ARC 035

PLANNING 2
FUNDAMENTALS OF URBAN DESIGN
& COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE

" DESIGN REQUIREMENTS FOR

SPECIFIC PLACES IN TOWNS &
CITIES-2"

RSW NO.2
Date Given: March 16, 2022
Date Due: March 24, 2022

College of Engineering & Architecture

University of Pangasinan - PEN

Patricia May P. Fernandez

Student name

Archt. Maria Teresa Cuares - Velasco

Instructor
Table of Contents
PARKS, OPEN SPACES & RECREATIONAL AREAS ................................................................................... 1
COASTAL / LAKESIDE COMMUNITY PLANNING ...................................................................................... 9
RURAL COMMUNITY PLANNING ................................................................................................................ 14
URBAN COMMUNITY PLANNING ................................................................................................................ 17
SUB-URBAN COMMUNITY PLANNING ....................................................................................................... 22
MOUNTAINOUS/ HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY PLANNING ..................................................................... 24
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................................... 27
 DESIGN REQUIREMENTS OF SPECIFIC PLACES IN TOWNS & CITIES

PARKS, OPEN SPACES & RECREATIONAL AREAS

The provision of open space is an essential component of community life. Public open space
supports a broad spectrum of activities and interaction between people and nature, and sustains critical
environmental functions for the health of communities. Along with other community services and
infrastructure, public open spaces are important public assets that contribute to livable, safe and
sustainable communities.
Open space provides a wide array of social, health, economic, and environmental benefits to
individuals and to the community as a whole. It is an essential ingredient for enhancing the livability of
an area and improving the quality of life of its residents.

Easy access to well designed and diverse open spaces will assist in not only managing the
negative impacts of rapid and massive urbanization and population growth, but also enhancing the
benefits that open space provides.
Community parks are designed for active sports and structured recreation as well as un-
programmed recreation for individuals and families. They are larger than neighborhood parks, with more
varied facilities and a service area of 1-2 miles. In suburban settings, such parks are usually 10 acres or
more. In an urban setting, a size range from 5 to 10 acres is more common. Community parks typically
have facilities such as rest rooms, parking, and recreation buildings. Sports fields or similar facilities are
often the central focus.

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Small or Local Parks

 Open space serving a small catchment area such that users are within safe walking distance. This
could be in the range of 150m to 300m, depending on the population density and the presence of
barriers.
 Site may be less 0.50 hectares and can be quite small. A minimum width of 30m would be
preferred to achieve a reasonably proportioned open space.
 Examples include parklands, gardens, plazas and civic spaces.

Neighborhood Parks

 Open space serving an area generally with a walking distance of 400m to 500m from houses.
 Size would generally be from 0.75 to 1.00 hectare, with a minimum width of 50m to achieve a
reasonably proportioned open space.
 Examples include parklands, gardens, plazas and civic areas.

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Sub-District Parks

 Open space serving three neighborhoods, generally with a size of 5-6 hectares.
 Generally provide several recreation nodes offering a wide range of opportunities including
sporting facilities.
 Passive recreation provision is important either as the primary function or to compliment a
sporting use.

District Parks

 Open space of around 10 hectares, serving around six neighborhoods or a population catchment
area of 15,000 to 25,000 people.
 Generally provide for a wide range of formal and informal recreational activities including
facilities for organized sports and passive use of open space.
 Accessible to residents by safe walking and cycling routes. Where provided beyond 1km from
residences, can also be accessed by public transport or motor vehicle.
 Examples include sports fields and conservation reserves.
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Municipal Parks

 Open space providing for the needs of the whole city or municipality. Ideally located at a
minimum of 2km from residences. Will require access by public transport or motor vehicle, and
provision of parking.
 Minimum of 3 hectares would be reasonable for a municipal open space.
 Open space at a municipal level may be specialized for specific sporting infrastructure. It will be
important to ensure that informal recreation and passive activities are well provided for.

Regional Parks

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  Open space serving the catchment including and beyond the municipality, including neighboring
municipalities.
 Size generally 10 to 30 hectares.
 Also includes important sites of historical, cultural or environmental significance

National Parks

 Open space serving intra-region catchment or the entire country.

 Usually associated with site-specific environmental, cultural or landscape values.
 Usually managed by the national government, in some cases in partnership with the host local
government unit.
 Examples include National Parks and National Forest Reserves.
The open space planning and design process needs to consider the full range of open space types
and catchments to ensure that land is fir for the purpose. This will ensure that a mix of opportunities is
provided for community use and that the full range of social, environmental and economic benefits can
be achieved.

Land Capability

• Land capability assessment is necessary when one or more of the following are involved:
• The site is more than 5 hectares and a significant proportion of the site will be developed;
• Road construction is involved; and

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 The average slope of the site is over 10 degrees and a significant proportion of the site will be
developed. For all these situations, an initial assessment is necessary which will involve determining the
erosion risk and general limitations of the slope and soil characteristics. A further or full assessment will
also be necessary, which involves:

• Determining the engineering risks the proposed development may encounter;

• Determining the mitigation measures to contain any problems;
• Assessing the cost, required land or other limitations arising from the mitigation measures; and
• Reviewing the appropriateness of the proposed land use in the light of the preceding analysis.

Land Suitability
Some existing laws, regulations and standards provide some guidelines about the type of land that
should be provided as open space. These require that public open space be:

• Provided along foreshores, rivers, creeks and permanent water bodies.

• Be linked to existing or proposed future public open spaces where possible.
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 • Be integrated with floodways and unencumbered land that is accessible for public recreation.
• Be suitable for the intended use.
• Be of an area and dimensions to allow easy adaptation to different uses in response to changing
community active and passive recreation preferences.
• Be integrated with urban water management systems, waterways and other water bodies.
Incorporate natural and cultural features where appropriate.
• Maximize passive surveillance.
Open Space for Recreation. This category includes the City’s park system, as well as school
yards and athletic fields used for recreation. The definition also includes areas of outstanding scenic,
historical, and cultural value

Public Open Space Provision

Objectives:

• To provide a network of quality, well- distributed, multi-functional and cost-effective public open
space that includes local parks, active open space, linear parks and trails, and links to national
parks and open space;
• To provide a network of public open space that caters to a broad range of users;
• To encourage healthy and active communities;
• To ensure land provided for public open space can be managed in an environmentally sustainable
way and contributes to the development of sustainable neighborhoods.

The provision of public open space should:

• Implement any relevant objective, policy, strategy or plan for open space set out in the
Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP);
• Provide a network of well-distributed neighborhood public open space that includes:
• Local parks within 400 meters safe walking distance of at least 95 percent of all dwellings,
generally 1 hectare (if it does not include active open space) in area and suitably dimensioned and
designed for their intended use and to allow easy adaptation in response to changing community
preferences;
• Additional local parks, plazas or public squares in activity centers and higher density residential
areas;
• Active open space of at least 5 hectares in area within 1 kilometer of 95 percent of all dwelling
that is: a) suitably dimensioned and designed to provide for the intended use, buffer areas around
sports fields and passive open space; b) appropriate for the intended use in terms of quality and
orientation; c) located on flat land; d) located with access to, or making provisions for, a
sustainable water supply; e) adjoin schools and other community facilities where practical; and f)
designed to achieve sharing of space between sports.
• Linear parks and trails along waterways, vegetation corridors, and road rights-of-way within 1
kilometer of 95 percent of all dwellings.
• Public open space should:
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 • Be provided along foreshores, streams and permanent water bodies.
• Be linked to existing or proposed future public open spaces where appropriate.
• Be integrated with floodways and other danger zones that is accessible for public recreation.
• Be suitable for the intended use.
• Maximize passive surveillance
• Be of an area and dimensions to allow easy adaptation to different uses in response to changing
community active and passive recreational preferences.
• Be integrated with urban water management systems, waterways and other water bodies
Incorporate natural and cultural features where appropriate

Principles of Open Space Planning

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COASTAL / LAKESIDE COMMUNITY PLANNING
Coastal areas are dynamic ecosystems where water, air, and land meet. More often than not, coasts
are seen as common resource bases that should be manipulated in pursuit of various human activities and
ends. Since recorded history, coasts have been a source of food, have sup-ported an economy based on
nature, and have functioned as a trade and transportation route.

Coasts also provide tourism dollars by attracting people who want to explore these unique
environments. Recently, coasts have also been targeted by conservationists and environmentalists duet
relatively high rates of environmental change and associated pressures that threaten sustainability.
Consequently, the discourse of various factors shifted from the “use” to the “management” of coastal
areas.

Planning Coastal Settlements

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Seven settlement types are identified:
1. coastal cities
2. coastal towns
3. coastal villages
4. coastal hamlets
5. inland coastal centres: cities, towns and villages
6. new coastal neighbourhoods: hamlets and villages
7. isolated coastal dwellings.
Relationship to the Environment
a. The relationship of a city to the coast is improved by:
- planning to minimise expansion of city edges - extending, connecting and improving the open-
space network and the public domain throughout the whole city for conservation, recreation,
access and water management
- protecting Aboriginal and European cultural places and relics and allowing interpretation, where
appropriate - maintaining the pattern of settlement relating to the original geography, the
foreshore and other natural features
- ecological links between the coast and the hinterland
- negligible impacts on water quality in water bodies and sustainable water and waste water systems
- ensuring soil areas on sites and within public land are maintained for water percolation and mature
tree growth
- protecting existing areas of indigenous vegetation within the city for environmental, education
and recreational purposes
- enhancing micro-climatic conditions through landscaping and street trees.
Visual Sensitivity
a. The visual character of cities is protected and consists of:
- views of public reserves and conservation areas - views and vistas from and to the coast, rivers
and other water bodies and coastal vegetation
- views and vistas of headlands, escarpments and mountains and other natural features - vistas of
the surrounding scenic rural and natural lands.
b. Views from public places are retained and reinstated, where they have been lost through
inappropriately located development. The visual quality of the settlement is designed as part of an overall
desired future outcome or vision.
c. The retention of private views is not to the detriment of native vegetation.

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Edges to the Water and Natural Areas
a. A variety of edge conditions exist between the city and the coastline.
b. Access to and along the coast and the foreshore is optimised and designed to allow cultural and
social opportunities.

Streets
a. Coastal cities have a full range of street types including:
- cultural and urban streets connecting to public places
- main social, retail and commercial streets
- streets that reveal important vistas of and through the settlement to the coast, and focus on natural
features
- the original and historic subdivision street pattern
- streets that define public open spaces, such as parks, squares, conservation areas and the flood
line
- streets located to manage bush fires
- major roads (arterial, sub-arterial and collector) –
- residential street and laneways - pedestrian and cycle routes.
b. Adequate services are provided for older people retiring to the coast, such as public transport and
medical facilities.
c. Sustainable transport options are provided.
d. Emphasis is given to increasing use and provision of public transport.
e. Public streets or pedestrian pathways mark the boundary between urban development and all open
spaces, dunes, beaches, rivers, wetlands and coastal foreshores.

Buildings
a. New development avoids urban sprawl and ribbon development.
b. Gated developments are rejected in favour of neighbourhood-oriented development.
c. Higher density development reinforces the city centre.
d. Industrial areas are located appropriately within the urban, environmental and visual context.
e. Industrial, commercial and retail areas are located and integrated with the transport network and
housing.
f. Development builds upon the original historic street pattern.

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g. Within the city building types may include: residential flats; mixed-use commercial; retail and
residential; commercial office or retail buildings; heritage buildings and townhouses.
h. Suburban areas include shop-top housing, detached, semidetached and terrace housing and small
apartment buildings.
i. Suburban centres may include all the building types in city centres but smaller in scale and height.

Heights
a. Locations close to the foreshore or sites visible from beaches and important public areas are not
appropriate for tall buildings.
b. Taller buildings are best located closer to the city centre.
c. Generally buildings in city centres are up to seven storeys.
d. Generally buildings in suburban centres are up to three storeys.
e. Generally buildings close to foreshore edges are up to three storeys.
f. Heights are subject to place-specific urban design. New development is appropriate to the predominant
form and scale of surrounding development (either present or future), surrounding landforms and the
visual setting of the settlement. Buildings avoid overshadowing of public open spaces, the foreshore and
beaches in city centres before 3pm midwinter and 6.30pm Summer Daylight Saving Time. Elsewhere
buildings avoid overshadowing of public open spaces, the foreshore and beaches before 4pm midwinter
and 7pm Summer Daylight Saving Time.

APPROPRIATE BUILDINGS FOR A COASTAL CONTEXT

Built Form Guidelines for All Sites
There are a number of built form guidelines underpinning new development independent of its
location.
1. Develop risk assessment and responses to address the effects of coastal processes. Locate and design
buildings to respond appropriately within the local hazard context.
2. Reinforce the clarity of the settlement structure with new buildings that are appropriate in terms of
location, uses, scale, height and site configuration.
3. Reinforce the desired future character of the settlement.
4. Consider the appropriateness of new buildings within the whole streetscape, rather than each building
as a stand-alone object.
5. Maintain consistent street setbacks and street-edge configurations.

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6. Ensure buildings address the street by providing direct and on-grade entries to the street for residential,
commercial and retail purposes.
7. Rationalize car-related uses on site, such as driveways widths and lengths.
8. Protect views from public places and streets by maintaining consistent setbacks along streets and not
placing buildings in view corridors.
9. Protect local views and vistas throughout and surrounding the settlement from public places by relating
new buildings to the topography, reducing heights to maintain views of the surrounding landscape and
maintaining consistent, height, bulk, scale with the street and local contextnes
10. Ensure that controls are coordinated to produce the desired building form and site configuration for
developments. These controls include uses, building height, building depth, building separation, street
setbacks, side and rear setbacks, and floor space ratio.
11. Ensure developments and neighboring properties have:
a. access to daylight
b. access to natural ventilation
c. visual privacy and acoustic privacy
d. private open space
e. a pleasant microclimate.
12. Achieving amenity relates to the design of individual buildings and, in particular, to:
a. building orientation and depth
b. the size of the lot
c. open-space location, size and connection with the inside of the building
d. car parking, location and access
e. pedestrian access from the street
f. street edge configuration and building separation
g. mature trees, vegetation and soil areas.

Built Form Design Guidelines for Specific Locations within a Settlement

Development along the coast can be classified in relation to the settlement type, the location
within the settlement and the geographic location of the site. It is appropriate to define a number of key
sites common to many locations along the coast. Design guidelines for these locations/sites respond to
both the vocational importance of these sites and common issues recently experienced at a number of
coastal settlements.

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RURAL COMMUNITY PLANNING
Rural areas are sparsely populated territories outside of the limits of a city or town or designated
commercial, industrial, or residential centers. Typically, they are characterized by farms and open spaces
in the country side.

Urban areas or urban agglomerations are human settlements with high population density (much
higher than their close rural areas) and infrastructure of the built environment. Urban areas are created
and further developed by the process of urbanization, with typical morphologies of cities, towns, and
suburbs.

A metropolitan area includes the urban area and satellite cities plus intervening rural land that is
socioeconomically connected to the urban core city, typically by employment ties through commuting,
with the urban core city being the primary labor market.
A critical, defining aspect of urban design that separates it from single-client master planning is
that urban design is directed toward accomplishing a variety of objectives for all populations in a
community. This sometimes involves balancing different interests, but a real benefit is that urban design
can provide solutions that address more than one problem. For example, in rezoning a neighborhood to
accommodate a variety of infill housing types, design guidelines can help ensure that the new structures
“fit” with their neighbor.

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Design for Rural Areas
The typical design focuses on density, intensity, scale and form, etc
 Rural roadways – two lanes, soft shoulders, trails, etc
 Larger residential bldg setbacks
 Less dense
Preparing Rural Design Standards
 Regulations that establish an aesthetic framework in the rural context
 Associated with zoning standards, overlay districts, redevelopment areas, or strategic plan study
areas (Community Plans)

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Major Considerations

• Uses
• Right-of-way treatment
• Building placement
• Landscape setting
• Architectural Character
• Signage
• Right-of-Way Treatment
• Limit lanes, roadway widths, and shoulders
• Restrict turn lanes where appropriate
• Highlight places of interest through roadway design
• Trails vs. sidewalks for pedestrians/horses
• Impervious surfaces

Building Placement

 Cluster nonresidential development

 Leverage common parking and infrastructure
 Create central public space “village square”
 Generate “critical mass” for economic viability
 Create market as a destination

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Landscape

 Create rural ambiance using landscape buffers

 Plan major parking to sides/rear of buildings
 Cluster landscape planting for greater impact
 Integrate natural features such as rivers
 Integrate man-made features such as trails

Architectural Design
 Determine built space massing
 Formulate solid-void ratio
 Stipulate roof design
 Consider lighting design to reduce “spill”
 Require quality architectural elements
 Focus on materials and finishes

Signage and Character

 Create a collective visual impression
 Leverage signs to generate theme
 Restrict total copy area
 Stipulate size and number
 Determine allowable sign types and lighting

URBAN COMMUNITY PLANNING

The planning practices in the twentieth century were characterized by an urban planning model
that caused fragmented and zoned built environments with sprawling low-density residential areas and
disconnected high-density residential areas.

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 Separation of functions has affected the liveability of the city by segregating urban functions and
neighborhoods This has led to an increase of energy consumption and a reduction of productivity. As
sprawl made public transportation and service delivery often unaffordable, connectivity in the twentieth
century planning model mainly relied on the car as mode of transportation and created streets with little
economic activity or vibrancy.

• To promote compactness and maximize land efficiency;

• To promote diverse, and thriving communities;
• To encourage walkable neighborhoods; • To promote street connectivity;
• To foster employment and local consumption and
• To provide a diversity of housing options that are adapted to the social needs.
1. PHYSICAL LAYOUT goal: city-wide analysis and identification extension/infill area.

• Identify main access points (roads from city to highway);

• Identify important areas (river, water, infrastructure, built-up area);
• Identify legal restrictions (rural, national parks, legal boundaries);
• Identify important economic areas (CBD, income generation areas, areas of growth, agricultural
land);
• Map potential locations for extensions and/or infill

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2. PLANNED CITY EXTENSION / PLANNED CITY INFILL. goal: realistic assessment of required
land.

• Determine expected future population and population growth;

• Calculate land requirements with three different densities;
• Add land requirement for housing backlog in the projected period;
• List necessary public program for expected population (e.g. schools, parks, fire station etc.).

3. URBAN PATTERN AND FABRIC goal: mixed use, social mix, sufficient land for public space.
• Determine street network and main streets;
• Determine block size and draw in plotting for one block;
• Determine road widths and street profile;
• Determine location of main open spaces and their linkages;
• Determine green/blue network

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4. IMPLEMENTATION goal: realistic implementation plan.

• Discuss phasing / designing a timeframe for plan implementation;

• Identify public and private investment;
• Propose funding mechanisms for the public investments;
• Propose mechanisms for regulating land for private development;
• Propose form-based codes / design codes / design guidebooks
Five Sustainable Rural Urban Planning Principles:
1. ADEQUATE SPACE FOR STREETS AND AN EFFICIENT STREET NETWORK UN-
Habitat considers the street as the most important public space where people interact on a daily
basis. The street is a structural element that shapes urban form and determines the pattern of development
of blocks, streets, buildings, open spaces and landscape. Sufficient space allocated to streets contributes
to improved connectivity, which fosters economic development. As an indicator, in developing countries
land allocated to streets is low, varying between 6-12%, compared to cities in developed countries where
it averages 29%. Additional 15-20% land should be allocated for other open/green public spaces.
Specifically, street connectivity refers to the density of connections and nodes in a street network and the
directness of the links between settlements and correlates positively with increased efficiency (and multi-
modality) of flows and access to jobs and services. As connectivity increases, travel distances decrease
and route options and travel modes increase, allowing more direct travel between destinations, creating
a more accessible and resilient system. This principle proposes a grid and a hierarchy of streets with
arterial and secondary roads that are well connected through intersections
2. MIXED LAND USE AND LIMITED LAND-USE SPECIALIZATION
Mixed-use development is aimed at developing a range of compatible land uses and functions and
provides a cross section of residential, commercial and community infrastructure in a building, block or

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neighborhood while reducing the demand for commuter travel by reducing the distances between the
vertices of the so-called ‘home-work-services’ triangle, and facilitating agglomeration economies.
Translated in guidelines, it proposes that at least 40% of total floor space should be allocated for
economic use both on the city and neighborhood level plans and designs. It also recommends to minimize
single function blocks to not more than 10% of total land use.
3. SOCIAL MIX:
This principle aims at promoting cohesion and interaction between different social classes in the
same community and to ensure accessibility to equitable urban opportunities by providing different types
of housing. Social mix provides the basis for healthy social networks, which are the driving force of city
life. The objectives of the social mix areas are to promote more social interaction, avoid exclusion, to
attract a diverse array of services, and to foster multi-level employment within the community. The
principle suggests that 20-50% residential space should be reserved for affordable housing.
4. ADEQUATE AND WELL-DESIGNED DENSITY:
By creating high-density areas, cities can accommodate population growth and ensure land is
used in accordance with demand. Furthermore, a planned densification strategy significantly minimizes
the cost of providing key urban services such as urban infrastructure.
For example, the cost for providing water supply and disposal facilities, sewerage network in
high-density area is lower than in a sprawling area because of proximity and integration. UN-Habitat’s
density principle proposes at least 15,000 people/km²,
5. CONNECTIVITY:
Strengthens the physical, social and virtual relationship between people, places and goods. At
regional level, connectivity links centres of production and consumption with the view of strengthening
systems of cities and urban-rural linkages. At city level, connectivity is closely related to mobility and
the permeability of an area. .
The design of the street section is crucial to be able to foster walking and the use of multiple
modes of transport. An adequate street network as mentioned earlier is essential but it needs proper street
design and public transport. Furthermore there should be a clear connection between the building and the
street. This avoids dark and unsafe streets, makes streets attractive and encourages economic usage of
the plinth of buildings.
The principle promotes a focus on public transport. It also promotes walking distances to public
transport centers and local services. This reduces the reliance on cars, increases street activity, and allows
vulnerable groups to make a livelihood by making jobs more accessible.

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SUB-URBAN COMMUNITY PLANNING
Suburbanization is seen as problematic as it traditionally produced sprawling and fragmented
development patterns that are more energy intensive to service and connect. Because it often unfolds in
large swaths of similar kinds of developments, suburbanization is also commonly associated with
increasing social segregation.
Planning solutions to date have largely focused on urbanizing the suburbs by adding density and
public transit to reduce car reliance and land consumption, and by increasing social mix to enhance
diversity.
The question many of the articles in this thematic issue contemplate is whether, and how, these
solutions have actually helped us make progress toward sustainability.
A suburb is an area on the edge of a large town or city, typically residential in character. The term
‘suburbs’ is thought to derive from the Latin ‘suburbium’ in which ‘sub’ means ‘under’ and ‘urbs’ means
‘city’. Suburban areas might also be referred to as peri-urban. Industrialization, and finally an eagerness
for community building and a sense of belonging—an opportunity to forge new social contracts literally
and geographically

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 5 PRINCIPLES OF SUB-URBAN COMMUNITY PLANNING
Identifying Actual Suburban Problems
The problem with suburban zoning is that it encourages placing the highest density (the most
families) in the worst locations, and the lowest density (least families) in the best locations. What
constitutes the worst locations?
Along noisy highways, behind loading docks of strip malls, and near loud railroad tracks.
Somehow this ’transition’makes sense to City Planners who advise municipalities on growth.
Prime development land would have city water and sewer as well as provide great schools. For
example, a non-serviced farm has low value, but when sewer service extends to the 80 acre corn field,
developers are likely to come a calling enticing the farmer with a lucrative offer.
After securing the land, the very next step is to ’plan’ the project
for submittal, most likely contracted with the local civil engineering firm.

Design Cannot Progress In a Non-Collaborative Industry

For typical suburban and urban planning, a house is envisioned as a simple rectangular footprint
only. The four main professions of land development design: architecture, civil engineering, land
planning, and surveying tend to fail at both communication and collaboration, even when they all work
for the same company.
This problem is made worse by universities that teach multiple disciplines and enforce the barriers
when students graduate. You would think architectural students would participate with engineering and
planning students on the same projects to learn collaboration, but that is not the case.
This lack of collaboration stagnates progress in land development.

A Recipe for Sustainable Growth

’Sustainability’; that meaningless buzzword everyone uses on their company brochures generally
avoids any real definition. Solar panels and rain gardens in inefficient neighborhood site design is hardly
sustainable.
However, if a developer builds a more efficient neighborhood that increases living quality
maintaining its value and desirability over a long life span, it’s the definition of ’sustainable’. So, given
all of the problems stated above—how is it possible to achieve it?

Design For People First

Instead of using a software package to whip out a 200 lot site plan in less than 5 minutes, the land
planner must place themselves in each and every home. They must imagine themselves in that space.

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The More Profitable Sustainable Neighborhood
Putting people first seems like a noble goal, but won’t all that functionality destroy the
developer’s profits and make suburban growth just as risky as the New Urbanism? The key here is to
realize that to achieve higher profits and greater efficiency, you don’t have to change the regulatory
minimums, but actually seek to exceed them.

MOUNTAINOUS/ HIGHLANDS COMMUNITY PLANNING

The Highlands is a thoughtfully planned community, embracing quality and lasting value. In any
built environment, the architectural design should respond to its local natural setting.
The Highlands is a primarily residential community, rural in nature, and blessed with an
exceptional abundance of scenic beauty, native plant and animal life, and public parkland. Those of us
who live here place high value on the natural environment and our rural lifestyle.
Highlanders are actively involved in the community, which fosters a spirit that is both self-reliant
and cooperative
The Highlands will strive to diversify its economy while preserving our natural systems, including
the aquifers on which we depend so heavily. Land use decisions will be guided by a community plan,
with the ongoing involvement of residents.
The Highlands is distinct from other municipalities given the extent of its undisturbed natural
areas and the proximity of diverse and attractive environmental features in proximity to places where
people live and work.
The rugged topography and relative isolation from major growth centers in the region contribute
to the Highlands’ green and rural character

• strengthening local capacity for better participation in the market economy

• improving access to financial, technical and commercial services
• developing community-based institutions responsible for rehabilitating and protecting the
environment
• raising productivity for livestock and crops
• supporting the development of processing and marketing initiative
The generalization of the characteristic features of the native mountain architecture and the
analysis of the main directions for the construction of cities and settlements made it possible to classify
the types of planning layouts of buildings built in conditions of complex terrain to determine the basic
principles for modeling and integrating the space & volumetric forms of settlements and the structure of
residential buildings

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Guidelines Design/planning
1. Areas should be selected for protection and established as protected areas, which will, as far as
possible, ensure the maintenance of all genotypes, species, communities, and ecosystems. Protected areas
should be designed to encompass the full range of variation – altitude, aspect, rock and soil types (top
diversity), aquatic type – and viability to ensure functional integrity, including ecological processes.
. Particular emphasis should be placed on the conservation of endemic and restricted range and
threatened species. Protected areas should be designed to capture the full range of habitats across the
altitudinal gradient, including the lowland habitats and the transition zones between upland and lowland
systems.
3. The size and characteristics of protected areas should be related to the needs of the plant and
animal communities they are intended to protect (conservation targets) as well as the functional integrity
of the ecosystem.They should be as large and intact as possible, to minimize fragmentation and to
accommodate natural or human disturbance. Consult principles of conservation biology on “reserve
design” dealing with size, shape, buffering and connectivity.
4. Wherever possible, areas set aside to safeguard samples of natural ecosystems should be
surrounded by buffer zones, taking advantage of physiographic and other protective features and nature-
friendly land stewardship promoted within the zone (as in Biosphere Reserves)
5. Mountain protected areas should have clear and explicit conservation objectives and be
managed according to those objectives. Zoning within the PA should be determined according to
biodiversity and conservation objectives, including establishment of core and wilderness zones, zones
for recreational and other uses and buffer or peripheral zones where appropriate production uses might
be carried out (such as harvesting of medicinal plants by locals).
6. Those areas with species or ecosystems that are extremely sensitive to human interference or
use (e.g. Tibetan chiru, Afro-montane cloud forests) merit special protection status such as zones of Strict
Nature Reserve or Wilderness.
7. The general policy in PAs should be to favour natural processes. Management practices such
as grazing, fire, or other types of habitat management should only be considered as relevant if they are
an integral part of the natural functioning of the system.
8. There should be no introduction of alien species and any recently introduced species should be
eliminated as soon as possible. The interest is in native biodiversity, not total number of species. If any
alien species are well established, their effects on biodiversity should be assessed and eradication or
control concentrated on those whose effects are significant, or on areas of particular importance for their
biodiversity or ecological characteristics e.g. fencing and hunting of wild pigs in Hawai’i Volcanoes NP.
9. Mountain PAs should be managed as part of a landscape context to maintain migration
corridors for wide-ranging and low-density species (metapopulations) and to maintain

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 10. Restoration and repopulation. Where habitat is insufficient or degraded so that viable
populations of key species cannot be conserved, efforts should be made to restore degraded habitats and
intensively manage target species to promote their survival (e.g. mountain gorillas).
11. Monitoring. Management actions and key species should be monitored to assess whether
management is achieving the PA objectives. The objectives and activities should be evaluated at regular
intervals and adapted as necessary (adaptive management).
12. Planning and management of areas established for their biological diversity should involve
local communities and build upon local and traditional knowledge for management, use and monitoring
of habitats and species. Whenever possible, local communities should benefit directly from PA
establishment and management
. Land use (cultivation, grazing, plant harvesting, hunting, fishing) within protected landscapes or
Resource Management Areas specified use zones of other protected areas should be regulated to ensure
that viable and functional populations of wild plants and animals are maintained. Monitoring programmes
should assess the impact of such activities.
14. Conservation of agrobiodiversity, including “heritage” breeds, should be encouraged among
local within-PA or neighbouring land users. Outside the MtPA boundaries, private or communal
stewardship lands can provide both wild native-biodiversity buffers and domesticated valued
biodiversity.

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REFERENCES

1. https://chm.cbd.int/api/v2013/documents/9D0D456A-FAC1-9806-3B90-
21B37D4DEE5B/attachments/207967/Public%20Parks%20and%20Open%20Spaces%20-
%20A%20Planning%20and%20Development%20Guide.pdf
2. https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/~/media/Files/DPE/Guidelines/coastal-design-guidelines-for-
nsw-2003-02.ashx
3. https://mrsc.org/Home/Stay-Informed/MRSC-Insight/March-2020/The-Importance-of-Urban-
Design-for-Your-Community.aspx
4. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-319-95717-3_95
5. https://planhillsborough.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Balm-Design-Guidelines-
presentation-4-10-2012.pdf
6. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2004-017.pdf
7. https://www.newgeography.com/content/005178-designing-suburbs-beyond-new-urbanism
8. https://www.ifad.org/en/web/operations/-/project/1100001148
9. https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2004-017.pdf

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