) are on
geography, and 16 (or 15.2%) on regional
science in general. Physical planning is
represented by 6.7% political aspects by 3.8%,
sociology by 3.8% and transportation by 1.9%.
It is quite clear where the center of gravity lies.
 Ekistics principles Desirability outcome
Maximization of Each individual’s need for access to other people, work, goods,
potential contacts and services, is met in ways that score positively in terms of
accessibility, technology and cultural appropriateness.
Minimization of People can satisfy their needs (e.g. as above) without having
effort in terms of to expend unnecessary time and energy.
energy, time and cost
Optimisation of People live in a human scale neighborhood which is safe and
Anthropos’ secure, where culturally sensitive provisions meet these
protective space needs.
when alone
Optimisation of the People have levels of access to opportunities, and economic
quality of Anthropos’ and social benefit which are fair and culturally sensitive.
relationship with the
system of life
Optimization in the The humane habitat exhibits a sensitive balance in the
synthesis of all desirability outcomes where quality of life and social justice
principles reinforce the desirability to achieve a sustainable environment.
According to Doxiadis, the greatest
problem facing cities worldwide was the
problem of managing growth.
He proposed several solutions to leave
room for expansion of the city core.

Some of his proposals included:

 Limiting all buildings to three levels or
less, with permission to build higher
Separating automobile and pedestrian
traffic completely.
 Constructing cities as a "beehive" of
cells each no bigger than 2 by 2
kilometers, the maximum comfortable
distance for pedestrians.

Argument

In spite of the continuing surgery, the

dynamic city cannot be relieved of
pressures; with more roads, more functions
move in.
 The critics
 Long term planning is needed to determine whether such lands are destined to
become urban or not, But that ideal works only if the urban planning is for green
field projects. Since most urbanisation is not green field, are our policies
encouraging this integration, or is development just chaotic?

 Our modern day cities too can be planned in such a manner that limits are set to
accommodate a certain population and the city is buffered by an equal area of
countryside before another new city is created.

 This equitable land distribution between the city and the village would be an
inter-complementary arrangement.

 Mega-cities interconnected with high speed transport with green fields in

between. Integration, if at all necessary should be evolutionary and not enforced.

 A city where the scale is within the horizon of the human mind. With the planner
no longer planning the city since being overtaken by greedy politicians an
builders, emergence of so called millennium city like Gurgaon which lack the
minimum social facility is evident.
Islamabad :Application Of Dioxides Principles
Islamabad was an idea to create a “City of the Future” with the concept of
dynapolis’, that is, a planned unidirectional linear city as the only solution to cope
with the growth of an explosive urbanization era, relying on strong environmental
elements and a synthesis of town planning and Architectural principles.

Landscape Pattern & Highways 3 Parts Of Metropolitan Area

Formation of the Metropolitan Area

The principal system of axes in the metropolitan area of Islamabad defines three
distinctive areas:
a. The area of Islamabad proper.
b. The area of Rawalpindi, the centre of which is the city of Rawalpindi.
c. The National Park area which will retain certain agricultural functions for several years
and where sites
Islamabad :Application Of Doxiadis Principles

Islamabad The sketch indicates growth of functions

Dynamteropolis in the direction of the city's future expansion.

National Park Unity Of Scale

Islamabad :Application Of Doxiadis Principles

The making of the plan of Islamabad4 is an investigation and prospection into the
landscape of the area chosen as project site for the new capital of Pakistan. The idea,
concept and proto-form of ‘Dynapolis’, as conceived by Doxiadis, is bound to find its
manifestation in Islamabad. The translation of dynapolis into a physical plan, guided
by its proto-form, Landscape and the intuition of the architect is what I describe as
the making of the plan of Islamabad.
 Conclusion
The key to the solution is the creation of the human community as a part of a
much larger city.

The problem, therefore, is reshaped as a problem of an organized Ecumenopolis,

consisting of many human communities that will be its fundamental cells,
interconnected by the tens, hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands into
major urban complexes that will be the parts of Ecumenopolis.

In this way, what was a natural human community can be immensely

enlarged into a human city.
With proper organization of transportation and telecommunications networks, the
extra-human scale of the large city can be turned into a human one and the
inhuman conditions now existing in many parts of the city can be eliminated.

More and more, man will do all the tasks that present an interest
and a challenge and leave everything else to automated process.
Conclusion

Ecumenopolis, the unique city of man, will

form a continuous, differentiated, but also
unified texture consisting of many cells, the
human communities.

If, in the same system as the preceding

figure, we create new arteries and new
cities, we can avoid all problems of
abnormal growth.
Sprawl
Urban Sprawl is a pattern of land use that is characterized by spread out
automobile dependant development outside of more compact city centers.

Sprawl is typically characterized by...

 Excessive land consumption

 Spreading of a city or its suburbs
 Metropolitan
Decentralization/Suburbanization
 Low densities in comparison with
older centers
 Lack of choice in ways to travel
 Fragmented open space, wide gaps
between development and a scattered
 appearance
 Lack of choice in housing types and
prices
 Repetitive one story development
 Commercial buildings surrounded by
acres of parking
Cause of Urban Sprawl
 Increased migration to cities
 Economic growth linked with increase in car ownership
 Cities attract people looking for work and accommodation
 Services are not provided by the rapidly growing population
 2000-2002 the population of Lucan increased by 244%
 The urban area increased to accommodate the overspill from the city into the
commuter zone
 Cause of Urban Sprawl - Suburban Dream
 Families to own their
own home with a
garden

 Send their children

to good schools

 Escape the dirt and

crime of the city
Process of Sprawl

 Land prices decrease as you move away from the

city center
 Middle class people opt for cheaper homes and a
perceived higher standard of living outside of the
city
 Development jumps the borders of the city
 Growth proceeds sporadically and rapidly until city
planners catch up.
 The car makes it all possible
Consequences for urban sprawl
Rezoned farmland:
 rezoned for residential, commercial and industrial use.
 Sprawling concrete jungles.
 Small villages grow to become large towns
Increased traffic congestion:
 suburban not well served by public transport reliance on car ownership
encouraged
 Development of industrial retail parks at the edge of cities encourage car use
 Huge areas of land used for car parks and congestion happens at the
entrances to these places
Pressure on services:
 Growing suburbs increase the demand for services such as waste disposal,
sewerage etc
 Pressure put on local authorities to improve infrastructure of roads, sewerage
and education services
Growth of dormitory towns:
 Many towns at the edge of cities residents commute to large cities for work
 Due to cheaper housing
 Have few services
 No sense of community
Today’s urban challenges due to the sprawl
Today’s urban challenges due to the sprawl
traffic congestion spatial segregation

increased energy consumption social exclusion

Today’s urban challenges due to the sprawl - pollution
Solution
compact city & Sustainable Development

A compact city is an currently emerged

urban planning concept Promotes relatively
High density with mixing of various
activities

It provide required infrastructure facilities

with in the walkable distance

It is otherwise called as “City of Short

distance”
Author’s view

 Elkin (1991) said Compact city is the “Intensification of

the use of space in the city with higher residential
densities and centralisation”

Newman and Kenworthy(1989) said “More intensive

land use, Centralised activities and higher densities”

Breheny (in Blowers, 1993) said “High density, mixed

use city, where growth is encouraged within the
boundaries of existing urban areas , but with no
development beyond its periphery”
Origin of compact city
 The term compact city was 1st coined in 1973 by
George Dantzig and Thomas L. satty
 Two mathematician whose vision was largely driven
by a desire to see more efficient use of resources.
 Compact cities were created by the idea of
sustainable urban planning in the European countries
in late 1990,s.
 The concept of compact city is based on
sustainability, a term used by a club of Rome in 1972.

The term: compact city

 The compact city or city of short distance is and urban planning and
urban design concept, which promotes relatively high residential density
with mix land use.
 Based on - Efficient transport system and Urban layout
 Encourages walking and cycling, low energy consumption and reduce
pollution.
 Social interaction and eye on the street
General Characteristic of compact city
  Efficient usage of scarce land
 Reduces travel time between office and home
 Low wastage of precious sub-urban agricultural land
 Saving in per-capita infrastructure spending
 Lower per capita pollution
 Enables faster execution of planned development
 Integrated approach to solve the social problems arose

High dense settlements.

Less dependence of automobile.
Clear boundary form
Surrounding area.

SPACE CHARACTERISTICS:
Mixed land use.
Less complex land use.
Clear identity.
FUNCTIONS:
Social fairness (less number of high dense settlements). Independence of governance.
Self sufficiency of daily life.
Efficient transport system.
• Zoning of functions makes people • Compact nodes can reduce car uses
depend their transportation on private and people can walk or use bicycles in
cars. the community.

Residence
Residence

Job Job

Entertainm
Entertainmen
Distance ent Walk-able
t
we need cars bicycle-able
distance
General Components of compact city
CONTRIBUTION OF COMPACT CITY TO URBAN SUSTAINABILITY:
SUB CONTRIBUTION TO URBAN SUSTAINABILTY
CHARACTERISTICS ENVIRONMENTAL SOCIAL ECONOMIC
OF COMPACT CIITY BENEFITS BENEFITS BENEFITS

SHORTER INTRA- -FEWER CO2 -GREATER -HIGHER

URBAN LEVEL EMISSIONS ACCESSIBILTY PRODUCTIVITY
1 DISTANCES / DUE TO LOWER DUE TO
LESS -LESS POLLUTION TRANSPORT SHORTER
AUTOMOBILE FROM AUTOMOBILES COST TRAVEL TIME
DEPENDENCY -HIGHER FOR WORKERS
MOBILITY FOR
PEOPLE -DEVELOPMENT
WITHOUT OF GREEN JOBS/
ACCESS TO A CAR TECHNOLOGIES

MORE DISTRICT -LESS ENERGY - -DEVELOPMENT

2 WIDE-ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF GREEN JOBS/
UTILISATION PER CAPITA TECHNOLOGIES
 OPTIMUM USE OF -FEWER CO2 -HIGHER QUALITY -RURAL
3 LAND RESOURCES EMISSIONS DUE TO OF LIFE DUE TO ECONOMIC
& MORE SHORTER MORE DEVELOPMENT
OPPURTUNITY TRAVEL MILEAGE RECREATIONAL (URBAN
FOR URBAN- ACTIVITIES AGRICULTURE,
RURAL LINKAGE - CONSERVATION OF RENEWABLE
FARMLANDS & ENERGY,ETC.)
NATURAL
BIODIVERSITY
MORE EFFICIENT -PUBLIC SERVICE -LOWER
4 PUBLIC SERVICE - LEVEL FOR SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
DELIVERY WELFARE INVESTMENTS &
MAINTAINED BY COST OF
IMPROVED MAINTENANCE
EFFICIENCY
BETTER ACCESS -HIGHER QUALITY -SKILLED LABOUR
5 TO A DIVERSITY - OF LIFE DUE TO FORCE
OF LOCAL ACCESS TO LOCAL ATTRACTED BY
SERVICES & JOBS SERVICES (SHOPS, HIGH QUALITY
Measuring the performance of compact city: proposed indicators
CATEGORY INDICATOR
INDICATORS RELATED Dense and proximate •Population & urban land growth
TO COMPACTNESS development patterns •Population density on urban land
•Retrofitting existing urban land
•Intensive use of buildings
•Housing form
•Trip distance
•Urban land cover
Urban areas linked by •Trips using public transport
public transport systems •Proximity to public transport
Accessibility to local •Matching jobs & homes
services and jobs •Matching local services & homes
•Proximity to local services
•Trips on foot and by bicycle
INDICATORS RELATED Environmental •Public space and green areas
TO THE IMPACT OF •Transport energy use
COMPACT CITY POLICIES •Residential energy use
Social Economic •Affordability
•Public service
CURRENT URBAN TRENDS UNDERSCORE THE NEED FOR COMPACT CITIES

 Compact cities can play a significant role in responding to current urban trends:

 Continuing urbanisation underscores the need to conserve land resources . By

2050, 70% of the world’s population & 86% in OECD countries will live in urban
areas . Land consumption for built-up areas will increase more rapidly than the
population in 30 out of 34 OECD countries.

 Global warming raises new issues for cities and requires new responses.

 Increasing energy prices can affect living patterns, for example by raising
transport costs.

 The recent economic crisis has affected local governments finances, making it
more difficult to invest in new infrastructure.

 As demographics change , policy makers need to adapt urban policies . The

elderly population has doubled over the past 60 years in OECD countries and
tripled worldwide. The average household size has also decreased in OECD
countries.
Compact and Mix-used City Example
RiverParc project in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 2006

 The Small neighborhood of 6 acres

with about 700 residence units,
hotel, art venue, retails, offices,
variety of parks etc.

 People can satisfy their daily

necessities including their jobs in
the only two-block walk-able
neighborhood without car.

 The big Eighth Street is paved for

pedestrian as a community’s spine.

"Riverparc." Benisch Architekten. 19 June 2008 <http://www.behnisch.com/#>.

Compact and Mix-used City Example
Majorca Technopolis primary idea, R. Rogers
 The technopolis is divided
into three communities.
Each community is of about
2000 residents and
arranged to be walk-able or
bicycle-able.

 Then public transportation

connects the centers of
them.

Rogers, Richard, and Philip Gumuchdjian. Cities

for a Small Planet (In Japanese). Tokyo: Kashima
Shuppankai, 2002 (1996). p54-55. Translated by
Yashiro, Tomoya, Wada, Atsushi, and Takaharu,
Tezuka.
 Presentation for class by Vijal Desai
Housing Planning & Pattern I
M.Arch – City Design
Sarvajanik Collage of Engineering & Technology, Surat