New York City Zoning Regulations Vs The Death and Life of American Great Cities - Assignment Example

New York Zoning Regulations Vs The Death and Life of American Great Cities Jane Jacobs, a and activist, in her book; The Death and Life of American Great Cities, criticizes the 20th century urban planning policy which she says lead to the decline of a number of cities in the neighborhoods in United States of America. She goes against the common knowledge of age, seen as an integrator of the Garden city, Radiant city and city beautiful dislocations. She proposes new ideas that she says would enforce organic vibrancy in American urban. The New York City Zoning Regulations provides rules and guidelines for shaping the city. If compared to architecture and planning, zoning has a short history in it being a means of organizing how land is used. Zoning puts into place the use and size of buildings, the location of the buildings and to a greater extent the diverse neighborhoods’ density of the city. In line with the city’s tax, ability to budget and property condemnation, zoning is an important tool for undertaking planning policy. New York City is known to be a pioneer regarding zoning from the time the first nation’s comprehensive zoning was enacted in 1916. Considering the New York City zoning regulations, we can gauge that, some of these regulations reflect what Jane Jacobs is talking about in her book while some regulations do not reflect her ideas as we are going to discuss them. In her book, Jacobs praised density and concentration as opposed to dispersal and decentralization. Jacobs announces that housing activist Catherine Bauer has derived a perfect term meant for attacking regional planners for example Lewis Mumford. Decentrists proposed decentralizing big cities like New York. They wanted to squeeze them, disorient their enterprises, and dislocate their populations into smaller and separated cities. Decentrists felt that urban streets are bad environment for humans; hence, they recommended building houses away from the street. However, they suggested building houses inward in the direction of sheltered greens. These ideas took over mainstream thinking until Jacobs shoved them away in her book. Jacobs understood the meaning that density gives critical mass. Density means good services, good stores, restaurants and cafes. It also means safety in thatthere is life in the street and round the clock activity. NYC zoning regulations reflect this idea by allowing centralization in its policy. This has greatly improved safety in the city nowadays not only because of security by the police department in fighting crime strategically but because there are always people in the streets whether its day time or night time. This idea is one of Jacob’s brilliant contributions. As she writes, “There must be sufficiently dense concentration of people, for whateve4r purposes they may be there. This includes dense concentration in the case of people who are there because of residence”. Within this concept that is critic lays several others as we continue. Greenwich Village was another of Jacob’s important urban lab, the denser but mainly low-rise, working-class neighborhood. As a small-town girl, she took her lessons with respect to proper urban behavior as shown by her neighbors. Like Bernie Jaffe, who owned the candy store and who guides small children traversing the street; Joe Cornacchia, who owned corner deli and kept her keys in case of visitors and emergencies; the locksmith Mr. Lacey, the one who bawled the son of Jacob for running into traffic then he reported him to his dad. Jacobs respected and celebrated working class households plus their conservative, old-world although socially attentive morals. Ethnic neighborhoods emptied out into the suburbs, either voluntarily or coercively under urban renewal. However, Jacobs for saw tragedy in their departure, she admired their territoriality and their commerce enterprises which were frequently held in contempt to be too parochial and insignificant by intellectuals and the government officials. Divisively important, she was impressed with the development patterns by which labor was mixed in continually and naturally with residences. NYC zoning regulations does not reflect this idea about neighborhood. NYC zoning has density designated residence districts. These districts carry an extraordinary different residential building form that is from single family homes to soaring towers of Manhattan. Therefore, to regulate such diversity contrary to what Jacobs is encouraging, the zoning resolution has designated 10 basic residence districts to control the number of residents in each district. Residences are allowed in all commercial districts excluding C7 and C8. There are Lower Density Districts (R1-R5) and Moderate and Higher Density Districts (R6-R10). Not until in the mid-20th century when zoning begun categorizing and segregating uses, many residents of New York worked close to where they lived and it might have even been in the same building. Not only did this type of development format encouraged the type of street liveliness Jacobs wished for, it was also family-friendly and efficient, enabling people to trek to work and maybe return home for lunch if they wish. This was a green form of development most appreciated today by groups from new urbanites ranging to industrial retention advocates. However, this idea is not reflected in the NYC zoning regulations, this zoning codes are called Zero Commute Housing in other section of USA. 1961 zoning resolution forbade residential construction or renovation in the vicinity of manufacturing zones. The same resolution stepped up manufacturing zoning more into formerly residential neighborhoods, increasing their reduction even manufacturing jobs reduced for the many known secular reasons. Mixed-use districts might work successfully all through the waterfront. That is, if you can bear witness how limited live-work prosperity in red Hook, Brooklyn, has been successful. Jacobs also was in opposition to virtually all single-use development, what she called in her book, “massive public housing projects” that “tend to cause their city surroundings to deteriorate.” As the blocks reduce around public housing, the result becomes, “as time passes, less and less healthy adjoining city is available to tie into.” She admires cities as, “delicate, teeming ecosystems”. She opposed public housing projects to be places of concrete monocultures intentionally assigned considering functional and commercial diversity that she always admired. Those who were obliterated by the urban renewal include street level merchants who watched the neighborhood and promoted activities. They left the public housing tenants in shortage of restaurants, services or grocery stores. Many years after Jacobs's book, the NYC zoning regulations still does not reflect her ideas. This is because; most New York Housing authority structures still don’t have retail or business services. Out of its 343 developments, only 28 of them are able to offer commercial leases. NYCHA should be reconsidering its commercial policies which deny majority of its residents the right to basic retail services. Nevertheless, the neighborhood, for their health should be pressing a retail consideration on NYCHA. All in all, New York dispersed public housing projects all over the five boroughs meaning all residents have an ongoing interest in public housing projects. Considering the stagnation of Lower Manhattan and accurately foretelling its continued deterioration, Jacobs said that “almost every unique appeal to visitors that could possibly be rooted out of this district by plan has been rooted out.” She lamented the defective removal of aquarium by Robert Moses to Coney Island, the change of location of the “strange and vital little Armenian neighborhood” to Brooklyn, and the infertile lack of interest of the Park’s department’s snack bar located in the Battery Park, she called this “the most stirring location in the city.” This government imposed services propelled the area’s already drastic situation. Nowadays, almost everybody consents on the importance of Jacobs-style broad commercial activity, mostly observed in the world of nutrition. The NYC zoning regulations reflects this idea since it has provisions that allow a city’s sense of appeal to visitors retained. Amanda Burden, Director of the Department of City Planning said: “As the nature of health care providers has changed, so too must the zoning adapt to protect our sensitive residential neighborhoods while accommodating the need for these important facilities.” He then continues “It is important to protect the character of our lowest density residential neighborhoods from facilities that have expanded to regional proportion,” she says further “Similarly, we are expanding the prohibition of construction in rear yards in order to preserve light, air and views wherever possible.” This means that, NYC zoning has provisions that protect the appeal of the city to visitors hence the things that makes it beautiful will never be interfered with. Also the views of the residents would be sought out before any planning that will affect the city takes place. In summary, when we compare the NYC zoning regulations and Jane Jacobs’s book; the Death and Life of American Great Cities, we find that some of her ideas have already been put into use by the NYC zoning while some are yet to be implemented. Works Cited Jane Jacobs. The Death and Life of American great cities-New York: Random House, 1961. Print. Jane, J. New York City Zoning Regulations. New York: Routledge Publishers, 1987. Print. Read More