Concept Evolution of Approaches to Planning - Essay Example

25, March 2009 Planning Concept Evolution of Approaches to Planning The concept of a garden is the approach to urban planning. This approach was founded in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. The garden cities are intended to be planned, self-contained, the communities are surrounded by greenbelts, and contains carefully balanced residential areas, industry as well as agriculture. An ideal garden city would house 32,000 people which will sit on a 6,000 acres of land which is equivalent to 24,000,000 m2. The plan is on a concentric pattern with open spaces, public parks and six radial boulevards. It is a 120 ft wide that is extending from the centre. The city would be self sufficient until it reaches full population. When it reaches full population, another garden city will be developed nearby. (Wikipedia, 2009) Main Elements of the garden city concept A garden city is made different from others because the concept is planned for its objectives. It is to find the industrial population work for wages of a higher purchasing power and secure a healthier surroundings and regular employment. It is intended to offer a secure a new and better employment for the enterprising, the manufacturers, the cooperatives, the people engaged in the technical field, and to the many who are in various professions. It is a design for the opening of a new market for the talents and goods that are close to their doors. The objective is to raise the standard of health and comfort of the workers of whatever profession they have to offer. This is one way of achieving the natural and economic combination of a town and country life with its own municipality. An ideal garden city is to be built near the centre of a 6,000 acres land and it will cover about 1,000 acres of it. It may be planned in a circular manner. The radius of which could be a 1,240 yards. There would be 6 beautiful boulevards that is 120 feet wide and will traverse the city from the centre to its circumference dividing the city into 6 equal parts. There will also be 5 circumferential roads. A circular space in the centre is to be about 5.5 acres In this area will lay a beautiful well maintained garden. Around this garden will be the large public buildings such as the town hall, the lecture hall, theater, library, museum and a hospital. The rest of the space will contain the public park, which is an ample recreation ground with a very easy access to everybody. Running around the park is a wide arcade made of glass that will be called the crystal palace. The crystal palace is for the wet weather. This will be one of the favorite place of the people because it is very near the central park. One function of this building is that, manufactured goods are exposed for sale. A wide variety of goods to be sold here are of good quality. Shopping for goods in the crystal palace is indeed a joy of deliverance and selection. The enclosed space of the crystal palace is not only used for the manufactured goods for sale. A part of the crystal palace will be used as a winter garden. It forms as a permanent exhibition of a very attractive character while its circular form brings it near to every one living in town. The route around the crystal palace is the fifth avenue. The road is closely designed in a circular manner that it forms a circumferential road. The road side will be planted with trees that would contribute to the beauty of the place as you go around the crystal palace. A beautifully maintained garden adds to the beauty of the place. Moving away from the fifth avenue, you can take the grand avenue and move around to see the beautiful crystal palace on one side and the houses and gardens on the other side. The houses and gardens are designed such that you will find a ring of houses, very excellently built as each is standing on the ample grounds. There will be varied architecture and design which the houses and the group of houses, some will have common gardens and a cooperative kitchen. A circumferential road with a 420 ft width is the grand avenue that runs around the houses and gardens which has a total length of 3 miles. This is another park which constitutes of gardens and public schools. Reserves slots are for churches. ON the outer ring of the town lies the factories, warehouses, dairies,, markets timber yards, coal yards and others. All these are fronting the circle railway which caters to the whole town and which has a side connection to the main railway of which passes thru the state. This system works well because the arrangement enables goods to be loaded direct into the trucks from the warehouses and factories and to be sent to the railways to different distant markets, or to the warehouses and factories. This system reduces costs of packing and cartage. It also reduces traffic on the roads of the town lessening the cost of maintenance of the town. The smoke that would come out of the factories are regulated. Electric machineries are driven by electric energy thus reducing the cost of electricity for lighting and other purposes. Agricultural portion of the state uses the refuse of the town which are held by persons in large farms, small holdings, allotments, cow pastures and others. Growing of wheat under united actions of capitalist farmers and co operators will prove advantageous. The role of cultivation of fruits, vegetables and flowers can be passed on to individuals or group of individuals having common goals.. In the design above, the method of segregation is very evident. The farms and factories are designed in the outskirts of the town and the town proper is engaged in various trades, calling and profession and with a store and depot in each ward. All these contributes to the segregation of its industrial and commercial land uses, and from housing and this avoids the kind of chaos in the industrialization of the city. These design elements can be elaborated in terms of the arrangement of the land use. Planning prior to its development is a big consideration. The configuration of transport network is necessary in the design stage. Included in the design is commuting distance and time. Open spaces to buffer the industrial uses from the housing and the parks and playgrounds. The mentioned items are elaborated and studied as a new method in planning future towns. The garden city scale is equally important because it uses a few thousand acres of land to play and house a population of 32,000 people. Critical Discussion of the Proposition that the Garden City provides a useful model for the Planning of sustainable settlements for the 21st century Influential commentators like Sir Lewis Mumford comments on the garden city as a potent planning model that emerged from the western tradition of urban planning. The concept was created by Ebenezer Howard in 1898 as a system for urban and rural problems and ills. Soon after, it occupied a central position in the new practice of urban planning that was developed in the 20th century. The experiments of the garden city which embodies some of the models key principles appeared throughout Europe and North America. It was spread by colonialism, and trading to the other parts of the world. Over the time, these diffused garden city's principles are incorporated to other planning ideas into new forms of planned development with different resemblance to the original model. This will draw attention to the significant examples and variants of the tradition of the garden cities all over the world. It will also be an important point, even if the priorities may have changed. It is an idea that has not gone away. Society and the professional opinions had changed but the model had become relevant in new and better ways that the ones who started it did not foresee. The flexibility and adaptability has helped in allowing certain strands to be emphasized. The others who promoted the garden city model had its purist wing, but the tendency had been dominantly pragmatic. In other circumstances, the garden city had become a model in the achievement of metropolitan, decentralization, regional economic growth, rural consolidation, and sustainable living. It was adapted for the more motorized populace, at the same time not losing the potential to minimize independence. Similarly, the flexibility over the size and the principles of the other garden cities were adapted so that they are applied on larger and smaller scales. The physical form of the place which could copy the garden city model had its variations. The large green space, whether public or private, had always been of importance. The core principle shows that flexibility was never great as to the real meaning from the model of the garden city. What remained was the desire to find a solution to balance among the three goals. They are the: strong community, ordered development, and the quality of environment. A solution was involved, but did not rely on capitalism or state intervention. Instead, the harnessing of the two was done. One of the principles was that, the garden city had to be built on a land which is under a unified ownership that is managed in the public interest. This system will be under a unified control after the development is completed. This added value would be available as better collective facilities and quality of public and private environment that could be provided under a private development process. The result of which is that the garden city in not exclusively for the rich but rather it promises an exclusive way of living that is very affordable to a wider range of income. he need to respond to the rising social expectations consequent on the economic prosperity is a key part that is driven. The people that belong to the affluent society would want a better quality of living space in their homes, environment and facilities in a wider space setting. This was the appeal of the garden city model in developed and affluent countries of the 20th century. Arguments had been done about the wide environmental impacts of the garden city. It promoted the clustering of public and private services, and employment had reduced the necessity of extensive car-based movements. Though there are easier ways of dealing with the problem of growth in a very short time, the approach will certainly need to be visited again after a period of time. The most dynamic forms of development have little or no regard for the environment or community. The environmental protectors of the development would compromise the quality of living environment and inhibits economic developments. According to Raghav, such analysis is part of an engineer's responsibilities. The term cleaner production refers to a minimum environment impact that is under the existing technological and economic limits. Cleaner production requires the development of both an environmentally sustainable process and environmentally friendly products. Design for the environment is the designing process and products while keeping the environment in mind. Since the last 3 decades, the environment became the most popular area. The environmentalists are supposed to play a role in urgent environmental issues such as the ozone depletion, the greenhouse effect, the global warming, and air pollution. The environmental chemistry, that combines the application of chemical principles with an effort to maintain and enhance the environmental quality is represented by the changes. The factors indicate a clear link between human being and environmental chemistry. The leadership if the world is demanding the chemistry community, the outcomes of the continued development and production of massive amounts of chemicals that will improve the standard of living, and the responsible reduction, treatment and disposal of chemicals(Aram, 1995). Environmental problems are due to the combination of several factors. These factors are caused by environment and health problems. Some of the problems which are faced by humankind are ozone depletion, greenhouse effect, acid rain, global warming, air-water pollution, and fossil fuel combustion. In the chemical materials and processes, the excess use of fossil fuels causes environmental problems. The different planning response in the different parts of the globe varies. It has emphasis on compact cities. The energy saving practices such as reduction of use of air conditioning units and the reduced use of electricity and cooking gas is a response to the environmental problem. Public transport use to reduce oil consumption, and building of energy efficient structures. The emphasis of the different planning responses all over the planet was somewhat different. The earth's summit in Rio brought a very important change. The goal of the summit was finding an equitable balance between the social, economic and environmental needs of our present and future generations. Lay the foundation for a global partnership between the government and civil society sector based on a common understanding of the interest and shared needs, as well as the partnership between developed and developing countries (Earth Summit, 1997) Tim Stonor, argues that the primacy of evidence-based approach to the planning and design of urban communities are the sustainable social, economic and environmental places. It is surprising to learn that the outcomes are achieved by simple inputs. Land use patterns, surveys on movements and spatial network mapping are the modes of urban space use, whether in cars on in public transport, cycles or on foot, uses spatial networks to move thru town and cities. The unsophisticated methods of planning and designing places led us to greater damage than benefits. The emerging changes in the planning of human settlements are seen thru the years. The global report on human settlement in 1986 illustrates the key policies in areas of national development, resource mobilization, settlement planning and management building materials and construction technologies, infrastructure, and shelter. In 1996, human settlement issues reports on the urbanization process. It was concluded that good urban governance is very important. The report on human settlement on 2001 highlights the impact of globalization. The documentation of current housing and urban living conditions were included. In 2003, global assessment of the slums were taken into consideration. The number of slum dwellers is very fast in growing and will continue to grow unless there is concern by relevant stakeholders. Financial urban shelter took its toll in the 2005 human settlement global report. This represents the global assessment of finance system on housing and placing shelter and urban development within the macroeconomic policies Finally, in 2007, the enhancement of urban safety and security had been taken into account. Three major threats to the safety and security of cities were addressed. The report is the perspective of human security. It concerns with the safety of the people rather than the states, and issues addressed through the appropriate urban policies, planning, design and governance, as stated by UN-HABITAT. References Aram, RJ and Manahan, S.E. (1995) Environmental Chemistry and Environmental Science. Journal of Chemical Education. 72,997 - 78. Ebenezer, Howard, (1946), "This Town - Country Magnet" and "Social Cities" in Garden Cities of To-morro, Chapter 1 and 12, London, Faber and Faber, 50-57 138 - 50. Mumford, Luis (1946) "The City" in City Development; Studies in Disintegration and Renewal, Chapter 1, London: Secker and Warburg, 7 - 25. Earth Summit + 5 United Nations - Earth Summit 5. 1997. United Nations Department of Public Information. March 26, 2009. . Garden City Movement. Garden City Movement - Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. March 21, 2009. Wikipedia Foundation, Online Resource. March 25, 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/garden_city_movement>. Raghav, Narajanam. Environmental Consciousness and Sustainable Engineering Design 54 Environmental Consciousness and Sustainable Engineering Design. January 7, 2009. Springer, New York. March 29, 2009. . Revisiting Urban Planning-Global Report on Human Settlements 2009. UN-HABITAT: Global Reports on Human Settlements/2009. 2009,Global Reports on Human Settlements. March 30, 2009. . Stonor, Tim, An Evidence - based approach to Spatial Planning and Design. Approach to Spatial Planning and Design. October, 2006. Space Syntax Publication. March 29, 2009. . The CMP Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation. Conservation Planning. February 2009. 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