TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MOMBASA

DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE & BUILT ENVIRONMENT

URBAN DESIGN
LECTURE 03
CITY CONCEPTS
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Introduction
Industrial Revolution: Mid1700s-
1800s

Major changes in agriculture,

manufacturing, mining, and
transport had a profound effect on
socioeconomic/cultural conditionsin UK.

Changes spread throughout Europe,

NorthAmerica,andeventuallytheworld.

Entailed mechanisationof
the textile industries,the developmentof
iron-making techniques and the
increaseduseofrefinedcoal.
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Industrial Revolution
Tradeexpansionwasenabledbythe
introduction of canals, improved
roads and railways.

Theintroductionofsteampowerfuelled
primarilybycoal,widerutilisation
ofwaterwheelsandpoweredmachinery
(mainly in textile manufacturing)
underpinned increased production
capacity.

Thedevelopmentofall-metalmachine tools in
the first two decades of the 19th century
facilitatedthemanufactureof more production
machines for manufacturing inother
industries.
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Industrial Revolution
TheFirstIndustrial Revolution(began1700s)mergedinto
the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850.

Atthistime,technologicalandeconomicprogress gained
momentumwith the developmentof steam- powered
ships,railways, and laterin1800s with the
internal combustion engine and electrical
power generation.

1880-1920: Growing steel industry.

Portland Cement developed (1824); Reinforced
Concrete (1848); Modern Steel making (1858).
Thesematerialrevolutionisedconstruction industry.

Widespread innovation: introduction of central heating,

lifts,extensivewateranddrainageservices.
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I) Garden City Concept:
-Ebenezer Howard,England,1898
(post Ind. Rev);
-Spatially ideal urban form;
economic, political,
philosophical basis for modern life;
-Concentrated big city
alternative; network of garden cities
aroundlarger central city (total: 250,000
pple/66,000acres).

- Co-operative land ownership;

- Hierarchical, dominant centre
with sub-centres;
- Concentric pattern withopen
spaces, public parks,
radial boulevards,transport
system.
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Sub-centres/GardenCity (approx.32,000 pple/6000 acres); central

park,„crystal palace‟, rings of houses/gardens assorted, grand
avenue, factories/industries, circle railway/mainrailway.
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Letchworth (begun1902)
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Welwyn (1919)
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Welwyn (1950)
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Welwyn
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Welwyn
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II) Broadacre Concept:
-Frank L.Wright,USA,1924/1930 proposed;
-Decongesting the citypost
industrialization;
-Back-to land ethiccentraltoBroadacre
conceptive solution toGreat
Depression unemployment
(Resettlement Admin.);
-City as centralizing force/hierarchy,
zoning & specilization disappears;
-Broadacre focused on key modernchanges:
•Electrification: long range
communication, disassociationof
activities;
•Mechanization: car as symbol of
progress, brings freedom; heli-taxis;
•Organic architecture: building as part
of naturenot object in space.
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-Each household in -Factories and offices: co-

Broadacrecitywouldownat operativelyorprivately owned;
least one acre of -Small is good for farms,homesfor
property; industry,schools. Householdsare
-Elimination of landlords part farms, part workshops,
promotes individuality and part residential.
ousts exploitation.
-Broadacre city expression
of self-reliance,
democracy, individuality
(anti-centralization);
- Equity in land
distribution= laissez faire
= free-market economy =
benignsociety;
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Broadacre City Plan & Model 1934-5

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-Street grid still primary

ordering principle for
Broadacre city; only at
buildingsisgridbrokendownto
pedestrian scale;
-Transitishigh-speed and
destination spacedout;
-Broadacre openspaceis all
private homesteads, larger
farmlandorrecreationcentres;
-Open space has clear
function/activity so hasbelongingand
reason forcare;
- Broadacre foresaw
(suburban) sprawl.
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-Whydoesn'tBroadacreexisttoday?
Broadacre is theory rather than reality.
But pieces of Broadacrefound in
Americandevelopment today.
-Early1900snewadvancesin
technology,communication,and
transportation e.g.:
1908-1927:ModelTmadecars
accessible;
1925John Logie Baird invented the
first TV;
1927CharlesLindberghflewsolo
across theAtlantic.
1920s/30sradioandtelegraphare
commonformofcommunication.
-FLW therefore believed large,
centralized city would
become obsolete therefore a
return to rural roots
imminent.
-FLW wrongassumption on
preference for the rural;
-Transportrequires infrastructure that
candiminishnaturallandscape;
-Low population densities and
land availability (1930if the entire US
populationweretoownanacre ofland
theycouldfit inTexas).
-Uneconomical;isolating/no
sense ofcommunity.
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-FLW usedBroadacretheory to
create“Organic
Architecture”thatreturned to
nature;
- Usonian houses use natural
materials,natural light, natural
cooling, link indoors and
outdoors.
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Modernism
1920-1960
Modernism – bauhaus, international style,
constructivism, post-constructivism, organic
architecture,brutalism,structuralism,formalism.

Around1900s architects aroundtheworldbegan

developing new architecturalsolutions,with
new technological possibilities.

Availability of newmaterials (iron, steel, concrete,

reinforced concrete,glass) droveinvention of new
building techniques.

Modern architecture: term given to a number of

building styles with similar characteristics developedin
modern era - namely simplification of form and
elimination of ornament.
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III) RadiantCityConcept(Ville
Radieuse):
-Le Corbusier
-As with previous, movement
searching for workablepost
Ind. Rev. urban forms;
-Informed by modern concept in
architectureandplanning:buildingas
autonomous object firstly
responsibletointernal functions;
-Geometry/Grid order and
mechanization key toconcept;
-Corbusier new citygoals:
• Decongest city centres;
•Enhance densities;
•Increase and improve(vehicular)
movement;
•Increase parks/open spaces.
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Corbusier Masterplan
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-Corbusier dismissed
medieval streets,
preferred streets
unresponsiveto public
domain;
-Cars and speed key:
little attention to
parking, air & noise
pollution;
- Massive openspace
concept very attractive
But failure as
neutral (character),
unrelated to buildings,
vast, no diversity of
Corbusier/JeanneretVoisin Plan, Paris 1925model
functions.
- Plan segregated
functions/zoning.
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Challenges:
-Buildings
unresponsive to
place (objects in
space);
-Lack of concern for
environment (at
expense of
infrastructure);
-Anonymous quality
and lack of social
coherence. Pruitt-Igoe
Housing,St
Louis
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Brasilia, Brazil.
– Federal capital of Brazil. President
orderedconstructionofBrasilia, asper
constitution (1891) - capital should
movefromRiodeJaneiro to more
central location;
– Construction began 1956 ( 41months).
Costa planner;Niemeyer architect;
– Brasilia planned from scratch as an
idealcityandbuiltonemptyplateau.
– Brasilia wouldbewithout colonial
legacy, baroque /classical
architecture, slums.
– Anewcityofclean lines,rational
planning,and space,built for the
car.
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Critique is thatlacks:
– theingredientsofacity
(messystreets, people
living aboveshopsetc.);
– complexityofanormal
city;
– mixed use (extensive
zoning incl. of thepoor);
– Human scale.
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IV) City Beautiful:

-Many residents, visitors etc. of
late19Cen /early 20Cen USA
consideredits citiesugly.
-Muchofthispoorformdue
speed of urbanization:1860 -
1910,UScitieswith100,000+
residentsrosefrom8to50. 1910:
somecitieshad1m+residents;
-David Burnham
(architect/planner) fathered City
Beautifulmovement;launchedin
1893atWorld‟sFair,Chicago;
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– CBM concerned with

functionality, humaneness
in cities, aesthetics/
beautiful, moral and civic
virtue. Beauty promoting
socialorder. Soughttogive US
good,qualitycitiesasin
Europe.
– CBM was a US architecture &
urban planning reform
philosophy that flourished
in1890sand1900s.
– AimofCBM:beautification&
monumentalgrandeurin cities.
CBM egs. in Chicago,
Cleveland, Detroit, &
WashingtonD.C.
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21CenCITYCONCEPTS
– Smart City: new concept that
applies new generation of
information technologies(ICT)
to facilitate planning,
construction, management &
smart services of cities.
– Smartcitiesdenoteeffective
integration of physical,digital
andhumansystemsinbuilt
environmentforsustainable,
prosperous&inclusivecities.
– Characteristics:
– City equipped for data
collection on city life
(fromdifferent sourcesand
city systems);
-Datainvariousformats,allowing
easieraccessincreasingusefulness;
-Detailed, measureable, real-
time knowledge on city at multiple
levels;
-Analytical & decision-making
systems (open & inclusive) to
supportdecisionmaking&action;
-City automation to enable
reliably/effectively, delivery of
functions, trimmingdirect human
intervention.
-Smartmobility,governance, people,
economy,& environment.
Egs: Masdar City,Singapore,
Barcelona,Oslo,San Francisco.
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Eco City:conserve,recycle,
preservebiodiversity;
– Characteristics:
– Build city like aliving system;
– Revise transportation hierarchy;
– Createanappropriate
foundation;
– Enhance biodiversity.

Compact City:
- non-sprawling;
- walk-able/pedestrian friendly;
- couple with good density.
21 Cen URBANISM CONCEPTS
– Urbanism: urban life or character;
thecharacteristicwayof life of city
dwellers;
– New Urbanism:this is the
best known of the Neo-
traditional approaches to
planning/development;
– Advocates design strategies
based on traditional urban
forms;
– Initiatedin USA in 1980s.It‟sabout
development of sustainable
communities combining
elementsof density,energy
use, accessibility & mobility.
– Refers to morphology,
transportation planning,
and ecology todesignnew
communities that are
sustainableandrenewable;
– NU promotes the creation
and restoration of diverse,
walk-able, compact,
vibrant, mixed-use
communitiesassembledin an
integratedfashion.
21 Cen URBANISM CONCEPTS
– Green Urbanism: following
NU, Green Urbanism is a
conceptual model for zero-
emission and zero-wasteurban
design;
– Emergedin 1990s - promotes
compact, energy efficienturban
development, seeking to
transform and re-engineer
existing city districts and
regeneratethepost-industrial
city centre.
– It promotes the development of
socially and environmentally
sustainable city districts
– Landscape Urbanism: In
planninganddesignLUargues that
landscape, rather than
architecture,is morecapable of
organizing the city and enhancing
the urbanexperience;
– Emerged1990s; origins
traceabletopostmodern
critiques of modernist
architectureandplanning;
– Pairinglandscapewithurbanism,LU
seeks to reintroducecritical
connections with natural
systems &nature.