UNIT - 2:

The American grid planning

GRID PLAN:
The grid plan, grid street plan,
or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in
which streets run at right angles to each
other, forming a grid.

The infrastructure cost for regular grid

patterns is generally higher than for
patterns with discontinuous streets.
Costs for streets depend largely on
four variables:

1. street width,

2. street length,

3. width and

4. pavement width.
Two inherent characteristics of the grid

1. plan
2. frequent intersections
3. orthogonal geometry
assist pedestrian movement.
The geometry helps with orientation
and way finding and its frequent
intersections with the choice and
directness of route to desired
destinations.

In ancient Rome, the grid plan

method of land measurement was
called centuriation.
The grid plan dates from antiquity and
originated in multiple cultures;

some of the earliest planned

cities were built using grid plans
Fallacies Against the Grid
We have heard many criticisms about the
grid plan–
It’s boring,
It’s unnatural, et cetera.

What is so wrong with straight streets?

Following, we address some common

fallacies in a defense for the grid.
Fallacy #1: The grid is boring.

This is perhaps the first reaction one might have when looking at an aerial map of a
grid plan. I can almost understand why.

Every block is the same size, every turn is the same 90 degrees, and

every view is in the same direction (straight).

All of that being said, it is a fallacy to assume that a town’s vitality or banality is a
function of the grid itself.

On the contrary, these qualities are dependent directly upon zoning and economy.

The grid can be as exciting or as boring as the city decides to make it.

For example, the following images

New York
Chicago
San Francisco
New Orleans
How boring are those grids?

The grid generates neither excitement nor

monotony though it does provide for both equally.

Again, the grid is simply what your city makes of it.

There are plenty of plans that look interesting from

above but fail on the ground.
Fallacy #2:

The grid has only been used

by greedy developers trying to
maximize profits.
Fallacy #3:

The grid only belongs in

urban centers.
The grid is typically associated with highly
developed urban centers.

Because the grid was used almost exclusively

as the founding framework for many of
America’s towns and cities, over time these
places have been built up to their urban levels
as we observe them today.

Given time, even a barren grid can become a

modern metropolis
Glancing at today’s urban grids, however, does not reveal
the path of development that was taken.

Every city in America began at one point as nothing.

With that said, there are plenty of grid plans that never
took off.

These towns have for one reason or another resisted or

lacked highly urban development opportunities.

Grids can be ghost towns, farms, or suburbs. :

Maricopa, Arizona
Oak Park, Illinois
Fallacy #4:

The grid is harmful to the

environment because it ignores
topography
[ Landscape, Scenery ,
Geography, & Country side ]
The grid is famous—and infamous—for ignoring topography.

J.B. Jackson, who studied the American landscape and created

Landscape magazine, once wrote of the grid’s “triumph of
geometry over topography.”

San Francisco more than any other city exemplify this feature,

but where San Francisco preserved the hills, Manhattan flattened

them.

While in both of these cases the grid shamelessly ignores the

hills and valleys, it should be well noted, however, that this is just
one variable in a sustainable city.

While ignoring topography may do some harm it ultimately

prevents others.

Like everything in life, the grid has its assets and its legal
responsibility.
Benefits of the Grid:

Walk able:

With the proper block size, the grid

provides an inherently walk able street
network.

Navigable:
Never ask for directions again.
Adaptable:

Land uses change constantly.

With blocks and lots, a new land use can
simply plug-in to the existing infrastructure.

Historical:

The grid is a fundamental part of our

American heritage.
Economical:

A rectangular block allows you to do the most

with the least.

The exact same block in Manhattan has

accommodated everything from a farm to an
office skyscraper.

The exact same piece of dirt—now that’s

economical!
Sustainable:

A rectangular block allows you to do the most

with the least.

The exact same block in Manhattan has

accommodated everything from a farm to an
office skyscraper.

The exact same piece of dirt—now that’s

sustainable!
Orthogonal:

We live in rectangular places / We

park in rectangular spaces.

The orthogonal grid—it flourish / Due

to the way that we live our lives.