BUR 306: URBAN DESIGN AND SITE PLANNING

LECTURE 4: SITE PLANNING

• THE NOTION OF SITE PLANNING

• SITE PLANNING PROCESS
• SITE ANALYSIS, SYNTHESIS AND SITE DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGY
• PLAN GENERATION
• IMPLEMENTATION AND SITE MANAGEMENT PLAN
The Notion of Site Planning
Definition: Site Planning is the deliberate and systematic process of
guiding development of land through determination of the detailed layout
of an area in relation to the natural environment and human
requirements.

In the overall planning process, site planning features after the strategic
(overall) planning has taken place and after location of land uses has
been decided in relation to social, economic and environmental needs.

As an integral part of land-use planning, site planning will take into

consideration a given range of land uses on the site in question and
others around it.

Site planning is essentially based on the assumption that there is an

interaction between the social needs of users (space required for
different users, as well as their physical comfort and psychological well-
being) and the physical and natural environment characteristics of
each site (slope aspect, sunshine, soil, vegetation and fauna, etc).
Why do you need Site
Planning?
To gain an understanding of the manner in which people’s
actions are constrained and limited by the physical
environment.

To conserve what remains of the flora and fauna that make

up the natural world.

To provide for people’s primary needs such as shelter, food

and economic activity

To encourage the development of environments which

people experience as satisfactory places in which to live,
work or play.
What entails Site Planning?
• What should happen on a given area of land – actual land
use and related transportation and infrastructure
requirements
• Where it should happen – suitability of location
• How it should happen – design of the site
• An evaluation of the vast range of environmental, social and
economic factors which should have a bearing on the
decision-making process
• What it will cost to implement and manage the project on that
area of land
When to produce a Site Plan
A site plan becomes necessary when one or both of the
scenarios below prevails: -

1. Whenever it is proposed to change the use of an area

of land or build on all or part of it. This will include
but not limited to
Housing development, industrial developments,
commercial developments, recreational developments,
infrastructure developments, etc.

2. Whenever it is proposed to change the way in which an

area of land and its associated landscapes is managed
and maintained. This will include but not limited to
Housing rehabilitation/ renewal, industrial area re-planning,
commercial area regeneration, reclamation of derelict land,
afforestation, additional or improved parks and open spaces,
etc.
Who needs to know about a site plan?

Anybody involved in making decisions about land-use

change on specific sites and involved in considering such
change in relation to environmental, social and economic
factors needs to understand how the physical and natural
environment constrains what man can do on an area of land

Site planning aims to take into consideration the interests of

society as a whole as well as those of the developers, when
determining what should and what should not happen on the
land. Developers and politicians alike need to understand the
benefits of site planning by ensuring that unnecessarily
expensive development solutions are not chosen. It equally
assists in the reduction of the long-term management costs
associated with operating on a site.
Site planning and the cost of development

It is important to understand the actual cost of the alternative

solutions to the developer and also the costs to society, which
result from the proposed development. Costs to society are
incurred, for instance, through: -
1. The need to provide an adequate infrastructure.
2. The extra work, which has to be carried out to protect
adjacent natural resources.
3. The need to create new landscapes because of damage to
the visual resources caused by the development.
4. The need to relocate people whose lives are disturbed by an
unacceptable land-use change, e.g. one which increases the
local noise levels, dam construction, housing re-development
 Levels of Site Planning
Levels of Site Planning: different levels of site planning depending
on the size of a site
1. Unit/Plot
2. Cluster
3. Neighbourhood [s]
4. Part of an urban area
5. Urban Area
Principles are the same but only differ in the amount of details and
the complexity of issues to be tackled.

Micro-level sites can be handled by the landowner, the developer or

a single professional person. However, macro-level sites with
complex and complicated issues and with diverse environmental
problems require large teams of experts to work on problems
posed by developing such sites. An overall coordinator will have
to be appointed to link the work done by people from different
disciplines.
Multi-disciplinary Nature of
Site Planning
Multi-disciplinary nature of site planning arises from the need to
evolve a detailed design of the site.

The increasing complexity of a site requires the separation of

the site planning stages from the site design stage.

In effect this will be carried out by different professional experts.

Multi-disciplinary Nature of
Site Planning contd.
The professions, disciplines and experts most likely to be
involved in site planning are:
Landscape architects, architects, urban designers, civil
engineers.
Environmental planners, town planners, land-use planners,
economic planners, social planners.
Building scientists, climatologists, geologists, ecologists,
hydrologists and archaeologists.
Estate managers, housing managers, recreation managers,
open space managers.
Public health, fire and safety staff.
Built environment conservation staff, natural environment
conservation staff, rural management staff.
Foresters, farmers.
The Site Planning Process: Producing a
Site Plan

CLIENT WANTS TO DEVELOP A SITE

TECHNICAL TEAM ASSEMBLED

KEY ISSUES IDENTIFIED ALTERNATIVE SITES EXAMINED

DISCUSSIONS WITH LOCAL PLANNERS

SITE INVENTORY PRESENT AND FUTURE USER NEEDS

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES SITE POTENTIAL ASSESSED

ALTERNATIVE DEVELOPMENT CONCEPTS EXAMINED

SITE PLAN

PLANNING APPROVAL SOUGHT BY CLIENT

DESIGN AND SITE MANAGEMENT BRIEFS DEVELOPED.

(Source: Beer, Anne R. (1990), Environmental planning for site development, London: E & F Spon)
SITE PLANNING PROCESS
Initiating a site planning process
The owner of the area of land, or a person or organization
with an interest in the land, normally initiates the site
planning procedure.

The site planning process commences when the client

conceptualizes the need to develop a site and hence
determines the need for a site plan. The complexity of the
site and the problems involved are the determining factors in
the composition of a site planning team.

Professionals such as land-use planners, environmental

planners, architects and/or landscape architects may then be
commissioned to guide the developer on the financial,
environmental, physical, etc benefits and advantages of
carrying out the site planning procedure.
A Site Planning Team

In the site planning team, many people are involved in the

decision-making process. They include:-

The client-the developer, the builder, the financier.

The technical team; landscape architects, planners,

architects, engineers, surveyors.

The community: the local community, the future users, the

local leaders (councillors, etc) and the council officers.
 Why site planning requires a special
planning process?
1. To enable a systematic decision-making process in thinking the
whole range of issues that relate to what should happen on an
area of land. This guarantees ‘objective’ rather than ‘subjective’
analysis in the production of a site plan.

2. To systematically analyze the interactions of the complex

man/environment relationships.

3. To reduce social, economic and environmental costs to the

society.

Site planning emerges with a Site and Layout Plan and is

inextricably related to the design of the site. The site plan seeks
to create the least damage to the physical and natural
environment while at the same time provides adequate
environmental settings for the people who will be affected by
the new development.
Brief formulation
The client’s brief is formulated from the point of the view of
1. What the developer wants to do – client’ goals and
aspirations.
2. Who will use the development;
3. What they will use it for;
4. When they will use it;
5. The location and size of site the client intends to develop;
6. Any special requirements the client has about the form and
type and style and location of the development.
7. How much the client is intending to spend on the
development and the associated works;
8. The time-scale of the proposed development and any
proposals to phase it;
9. What the client and/or future users might reasonably be
expected to contribute in terms of long-term maintenance
activities.
Problem Statement
The site planning team proceeds to visit the selected site
and familiarizes themselves with it.

The local planning authority officials should then be visited in

order to determine the feasibility of the project based on the
strategies and policies governing the planning of the local
area.

With regard to any other interested parties, the planners

knowledge of similar problems elsewhere and of the area
within which the development is proposed, a preliminary list
of key issues to be resolved is prepared – this is what is
known as the problem statement.
Site Inventory
The inventory (mapping) of a site refers to the
documentation of the site’s character.

Documentation is mainly done through drawings that are

analyzed to provide informed decision-making to the design
process of a given site.

Without documentation of a site’s condition, the designer’s

site assessment is relegated to memory and perceptual bias.

The accuracy and objectivity of the research and data

collection of the site inventory enables us to investigate with
credibility the conditions of a site’s environmental quality and
context and the opportunity for change as it relates to the
client’s terms of reference, the user’s requirements and the
site planner’s decisions.
Base Maps
The recording of the basic information gathered will be
produced and presented in the form of plans and/or maps
and supplemented by written statements.

The maps required include:-

Regional context of study area 1:1 000 000, 1:500 000

Urban or Rural context of the site 1:250 000

A location plan 1: 10 000, 1: 20 000

A project area plan. 1:500, 1: 1 250, 1: 2 500, 1: 5 000

Legal requirements data
• Boundary line survey (ownership and acreage,
easements (Location, width and purpose) or other
encumbrances, rights –of-way, scale, north arrow,
bench mark and date of survey.

• Restrictive covenants or deed restrictions.

• Existing land uses and buildings

• Zoning requirements (existing and proposed),

(permitted user or special exceptions, density of
development, set backs/height limits, plot ratios and
ground coverage).
Local Planning Information
Adjacent land uses, building and other infrastructure
Existing roads (Highways, primary arterials,
secondary collectors, tertiary streets, service roads).
Names and location.
Rights of way
Bridges, kerbs, gutters, culverts
Location of utilities
Water and sewerage lines
Electricity and telephone lines
Street lights
Invert levels of sewer manholes, sewer profile
Public parks and open spaces.
Environmental Data
Physical and Natural Environment
Geology and Soils
Topography
Drainage & Hydrology – surface water and
sub-surface water
Macro-climate and micro-climate
Vegetation – plants (grass, shrubs, trees),
Relative ecological value.
Wildlife
Social Environment & User Requirements

Population {size, population structure, age-sex ratio and

pyramid, gender ratio, population distribution and
densities, HH sizes}
Historical development

Landscape – views, vistas and scenery; landscape

types and characters.

Unique areas and features and landmarks. Historic

features.

The functioning of the site in terms of Activities in

buildings and Activities outside the buildings

Movement patterns-circulation
SYNTHESIS
This stage requires critical analysis of both the secondary
and primary data including the reconciliation of conflicting
information. The various constituent maps are overlaid to
emerge with the prominent constraints and inherent
opportunities of the site’s characters. Further reinforcing
documentation will be documented in a report. These
aggregate critical emerging issues represented in written as
well as graphical/visual from culminates in a design criteria
form, which lays a firm foundation for the site design process
to commence.

The suitability of the site for the various users’ activities are
carefully identified based on the information analyzed of the
site inventory. A further assessment of the site potential
indicates the assets and liabilities and the constraints,
limitations, problems and challenges towards the
development of the site.
SITE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
Re-statement of the problem and Generation of Site
Development Concepts

This stage in the process requires a re-statement of the goals

and objectives, which is based on the identification of fit
between the site, the users and the client’s terms of references.
This permits the reconciliation and review of the client’s brief
against the emerging critical planning and design issues arising
from the inherent constraints and opportunities of the site’s
character.
PLAN GENERATION
Site Design Process and Preparation of Alternative Site
Plans
At this stage the site planner evaluates collectively and in detail
the various options available to answer the client’s brief as
close as possible by visualizing various conceptual ideas for the
development of the site.

This is mainly carried out by preparing bubble diagrams of how

the general relationships of the different human activities,
buildings and other infrastructure should be developed on the
various areas of the site.

The site planner, through “trial and error”, evaluates the various
strategies of achieving the goals and objectives of the client, by
developing, preparing and evaluating various alternative plans,
that reflect various acceptable relationships between the land
uses and human activities, buildings and open spaces, plots
 PREFERRED SITE PLAN
This stage entails the eventual resolution of conflicts bearing in
mind the satisfaction of the various social, economic and legal
requirements, environmental requirements, meeting planning
regulations, client’s demands and user’s requirements and
incorporating the planning and design vocabulary of the site
planner. This incorporates the most ideal user’s environmental
setting, aesthetic and functional qualities of the land uses and/or
activities. The site plan must define all the existing features to be
retained and those to be modified.
It equally indicates the location for all the required buildings and
structures. The position and width of roadways and footpaths are
defined, as well as the possible routes for the underground and
overhead infrastructure services.
The preferred site plan should be tested against the goals and
objectives and modified appropriately. It should then be presented
to the client and users in draft form for their comment, after which a
finally-approved site plan is prepared.
IMPLEMENTATION
PLAN PROGRAMMING, SCHEDULING AND BUDGETING

The site planning process is useful for coping with the financial
aspects of planning. It allows for a full description of the work
that needs to be carried out on the site. This includes the
preparation of the site, the construction of the built elements on
the site, the planting of the vegetation and the maintenance
requirements. This information is useful in evaluating the
detailed assessment of the cost of implementation of the
scheme and of the design costs. Costing of each aspect of a
scheme allows the site planner to provide information on the
total costs. It equally allows a limited attempt at financial
evaluation of alternative solutions to both the design and the
management of the site.
SITE MANAGEMENT PLAN
IMPACT ASSESSMENT AND MITIGATION

A site management plan takes into consideration how the land

and landscapes will be managed once the scheme is
implemented.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION & COMPLIANCE WITH

DEVELOPMENT CONTROL REGULATIONS AND
ENVIRONMENTAL AUDITS

It is the management of the land and elements comprising the

landscape, which, together with the location and distribution of
those elements determine the appearance of the landscape and
whether it survives in its present form or gradually changes.