The Residential Neighbourhood

Introduction

Urban planning is approached on a scientific basis generally by the threetier system of settlement planning, namely,neighbourhood, community (district) and city Generally consists of a population 10,000 to 20,000 Three or four neighborhoods constitute a community or a district with a population range from 50,000 to 75,000 The city comprises of a number of districts Each neighbourhood has to be designed as a self-contained residential unit, with necessary community facilities and civic amenities Major facilities required for the entire city are to be provided at the city level
The Residential Neighbourhood

Introduction

Its birth was in the US in the inter war period From 1945 onwards , the Dudely Report on The Design of Dwellings published in 1944 contains the basic idea which remains valid The neighbourhood unit aims to supply these services of a lower order to its inhabitants: to the whole of them from the neighbourhood centre and some of them from what ever sub-centres may be established within the neighbourhood A distinct physical identity The use of main roads, railways and marked physical features of one kind or another as boundaries combined with distinctive visual treatment in architecture and rational grouping of elements ancillary to the houses

The Residential Neighbourhood

Introduction

To support and to distribute within a reasonable reach of the whole population all the services required for day-to-day living Opportunities it may present to create social homogeneity and to foster social activities Each neighbourhood should include ,in due proportion representatives of all the kinds of people to be found in the town, in terms of economic status and employment Making social mixture an objective of physical planning Visually and functionally a wide variation of densities and dwelling types within a neighbourhood is desirable

The Residential Neighbourhood

Introduction

People with fairly similar, cultural and economic status tend to live together more happily than very diverse Dwelling requirements and density rather than deliberately to seek to promote a mixture of social classes A carriageway more than 24ft wide and have intersections within the form of roundabouts Elements in the Neighbourhood The siting of shops and schools needs to be determined mainly by accessibility Nursery schools, if provided to be within a quarter of a mile of every home high degree of convenience and accessibility Economic viability : threshold Open space accessible to the public should be within a few minutes of every home

The Residential Neighbourhood

Defining Neighborhoods

There is no universal way of defining the neighborhood as a unit, and selecting and defining target neighborhood is a highly political and negotiable process based on local context Increasingly used as an organizational anchor for the promotion of planned social change As a social unit, as a spatial unit, and as a network of relationships, associations, and patterns of land use There are three dimensions : (1) program goals and strategies; (2)neighborhood characteristics; and (3) contextual influences Residential stability fosters the development of interpersonal networks among neighbors; the neighborhood attachment and social participation

Neighborhood Planning

Defining Neighborhoods

Mutual aid / Working Together Association / Common Interest Homogenous Qualities Identified by class distinctions More from compulsion than native choice Probably the settlement house movement which began in London about 1885 was the first conscious recognition of the neighborhood (restoration of human values) to re-establish face-to-face relationship through neighborhood association a means to restore a recognizable form in the physical organization of the city Physical environment

Neighborhood Planning

Defining Neighborhoods

The unit of measurement for space in urban society is the individual The functions of a neighborhood have been described by C.J.Bushnell as : maintenance, learning, control and play An elementary school ;1,000 to 1,200 pupils; this means a population between 5,000 to 6,000 ( 10 families per acre) Clarence .A. Perry Excessive land values Encroachments More leisure Neighborhood recreation : (1) Play lot (2) Neighbourhood playground (3) Play field

Neighborhood Planning

Defining Neighborhoods

Experienced differently by different populations. Those most integrated into the larger society (e.g., married people, people of middle age, people with higher incomes and education) tend to have larger, more dispersed, more casual neighbor networks; those less integrated into the larger society (e.g., singles, children and the elderly, those with lower income and less education) tend to have smaller, more intense, and more frequently engaged relationships in the neighborhood. Such organization may also differ across cultures Neighborhoods that are reasonably homogeneous, low-income, and have a fairly high percentage of young people may be the most likely areas for concentrated local use if the necessary facilities, services, and institutions are available Populations very high when the very low ends of the socioeconomic spectrum and less likely to concentrate their activities within their neighborhoods

Neighborhood Planning

As a Spatial unit

Viewed as a set of actors, facilities, organizations, and the networks of association among them within a specified activity space Individuals draw one set of neighborhood boundaries as they conceptualize and negotiate their movement through and relationship with their activity space Defined by physical barriers or "edges", the existence of generally recognized landmarks, social and functional elements, demographics, the presence of major institutions, the perception of safety or danger, and the relative location and functional opportunities presented by different parts

Neighborhood Planning

As a Spatial unit
Each neighborhood should include ,in due proportion, representatives of all kinds of people to be found in the town

Neighborhood Planning

As a Spatial unit

One can divide a city in many ways. An individual's unit in the larger community is complex, changeable, and constantly negotiated. ( the circumstances and activities of daily life in there can be seen as "nested) (e.g., neighborhood within city within region), with salience of community level varying both over time and circumstance The boundaries of nesting neighborhoods (as units of identity and action) are not easily contained within one another; they overlap and interpenetrate on many levels With access to public transport, the maximum distance between ones front door and a transport stop is the length of a path one can walk in 10 minutes About 600m distance between the edge of a neighborhood and its central area and transport node seems to be a generally accepted measure

Neighborhood Planning

As a Spatial unit

A population large enough to support local services and facilities which provide for daily needs It is important this population should be mixed ,as regards income level The neighborhood is therefore the smallest building block or unit of which the city is made up Building up a city from neighborhood units therefore generates a rigid structure which does not coincide with the social systems in an open society Ex:The medieval merchant city of venice shows a very clear structure of neighborhoods defined and physically seperated by canals dominant and subdominant centres City growth is by multiplication of units rather than extension

Neighborhood Planning

As a Spatial unit

City structure may well be hierarchial,from neighborhood to district to city, however this no way prevents people from having a free choice as to which these areas they frequent and which of their services and facilities they use The most important function of a neighborhood centres is that they provide services and facilities for those less mobile, especially the elderly, young mothers with small children, the disabled Owing to their small size and population, enable effective participation by the community in the shaping of its area; that is they enhance local autonomy The district core would be linked with the neighborhood centres by public transport, say bus stops every 300m or so. Travel distances would be in the region of 1,300 -1,450 m and travel from the edge to the centre of the district would take about 5 minutes ; the core area may have may have a radius of 150 m and an area of about 7 ha

Neighborhood Planning

Defining Neighborhoods

Neighborhood Planning

Neighborhood Plan
A "checklist" of the basic elements that should be included every neighborhood plan

Neighborhood Planning

Strategies

Formulation of any strategy requires grappling with various tensions:(1) appropriate scale and the possibilities for broad-based participation (2) time and resources available at the level of funding and the necessary capacity at the neighborhood level (3) building neighborhood capacity and building connections to resources beyond the neighborhood (4) working through existing / mediating organizations and creating new ones

Neighborhood Planning

Neighborhood Plan

Neighborhood Planning

Neighborhood Plan

A Guide for Citizens and Planners (APA, 1990) states that : If residents are to have any impact on their surroundings, they need to develop a plan for its future, rather than trusting their interests will be taken into account and protected by those various large decision makers. If residents wish to be empowered, they need to act in a systematic fashion that characterizes planning

Neighborhood Planning

Mission / Purpose Statement

Well meaning statements about why it is important to conduct a neighborhood-based planning process and how the neighborhood plan fits into the citys overall planning process Should establish the importance of going through the neighborhood planning process. They should also convey that the process is all-inclusive and that it is in accordance with policies set forth in the jurisdictions comprehensive plan, if one exists The plan is for the benefit of the public health, safety, and welfare, if it is to be used as the basis for any land-use controls

Neighborhood Planning

Neighborhood Plan

Neighborhood Planning

Neighborhood Indicators

National Neighborhood Indicators Project ( NNIP : U.S ) 1. System for the explicit purpose of changing things--not just to monitor 2. Single integrated system that can support one-stop solutions 3. Indicators at the neighborhood level--not just for the city and its region 4. A "data warehouse - not just indicators 5. Serve multiple users for capacity building in poor communities 6. Democratize information - help stakeholders use information

Neighborhood Planning

Neighborhood Indicators
7. Use data to tackle individual issues, in a way that leads toward more comprehensive strategies 8. Use information as a bridge to promote local collaboration 9. Use available indicators but recognize their inadequacies - particularly the lack of sufficient data on community assets 10. Assure integrity in the data and in the institution that provides them

Neighborhood Planning

Strategies

To improve the overall health , for the full range of community components To work collaboratively with other organizations doing community development and human service delivery work at the neighborhood scale An emphasis on the physical realm of land use and capital improvements, to the exclusion of other often non-physical interests affecting quality of life (services, education, crime prevention, and economic development) Setting forth the issues that stand in the way of full collaboration in the neighborhood planning; exploring models and examples of successful collaborations Recommending how planning legislation can support collaborative neighborhood planning To open discussion with its potential collaborators

Neighborhood Planning

Administrative Data maintained

Neighborhood Planning

Long-term outcome indicators

Neighborhood Planning

Long-term outcome indicators

Neighborhood Planning

Long-term outcome indicators

Neighborhood Planning

Long-term outcome indicators

Neighborhood Planning

Neighbourhood Form
Lewis Keeble

Space Standards

About 195 acres on average is needed for a neighbourhood of 5,000 persons It is sensible to concentrate housing around the town centre All open uses which do not have to be related to a particular surrounding population, group towards the edge of the town Large establishments need to be included only in the outer neighbourhood the amount of public open space is substantially greater in the outer than in the inner neighbourhood Primary schools needed centrally to the neighbourhood which each serves Open uses placed on those edges of neighbourhoods ( not marked by main road) are grouped to form a physical neighborhood boundary Residential neighbourhoods adjacent to industrial areas require to provide a wide cushion against noise, smell etc
Principles/Practice

Key to neighbourhood numbers

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

Three distinct kinds :

1. A dense inner neighbourhood roughly rectangular in shape and surrounded by main roads (Neighbourhoods 1 and 4) 2. A roughly triangular in shape and surrounded by main roads on two sides (Neighbourhoods 2,3,5 and 6) 3. Outer neighbourhoods roughly of trapezium shape, at a much lower density, four of them with main roads on two of their four sides, two of them with a main road on only one side (Neighbourhoods 7-12) The different densities, shapes and main road relationships produces differences in design in fairly marked ways These three types of neighbourhood may be regarded as typical examples of the neighbourhood types in UK

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

Housing layout of a Radburn Superblock, the pedestrain movement can take place quite independently and apart from motor vehicle What will be happening on the outer side of the road surrounding the Superblock? What volumes of traffic will develop and discharge onto that road? How many people, generating what volume of traffic will have to live on the inner side of that road to justify the provision of a school within the Superblock?

Conception of a Radburn Superblock

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

What kinds of junction between residential roads and Superblock road is required? What about vehicular access to the school? For a residential neighbourhood unit about 5,000 population, and assuming one car per household of three on the roads during a peak hour, that no section of residential road should have to bear more than about 300 v.p.h Thus there may be separate minor roads systems within each neighbourhood Each minor roads might connect individually with main roads outside the neighbourhood or be collected together inside the neighbourhood before connecting to a main road Collection of minor roads within the neighborhood and connection to main roads by means of roundabouts will be necessary It will be desirable to keep these roundabouts atleast 300 yards apart from each other and from any other roundabouts which may connect main roads

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

There are no property access to roads other than access roads This is costly but greatly increases safety These Figs show the design for neighbourhoods 1&4

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

The design for neighbourhoods 2,3,5 and 6

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

The design for neighbourhoods 7,9,10 and 12

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

The design used for neighbourhoods 8 & 11

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

In this case the population accommodated is 10,000 The road system, though safe, does not attempt to limit the number of vehicles within any one system to 300 nor is a continious pedestrain system independent of the road system provided

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

Design for the neighbourhood used in the first version of New Town

Principles/Practice

A Superblock neighbourhood

The population required to support a two form entry primary school The ring road surrounding the neighbourhood is assumed to be joined on its outerside by roads which also serve other neighborhoods The idea of open space penetrating close to all homes

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

Pedestrian ways between parallel rows of houses The length of collector road is great Facilitates pedestrian movement without crossing roads within the group concerned Limitations on positions of road junctions and the pattern formed by main pedestrian routes connecting different parts of the town inevitably prevent all housing groups within a neighbourhood having the same area

Principles/Practice

The Residential Neighbourhood

Layout adopted for minor roads Culs-de-sac or interconnected groups Christmas Tree of culs-de-sac Limitation/Objection: if a road becomes blocked by an accident or for some other reason there is no alternative outlet to a through road which vehicle can take One way of overcoming this is to base the minor road layout on loops rather than culs-de-sac

Principles/Practice

Loops as an alternative to culs-de-sac

Unfortunately the flexibility of arrangement and opportunity for varied and interesting siting of houses is not so great with loops as with culs-de-sac

Principles/Practice

Accessibility Standards

If there is some public open space and some local shopping within a quarter of mile of every home (a five minute walk) and a primary school within half a mile of every home (a ten minute walk) very good standards of accessibility are secured High degree of accessibility to neighborhood services which can be secured at a low density The neighborhood has a radius of half a mile and an area of about 500 acres

Principles/Practice

Accessibility Standards

The hatching indicates the degree of accessibility enjoyed by different parts

Principles/Practice

Visual Treatment of Neighbourhoods

Tendency of monotony in contemporary housing Monotony may often arise despite the excellence of design of individual buildings Physical separateness and visual identity of each neighbourhood The variety within the individual neighborhood has usually been accompanied by an absence of any dominant visual motif, and hence an absence of contrast with other neighbourhoods, for each neighbourhood as a whole Certain limitations are imposed on variety because of local soil qualities Sense of Direction in which direction the town centre lies, direction of the neighbourhood centre lies and the edge of the town lies The logical disposition of the elements and road layout will themselves do much secure this, deliberate creation of glimpses and vistas can supplement the logic of the plan considerably

Principles/Practice

The Neighbourhood in the Development Plan

Planning should be done for the people Physical Planning is the creation of a physical pattern so designed that personal, family, social and economic life can flourish within it It should not and cannot provide the optimum environment for a given set of transient persons at a given moment of time To show the distribution of net residential densities to be permitted within the area An area of neighbourhood size to be socially and visually satisfactory The proposed Urban Structure Maps will indicate densities

Principles/Practice

Programming the Neighbourhood Plan

Stage development : the provision of services keeps step with the building of dwellings The development of each non-residential item is delayed until there are sufficient support to enable it to operate atleast on a restricted scale

Principles/Practice

Thank You

Neighborhood Planning