Physical Form and Configuration of Cities - Essay Example

Physical form and configuration of cities Number Department Physical form and configuration of cities The physical form and configuration of cities refers to the layout of infrastructure network and buildings within a city. The configuration of spatial structures is influenced by market factors, regulations, investments in the basic infrastructures and taxes. City spatial structures are generally the unintended consequence of unforeseen policy impacts and laws that were drafted without any specific spatial considerations. However, various urban spatial structures bring about different outcomes. Some urban organizations are inappropriate for the expansion of public transport infrastructure, whereas others tend to allow easier construction of public transport while limiting residential floor area. Generally, urban spatial outlines remain largely unchanged over time regardless of the relevant factors influencing the designs. In light of this, a spatial structure of a city may tremendously limits the parameters of available options for growth. Background of city shape Marcuse and van Kempen (2011) noted that it is hard to describe the average city structure because objectives of city growth are different and they evolve with time. Nonetheless, it is easier to pinpoint the city structures that are consistent with a particular objective. Essentially, city authorities are mandated to pursue numerous objectives simultaneously. The option of the reasonable trade-offs between numerous, often conflicting goals borders on or is the basis of political ideology, rather than a technical issue (Hall, 2007). As such, elected officials such as mayors or municipal councils who are normally in charge of the city are the stakeholders who are best-placed to handle them. Nonetheless, urban planners and designers ought to remain aloof from politics and carry out constant monitoring of the consequences that particular regulations may have on the structure of the city. According to Williams (2014), it behooves them to be abreast with the impacts of the most basic planning tools and or interventions, which may then be tailored in the best interests of most stakeholders in the city. The basic city designing factors include; environmental regulations on land use, infrastructure investments and government taxation. These factors substantially influence the spatial design of urban dwelling by limiting misuse of land and taxation issues, while maximizing the use of traditional basic infrastructure investments (Eames et al, 2013). In democratic cities around the world, the planners have to ensure that their urban planning process and the eventual structure will be in line with the interests of the electorate through their elected leaders. As Hall (2007) said, this is desirable to me in the sense that the eventual form will be pro-public, which means most of the city residents would not only be have easier access to the goods and services their need, but contribute more effectively towards economic growth. Marcuse and van Kempen (2011) noted that urban structures are based on specific paths. The spatial design of big cities is modified through a very slow process and can be stretched or adjusted only in a limited way. The modest evolution is desirable because it conserves the environment and prevents major disruptions to settlement, infrastructure and access to goods and services. As such, large scale evolution of a city is therefore never viable because returning the parcels of land where buildings or other property have been built is practically impossible. Different forms of spatial structures There a two primary urban spatial designs namely: a) transit-oriented city form with fewer and relatively straight transport lines linking important economic areas, and b) grid-oriented structure mainly for business activities. The spatial form of a transport-oriented design is advantageous because it is more organized and compact around the central business district, with corridors stemming from the main transport lines shaping the form of the city for easier movement of people and goods. Williams (2014) noted that the transport-oriented structure has lesser average distance travelled by commuters. As such, a grid-like structure has costly transportation. In respect of the spatial pattern, transport-oriented city forms have zonal patterns, which are somehow radial, and intense. These patterns segment the city into different economic zones and thus, create economic disparities based on land use (Eames et al, 2013). By contrast, the gridline spatial structures usually have patterns which are highly disjointed and spread across the area of the city, hence the creation of some kind of uniformity. However, such cities face difficulty realizing agglomeration economies and tangible economies of scale in transportation. In terms of spatial interaction, the ideal design must withstand the intensity of transportation and movements between or among spatial entities. In a transport oriented design, interactions are based upon important axes and have a tremendous intensity that is serviceable by movement of public and goods. However, a grid-like design witnesses interactions having a haphazard pattern and a truncated intensity. Marcuse and van Kempen (2011) noted that it is somewhat apparent that the grid-like urban structure is likely to have greater impacts on the environment than the transport-oriented design. This is especially true because it is more congested and requires more land area to accommodate more spatial entities and transport lines. Similarly, the transport oriented city design is expected to have greater negative impacts of environmental externalities, especially in the central business district where space is limited (Al-Kodmany, & Ali, 2013). There are several factors influencing city forms including; cumulative return to scale, transit, environmental conservation and population trends. Cumulative return to scale The primary factor affecting city designs is the cumulative return to scale, which is normally intrinsic in expanding labor markets. Therefore, the economic effectiveness of sprawling urban areas requires limiting any spatial disintegration of the sector of labor. Mollenkopf (2014) noted that this implies that all the sites where employers are located should, albeit in theory, be physically reachable from the primary residential areas within a 60-minute distance. This condition should be considered when assessing alternative urban designs. This is especially desirable because workers would have easy access only to their respective workplaces within the city center, hence a higher level of productivity (Marcuse, & van Kempen, 2011). Spatial indicators permit easy comparison of the structures of cities and monitoring of the development of individual cities’ spatial structure. Eames et al (2013) noted that urban spatial designs can be described and gauged by using several indicators including the average land usage, spatial dispersal of population and the nature of their daily trips. All of these factors taken together demonstrate that these indicators are amazingly resilient and are shared qualities. In specific, the factors include uneven population density and the value and usage of land. Some spatial designs are more compatible with ecological and social objectives than others (Mollenkopf, 2014). Again, this factor is desirable because it allows for the creation of a city form that meets the basic qualities of the average city. Effective Transit The demand for effective transit lines can influence the activity of city planners along those lines. As such, the trajectory of the city form would be developed to reflect thick, closely urbanized and majorly mono-centric city form for easier movement (Mollenkopf, 2014). Such design usually limits the length of time people and goods spend on the way to their destinations. Adequate design process would include sufficient traffic management, especially in the key sections of the cities that are likely to create transport challenges to the city in question. Environmental conservation Environmentally-inclined city plans are basically aimed at reducing the land area for development and expanding the transit ways in order to reduce external congestion on the roads and motorways. According to TCPA (2007), cities with no environmental issues are likely to be inclined towards creating dense, dominantly mono-centric forms, especially when there is need to accommodate many people and businesses. Similarly, cities facing threats to environmental pollution tend to look away from mono-centric forms by expanding the space for vegetation through restrictions on the use of certain areas of land, thus limiting the floor area. Urban designers and planners may change a city’s spatial design in order to enhance its performance in environmental sector. The trend is becoming popular with climate change and its impacts increasingly being real (Williams, 2014). However, the opportunity to act along that line is somewhat limited, especially if there is no environmental policy or laws regulating the interests of different stakeholders. A carefully drafted environmental law that regulates effective land use, infrastructure investments and government taxation has the potential to create city designs that are pro-public by virtue gaining the blessings of elected representatives and objective courtesy of the urban planners. In addition, because there is clear no definition of a perfect city shape, urban designers and planners usually improve the form based on environmental objectives whilst the original outline remains unchanged. This is particularly good for social and economic consistency (TCPA, 2007). Population trends Population is also another factor influencing city forms. Higher rates of rural-urban migration are likely to prompt city designers to ensure their proper accommodation in larger floor area both in residential areas and offices (Jerks, Burton, & Williams, 1996). However, lower influx of people in urban dwellings is likely to trigger the creation of a city form that limits the floor area and leaves more land for environmentally-efficient activities. This is a desirable condition that protects unnecessary environmental degradation to pave way for settlement. Similarly, family structures may also influence the city structure, especially the amount of land set aside for development of residential estates or industrial complexes or offices in the central business district (Al-Kodmany, & Ali, 2013). Cities with averagely small households consisting of three, for example, usually require smaller space to be put under development and vice versa (Eames et al, 2013). As such, smaller partitioning of land to accommodate small apartments and offices becomes the trend. But for heavily populated cities, bigger parcels of land developed into a compact form to accommodate everyone would be viable. Future trends The future holds a higher level of expansion for most of the greatest cities of the world. It is desirable for me that currently mono-centric cities will increasingly become less congested by virtue of effective city designs (Al-Kodmany, & Ali, 2013). And owing to the fact that income and transit have been expanding in most great cities around the world, compactness of the central districts tend to relax over time (Williams, 2014). It is particularly important that as cities expand, the central areas also extend outwards to accommodate the business, population, transit and environmental requirements. However, by increasing in size the central business districts of major cities will lose the proximity quality which made them desirable in the very beginning (TCPA, 2007). The end result will be the expansion of other cities within the economic region for a more uniform economic growth, hence the decrease in mono-centricity which usually puts excessive pressure on land use in or around major cities and degrading the environment. Telecommuting is also an important factor that will substantially reform future city designs around the world, especially in countries where there are effective information communication technology infrastructures (Jerks, Burton, & Williams, 1996). The strategy is very desirable to me because it will limit the possibility of developing more areas of land and with it lower the demand for resources needed to ensure effective physical interactions. The most affected sectors of the economy will be employment, shopping, leisure and education. Conclusion Generally, the complexity of prominent world cities arguably defies description. As such, urban planners and designers usually rely on simplified theories to create formally-effective designs that support the primary function of the city in question. Cities which are transport-oriented tend to have straight, uninterrupted transit lines, otherwise grid-like patterns supports the building of offices, shops, stores and other facilities in a haphazard way with no clear transit lines. Current cities are expected to accommodate more economies of scale in the future, but with corresponding flexibility of growth, congestion will remain a non-issue by virtue of careful designing and planning processes. References Al-Kodmany, K., & Ali, M.M., 2013. The Future of the City: Tall Buildings and Urban Design The Future of the City: Tall Buildings and Urban Design. London: WIT Press. Eames et al., 2013. City futures: Exploring urban retrofit and sustainable transitions. Building Research and Information, 41(5), pp.348-365. Hall, G., 2007. Ground-up City: Play as a Design Tool. London: 010 Publishers. Jerks, M., Burton, E., & Williams, K., 1996. The Compact City: A sustainable Urban Form? London: Routledge. Marcuse, P., & van Kempen, R., 2011. Globalizing Cities. London: John Wiley & Sons. Mollenkopf, J., 2014. Comments on the Spatial Dimensions of Urban Inequality. Retrieved from [Accesses 2 April 2015]. TCPA, 2007. Best practice in urban extensions and new settlements: A report on emerging good practice. London: TCPA. Williams, K. 2014. Urban form and infrastructure: a morphological review. Retrieved from [Accesses 2 April 2015]. Read More