Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
SARVAJANIK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY,
SURAT
(2019-20)
Certificate
Prof. Zarana H. Gandhi Prof. Palak S. shah Prof. (Dr.) Pratima A. Patel
Ad- Hoc Assistant Ad- Hoc Assistant Professor & Head
Professor Professor
FCE, SCET FCE, SCET FCE, SCET
External Examiner
I
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................... 1
2. Eminent Town Planners ............................................................................................................................................ 3
2.1 Sir Ebenezer Howard .............................................................................................................................................. 4
2.2 Sir Patrick Geddes................................................................................................................................................... 7
2.3 Le Corbusier.......................................................................................................................................................... 11
2.4 Clarence Perry ....................................................................................................................................................... 15
2.5 Clarence stein ........................................................................................................................................................ 17
3. Case study: (The Neighbourhood Unit) .................................................................................................................. 19
4. Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................................. 24
5. Reference ............................................................................................................................................................... 24
II
TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: The social city with six garden cities by Ebenezer Howard
(Source: journals.openedition.org) .................................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 2: Garden city and surroundings as proposed by Ebenezer Howard
(Source: researchgate.net) ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Figure 3: Constellation theory on Maharashtra (Source: slideshare.net) ........................................................................ 10
Figure 4: villa savoye (Source: Wikipedia.org) .............................................................................................................. 13
Figure 5: Le Corbusier-Chandigarh plan form 1951 (Source: researchgate.net) ............................................................ 14
Figure 6 : Radburn layout (Source: ) .............................................................................................................................. 19
Figure 7: Cluster of neighbourhoods’: Clarence Stein (1942) versus N. L. Engelhardt Jr. (1943)
(Source: researchgate.net) ............................................................................................................................................... 21
Figure 8: The evolution of the neighbourhood unit concept (Source: researchgate.net) ................................................ 22
III
Graduate Report on “Contribution of Eminent Town Planner”
1. Introduction
As a town planner, or planner, you'll be involved in the management and development of cities,
towns, villages and the countryside. Your aim will be to balance the conflicting demands of
housing, industrial development, agriculture, recreation, transport and the environment, in
order to allow appropriate development to take place.
Regeneration within towns and cities forms an important part of planning and the often-
competing views of local businesses and communities are taken into account.
If you work within a rural area, you'll need to ensure that development is sustainable and that
the right balance of development is achieved to preserve the countryside. You will also aim to
make a positive contribution towards tackling the effects of climate change.
Responsibilities
help disadvantaged groups express their opinions about planning issues and proposals, and
visit sites to assess the effects of proposals on people or the environment
schedule available resources to meet planning targets
write reports, often of a complex nature, which make recommendations or explain detailed
regulations. These reports may be for a range of groups, from borough councils to regional
assemblies, or members of the public.
Qualifications
You can get into town planning with a degree in any subject but specific degrees in planning are
available. To become a chartered town planner, you will need to the following subjects may be
particularly relevant:
A list of accredited courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate level, along with further
information
It started in the early days of 20 century, when eminent sociologists like Sir Patrick Geddes, Sir
Ebenezer Howard, Lewis Mumford entered the field of Town Planning for the first time.
Other eminent Town Planner who deserve mention are Le Corbusier, Clarence Stein, Henry
Wright, Sir Patrick Abercrombie, Charles Correa and many others.
Howard planned garden cities of a population of 30,000 (approximately) each, divided into
smaller neighbourhoods of 5000 to act as counter-magnets. He planned low-densities in the
industrial areas with number of trees, private gardens, parks and other open spaces. He proposed
a greenbelt around the city to be used by the people for agriculture. Howard was concerned not
only with physical town planning but also social and economic characteristics of the community.
He wanted the land to be owned co-operatively, but allowed for private ownership of shops and
business. He wanted to incorporate co-operative house-keeping for running the city. In those
days, there was poor State Town Planning system, so to realise his ideas he has to depend upon
private investment and development. He started the process of setting up the first Garden City
Company before the First World War in Letchworth in 1903 and later in Welwyn in 1920 on the
edges of London.
Figure 1: The social city with six garden cities by Ebenezer Howard
(Source: journals.openedition.org)
Howards ideas influenced town planning a great deal such as the emergence of neighbourhood
concept, the creation of hierarchical amenities and facilities, green belts, land-use zoning and
provision of cycle paths. He was the first person to apply political intelligence to the problem of
overgrowth and congestion of cities in a novel way to solve the problems. He wanted to replace
the plan-less expansion of the big city with planned expansion to accommodate the growing
population. To achieve this, he proposed to build self-sufficient communities limited in size and
density of population but big enough to sustain industries and to satisfy day-to-day needs of the
people. Howards main contribution to town planning is his perception that there is a need to have
a size for the community to have human identity. He felt that certain values missing in the
overgrown cities could be brought back in these communities.
His idea appeared rather emotional because the land and environment may be new but the people
who come to live are not new. They bring their habits and beliefs into the town. This kind of
criticism led to the thinking of improving his ideas further for a more practical approach.
ME TOWN AND COUTRY PLANNING Page | 5
Graduate Report on “Contribution of Eminent Town Planner”
Ajay R. Patel (190420748016) PLANNING HISTORY AND THEORY
The dwellings for all classes of people should be distributed about a large central court in
which the public buildings would be located.
The shopping centre to be located on the edge of town.
The employment facilities for all the people to be provided by starting a variety of
industries.
The industries to be located on the outskirts of the town.
The city should have a maximum population of thirty to thirty-five thousand people in an
area of one thousand acres
The city should be surrounded by a permanent belt of agricultural land of three to five
thousand acres.
The city should have the advantage of both rural life such as fresh air, gardens, playfields,
cottages etc. and amenities of urban life such as schools, theatres, hospitals, recreation
centres etc.
social processes and spatial form, and the intimate and Scots College,
causal connections between the social development of Montpellier, France
the individual and the cultural and physical
Known
environment. for Conurbation
They included:( Bombay Town Planning Act of 1915") Preservation of human life and energy,
rather than superficial beautification. Conformity to an orderly development plan carried out in
stages. Purchasing land suitable for building. Promoting trade and commerce. Preserving historic
buildings and buildings of religious significance Developing a city worthy of civic pride, not an
imitation of European cities. Promoting the happiness, health and comfort of all residents, rather
than focusing on roads and parks available only to the rich. Control over future growth with
adequate provision for future requirements.
Concept: -
“Survey before planning”
He invented a technique called as 'Regional Survey' in which he tried to develop new ways of
observing and analysing cities. It involved the collection of all known data of a city and its region
such as its origin, geography, climate, traditions and present socio-economic structure. Thus, the
regional survey formed a storehouse of information and helped in preparing a long-term practical
strategy for social development. Thus, he was the first person to create the idea of region in city
planning in his valley section he clearly showed the relationship of folk place and work. He
believed that an urban planner should be a generalist than specialist knowing fairly well about
all the disciplines.
Idea: -
“Conservative surgery”
Geddes championed a mode of planning that sought to consider "primary human needs" in every
intervention, engaging in "constructive and conservative surgery" rather than the "heroic, all of
a piece schemes" popular in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He continued to use
and advocate for this approach throughout his career.
Very early on in his career Geddes demonstrated the practicality of his ideas and approach. In
1886 Geddes and his newly married wife purchased a row of slum tenements in James Court,
Edinburgh, making it into a single dwelling. In and around this area Geddes commenced upon a
project of "conservative surgery": "weeding out the worst of the houses that surrounded
them…widening the narrow closes into courtyards" and thus improving sunlight and airflow. The
best of the houses was kept and restored. Geddes believed that this approach was both more
economical and more humane.
In this way Geddes consciously worked against the tradition of the "gridiron plan", resurgent in
colonial town design in the 19th century:
“The heritage of the gridiron plans goes back at least to the Roman camps. The basis for the grid
as an enduring and appealing urban form rests on five main characteristics: order and regulatory,
orientation in space and to elements, simplicity and ease of navigation, speed of layout, and
adaptability to circumstance.”
However, he wished this policy of "sweeping clearances" to be recognised for what he believed
it was: "one of the most disastrous and pernicious blunders in the chequered history of sanitation".
Geddes criticised this tradition as much for its "dreary conventionality" as for its failure to address
in the long term the very problems it purports to solve. According to Geddes' analysis, this
approach was not only "unsparing to the old homes and to the neighbourhood life of the area"
but also, in "leaving fewer housing sites and these mostly narrower than before" expelling a large
population that would "again as usual, be driven to create worse congestion in other quarters."
Theory: -
Conurbation refers to a specific kind of geographical region. Due to rapid increase in population
and industrial and technological development, the city boundary expands and one urban centre
coalesces with another in a slow but continuous process of urbanisation and regional
development. It is thus that conurbations are formed.
The word ‘conurbation’ has emerged from the words ‘continuous’ and ‘urban area’. The word
was used by Patrick Geddes in 1915 with reference to a continuous urban area of more than two
urban centres which may have separate territorial units. C.B. Fawcett defines a conurbation as
“an area occupied by a continuous series of dwellings, factories and other buildings including
harbours, docks, urban parks and playing fields, etc. which are not separated from each other by
the rural land…” J.C. Saoyne defines conurbation as “an area of urban development where a
number of separate towns have grown into each other and become linked by such factors as
common industrial or business interest or a common centre of shopping and education”. R.E.
Dickinson calls it an “urban tract” while Jean Gottman refers to it as “extended city” or “Super
Metropolitan Region”.
As we all saw in the map, prominent cities Maharashtra are shown to be connected forming a
’CONSTELLATION’ shape. This ‘CONSTELLATION THEORY’ was also coined by Sir
Patrick Geddes, “Four or more cities which are not economically, politically, socially equal come
together in developing a whole region.”
This theory is mostly used for administrative purpose in all countries worldwide. Such theory is
most prominently used because planning cities in particular shape pattern is not possible in
today’s times.
2.3 Le Corbusier
His Master Charles L ‘Eplattenier’ a teacher at the local art
Le Corbusier
school. At thirteen, Le Corbusier abandoned matchmaking,
and continued his studies in art and decoration, with the
intention of becoming a painter. Insisted by his master to
study architecture. Pioneer in studies of modern high design.
Dedicated to providing better living conditions for the
residents of the crowded cities
Envisaged it as an affordable, prefabricated system for the construction of new housing – wake
of World War I’s destruction. Developed with the help of Max Dubois and Perret, the system
differed from the then standard Hennebique frame in its idealization of floors as flat slabs without
exposed beams.
Concept:
“Sector Planning”
He conceived the towns are biological phenomenon such as hearts, limbs, lungs and arteries.
Principal: -
Core of the city should be decongested by removing the excess of population and should
be inhabited at the outer countryside in satellite towns which are linked to the main city.
Provision of speedy transportation.
Provision of plenty of open spaces in the form of gardens, parks etc. round the tall
buildings throughout the length and breadth of the city.
Population control. High density should be spread over the entire area of town.
He suggested a plan for Paris city with buildings 24 No. sky scrapers, 215 m high, 400
m apart with about 1500 to 2000 persons in each.
These high-rise buildings are lined underground with one another by central area such
as shopping centres, civic centre’s etc.
Plenty of open area with parks, gardens and recreational centres is to be provided all
round these high-rise buildings.
Work:
The city of Chandigarh is situated at the base of the Shiwalik Range of the Himalayas, at 333m
above sea level, approximately 260 km northwest of India’s capital, New Delhi.
Sukhna Choe the city forms the urban core of the “Union Territory of Chandigarh”, which has a
total area of 114 sq. km. All of the urban and architectural work of Le Corbusier listed in this
document is located within Chandigarh’s “Phase One”, an area of approximately 70 sq. km.
which can be regarded as the city’s “Historic Core.”
Day-to-day facilities for shopping, healthcare, recreation and the like were arrayed along the V4
all on the shady side. The vertical green belts, with the pedestrian V7, contained sites for schools
and sports activities.
Besides determining the city’s urban form, Le Corbusier, as the “Spiritual Director” of the entire
Chandigarh Capitol Project, was also responsible for designing the key ‘Special Areas’ of the
city, each of which contains several individual buildings The most significant of these is the
‘Capitol Parc’ – the ‘head’ and la raison d’être of the entire enterprise. A parallel undertaking
one of almost equal significance as the Capitol, was Le Corbusier’s design of the city’s ‘heart’,
the City Centre. In time, the design of the ‘Cultural Complex’ along the ‘Leisure Valley’,
including the Government Museum and Art Gallery and the College of Art (L-C’s Centre for
Audio-visual Training).
During the summer of 1912, he served as a lecturer at New York Born June 19, 1872
University. During World War One he served overseas as a Truxton, New York
major then returned in 1924 as a lieutenant colonel in the
Died September 6, 1944
reserves.
New Rochelle, New
As a staff member of the New York Regional Plan and the City York.
Recreation Committee, Perry formulated his early ideas about
the neighbourhood unit and community life. In 1909 he became Known Concept of “The
for Neighbourhood unit”
associated with the Russell Sage Foundation as associate
director of recreation until 1937. His ideas were realized in neighbourhoods like Radburn through
the work of Clarence Stein.
He produced several books, many pamphlets and articles though are best remembered for his The
Neighbourhood Unit (The Neighbourhood Unit: From the Regional Survey of New York and Its
Environs, Volume VII, Neighbourhood and Community Planning, 1929) and Housing for the
Machine Age (1939).
Concept: -
“The Neighbourhood unit”
Perry described the neighbourhood unit as that populated area which would require and support
an elementary school with an enrolment of between 1,000 and 1,200 pupils. This would mean a
population of between 5,000 and 6,000 people. Developed as a low-density dwelling district with
a population of 10 families per acre, the neighbourhood unit would occupy about 160 acres and
have a shape which would render it unnecessary for any child to walk a distance of more than
one-quarter mile to school.
About 10 percent of the area would be allocated to recreation, and through traffic arteries would
be confined to the surrounding streets, internal streets being limited to service access for residents
of the neighbourhood. The unit would be served by shopping facilities, churches, and a library,
and a community centre, the latter being located in conjunction with the school.
Principle: -
Perry outlined six basic principles of good neighbourhood design: -
Major arterials and through traffic routes should not pass through residential
neighbourhoods. Instead these streets should provide boundaries of the neighbourhood.
Interior street patterns should be designed and constructed through use of cul-de-sacs, curved
layout and light duty surfacing so as to encourage a quiet, safe and low volume traffic
movement and preservation of the residential atmosphere.
The population of the neighbourhood should be that which is required to support its
elementary school.
The neighbourhood focal point should be the elementary school centrally located on a
common or green, along with other institutions that have service areas coincident with the
neighbourhood boundaries.
The radius of the neighbourhood should be a maximum of one quarter mile thus precluding
a walk of more than that distance for any elementary school child.
Shopping districts should be sited at the edge of neighbourhoods preferably at major street
intersections.
He returned to New York but did not immediately matriculate; Born June 19, 1882
instead, he worked in his family's casket business, where the Rochester, New
combination of physical and mental labor matched the York
philosophy in which he'd been educated. After a year or so, he Died February 7,
prepared to attend college; one essential step was the 1975 (aged 92)
American upper-middle-class version of the Grand Tour: Alma mater Columbia
travel to the artistic and cultural centres of Europe, in this case University
in the company of his father. École des Beaux-
Arts
Returning to the United States, he again postponed university
Occupation Urban planner,
education, immersing himself in work in the
architect, writer
Progressive settlement house movement. In concert with his
Known for Proponent of
brothers and a small cohort of like-minded young men, many
the Garden City
of whom would be influential partners for the rest of his movement
career, Stein started the Young Men's Municipal Club, an
organization modelled on many other such burgeoning social-studies movements, and dedicated
like them to studying and then agitating for improvements to the chaotic life of the modern city.
In 1919 Stein started his own practice in New York, and in 1921 began his long association with
fellow architect Henry Wright. In 1923 Stein also co-founded the Regional Planning Association
of America (RPAA) to address large-scale planning issues such as affordable housing, the impact
ME TOWN AND COUTRY PLANNING Page | 17
Graduate Report on “Contribution of Eminent Town Planner”
Ajay R. Patel (190420748016) PLANNING HISTORY AND THEORY
From 1923 to 1926 Stein served as chairman for the New York State Housing and Regional
Planning Commission.
Concept: -
Principle: -
The principles of planning by stein: -No grid-iron road pattern be provided in the road system.
It is the greatest enemy of traffic and road users.
Planning not in term of single block, sector etc. but overall planning of the whole neighbourly
area or 'super block’.
The super blocks to be enclosed by main roads which in turn enclose the narrow lanes or
alleys.
Expressway or parkway for high speed traffic with limited access from and to
neighbourhoods. The footpath for pedestrians should be safe and segregated from other
vehicular traffic.
Houses to be turned inside out. Usually the roads and back of the houses are not kept clean.
For this reason, the working areas like store, kitchen batch etc. should face front roads. This
is known as Redburn idea.
The community park spreading on whole of the area of the town instead of providing one big
park at some distance which may not be used by all.
The park should be well balanced and spread throughout the town. Cul-de-sac streets. These
are loop streets of 'dead end' streets. The idea is not to allow through traffic to go to the house.
Work: -
ME TOWN AND COUTRY PLANNING Page | 18
Graduate Report on “Contribution of Eminent Town Planner”
Ajay R. Patel (190420748016) PLANNING HISTORY AND THEORY
Radburn layout was inspired by the Garden City concept. It is located in New Jersey, which is
within commuting distance from New York in USA. This layout was planned by Henry Wright
and Clarence Stein. The concept of 'Super-block' of 30 to 50 acres was introduced in planning.
In this layout, pedestrian and vehicular traffic are segregated. Single family dwellings were
grouped around cul-de-sac roads. Kitchens and garages faced the rear road and living rooms
faced the front garden. The access to the dwellings by car is from the rear courtyards, where the
garages are located
The pedestrian access is from the front side. Under passes separated pedestrians and vehicular
traffic. It has allocated space for industry, shopping and apartments but the green-belt concept
was not incorporated. It is a well laid out safe and quiet area for the residents. It earned the name
of 'Town for the motor age' and became a model for later layout planning of residential areas.
emphasized the self-completeness of each section, called a ‘‘ward’’ that is a sixth of a city. A
ward includes schools, religious institutions, or libraries in about 1,000 acres of land with 5,000
people (Howard 1965; Keller 1968). As he highlighted the complete town with various functions,
a ward would be larger than residential neighbourhoods.
The discussion of ideal neighbourhood models continued in the United States around the 1920s.
In 1920, Mackenzie proposed the ‘‘Industrial Housing’’ model that has a similar composition to
traditional neighbourhoods with systematic greens, preserved rural lands, a neighbourhood
centre, and main street. Mackenzie describes the residential part that also has the neighbourhood
centre or independent central business area as a neighbourhood; a series of these creates a town
or a village. This neighbourhood is consistent with a residential neighbourhood due to a
composition of land uses: a neighbourhood centre and townhouses, single-, and multifamily
housing. The 1,350-foot radius (a quarter mile) encompasses a neighbourhood, which is about
131 acres of land. Around the same time, Clarence Perry proposed the Neighbourhood Unit
theory. He suggested an ideal neighbourhood size and design guidelines for residential
developments in metropolitan areas. One hundred and sixty acres of land with 5,000 (up to 9,000)
people was recommended to form a residential neighbourhood. The value of 160 acres is derived
from a five-minute walking distance (a quarter- to a half-mile radius) to an elementary school
that is a central point of a neighbourhood. Five thousand people is assumed to be large enough
to support one elementary school and to form residents’ voluntary associations. A population of
5,000 might be originated from medieval quarters (neighbourhoods), which had 1,500 to 6,000
people with a church in the centre.
Stein (1942) expanded Perry’s idea to a half-mile radius. He placed an elementary school and a
small shopping centre for daily needs in the centre of a neighbourhood. Three adjacent
neighbourhoods create a town, which supports one high school and one or two major commercial
centre/centres. Stein’s neighbourhood seems like a residential neighbourhood encapsulating 500
acres of land and his town like an institutional neighbourhood. Similarly, N. L. Engelhardt Jr.
also presented different scales of neighbourhoods in 1943 based on schools. He believed that the
best education is the result of a well-conceived neighbourhood planned is critical in integrating
the daily lives of residents. Engelhardt proposed a radius of a quarter-mile walking distance to a
playground and a daily nursery and a half-mile as maximum walking distance to the elementary
school. When a neighbourhood defined by an elementary school, it has a population of 1,700
families. Considering the average family size of 3.76 in 1940 (US Bureau of the Census 2004),
the suggested population for a neighbourhood could reach 6,000 people. A middle/junior high
school needs two neighbourhood units (3,400 families, about 12,000 people) and four
ME TOWN AND COUTRY PLANNING Page | 20
Graduate Report on “Contribution of Eminent Town Planner”
Ajay R. Patel (190420748016) PLANNING HISTORY AND THEORY
neighbourhoods are required for a high school and commercial centre (6,800 families, about
20,000people). A community could be created with a population of 24,000. One neighbourhood
seems to be a residential neighbourhood, and two neighbourhood units create a residential or an
institutional neighbourhood depending on the number and types of local facilities. Four
neighbourhood units are as big as an institutional neighbourhood. Even though Neighbourhood
Unit theory is still in dispute, it has given rise to an up-to-date neighbourhood-based design
concept.
Figure 7: Cluster of neighbourhoods’: Clarence Stein (1942) versus N. L. Engelhardt Jr. (1943)
(Source: researchgate.net)
Threads of the Neighbourhood Unit theory run through New Urbanism, including Traditional
Neighbourhood Development (TND), Transportation Oriented Development (TOD), and the
urban village movement. Duany and Plater-Zyberk (1994) and Nelessen (1994) agreed with a
five-minute walking standard, a quarter-mile radius, and proposed bus stops, parking lots, and a
school in a neighbourhood centre (Farr 2007), while Calthorpe (1993)’s TOD neighbourhood
unit supported a ten-minute walking time with a 2,000-foot radius (semicircle-like shaped
neighbourhood, 160 acres) taking into account a 2.27 mph walking speed; Duany and Plater-
Zyberk used a 3.0 mph pace for a five-minute distance. In a similar way, Farr (2007), a leading
new urbanist, suggested an average of 160 acres of land area for one neighbourhood: 40 to 200
acres. Residential neighbourhoods shown in contemporary suggestions still remain around a
quarter- to a half-mile radius from the centre like Perry’s neighbourhoods, an elementary school
is not a core facility for a neighbourhood any more though.
determine the size of neighbourhoods. Spreiregen and DePaz (2006) proposed neighbourhoods
with populations of 7,500–20,000 in order to have a neighbourhood centre with things like a
pharmacy, automobile services, and a supermarket reached within six-minute driving. Assuming
30 mph, it encompassesathree-mileradius,18,000 acres of land. Populations of 20,000–100,000
could support a community centre providing junior department stores, retail stores selling soft
goods (e.g. clothing, towels, and footwear) and hard goods (e.g. hardware, electronics, and
appliances). Similarly, Gibbs (2011) classified four different neighbourhoods that include corner
stores, convenience stores, a neighbourhood centre, and a community centre.
Corner stores offer items that are necessary on a regular basis such as beverages, food, and
prepared sandwiches. Approximately 800 to 1,000 households—about 2,500 people—are
required to support the average corner store. Convenience stores offer goods and services geared
to daily needs of nearby neighbourhoods such as a pharmacy, small specialty food markets,
bakeries, or dry cleaners. A convenience store needs around 2,000 households to be economic
viability. It would locate within one- to one-and-half-mile radius in suburb an area, while five
miles in rural areas.
The anchor facility of a neighbourhood centre is a full-sized supermarket along with ten to fifteen
smaller retailers. Residents shop at a neighbourhood centre once or twice a week on average. The
neighbourhood centre needs 6,000–8,000 households within a one- to two-mile radius from
residents; in rural areas, the radius extends up to twenty-five miles. A neighbourhood with a
corner store is similar to a residential neighbourhood; a neighbourhood with convenience stores
ME TOWN AND COUTRY PLANNING Page | 22
Graduate Report on “Contribution of Eminent Town Planner”
Ajay R. Patel (190420748016) PLANNING HISTORY AND THEORY
are like an institutional neighbourhood; and those with neighbourhood centres are like
institutional neighbourhoods or community depending on whether or not they are in an urban
area. There were other suggestions beyond walking distance, schools, and retail outlets.
Alexander, Ishikawa, and Silverstein (1977) mentioned specific design guides for various types
of neighbourhoods sampled from existing urban areas in United States. A face-block
neighbourhood has less than 500 people, not exceeding seven blocks.
The assumption of 300-yard diameter yields fifteen acres in a maximum size for a face-block and
minimum for a residential neighbourhood. A population of 500–1,500 is suggested for a
residential neighbourhood to represent the interests of residents to the local government and to
reach agreement on basic decisions. They also proposed 7,000 people—from 5,000 to 10,000—
for a neighbourhood larger than a residential neighbourhood. They insisted that a community of
7,000 is appropriate toallow individuals an effective voice for planning such as ‘‘land use,
housing, maintenance, streets, parks, policies, schooling, welfare, and neighbourhood services’’
(Alexander, Ishikawa, and Silverstein 1977, 74). Jacobs (1961), however, criticized the planning
theory that stated the ideal size of a neighbourhood as 7,000 people. She noticed that the
Neighbourhood Unit theory was not applicable to urban neighbourhoods in a big city since people
in modern cities are mobile. She proposed 100,000 people to represent residents’ political voices
against the authority.
4. Conclusion
Town/urban planning is a continuous process which involves planning for land use zoning and
planning for infrastructural facilities or utility services. These planning processes are essential in
order to promote public health, safety and the general moral and social welfare of the community
in the towns. Hence it is necessary to apply reasonable limitations on the use of land and
buildings. This planning process ensures the most appropriate, economical and healthy
development of the towns in accordance with the land use plan and its continued maintenance
over the years.
Town is divided into a number of land use zones such as residential, commercial, industrial,
public and semi-public etc. Land use zoning protects residential areas from the harmful invasions
of commercial and industrial uses. Further, at the same time, promotes the orderly development
of industrial and commercial areas. Town planning prevents overcrowding in buildings and land,
and thus ensures continued provisions of adequate infrastructural facilities and utility services.
5. Reference