13

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 IMAGEABILITY

This section of the literature review critically examines

imageability, to understand its meaning, need and uses for the city and its

dwellers. The different elements of settlements and their design along with

elements of an image are discussed. The different classifications of image and

the parameters to measure imageability are listed out along with strong cues

for imageability. The section concludes with an analytical review of it, which

is taken for evaluating the imageability of the study area.

2.1.1 Definitions and Different Models of an Image

An outline for the definition of an image by various pioneers is

presented in Table 2.1. From this it is clearly understood that the word

‘image’ has different meanings for different people; it is a kind of experience

and may be a concept, plan, map and so on. Urban designers like Jacobs Jane,

(1962), Spreiregen Paul (1965), Rossi Aldo (1982) and Gosling David (1994)

had also defined urban imageability; they correspond to Lynch’s definition of

imageability.

14

Table 2.1 Image as defined by various pioneers

Image as Defined by Various Pioneers

Study of Images is called “eikonics” (Boulding 1956) and is used to

emphasize that a city has different meanings for different people- the slum

dweller, commuter, geography teacher or planner, i.e. it is used

interchangeably with the perceived environment.

Imageability, the term coined by Lynch Kevin (1960), “is the quality of a

physical object, which gives an observer a strong and vivid image. … It

might also be called legibility.”

Image has also been used to describe conceptions of the city, either in

terms of images or such as the city as an important tower, a giant switch

board, a clover-leaf intersection etc. (Yadav 1987)

Images have been described as the “points of contact between people and

their environment” thus linking them to behavior (Downs and David Stea

2005)

An Image also refers to memory and this has become dominant in planning

and urban design (Lynch Kevin 1960, Carr. and Schissler 1969).

An image is an internalised representation and, regarding the environment,

it is “an individual’s mental representation of parts of the external reality

known to him via any kind of experience”, including indirect experiences

(Downs and David Stea 2005).

An Image stands for a notion, stereotype, plan or map, plan of action,

concept, self concept and so on (Rapoport Amos 1977).

In the primitive and vernacular design of human settlements, the

image was clear and shared, and it was relatively straightforward (Rapoport

Amos 1969). Later the pioneers in planning developed various urban ecology

models on human settlements-, concentric, sectoral and multiple nuclei

(Richard and Frederic Stout 2003). In fact, these models are developed for

different social characteristics-the ethnic status, family status, and economic

15

status respectively. Their interaction created various urban social spaces using

lifestyle and environmental preferences and relating them to the physical and

social characteristics of areas which help in understanding cities. Even though

the specific choices differ, there was a common underlying process of choice

and selection based on preferences, referring to different priorities, standards

and ideals.

By critically analyzing the different definitions of imageability by

different pioneers in different periods, the definition of an image which refers

to memory, a dominant concept of planning and urban design, as the point of

contact between people and their environment, is adopted in this research.

Imageability, a term coined by Lynch Kevin (1960) as the quality of a

physical object, which gives an observer a strong and vivid image and also

called as legibility, is used for the evaluation of imageability for the study

area, Chennai city.

2.1.2 Imageability Need and Uses

This research focuses on the imageability of the urban environment,

its physical qualities, which relate to the different attributes of identity and

structure, which enhance the legibility, and are synonymous with

imageability.

A city is a dramatic event in the environment. We turn to the

faculty of sight, for it is almost entirely through vision that the environment is

apprehended. Cullen Gordon (1964) narrates vision thus: “If someone knocks

at our door step and we open to let him in, it sometimes happens that a gust of

wind comes in too, sweeping the room, blowing the curtains, and making a

great fuss”. Vision is somewhat the same; we often get more than what we

look for. Vision is not only useful, but it evokes our memories and

16

Uses of City Images(Harold Carter 1976)

1. Enhances the legibility of the city.

2. Increases the aesthetic pleasure which is related to the

quality of the images of the city.

3. The scale of efficiency of a city depends on its imageability

for the ease with which people can get about, with which

motorists can find their way. This is closely related to its

legibility, that is, the ease with which distinctive images

produce a sequence that can be followed. On a small scale

these qualities become related to any single building. For the

city it depends upon the organization of different city

elements.

4. Image studies are of value related to the fact that they reveal

the images of the city to the everyday user and therefore also

indicate the existence of major problems.

5. Deficit of imageability means less identification and is an

indicator of the social and economical value of the city.

experience, those responsive emotions inside us, which have the power to

disturb the mind when aroused. Enhancing the image is something similar to

enhance the vision, which is more than organizing the different physical

objects into a coherent pattern.

The skeleton, an image which appears, is a particularly useful

analogue for the idea of a city. For the skeleton links the city to history. It is

the history which is limited to a pure knowledge of the past, without which, to

determine the future is difficult. Thus, the skeleton, which may at one level be

compared to the urban plan, while a general structure of parts, is also a

material of artefact in itself: a collective artefact (Rossi Aldo 1982). The

concentration of one particular visual quality (the apparent clarity or legibility

of the cityscape) is grasped visually as a related pattern of recognizable

symbols.

In sum, the uses of city images can be listed out as they enhance the

aesthetic pleasure, the ease with which people move around, etc, as shown in

Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1 The different uses of city images

17

An

accessible

city allows

people of all

ages and

backgrounds

to gain the

activities,

resources,

services, and

information

that they

need.

In a

sensible

city the

residents

can

perceive

and

understand

the city’s

form andfunction.

A city with a

good fit

provides the

buildings,

spaces, and

networks

required for

its residents

to pursue

their projects

successfully.

A vital city

is the one

that fulfils

the

biological

needs of the

inhabitants

and provides

a safe

environment

A city with a

good control

is arranged

so that its

citizens have

a say in the

management

of the spaces

in which

they work

and reside.

An efficient

city achieves

all the goals

listed at least

cost, and

balances the

achievement

of the goals

with one

another.

A just city

distributes

the benefits

among its

citizens

according to

some fair

standard.

Sense Fit Access Control EfficiencyVitality Justice

Basic Dimensions of City Performance for Good City Form

(Lynch Kevin 1981)

2.1.3 A Good City and its Image

History tells us that a good city evolves on the basis of local

characteristics and design principles and not by mere chance. History also

tells us that good urban structures and forms enable and enhance urban

activities, and improve on the well-being of the citizens. A good city is

created by the balanced relationship between the local and global

environment. A good city image is preserved and therefore long lasting

because it functions well and expresses the history, the citizens’ collective

memory, values, beliefs, and pride.

Figure 2.2 Basic dimensions of a good city form

Lynch Kevin (1981) has identified a sensible city as one of the

seven basic dimensions of city performance for good city form as shown in

Figure 2.2. For the residents to understand and perceive the city form, the city

should be legible, which in turn, enhances the imageability of the city.

18

With today’s rapidly changing socio economic conditions, the city

changes rapidly as well. If this change occurs at the level of the private realm

without affecting the dominance of the long-lasting public realm then the city

maintains the identity generated by the public realm, and it continues to be

recognised as a unique, imageable place, both by its citizens and visitors

alike. If rapid changes occur in both the private and the public realms then the

city may continue to work well in functional terms, but it will lose its

imageability and identity, and the citizens may lose the ability to foster a

sense of belonging (Frey Hildebrand 1999).

Though a rapidly changing city, like Tokyo, may seem for some a

highly appropriate urban model for the twenty-first century, it does not have a

lasting identity, and is therefore likely to fail to provide the emotional security

and sense of belonging possessed by those who live in places with a unique

physiognomy and identity.

An urban design must consolidate and enhance the city’s public

realm in such a way that it preserves, improves and creates a long-lasting

image of a city and its urban districts, which are clearly identifiable as being

unique. The private realm should also be well designed; its development

must, however, be subordinated to the image-giving public realm, so that it

does not destroy or ever interfere with the city’s imaginable form and

structure.

However, all cities are different and some offer their citizens more

advantages than do others. It is the main objective of good urban planning and

design to create new advantages, or enhance the existing advantages a good

city has to offer. The various dimensions of the good city are based on the

measurement of the quality of the dimensions, and the establishment of

different levels of human needs and aspirations it could satisfy.

19

Biological

Needs

Sensation and

Perception (the

‘five senses’)

Emotional

Needs

Moral Values

Geological

Topographical

Soil

Resources

Water

Plant Life

Animal Life

Climate

Population

density

Social

Cultural

Economic

Education

Health

Law

administration

Housing

Services

Shopping centres

Recreational

facilities

Civic and

Business centre

Industry

Transport centers

Water supply

Power supply

Transportation

Communication

Sewerage and

drainage

Physical layout

HUMAN SETTLEMENTS-

DIFFERENT ELEMENTS

(Doxiadis 1969)

MANNATURE-

(Open spaces) SOCEITYSHELLS(Buildings)

NETWORK(Streets)

2.1.4 Elements of Settlements and their Design

City planners weave a complex, ever-changing array of different

elements into a working whole, to accommodate the perennial challenge of

city planning. The physical elements of the city can be divided into five:

nature, man, society, shells and network (Doxiadis 1969), as shown in Figure

2.3. Many alternative arrangements of these components have been tried

throughout history, but no ideal city form has ever been agreed upon. In these

five elements, man and society interact with the other three important

elements, nature (open spaces), shells (buildings), and networks (streets) to

form a successful settlement, pertaining to a healthy, environmentally

responsive and visually pleasing form and image of a city. The imageability

elements are further grouped under these three major elements of urban city.

Figure 2.3 Different elements of human settlements

20

Meaning of Design(Hall 1996)

Creating form to meet an expressed demand

Outward appearance of buildings, their arrangements to

form spaces, the furnishing, paving and planting of these

spaces and the appearance and planning of other public

open spaces

Efficient functioning of the buildings and spaces with regard

to the activities of their users

Aesthetic enjoyment provided by the buildings and spaces for

the same users

Figure 2.4 The meaning of design

The imageability of an urban environment depends on how these

elements are arranged, as a design. The meaning of design in different

contexts and scales, defined by Hall (1996) is shown in Figure 2.4. For this

research, the meaning of designing the city is mainly concerned with the

design of the outward appearance of buildings, their arrangements to form

spaces, the furnishing, paving and planning of these spaces and the

appearance and planning of other public open spaces and their interaction

with the streets which gives an aesthetic enjoyment for the city users.

Figure 2.5 Elements of town design and the need for design control

Trees

Buildings

Town Design-Town is beautiful means the wholeenvironment, down to the most insignificant detail,

should be beautiful. (Frederick Gibberd 1962)

Lamp posts

Pavings

Posters

Form, Colour and Texture

Time

Necessity of Design Control (Hall 1996) Quality of the physical environment

21

To have quality in a physical environment, the design control

within the planning system operates at two levels. The first one is aesthetic

control and the second is urban design or townscape.

In town planning, the term aesthetic refers to the external design of

buildings. The need for design control and the elements of town design are

shown in Figure 2.5. According to Gibberd Frederick (1962), a town is

beautiful, when the whole environment, down to the most insignificant detail,

is beautiful. A good design should be the aim of all those involved in the

development process, but it is primarily the responsibility of the designers and

their clients. A city design represents the subject area where town planning

and architecture meet; that is, where the design and the layout of the urban

spaces meet.

2.1.5 Ancient Planning Principles and Imageability Elements

The city “is the ultimate memorial of our struggles and glories: it is

where the pride of the past is set on display”. For L. Wirth, a city is “a

relatively large, dense, and permanent settlement of socially heterogeneous

individuals.” For Lewis Mumford (1969), a city is a “point of maximum

concentration of the power and culture of the community” (Grahame Shane

David 2005). As per Lynch (1981), “city forms, their actual function, and the

ideas and values that people attach to them, make up a single phenomenon”.

Cities will continue to change, grow or shrink, expand or contract, in order to

adapt to changing socio economic conditions. The urban fabric is comprised

of three interlocking elements. The first is the city plan itself, which consists

of the street system, the plot pattern, land parcels or lots, and the building

arrangement within this pattern. The second is the land use pattern, which

shows specialized uses of the ground and space. Finally, there are the

building fabrics, which are the actual three dimensional marks of physical

structures on the land ownership pattern. Early cities came in many shapes.

22

Characteristics of cities(Kostof Spiro 1991)

Cities are places where certain energizedcrowding of people takes place

Cities come in clusters

Cities are places that havesome physical circumscription

Cities are places where there is aspecialized differentiation of work

Cities are places favouredfor a source of income

Cities are places that must relyon written records

Cities are places that are intimately

engaged to their countryside

Cities are places distinguished bysome kind of monumental definition

Cities are made up of

buildings and places

Frey Hildebrand (1999) questions the need for designing and planning a city

as an entity, if its form and structure emerge, and change is a long and

ongoing development process and never finite, unless the city is to become a

museum. In the long history from camp to village, a handful of innovations

accelerated the art of settlement design (Spreiregen Paul 1965). Kostof Spiro

(1991) outlines the characteristics of cities, as shown in Figure 2.6

Figure 2.6 The different characteristics of cities

The relation of a city to its parts is similar to that of the human

body to its parts; the streets are the veins. A comparative assessment of the

imageability elements from the ancient 8th

century to the modern 20th

century

(Gandhi 1973) for India as well as for the World is shown in Table 2.2.

23

Table 2.2 An outline of different historic planning concepts in India

and the World

Period World India

Up to 8th centuryBC

Early river valley civilization. Nile, TigrisEarly river valley civilization. SindhuPhysical planning as per the socialclassifications.

Greek and Roman Civilization

( Classical Cities)-

Greek Rome8th Century BCto 6th CenturyAD Hippodamus, grid iron road

system. Chief Componentsare Agora, Acropolis, Theassembly hall, CouncilChamber

Great builders and

engineers. Chiefcomponents are largebaths Collosseum,Forum. Grid pattern

Roads

Buddha Period -The Mauryaand Guptha Period

6th Century AD

to 14th CenturyAD

6th -10th century AD- Dark ages- Medieval ages-

Absence of city planning

10th -14th century AD- Picturesque towns. Grouping ofpublic buildings.

Rajput period-End of Hindu period

and birth and growth of Islam

14th Century ADto 18th CenturyAD

Renaissance and Baroque (Neo Classic Cities)-Monumental Planning – Planning of Washington

Moghul Period –Architectural style-palaces and Forts and monumentalbuildings. No town planning -Jaipur

only planned city.

19th Century AD Industrial Revolution-lack of planning ideas-

epidemics-Public Health Acts -, Sanitary and BuildingBye Laws- Bye law Planning development of town.

British Period-Public Health Acts-

Barlow Report, The Scott Report,Uthwatt Report, T and C PlanningAct 1947, Sub division of land andzoning ordinance.

Modern aspects

of 20th Century

Planning for people in UK and USA. The concept of

Zoning was first introduced by Germany. Pooling andredistribution of land in Germany-Done in Frankfurt

Planning in India

beforeIndependence

Planning in India

afterIndependence

Table 2.2 clearly demonstrates that we have to learn from yesterday

to plan today for a better tomorrow. The origins of many cities were humble,

their form was simple and growth was gradual. In the 8th

Century B.C, the

edge was a strong imageability element. From the 6th

Century A.D to the 18th

Century A.D, both the social and physical imageability elements were present

strongly. During the industrialization in the 19th

Century A.D, the by-laws

were introduced to safe guard the health of the citizens, and the imageability

criteria were never considered. In the modern 20th

Century, land use zoning

was introduced, and there is no clarity in the elements of imageability.

24

Skylines have become urban signatures and they are the short hand

of urban identity. The city plan emerged as a result of the process of the

implementation of many speculative design projects, a process which

Alexander (2003) see as being responsible for the plan of wholeness in

traditional towns. In contrast the master plan approach adopted in the 1950s

and 1960s, resulted in the loss of much historical fabric and traditional urban

development pattern, and the brave new world soon proved inadequate in

many ways (Frey Hildebrand 1999).

2.1.6 Different Elements of an Image

Lynch Kevin (1960) has identified five important elements of

imageability- paths, landmarks, nodes, districts and edges as shown in

Figure 2.7. It is understood that the uniqueness of the design of these elements

helps in enhancing the imageability. The meaning of the elements helps to

make things noticeable and can be shared by groups. Associations of different

elements are generally unimportant; the location of physical elements is more

important than their appearance, and paths are the most important element.

When these imageability elements are looked into, it is understood

that paths are often treated as edges and tend to be major edge elements,

which means that the classifications used by various studies need to be

discovered (Rapoport Amos 1969). Districts are defined as large areas into

which one enters, and which are distinguishable from the surrounding area,

but this definition can also be subjective and variable. Nodes are equivalent to

small districts, and distinguished by their importance, so that their definition

involves many parameters. Different elements may be used at different scales

and the different categories brought together into cognitive wholes, so that a

market square is not just a district area but also a node, a meeting point of

paths defined by edges and landmarks (John Douglas Porteous 1977).Thus,

these elements are likely to vary in different groups, so that associations,

unimportant in one place may be important elsewhere. Also, it appears that

landmarks are selected differently by various people (Rapoport Amos1969).

25

i) PATHS ii) LANDMARKS iii) NODES iv) DISTRICTS v) EDGES

Noticeable features ofthe Environment

Spatial relation

between these

different elements

Symbolic content and

associational connotations of the

place

Components of Imageable Environment (Lynch, 1960)

Identity Structure Meaning

i) Paths - familiar routes followed.

ii) Landmarks - point of reference.

iii) Nodes - centres of attraction that

we can enter.

iv) Districts - areas with perceivedinternal homogeneity.

v) Edges - dividing lines between districts.

Figure 2.7 The different elements of imageability

A city has two fundamentally important characteristics upon which

the guidelines and frameworks are formulated: to be both imageable and

adaptable (Frey Hildebrand 1999). To build a broader vocabulary upon this

basic framework, we must consider landform, natural verdure, climate,

several aspects of urban form itself, certain details and several lesser facets of

form (Spreiregen Paul 1965) as shown in Figure 2.8.

26

Pattern, Grainand Texture

Size and Density

Natural GreennessImageable Adaptable

Fundamentally important characteristics of the city upon which guidelines are prepared (Spreiregen Paul 1965).

Landform

Local Climate

Shape

Radio centric

Rectilinear

Star

Ring

Linear

Branch

Sheet

Articulated Sheet

Constellation

Satellite

Urban spaces andOpen spaces

Different shapes of cities

as per the street pattern

Figure 2.8 The important characteristics upon which the guidelines and frameworks are formulated with the broader

vocabulary

27

On this basic framework stand embellishing characteristics, which

all together constitute the image of a city. A city or town is generally thought

of in terms of size—its population and physical extent. Size is closely linked

to shape—the physical outline in a two dimensional plan form and vertical

profile or contour. The size and shape are qualified by pattern—the

underlying geometry of the city form. Size, shape, and pattern are further

modified by the density and intensity of the use of land by people and

buildings. Density is determined by the urban texture and grain, which is the

degree of homogeneity or heterogeneity of use by people or buildings.

Order, unity, balance, symmetry, scale, proportion, rhythm,

contrast, and harmony are among the important tools used to define good

building architecture, and these concepts can be used to analyse the aesthetic

qualities of an urban environment, though they are not used in precisely the

same way for large scale urban development (Cliff Moughtin 2005).

As discussed, the density and intensity of the use of land by people

and buildings are determined by the urban texture and grain, which show the

degree of homogeneity or heterogeneity of use by people or buildings; in the

city of Chennai this is adopted in the research to evaluate the imageability,

along with Lynch’s elements of Imageability, with path as an important

element.

2.1.7 Different Classifications of an Image

An outline of the different classifications of an image is shown in

Table 2.3. From this it is clear that there are various images at various scales

and have different meanings for different groups of people. This research

evaluates the urban image at the spatial scale, which helps to picture the

individual’s location in the space.

28

Table 2.3 The different classifications of an Image

The different classification of Images (Rapoport Amos 1969).

Name of the Image Explanation

Spatial Image The picture of the individual’s location in space

Temporal ImageA representation of the stream of time and man’s

place in it.Urban

Images

Relational ImageThe picture of the universe around an individual

as a system of regularities.

Personal ImageThe picture of the individual in the midst of the

universe.

Value ImageThe ordering on a scale - better or worse of the

various parts of the whole imageIdeal

Images Affectional

Image

Emotional image by which various items in the

rest of the image are imbued with a feeling.

Division of Images Conscious, Subconscious, and Unconscious areas.

Dimensions of Images Certainty or Uncertainty and Reality or Unreality

Scale of Images Public and Private

2.1.8 Parameters to Measure Imageability

Rapoport Amos (1977) identifies the parameters to measure an

image under the overall satisfaction with places, which is related to three

major characteristics-

i. Identity - The ability to identify with a home area

ii. Accessibility - Accessibility to desired places, people

and services and

iii. Physical Setting - A physical setting corresponding to the

image of an ideal environment

29

The physical components of the image of a Residential area and Neighborhoods

Location, type of housing unit, attractiveness, access to parks

Topography and view

Physical quality, harmony with nature, variety and richness

Traditional appearance

Distinction of front and back

Wide spacing, purely residential

Views from the living room, general appearances, noise

spaciousness, beauty, country like character, low density, privacy, front

and backyards, greenery-large shade trees, quiet, newness and cleanliness

Variation in architecture

Materials and style of dwelling

Up keep of area, streets, spaciousness, beauty, quietness

Housing maintenance, density, noise, adequate outdoor space,

privacy, low traffic level, trees, clean air

IDENTITY - The ability to identify with a home area

The overall views of different Imageability parameters identified by

various pioneers for the physical components in measuring an urban area with

respect to Identity are listed as shown in Figure 2.9.

Figure 2.9 Physical components in measuring an urban area with

respect to identity

An overall view of different Imageability parameters identified by

various pioneers with respect to the physical components in measuring an

urban area with respect to the physical setting is outlined in Figure 2.10.

30

The physical Setting and components of the Image of the Different

Elements and Parts of City

Built Space

Urban space

Recreationalarea

total massing, levels of complexity, scale and size, orientation, building

height, building use, colour, materials, details, fenestrations, signs, activity

levels, noise level, light level, smells, maintenance and cleanliness,

landscape etc.

The physical components are scenic beauty, visual quality-signs, distinct

districts, orientation, air quality and weather, transportation etc.

Degree of enclosure, size of space, character of

space, nature of enclosing elements and amount of

greenery.

Natural preferred to artificial, variety and contrast

Natural character, views without obstructions,special dislike utility poles

Urban Street

Spatial quality, intrinsic interest of feature, specific

buildings, nature of traffic and parking (Lynch,1970)

Elimination of utility poles and overhead wires

more important than elimination of billboards

Signs important–not seen as problem, to

enhance legibility and orientation

Traffic hazard, noise, vibration, pollution and trash, maintenance,

privacy, greenery, complexity, variety, spaciousness, clean air,

microclimate, and topography and view

Different

Parts of the

urban area

General appearance of each area, elevation or apparent

elevation, extensive views of water or trees but no industries,

detached houses, newness, greenery, spaciousness, individuality

Rural character or desirable older central areas, topography, proximity to water

Maintenance level, low pollution, noise at night, traffic disliked,

ownership and identity of house, detached houses, low density,openness, spaciousness, greenery, hilliness and views

Op

en

Sp

aces

Str

eets

Bu

ild

ing

sS

pecia

l D

istr

icts

Figure 2.10 An overall view of different imageability parameters

identified with respect to the physical setting

31

1. Long term

2. Short term

People

Activities

Uses

Objects

How the city is

used

Hierarchy and

Symbolism

Change of

level,

curves,

speed ofmovement

1. Objects

2. Space quality

3. Light and Shade

4. Greenery

5. Visual aspects of

Perceived Density

6. New vs Old

7. Order vs Variety

8. Well maintained and

badly maintained

9. Scale and Urban Grain

10. Road pattern

11. Topography

12. Location

Vision

Kinesthetics

Sound

Smells

Air

Movement

Temperature

Tactile

The list of cues from which people choose to make a place more “distinguishable”- leads to strong imageability

Physical

Differences

Social

Differences

Temporal

Difference

All of which, in fact, are embodied in an image of a preferred

lifestyle. All the elements in both Figure 2.9 and Figure 2.10 are grouped

together to list out the elements of imageability.

2.1.9 List of Cues for Strong Imageability

Further, cues from which people choose to make a place more

“distinguishable” lead to strong imageability. This list of cues is with respect

to the physical difference, social difference and temporal difference, and is

outlined in Figure 2.11.

Figure 2.11 The List of cues for strong imageability

The most important cue from which people choose to make a place

more distinguishable, and which leads to strong imageability is the physical

difference. In this, the vision is measured by parameters, such as the type of

objects, space quality, light and shade, greenery, visual aspects of perceived

density, new vs. old, order vs. variety, well maintained and badly maintained,

32

The list of qualitative Parameters

and cues from which people choose

to make a place more

“Distinguishable”- leads to strong

imageability with strong identity

and Physical setting

1. Beauty2. Country like Character3. Privacy4. Newness and Cleanliness5. View from the Living room6. Richness

7. Appearance8. Distinction of Front and

Back9. Attractiveness10. Activity levels11. Smells12. Visual quality-signs13. Distinct districts14. Topography and view

15. Natural character16. Views without obstructions17. Traffic disliked18. Newness19. Individuality

The list of quantitative Parameters and cues from

which people choose to make a place more

“Distinguishable”- leads to strong imageability with

strong identity and Physical setting ( Rapoport,1977)

1. Adequate outdoor space2. Trees3. Clean air

4. Physical quality5. Harmony with nature6. Amount of greenery7. Nature of building

Elements8. Signs9. Noise level10. Degree of enclosure

11. Character of space12. Nature of enclosing

elements13. Transportation and Parking14. Access to parks15. Safety and Comfort16. Street Length and

Proportion17. Paving and Street

Furniture

18. Nature of ground floorabutting the street

19. Building height

20. Building use21. Colour22. Materials23. Fenestrations24. Appearance & Elevation25. Type of housing units26. Density27. Style of dwelling

28. Variety29. Total massing30. Levels of complexity

31. Orientation

scale and urban grain, road pattern, topography and location. These are also

included in the list of imageability parameters to evaluate the image of the

city.

2.1.10 Imageability - Quantitative and Qualitative Parameters

In continuation of identifying the imageability parameters under

different characteristics of the urban area, they are further grouped into two. A

list of thirty one quantitative parameters and nineteen qualitative parameters

are shown in Figure 2.12. This research is limited to evaluate the identified

quantitative parameters from this list, and these are taken into consideration

for enhancing the imageability for the study area, Chennai city.

Figure 2.12 List of the quantitative and qualitative parameters of

imageability

33

2.1.11 Conclusion

From the literature, the importance of imageability and its need is

established, as shown in Figure 2.1 This research aims to evaluate the

imageability of a city; the definition of the image which refers to memory, a

dominant concept of planning and urban design, and as the point of contact

between people and their environment is adopted, as shown in Table 2.1. City

images are useful and are needed in enhancing the aesthetic pleasure, the ease

with which people can move around, etc. The density and intensity of the use

of land by people and buildings which is determined by urban texture and

grain and shows the degree of homogeneity or heterogeneity in the city is

adopted in this research along with the path, as an important element. This

research focuses mainly on evaluating the urban image at a spatial level on a

public scale, taking into account selected quantifiable parameters from the list

shown in Figure 2.12. In this research an attempt has been made to achieve

one of the basic dimensions for good city form, sensible city by enhancing the

imageability.

2.2 AN APPRAISAL OF THE URBAN PLANNING TOOLS AND

MODELS

This section of the literature review analyses current planning tools

and models, and the basis, on which they are framed, are discussed. This is

critically analysed with the thrust on the master plan, zoning, new zoning

techniques and the principles adopted for framing the development

regulations.

34

2.2.1 Introduction

In the current age of the automobile and new communication

technology, the city of today may be divided into two parts:

An inner zone, coextensive with the boundaries of the old

central city.

Suburban areas, dating from the 1920s, which have been

designed for the automobile from the beginning.

We have reached a new stage of urbanization beyond the

metropolis. Most major cities are no longer focused exclusively on the

traditional downtown. New sub- centers have arisen round the periphery, and

these sub centers supply most of the daily needs of their adjacent populations.

The old metropolis has become a multi-centered urban region. Urban Planner

Doxiadis (1969) has speculated that similar vast corridors of urbanization will

appear throughout the world during the next century. However, New Town

and greenbelt programs in Britain and the Scandinavian countries have, to

some extent, prevented a formless sprawl from engulfing the countryside.

This leads to the formation of a master plan and the introduction of

development control measures (Vance 1977).

35

Master Plan

City forms are shaped (Vance 1977)

Through Institutional Forces By Natural Environmental

Processes

Through Inheritances from urban

morphology in previous times

Institution workingas a body

Institution - an instrument ofan individual will

Govern-

ment

Financial

institutions

Industrialization Health and Safety,

Morals or the

General welfare of

the Community

laws

Regulate and

Restrict the

1. Building Height

2. Number of storeys

3. Size of Buildings

4. Building coverage

5. The size of Open

yards

6. Density of

Population

7. Location and Use

of Buildings

8. Land for trade,

industry, residenceor other purposes.

Each

District

Zoning-

LegislationErection of

right building

in the right

form in theright place

Tools of Land Use Planning-

Land Use Controls

Sub-Division Regulations

Zoning Ordinances

Figure 2.13 The different forces which shape the city form

36

One of the major forces shaping the city is the institutional force, an

institution working as a body, government (the local governing body),

through zoning regulations and building regulations as shown in Figure 2.13.

The form of the city is determined primarily by thousands of private decisions

to construct buildings, within a framework of public infrastructure and

regulations administered by the city, state, and central governments. The goal

of city planning is to intervene in this game in order to protect widely shared

public values such as health, safety, environmental quality, social equality,

and aesthetics, through the Master Plan with zoning regulations and building

development regulations.

2.2.2 The role of Master Plan, Zoning and Development Regulations

on City Form and Image

Gibberd Frederic (1962) classifies the three broad patterns of

landscape, building groups and circulation in terms of the Master Plan, which

correspond to the three important elements of human settlements; nature,

shells and networks. As shown in Figure 2.14, these are taken in a sequence

and in the actual process of designing; all the three groups are coordinated for

the design of the city. When it comes to the designing of building groups, it

corresponds to the different land use zones earmarked in the city. Landscape

and open spaces are reserved in the city in the form of reserve forests,

ecologically / environmentally sensitive areas, agriculture areas, recreational

areas, gardens etc. The circulation part of the master plan deals with the

policies on the total connectivity (streets) of different zones to other regions,

upcoming mass transportation proposals, suggested terminals and segregates

areas for pedestrians, cyclists etc.

37

Principal areas/ Zones

required for Housing,

industry, institutions,

shopping, social centres,

civic centres etc.

Agricultural areas

surrounding the town,

natural landscape for

preservation, areas createdfor passive recreation, etc.

Principal road system

connecting the various

building zones and to other

regions, various transport

terminals, suggests the

routes of public transport,

defines spaces for

pedestrians and cyclists.

Master Plan (Gibbered Frederic 1962)

Landscape (Open spaces)Building Groups (Shells) Circulation (Streets)

Figure 2.14 The broad patterns of a master plan

Cliff Moughtin et al (1999) points out the two ways in which the

coordination between macro and micro level planning, (the city as a whole

entity and its parts) can take place. The first one is by setting the overall

design policies and guidelines for developments and allowing other people to

make their own decisions within them, and secondly, by having one set of

hands in control of the whole design and development process. In the case of

the former, urban design is closer to city planning, and in the latter case, it is

closer to architecture. While some attention has been paid to land uses in the

city, surprisingly little thought has been given to what makes a good third

dimension for cities except in having regulations on maximum building

height, maximum coverage, maximum built up area and minimum setbacks.

The principles for framing development, and the formulation of

standards based on the usefulness of a single set of planning and design

standards are not possible / viable; variable standards for different parts are

much more likely. Rather than dealing with highly generalized basic needs /

guidelines, the specific aspects of

38

A situation,

The context,

The images involved, and

The latent and symbolic aspects of function should be considered.

The preferences and variable standards apply to density; it involves

the perception of various characteristics, leading to perceived density and its

evaluation against preferred levels of stimulation and controls available. The

subjective evaluation of places as dense, or not, depends on a large number of

physical characteristics, e.g., the degree of enclosure, the nature of space,

activities and uses, certain temporal rhythms, the presence of people and their

traces, light, noise, vegetation, and so on, with varying preferences for such

levels by different groups.

The process of constructing spatially, temporally or socially

cognitive schemata seems to involve decisions about whether things are alike

or different. Discrimination among elements, and deciding whether they are

alike or unlike, can be done either through identity categorization or equivalence

categorization. This can be done using five major modes; perceptible (on the

basis of colour, shape, size and position), functional (on the basis of use or

function), affective (in terms of evaluation, emotion aroused), nominal (by

attaching readymade names from the language) and fiat equivalence.

2.2.3 Zoning as a Planning Tool

Zoning, as its name implies, is a process of dividing the city into

zones, each of which has different legal requirements; and within each zone,

regulations specify the size and shape of the building that can be placed on the

land, and the uses to which buildings can be put (Barnett Jonathan 1974). The

first American zoning ordinance was enacted in New York City in 1916, with

the aim of imposing some minimum standards of light and air for streets,

39

which, particularly in lower Manhattan, had become increasingly dark and

canyon- like, as buildings grew taller and taller. The regulations specified the

activities which could take place in each zone, and imposed setbacks on

buildings, above a certain height to permit sunlight to fall on the streets and

the sidewalks, and light and air to reach the interiors of the buildings. The

legal rationale for zoning is the so called “police-power” of the States to make

regulations to protect public health safety and general welfare. The zoning of

land became, and still is, the most forceful instrument available to city

planners for controlling urban development.

Zoning is not the same as planning: it is a legal tool for the

implementation of plans. Zoning should be closely integrated with the master

plan or comprehensive plan that spells out a logical path for the city's future in

areas such as land use for transportation, parks and recreation, environmental

zones, and public works construction. In the early days of zoning this was

often neglected, but this lack of coordination between zoning and planning is

less common now. The goal is to prevent shabby, deficient developments that

produce headaches for both the residents and the city.

When zoning was first undertaken, there were no scientific data as

to the relative amount of land needed for various types of urban land use.

Lacking such data and standards, it was but natural that early zoning was

unscientific and, consequently, failed to exert a beneficial influence in

stabilizing the population and in moulding the form and character of the city.

40

Special District Zoning

Zoning Amendments

Floating Zoning

Cluster Zoning and Planned Unit Development; PUD

(Uniform conditions within the zone/ districts)

Conditional or Contract Zoning (Uniformconditions within the zone/ districts)

Down Zoning (Rezone to a use

of Lower Intensity)

Zoning with a Difference

Spot Zoning

(Neutral land use)

Variances

Area/ BulkVariances

Use Variances

Recent Developments

in Zoning-Flexible

“Bonus” or “Incentive”

Zoning

Transferable Development

Rights-TDR

Inclusionary Zoning

Planned Unit

Development (PUD)

Cluster Zoning

Performance Zoning

Development agreements

Exactions

Figure 2.15 The new zoning techniques

Barry Cullingworth (1993) outlines the new techniques related to

zoning that have been developed to control urban growth and change as

shown in Figure 2.15. The four most significant of these are

i) Planned Unit Development, which submits a master plan for

the entire area ear- marked for the same with the same over-all

density, and produces higher density clusters of housing,

leaving significant areas of the tract in their natural state.

ii) Urban Renewal Control, known as “urban removal” or “the

federal bulldozer”, is the right to acquire private land by

compulsory purchase for a public purpose. This technique, at

least in theory offers a high degree of design control, since the

local Authority, as the owner of the land, can set whatever

41

conditions of sale it likes. In practice, urban renewal plans

have seldom produced good city design.

iii) Zoning Incentives was a major attempt to use zoning

incentives based in part on urban design considerations.

iv) Special Zoning Districts is a way towards applying the

incentive principle on an area-wise basis, comparable in scale

to an urban renewal district.

In the UK, in addition to the structure plan and local plans, they

operate with what is known as Bebaungsplane, i.e., plans which are regulating

not only the land use but also the built form of streets, squares, streets,

districts and city. It might be appropriate to call such plans as ‘Urban Design

Frameworks’ (Frey Hildebrand 1999). The degree to which such plans

regulate the physical form of development depends on the individual places or

districts for the city. Design rules may be stringent for significant places and

areas, prescribing even the small details of physical development, maybe

including the detailing of facades and the formation of the roofs of buildings;

or they may be rather relaxed for less significant places, prescribing only the

overall massing of development or leaving it entirely open and restricting

perhaps only the height of development. A set of such urban design

frameworks may, therefore, be orchestrated to control the important features,

places and districts of a city, and to grant relative freedom for development in

the less important areas. The city as a physical entity is composed of many

different elements which relate to each other functionally and spatially. The

conventional land use zoning was modified with new flexible zoning

techniques, and this has been further developed as urban design frame works

and special districts.

42

2.3 CASE STUDIES ON CURRENT URBAN PLANNING MODELS

To get an overall view of the planning models of other cities, to

understand how they have been formulated and how they regulate the

imageability of the city, selected Indian cities from ancient to modern times

and some East Asian cities in general, and Singapore in particular, have been

analysed.

2.3.1 East Asian Cities’ Master Plan, Development Regulations and

Imageability Elements

The Asia-Pacific region has experienced faster and more

intense urbanization than any other region in the world. About 60 per cent

of the total world population will live in urban areas in 2030; up from

40 per cent in 1950. The largest portion of this increase will be

concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region. The cities in this region have

different urbanization histories from those in the United States and Europe.

Since most Asian countries have a history of colonization by Western

countries, their cities have mixed models of urban development and

planning. While some countries or regions may have benefited from

British or French architecture and urban planning models, others have

suffered due to inappropriate Western models. While the benefits and

appropriateness of past development can be debated, it is evident that

most Asian cities need a new strategy or principle for their urban

development due to the rapid growth and changing environments brought on

by globalization (Belinda Yuen 2007).

Primate cities—cities which house a large portion of a country’s

population, and dominate industry and politics—have led to spatial

disparity and social polarization in some countries. In terms of cities, Asia

and the Pacific can be divided into four subgroups: South Asia, South-East

Asia, East Asia, and Australia and the Pacific islands. Each subgroup has a

43

unique history and pattern of urbanization. Among these subgroups, East

Asia is the most urbanized and boasts of some world cities.

The spatial planning system in each country has its unique

characteristics in response to its social and historical background. In principle,

it can be grouped into three approaches: the detail planning approach, the

zoning plan approach and the master plan approach (Choi Hyunsun 2008).

Many Asian countries began land use control systems in the 1970s

and many countries have created master plans for the long-term development

of cities. In accordance with these master plans, the necessary preparations

have been made for land use control systems, such as land use control plans

that serve as the legal basis for regulating and encouraging actual

development, and development approval systems that serve as regulatory

methods (Tetsuo Kidokoro 2007). An outline of the elements of smart growth

in Asian cities is shown in Table 2.4.

Table 2.4 Elements of smart growth in Asian cities (Tetsuo Kidokoro 2007)

Elements of smart growth in Asian cities

Element Purpose

Centralized policy

environments

To ensure a reliable and effective policy system

with political support and accountability

Visioning to maximize

participation

To maximize people’s participation/share

development goals

Public-private

partnerships

To increase the feasibility of the projects with

proper partnership and financing with private

sectors

Development and

environment in harmony

To invest for future generations/preserve the

natural environment, open space and historic

built environment

44

2.3.1.1 Planning of Singapore with the Master Plan and Development

Regulations of Imageability

Singapore is a city as well as a country, with the city centre

occupying an area of about 110 sq km in the southern part of the main island.

Under a program of deliberate intervention by the state- ‘deliberate

urbanization’, an entire new townscape of high-rise, high-density buildings

has all but replaced the low-rise, predominantly shop house colonial city of

British rule. The city has chosen an overtly interventionist approach towards

urban development, adopting a strategy of integrating social, economic,

political and spatial visions through the overarching process of planning, and

legitimizing its control through performance in the provision of public goods.

The Concept Plan first adopted by the Singapore Government in

1971 is a non-statutory plan that shows in structural terms the distribution and

relationship between major land uses and transportation. The latest release of

the concept plan in 2001 has built upon the earlier plans to unfold a vision of

Singapore as a ‘dynamic, distinctive and delightful city’ in an increasingly

globalizing world.

The key strategies of the 2001 Concept Plan include:

Creating a more livable city: provide a wider choice of housing

types and locations and raise the quality of our living environment;

Creating a fun and exciting city: provide a wider choice of

facilities, places and greenery for all to enjoy;

Creating an economically vibrant city: provide greater flexibility

for businesses, and further improve transportation and connectivity;

Creating a distinctive city: focus on identity, to retain and enhance

a sense of place identity.

45

There are 55 development guide plans for the whole of Singapore.

The preparation of each of these plans applies the principles of the concept

plan within the more localized context of a specific planning area. With the

development potential of a particular site set out in the development guide

plans, public and private sector developers can obtain a clear idea of what

they can or cannot build on their land parcels. This helps to provide not only

certainty but also transparency in the planning system. The development

guide plans are an important component in the Singapore planning system, if

development control is not to be arbitrary, unpredictable and unaccountable.

Development control is an essential part of building and

programming for development. The notion of development is confined to the

use and development of land; it is a process of change from one state of the

built environment or use of land to an alternative state. It introduced two new

concepts in the control of land use:

The regulation of land use through zoning, and the control of intensity

of development through density (for residential use) and plot ratio (for

non residential use); and

The British planning ideas of new town and urban containment.

Creating a distinctive city: focus on identity, to retain and enhance a sense

of place identity. Additional attention is given to greenery, place identity

and heritage conservation.

The 55 Development Guide Plans for the whole of Singapore

applies the principles of the concept plan within the more localized context of

a specific planning area. The core policy of development set out was

essentially on decentralization, with a proposed green belt to arrest continued

expansion of the city area and the accommodation of further growth in three

new towns outside the existing city. Thus revised, businesses will have the

flexibility of having a mix of uses and creating work-live-play-learn

environments within the same site to suit their needs and market demand.

46

2.3.2 Indian Cities Master Plan Development Regulations and

Imageability Elements

The urban settlement in the Indian subcontinent dates back to 3000

B.C. Through the ages, Indian cities grew around early settlements and were

planned on the basis of the principles canonized in a number of ancient

medieval texts and treatises of town planning and architecture, such as the

Vastushastra, the Manasara and the Samarangana Suthradhara; these

principles reflected a deep concern for the pragmatics of town planning in

terms of site selection, street networks, zoning controls, and even expansion.

A characterizing feature of the traditional urban settlement in India

is a built environment that responds to the topographical and geological

character that is unique to it. Each traditional city has a distinct character that

is unique to it. This character is generated through the articulation of the built

environment in terms of the various hierarchical levels of the city, its

dominant institutions, its streets and open spaces and the building elements

used. Generally, in each city, the building elements used respond to the

climate of the region and the materials available. The built fabric of the city

works as a passive climate control device. The various components of the

cities relate to the whole resulting in a coherent and integrated entity. After

the Islamic intervention, the influence of the rulers on building and town

planning was well assimilated into the local systems, to generate some

beautiful cities and architecture. During the British period, their system of

planning was radically opposed to the traditional Indian. The dense urban

fabric was associated with problems of hygiene, sanitation and fire hazards as

in the case of British towns in the 18th

and 19th

centuries, and to establish a

distinction with the rulers there were differences in the built form too. Post

independence, the high urbanization and urban agglomeration resulted in

overcrowding the urban core with high energy and high resource consumptive

47

and does not respond to the lifestyle of the people, their traditions and

contemporary needs (Doshi 1991). Table 2.5 gives a chronological outline of

the major planning principles and image elements of different Indian cities.

Table 2.5 A chronology of major planning principles and image

elements - Indian cities (Doshi 1991)

Name of the CityMajor Planning Principles and

Image Elements

1. Mohenjo Daro and Harappa

(Beginning of the

civilization)

The inner city streets running straight and aligned north to

south and east to west, intersecting at right angles. The city

structure was dense and oriented as a protection against the

climate.

2. Pataliputra ( founded in the

5th century B.C)

The social division of Pataliputra was typical of royal cities

with large areas for it, and traders and crafts man had a

separate street or bazaar, a pattern which is still there. Most

part of the city is constructed with mud, had a flat roof and a

verandah around an enclosed court. The city was 10 miles

long and 2 miles wide with a ditch all round, 600’ in width

and 30’ in depth and had 570 towers and 64 gates.

3. Varanasi: Benaras-

Beginning of the

civilization in North India

The structure of the town arises partly out of the geography

of the place. The limits and zones of the city territory are

maintained by the pilgrimage. The GHATs form the majorurban element, being monumental and picturesque, reflective

of the close relation between the city and the river. The

buildings on the Ganges waterfront are distinctive and

unique.

4. Suchindram,

Kanyakumari- 9th

Century A.D

The layout is composed around the central temple complex

and is based on four important ritual movements associated

with the temple, the ceremonial access and the

circumambulatory paths. East –West axis us the main axis of

the town. The main circumambulatory route, the Car Street,

which is the major organizing element of the town structure,

is very large and with similar facades on either side,

widening at the south-eastern and south-western corners toform two large irregular squares.

5. Agra -founded in 1506 A.D

Agra lies in a vast level plain with an extreme hot-dry

climate. The city can be broadly divided into three areas: the

fort area, a city within the city housing the royal functions,

the city wall area for local commercial and public functions

and the outer city wall area for regional commercial

activities. Mostly it was mixed use and there exists a caste

system with different areas for different groups of people.

The proximity to the river and water system incorporated in

the city structure helped to cool the hot winds.

48

Table 2.5 (Continued)

Name of the CityMajor Planning Principles and

Image Elements

6. Fathepursikri-16th

Century A.D

The city was designed and built within a span of halfgeneration and was provided with all facilities. The Jami

Masjid forms an important urban element in terms of both its

orientation and entire urban composition. Another important

element is the continuous pattern of gardens, north-west and

south-east of the ridge. Axiality is used extensively in both

monumental road alignments and abstract geometric

references. In an attempt to control the unitary form of the

city, the modular grid has been used as a systematic design

instrument at all scales. The planning of each building is

Islamic in character; the ornamentation follows the Hindu

tradition.

7. Ahmadabad- 1411 AD-1572

The city’s form, dictated by the Sabarmati river, is roughlysemicircular with the main complex at the centre. The city

with in the fort wall had mixed activities. The fabric of the

city is dense built form punctuated with house courts, public

spaces and narrow winding streets. The buildings are of 2/3

storied structures. Primary streets were commercial in nature,

secondary streets with specialized commercial and third order

form housing clusters. Each cluster with one community,

which gives the texture and climatically controlled.

8. Shahjahanabad- 17th century

Oldest continuous urban settlement- Persian urban design

principles of formalism and symmetry of palaces, gardens and

boulevards and tempered by long standing Hindu tradition of

city building. Surrounding the fort were the gardens, palaces

and mosques of the royal family and the sites behind thiswere for the noblemen of the court. Around these were the

clay and thatch huts for the rest of the population, Mohallas.

The spatial configuration was around the nodes than on

edges, and the fabric was tightly knit with the open spaces

closely complementing the built ones.

9. Hyderabad- 1951

The city was designated to be a replica of paradise and

literally, the dominant elements of the plan and architectural

landmarks of the urban spaces represent the characteristic

features of the organic gardens of eternity. Hyderabad was

laid out around a monumental building in the centre, the

Charminar with a Mosque on the ground floor and a large

cistern above. This structure dominates at the main crossroads of east-west axis and north-south axis. The overall

configuration is of a strong Islamic character than Hindu.

10. Vijayanagara- mid

14th century

The city is not inhabited for more than 400 years but the

ancient glory is still visible through the remains of urban

elements such as malls, gateways, palaces, pavilions, towers,

stables, baths, fountains, aqueducts, tanks temples, sculptures,

inscriptions, ceramics etc. Three urban zones can be

distinguished; the sacred centre beside the Tungabhadra river,

the urban core at the level areas and sub-urban centers in the

plains beyond.

49

Table 2.5 (Continued)

Name of the CityMajor Planning Principles and

Image Elements

11. Calcutta- 1690

The largest urban agglomeration in India today. The city grewinto five parts; the fort area, the government area at the north

of the fort, the town area at the south of the fort, The Maidan

–a huge park surrounding the fort, The Indian business and

residential area further to the north. The character of

buildings ranged from hidden villas/bungalows in great

gardens to the overcrowded single room huts. Three fourths

of the population is in overcrowded tenements.

12. Chandigarh- 1947

The integration of formal and informal sectors. The seven V’s

system. Self contained sectors were planned with all facilities.

One /two storeyed brick houses built for economy, in terrace

formation and developing a street facade.

13. Durgapur-after 1947

Industrial township-layout is radial and divided into fiveresidential zones. The town centre has all the common

facilities with high density buildings. The arteries from each

of the five zones meet at the ‘big square’, where all the civic

buildings are located. Each zone is divided into smaller

neighbourhoods, which are provided with basic amenities.

14. Gandhi Nagar

The city centre is at the physical centre of the city adjoined by

the main civic buildings. The roads are oriented to run 300

north of west and 600 north of east to avoid direct facing of

the morning and evening sun, during the journey to and from

the work place. This orientation is also suitable for the design

of the buildings, enabling them to conveniently avail the

natural breeze. The city is divided into 30 sectors by this road

system. Peripheral areas of each sector have houses thatexhibit a large variety in architectural design, unrestricted by

any by-laws. Each sector has the basic amenities and

vehicular entry is restricted to four points making each sector

largely for pedestrians and cyclists.

In ancient India, a sense of civic integrity gave rise to certain

conditions, which can be referred to as controls. Some pertained to the order

in which various tasks must be carried out. The town was to be laid out first

and only then the houses were to be planned. The trees were to be planted first

and then the buildings were to be erected (Dutt 1924). Building heights are

specified to give a ward/sector a distinct identity. More structures were

prescribed to be taller. The houses of the Brahmans were to be the Chatursala

(four storied), Kshatrias, Trishalas (three storied). Vaisyas, Dwishala (two

storied) and the Sudras, Ekshala (one storied) and the imperial palaces were

prescribed to be eleven storied. The correspondence between the width of the

50

street and the height of the street was worked out, such that the taller

buildings of the elite were along the wider roads, while the shorter buildings

of the lower classes were along the narrow streets. The harmony of built form

was important. The heights of buildings along the same street were to be

similar. Deviation from the fixed measurements of the prescribed length,

breadth and height of buildings as per occupants was not desirable. The

Manasara states that the footpaths on either side of the street must be raised.

All houses have to face the royal roads and their backs had to open onto back

lanes that allowed the disposal of garbage and night soil. The space between

two buildings was specified along with appropriate fenestration requirements.

These different rules ensured a certain degree of harmony in the built form of

the town, levels of sanitation and also an active interface between the building

and the street.

India has characteristically drifted with history, rising periodically

to accomplish great things. In no field has this been truer than in town

planning. From prehistoric Mohenjo Daro, to the imperial city of New Delhi,

to Corbusier's Chandigarh, India has pioneered in town building. The

technique of diagnostic survey, commonplace in planning practice today, is

the somewhat belated result of Patrick Geddes' work in India eight decades

ago: the City Improvement Trusts in existence since the 1800s are models of

their kind.

After the birth of the institutionalized education of architecture and

town planning, British India undertook major efforts to create a new model of

urbanism through its experiment in the Presidency cities and in the formation

of New Delhi, and after independence, through founding a new breed of

capital centres such as Chandigarh, Bhuvaneshwar and Gandhigram, and

industrial town complexes, such as Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Bokaro.

51

2.3.3 Conclusion

The various case studies discussed reveal that there was always a

thought process on the overall form and image of the city and its parts, with

respect to the different parameters addressing imageability and sense of place,

and firmly establishing the relation between the built environment and the

public realm. In addition, the regulations were created with the formulation of

planning guidelines. In the current design and planning policies for an urban

environment, some of the major aspects of imageability, namely, legibility

and identity are lacking, and this research tries to fill the gap. The research

starts exploring the new approaches and planning techniques adopted in New

Urbanism, to understand its policies and guidelines in enhancing the

imageability of the urban environment.

2.4 NEW APPROACHES AND PLANNING TECHNIQUES

The literature review on imageability and the current urban

planning models reveals that the parameters to enhance imageability are

seldom addressed in the master plan, in the form of land use zoning and

development regulations. To evaluate the imageability of a city and to

enhance the same as a whole and its different important / special parts,

alternative planning approaches and techniques are looked for through the

review on new urbanism.

New Urbanism is concerned with both the city and its parts. It

applies to principles of urban design for the region in two ways. First,

urbanism, defined by its diversity, pedestrian scale, public space and structure

of bounded neighborhoods, which is applied throughout a metropolitan region

regardless of location: in the suburbs and new growth areas as well as within

the city. And second, the entire region shall be designed according to similar

urban principles. It shall, like a neighborhood, be structured by public space,

52

its circulation system supporting the pedestrian, be both diverse and

hierarchical, and have discernible edges (Katz Peter 1994).

Increasingly, architecture has become the instrument of excessive

self expression. Individual buildings are often conceived as solely private,

self-referential objects, incapable of generating the public realm. Conversely,

our public regulation system of zoning that controls the growth of the city has

become too verbal and complicated, and is incapable of accurately guiding the

physical image. New urbanism seeks a fresh paradigm to guarantee and to

order the public realm through individual buildings. Buildings, blocks and

streets are interdependent. Each one contains to some degree the ingredients

of all the others. Any decision to design streets in a particular manner, seals

the formal fate of blocks and buildings. Buildings of particular qualities

dominate the blocks that contain them and the streets that are around them.

The Matrix of addressing the totality of the street, block and building

principles of new urbanism is design, not policy planning, and amounts to an

aesthetic position. Buildings are the smallest increment of growth in the city.

Their proper configuration and placement relative to each other, determines

the character of each settlement.

As discussed, the fundamental organizing elements of new

urbanism are the neighborhood, the district and the corridor. Neighborhoods

are urbanized areas with a balanced mix of human activity; districts are areas

dominated by a single activity, and corridors are connectors and separators of

neighborhoods and districts (Parolek et al 2008. According to Duany the heart

of new urbanism is in the design of neighborhoods, which can be defined by

thirteen elements as listed below.

1. The neighborhood has a discernible center. This is often a

square or a green and sometimes a busy or memorable street

corner. A transit stop would be located at this center.

53

2. Most of the dwellings are within a five-minute walk of the

center, an average of roughly 1/4 mile or 1,320 feet (0.4 km).

3. There are a variety of dwelling types — usually houses, row

houses, and apartments — so that younger and older people,

single, and families, the poor, and the wealthy may find places

to live.

4. At the edge of the neighborhood, there are shops and offices

of sufficiently varied types to supply the weekly needs of a

household.

5. A small ancillary building or garage apartment is permitted

within the backyard of each house. It may be used as a rental

unit or place to work (for example, an office or craft

workshop).

6. An elementary school is close enough so that most children

can walk to and from their homes.

7. There are small playgrounds accessible to every dwelling —

not more than a tenth of a mile away.

8. Streets within the neighborhood form a connected network,

which disperses traffic by providing a variety of pedestrian

and vehicular routes to any destination.

9. The streets are relatively narrow and shaded by rows of trees.

This slows traffic, creating an environment suitable for

pedestrians and bicycles.

10. Buildings in the neighborhood center are placed close to the

street, creating a well-defined outdoor room.

54

11. Parking lots and garage doors rarely front the street. Parking is

relegated to the rear of buildings, usually accessed by alleys.

12. Certain prominent sites at the termination of street vistas or in

the neighborhood center are reserved for civic buildings.

These provide sites for community meetings, education, and

religious or cultural activities.

13. The neighborhood is organized to be self-governing. A formal

association debates and decides matters of maintenance,

security, and physical change. Taxation is the responsibility of

the larger community.

The Charter of the New Urbanism (www.cnu.org) has asserted nine

principles to guide public policy, development practice, urban planning, and

design on the basis of I) The region: Metropolis, City, and Town, II)The

Neighborhood, the District, and the Corridor, and III) The Block, The Street,

and The Building, and is enclosed as Appendix 1.

Duany Plater-Zyberk and other new urbanists use the transect to

describe the way things ought to be (Brower Sidney 2002). The use of urban

design concepts and categories of urban or rural character to define and

manage the future, is characteristic of most form-based zoning codes, and is

especially evident in a pattern image, a parallel and separate Dutch version of

the Transect. However, the key to the Duany Plater-Zyberk Transect lies in

giving legal weight to concepts of morphological urban analysis (Andrews

Duany Andrews and Emily Talen 2002).

55

SP

EC

IAL

DIS

TR

ICT

S

TODTND

TRANSECT (as a whole)

SMART

CODEHYBRID

CODE

REGULATING PLAN, PUBLIC SPACE STANDARDS, BUILDING FORM STANDARDS, FRONTAGE TYPE

STANDARDS, BUILDING TYPE STANDARDS, ARCHITECTURAL STANDARDS, LANDSCAPE STANDARDS,

OTHER CONTEXT SPECIFIC STANDARDS, ADMINISTRATION, DEFINITIONS AND GLOSSARY

NEW PLANNING TECHNIQUES (NEW URBANISM)

GFDFORM -BASED

CODESWC BFD ID

From the whole to parts according to the context

TND- Traditional Neighborhood

Development

TOD- Transit Oriented Development

WC- Walkable Communities

BFD- Brown Field Development

GFD- Green Field Development/

Grey Field Development

ID- Infill Development

Figure 2.16 The outline of the approaches of new urbanism

As discussed, the new urbanism concept is practised from the

whole of the city to the different parts of the city. Figure 2.16 clearly indicates

that the transect is the principle used for the division/parts/zones/ the city as a

whole and suitable special districts like TND/TOD/WC/BFD/GFD/ID are

identified in context with the different parts of the city. A regulating plan with

public space standards, building form standards, administration and

definitions suitable to the specific requirement is formulated in the form of

Form-Based Codes, Smart Code or Hybrid Code. The research adopts the

principles of the transect to prepare the regulating plan for the study area,

Chennai city.

56

2.4.1 Form-Based Codes (FBC)

At the start of the 21st century, urban planners rediscovered how to

regulate the design of cities with rules about building form, called Form-

Based Codes (FBC). “A Form-Based Code is one that is based primarily on

“form”—urban form, including the relationship of buildings to each other, to

streets and to open space, rather than based primarily on land use”. A Form-

Based Code is a development code that provides the developer / applicant

greater flexibility in permitted land uses in exchange for more stringent

regulations controlling urban form. These types of codes support mixed-use,

pedestrian-friendly and mixed housing development more effectively than

conventional codes, because they provide greater guidance on how buildings

are expected to face the street, adjacent residential neighborhoods and open

spaces. Form-Based Codes are becoming increasingly attractive to

municipalities that want greater control over how buildings look and feel.

(Katz Peter 1994)

The FBC is a method of regulating development to achieve a

specific urban form. Form-Based Codes create a predictable public realm,

primarily by controlling the physical form, with a lesser focus on land use as

shown in Figure 2.17. Form-Based Codes address the relationship between

building facades and the public realm, the form and mass of buildings in

relation to one another, and the scale and types of streets and blocks as shown

Figure 2.18. Form-Based Codes are drafted to achieve a community vision

based on time-tested forms of urbanism (The Form-Based Codes Institute

2008).

57

Regulations

for StreetsCodes and Lawsconcerning thelarger urbanrealm.

Regulations forFrontages

Regulations forBuildings

GenerativeCode

FBC (DuanyAndrews 2002)

Figure 2.17 Differences between development regulations and the FBC

approach

FBCs constitute a significant different approach from the way

development has been regulated in the United States in the last century.

Instead of concentrating on bulk land use, these codes focus on the

dimensions and locations of buildings, streets, frontages, and other elements

that constitute the physical design of place (Katz Peter 1994).

Figure 2.18 The Different regulations / codes for which the FBC is

formulated

Form-Based Codes are municipal development regulations that go

beyond the conventional zoning controls of segregating and regulating land

use types and defining building envelopes by setback requirements and height

limits. Form-Based Codes address instead, the details of relationships

between buildings and the public realm of the street, the form and mass of

buildings in relation to one another, and the scale and type of streets and

blocks. Form-Based Codes are based on specific urban design outcomes

LAND USE BUILDING

DESIGN

BUILDING DESIGNLAND USE

Typical Development RegulationsApproach (More thrust on land use zoning

and less thrust on design of building)

Typical Form-Based Codes Approach(More thrust on design of building and

less thrust on land use zoning)

58

desired by the community that may be identified through an inclusive, design-

focused public participation process. The regulations in Form-Based Codes

are applied to property through regulating plans that map the community with

geographic designations that are based on the scale, character, intensity,

density, and form of development rather than differences in land uses (Katz

Peter 1994).

The Form-Based Code is a mechanism through which the built

form is regulated by addressing the parameters that are listed under the broad

headings; public space standards, building form standards, frontage type

standards, block standards, building type standards, architectural standards,

green building standards, landscape standards and other specific standards

(Parolekl et al 2008).

1. Building Height

2. Mass of the building

3. Specific form of the building

4. Scale of the building

5. Building elevation details

6. Relationship between the buildings

7. Relationship between the building and

the street

8. Relationship between the building

and the open spaces

9. Orientation of buildings

10. Building entrances from the street

11. Design –focused public participation

process

12. Look and feel of the

building

13. Location of the building

14. Frontage design

15. Predictable public realm

16. Other design elements

a. Material

b. Fenestrations

c. Colour

d. Roof form

e. Shading devices

f. Special elevation features

etc

g. Character of the building

59

The literature review and discussion of the Form-Based Codes

reveals that this is a technique for regulating urban development to achieve a

specific urban form. The parameters addressed in Form-Based Codes also

indicate that this can be used to enhance the imageability of an urban

environment by incorporating this as a regulatory guideline, and how this can

be done is explored with further enquiry into the FBC in all other aspects.

2.4.2 Comparison of the Imageability Parameters with the FBC

The understanding of the different aspects of Form-Based Codes

has led to a comparison of the quantifiable imageability parameters with the

parameters addressed in the formulation of the Form-Based Codes. As shown

in Figure 2.19, it clearly states that out of the thirty one quantitative

parameters of imageability, eighteen parameters are addressed in the

components of the Form-Based Codes, which shows that the imageability of

an urban environment can be enhanced by formulating the Form-Based Code.

The research design explains the further steps for the formulation of the FBC.

60

Components of the FBC and Imageability

1. Adequate outdoor space

2. Harmony with nature

3. Signs

4. Degree of enclosure

5. Nature of enclosing elements

6. Parking

7. Safety and Comfort

8. Paving and Street Furniture

9. Nature of ground floor abutting the street

10.Building height

11.Building use

12.Colour

13.Fenestrations

14.Appearance & Elevation

15.Materials and style of dwelling

16.Variety

17.Total massing

18.Orientation

Regulating Plan

Administration

Components of FBC

Public Space Standards

Building Form Standards

Frontage Type Standards

Block Standards

Building Type

Standards

Architectural Standards

Green Building

Standards

Landscape Standards

Other Context Specific Standards

Community Specific Needs

Historic Preservation

Standards

Storm water Management

Standards

Signage

Organizing Principle

Implementation

Transect Based Code

Building Type Based Code

Street Based Code

Frontage Based Code

Thoroughfares

Civic

Spaces

Movement Type

Design Speed

Pedestrian Crossing

Time

Transect Zone

Right of Way Width

Curb to Curb Width Code

Traffic Lanes

Bicycle Lanes

Parking Lanes

Curb Type

Planter Type

Landscape Type

Walkway Type

Lighting

Curb Radius

Distance between

Intersections

Glossary

Overview

of the Zone

BuildingPlacement

Building Form

Regulations

ParkingRegulations

Allowed land use types

and detailed use Table

Allowed frontage types

Allowed Encroachments

Allowed Building types

Replacing Existing

Code

Optional/ Parallel

Mandatory/ Integrated

Floating Zone

The list of quantitative Parameters and cues from which

people choose to make a place more “Distinguishable”- leads

to strong imageability with strong identity and Physical setting

1. Adequate outdoor space

2. Trees

3. Clean air

4. Physical quality

5. Harmony with nature

6. Amount of greenery

7. Nature of enclosing

Elements

8. Signs

9. Noise level

10. Degree of enclosure

11. Character of space

12. Nature of enclosing elements

13. Transportation and Parking

14. Access to parks

15. Safety and Comfort

16. Street Length and Proportion

17. Paving and Street Furniture

18. Nature of ground floor

abutting the street

19. Building height

20. Building use

21. Colour

22. Materials

23. Fenestrations

24. Appearance & Elevation

25. Type of housing units

26. Density

27. Materials and style of

dwelling

28. Variety

29. Total massing

30. Levels of complexity

31. Orientation

Figure 2.19 Comparison of the imageability parameters with the

components of the form-based code

61

Laws controllingsocial behavior and

Order Urban Form

Health Laws Health Urban Form

Form-Based Codes

and Regulating PlansUrban FormModern

Times

AncientTimes

2.5 ANALYSIS OF FORM- BASED CODES

A critical examination and comparison of the parameters of Form-

Based Codes with imageability shows, that the FBC can be adopted as a tool

to evaluate and enhance the imageability of a city. Further to this, to attain an

in depth understanding of the FBC, the history of the FBC, different processes

of the FBC, components, steps involved in the preparation of the FBC,

different forms of organizing the FBC, different approaches to and methods of

the Form-Based Codes, different implementation methods, advantages of the

FBC and important points to be incorporated in formulating the FBC are

discussed in the following literature.

2.5.1 History of the Form-Based Code

The direct and indirect effects of the rules and codes on urban form

from ancient to modern times are shown in Figure 2.20 (Emily Talen 2009).

This clearly establishes the direct or indirect effect of the rules and regulations

on the built form.

Regulating/ Law/ Rule/ Code Intent Effect

Note: Solid lines indicate direct influence and dashed lines indicate indirect influence

(Emily Talen 2009)

Figure 2.20 Direct and indirect effects of rules and codes on urban form

62

Table 2.6 outlines the effect of the codes on the form of the cities

with respect to the overall city form and image, and to parts of the cities over

different periods in different cities in the world and in India for the past

centuries. This validates that the laws / rules / regulations / policies always

had an effect on the built form, and thus on the overall city form and image.

This research looks into all the details of the Form-Based Code, which

directly dictates the urban form and image.

Table 2.6 The form and code through history in the world and in

Indian cities

Period World India

Up to 8th

century BCOverall Form Overall Form

Greek and Roman

Civilization

( Classical Cities)

Greek Rome

8th

Century

BC to 6th

Century AD Overall

Form

Overall

Form

Overall Form

6th

Century

AD to 14th

Century AD

Regulations for Streets

and FrontagesIslamic Code- Generative Code

14th

Century

AD to 18th

Century AD

Regulations for Streets,

Frontages and Buildings

views and vistas Islamic Code-

Generative Code

19th

Century

AD

Health Acts -Generative

Code

Public Health Acts- Generative

Code

Planning in India

before

Independence

Planning in

India after

IndependenceModern

aspects of

the 20th

Century

The concept of Zoning -

Overall Form Development

Authority Overall

Form

Industrialization

policies-

Overall Form

63

AssemblingVisioningScoping and

Documenting

Form-Based Coding Processes (Paroleket al 2008)

Pre Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3

1. Macro scale

(Existing Framework Diagram)

2. Micro scale

(Existing Transect

matrix and Micro)

Illustrative Plan and

Imagery1. Illustrative Plan

(Transect Zone

vision sheets)

2. Regulating Plan

(Transect Regulation

matrix)

1. Splicing

(Additional code

text)

2. Formatting

(Form-Based

Codes)

2.5.2 Form-Based Codes Processes

There are three phases in the process of formulating the Form-

Based Codes (Parolek et al 2008). The first one - pre phase1, consists of

scoping and documenting at the macro and micro levels. Visioning happens in

phase 2 with an illustrative plan and imagery at the Regulating Plan level

using the Transect. Phase 3 consists of assembling the works of the previous

two phases with splicing and formatting the Form-Based Codes, as shown in

Figure 2.21.

Figure 2.21 Outline of different steps in form-based coding process

2.5.3 Components of the Form-Based Code

The following are the various components of the Form-Based

Code, as outlined in Figure 2.19.

1. Regulating Plan- A plan or map of the regulated area

designating the locations, where different building form

standards apply based on clear community intentions

regarding the physical character of the area.

64

2. Public Space Standards- Specifications for the elements within

the public realm (e.g., sidewalks, travel lanes, on-street

parking, street trees, street furniture, etc.).

3. Building Form Standards- Regulations controlling the

configuration, features, and functions of buildings that define

and shape the public realm.

4. Administration- A clearly defined application and project

review process.

5. Definitions- A glossary to ensure the precise use of technical

terms.

Form-Based Codes also include:

1. Architectural Standards- Regulations controlling external

architectural materials and quality.

2. Landscaping Standards- Regulations controlling landscape

design and plant materials on private property as they impact

public spaces (e.g. regulations about parking lot screening and

shading, maintaining sight lines, ensuring unobstructed

pedestrian movements, etc).

3. Signage Standards- Regulations controlling allowable signage

sizes, materials, illumination, and placement.

4. Environmental Resource Standards-Regulations controlling

issues, such as storm water drainage and infiltration,

development on slopes, tree protection, solar access, etc.

5. Annotation- Text and illustrations explaining the intentions of

specific code provisions (www.formbasedcodesinstitute.org).

65

Steps for preparing the Form-Based Codes

Steps 1- Existing conditions analysis and inventory

1. Street types

2. Block types

3. Building types

4. Open space types

5. Parking types and location6. Natural featuresSteps 2- Public visioning and Charrette

Steps 3-Determine appropriate spatial basis for regulation (districts,transect, streets or special zones) 1. Neighborhoods, districts,

corridors

2. Transect

3. Street-based regulating plan

4. Special purpose zonesSteps 4- Develop Urban Standards (streets, blocks,

building placement, height, land uses, etc.)

Steps 5- Develop Architectural Standards (building or

frontage typologies, etc.)

Steps 6- Allocate and illustrate standards

2.5.4 Steps to Prepare the Form-Based Code

Planner Paul Crawford’s Model (2003) gives us the different steps

involved in the preparation of the Form-Based Codes as outlined in

Figure 2.22. These steps are followed for this research except step 2- public

visioning and charrette.

Figure 2.22 Steps to prepare the FBC

2.5.5 Different Forms of Organizing the Form-Based Code

The different forms of organizing the FBC in detail are discussed

below.

i. Street-based: The Regulating Plan locates the private realm

development standards by the street type; that is, the development

standards for all site and building characteristics are governed by the

site’s relationship to pre-defined street types. In addition to setting the

private realm standards, the Regulating Plan defines elements within the

public realm (e.g. sidewalks, travel lanes, on-street parking, street trees,

66

street furniture, etc.). This type of form-based code can be useful for

areas where streets have not yet been planned.

ii. Frontage-based: The Regulating Plan locates the private realm design

standards by the frontage type; that is, the development standards for all

site and building characteristics are defined by the edge condition where

it meets the primary street (frontage). Frontage-based FBCs may also

define the street types, but the development standards are not (or not

always) tied to the street type. This type of form-based code can be

useful for areas where streets are already designed and/or built.

iii. Street-Frontage Hybrid: Development standards are tied to specific

frontage/street combinations.

iv. Building Type-based: The Regulating Plan controls the locations of

pre-defined building types. The development standards define the

configurations, features, and functions of buildings.

v. Transect-based: The Regulating Plan articulates a cross section of street

types, frontage types and/or building types along an urban/rural

continuum, to understand where different uses or building types fit or are

inappropriate. The “pure” transect-based FBC uses the Smart Code

transect with clearly defined zones fromT1 to T6; this system was first

created by DPZ (Duany Plater Zyberk).

vi. Modified Transect: The concept of the transect is modified to correlate

with the existing or zoned local urban to suburban characteristics.

2.5.6 Different Approaches to and Methods of the Form-Based Code

Despite significant variations in the practice of Form-Based Codes,

there is an emerging consensus on a common approach. The following are

descriptive terms illustrating the key principles for guiding code-writing

67

towards sustainable urban development. They are vision-centered, purposeful,

place-based, regionally diverse, consequential, precise, integrated, binding,

comprehensible and adjustable.

There are a number of different approaches, which are used to

regulate the form-based code. Although there is some overlap between these

approaches, Planner Crawford describes four basic alternatives that are

typically used by different practitioners:

Neighborhoods, districts, corridors

Transect

Street-based regulating plan

Special purpose zones/ Special districts

This process entails identifying which parts of the community are

appropriate for different types of development. This research has adopted the

transect, in a modified format as the Context Specific Transect (CST), the

organizing method to prepare the regulating plan. It has been further zoned

down in identifying the special districts within the Transect, which also

includes neighbourhoods and the street frontage design.

2.5.7 Different Implementation Methods of the Form-Based Code

Form-Based Codes replace existing zoning codes and can be either

mandatory or optional. There are several options for the implementation of the

FBC and they are:

1. Comprehensive Replacement of the Existing Code (Mandatory

and Free Standing): The Form-Based Code replaces the pre

existing conventional zoning code for all parts of a

68

community, and all development within the FBC’s defined

application area must abide by the regulations in it.

2. Optional Parallel and Freestanding: The FBC is created as a

standalone code, but does not replace the pre existing

conventional zoning code. Alternatively, it can take the form

of an optional parallel code system-- self- contained, special,

with unique provisions, not cross-referenced to other parts of

the code, available as an option in designated zones.

3. The specific plan with the FBC: This replaces the pre existing

conventional zoning code regulations for the specified area.

4. Mandatory and Integrated (Embedded “Form Based Zones”):

The pre existing conventional zoning code is updated by

adding new Form Based Zones with appropriate regulations. A

new regulating plan is prepared. This is the “hybrid code”

method. A form-based code can be integrated into the existing

code, applied as a “by right” designation to selected zones,

and cross-referenced to existing code provisions, such as

administrative procedures and/or land uses.

5. Floating zone/ TND; Traditional Neighbourhood

Development/ TOD; Transit Oriented Development: The pre

existing conventional zoning code is updated by adding a

single new zone. The FBC takes the form of a floating zone

(either integrated or optional/parallel) which is triggered by an

application to rezone a specific area. Form-Based Codes are

often confused with design guidelines; however, they are not

discretionary. While they offer flexibility just like design

guidelines, they do so by offering choices between objective

standards, rather than by offering multiple ways of meeting an

aspiration guideline.

69

According to each context specific urban environment and the

administrative regulatory system any of the methods discussed can be adopted

in a modified format to implement the Form-Based Code.

2.5.8 The Advantages of the Form-Based Code

Katz Peter (1994) and the Form-Based Code Institute list out the

following advantages of the FBC

1. Form-Based Codes are better at illustrating community plans

and vision.

2. Building and street design are coordinated.

3. Urban form is more predictable.

4. A more gradual transition between adjacent areas with

different development intensities is easier to achieve.

5. Can specify the tapering of height, bulk, massing and lot

coverage of buildings toward residential and/or natural edges.

6. High density development is more carefully designed,

attractive and compatible.

7. Form-Based Codes are graphic and easy to understand and

use. They are often more readily understood by the public,

which reduces code interpretations and can shorten the review

process over a long term.

8. Because form-based zoning is prescriptive (it states what we

want), it creates a desired “place” unlike conventional zoning

codes (Katz, FBCI).

70

9. Form-Based Codes can deliver predictability for both the

developer and the community. This saves time and money for

all these involved in the development process.

10. Form-based zoning encourages walkable communities and

transit-oriented development.

11. Form-based zoning focuses on the quality of the pedestrian

environment, while still accommodating the automobile.

12. By primarily focusing on building form, and secondarily on

use, Form-Based Codes result in a high quality built

environment.

13. Private developments are integrated with the public realm

since Form-Based Codes address the character of public

streets and public places.

14. Form-Based Codes are successful in established communities

since they define and codify the community or

neighborhood’s character. Thus, traditional and desirable

building types are encouraged; promoting infill that is

compatible with the surrounding development.

15. Form-based zoning concepts can be applied to many different

communities and situations.

16. Form-based zoning is very detailed, providing a thorough

approach to development. This creates predictability and can

eliminate the need for design guidelines, which are difficult to

enforce.

17. Because they are prescriptive rather than proscriptive, Form-

Based Codes (FBCs) can achieve a more predictable physical

71

result. The elements controlled by FBCs are those that are

most important to the shaping of a high quality built

environment.

18. FBCs encourage public participation because they allow

citizens to see what will happen where - leading to a higher

comfort level about greater density, for instance.

19. Because they can regulate development at the scale of an

individual building or a lot, FBCs encourage independent

development by multiple property owners. This obviates the

need for large land assemblies and the megaprojects that are

frequently proposed for such parcels.

20. The built results of FBCs often reflect a diversity of

architecture, materials, uses, and ownership, which can only

come from the actions of many independent players operating

within a communally agreed-upon vision and legal

framework.

21. FBCs work well in established communities because they

effectively define and codify a neighborhood's existing

vernacular building types that can be easily replicated,

promoting infill that is compatible with the surrounding

structures.

22. Non-professionals find FBCs easier to use than conventional

zoning documents, because they are much shorter, more

concise, and organized for visual access and readability. This

feature makes it easier for non planners to determine whether

compliance has been achieved.

72

23. FBCs obviate the need for design guidelines which are

difficult to apply consistently, offer too much room for

subjective interpretation, and can be difficult to enforce. They

also require less oversight by discretionary review bodies,

fostering a less politicized planning process that could deliver

huge savings in time and money, and reduce the risk of taking

challenges.

24. FBCs may prove to be more enforceable than design

guidelines. The stated purpose of FBCs is the shaping of a

high quality public realm, a presumed public good that

promotes healthy civic interaction. For that reason,

compliance with the codes can be enforced, not on the basis of

aesthetics, but because the failure to comply would diminish

the good that is sought. While enforceability of development

regulations has not been a problem in new growth areas

controlled by private covenants, such matters can be

problematic in already-urbanized areas due to legal conflicts

with first amendment rights.

2.5.9 Important Points to be Incorporated in the Form-Based Code

Parolek et al (2008) observes the important points to be

incorporated in the formulation of the Form-Based Code the guide lines of

which are listed out below:

1. No land use table

2. For each Context Specific Transect Zone (CSTZ) - one page

write up about the building use which is allowed should be

listed out.

73

3. Density is not used in the FBC (No FSI / FAR).

4. Parking standards should be included.

5. Open space requirements should be part of the transect zone.

6. Placement of buildings along with building code and use, and

not with transects.

7. Maximum Building Coverage is not used in the FBC.

8. Maximum Building Depth can be used in the FBC.

9. Distances between the buildings and the size of the buildings

are taken into consideration.

10. Importance given to frontage design.

2.5.10 Summary

As explained through Figure 2.16, the new urbanism concept

adopts the transect as the principle for the division/zones of the city as a

whole. It further identifies the different special districts like the TND /TOD /

WC / BFD / GFD / ID in different parts of the city, and the FBC are

formulated accordingly. The literature on the components of the FBC clearly

states that for the preparation of the regulating plan, the different organizing

principles used, are transect based, building types, street or frontage based. In

this, the Transect based is more suitable to Indian scenario for formulating the

FBC, as traditional urban settlements in India are a built environment, which

responds to the topographical and geological character that is unique to it.

Each traditional city in India has a distinct and unique character, which is

generated through the articulation of the built environment in terms of the

various hierarchical levels of the city, its dominant institutions, its streets and

open spaces and the building elements used over a period of time by different

rulers. That is why this research adopts the transect as the organizing principle

74

to prepare the regulating plan for the whole of study area, Chennai, one of the

important traditional and historical urban cities in India.

2.6 TRANSECT

This part of the literature review helps to understand the details of

the transect through its history, its advantages, principles and concepts of the

transect methods and the different parameters to zone the city into different

transects, for preparing the regulating plan.

2.6.1 History of the Transect

The transect is a natural law that can be observed anywhere and

everywhere. A natural law is defined as a principle derived from the

observation of nature by the right reason, and thus ethically binding in human

society. The transect emerged organically in human settlements, preceding

any explicit conceptual formulation. The transect as a natural law is

imminent, but its suppression by modernist transportation and zoning has

catalyzed the current need to re-present it as a viable alternative theory. The

first appearance of the transect as an intellectual construct was the ‘Valley

Section’ conceived by Patric Geddes (1915) early in the 20th century. He had

crudely diagrammed a generic transect as a geographic section taken from the

up land forest to the down land river. It articulated a series of determined

human societies ranging from the hunters in the highlands to the farmers in

the foothills, to tradesmen along the shores. Geddes illustrated the transect as

a cross section of human activities, as only through this device could he

illustrate the fundamental rural-to-urban range, in its natural-law basis.

Other users of this concept, such as M.R.G. Conzen’s transect

studies of historical town plans and places built during various periods since

the Industrial Revolution or Coleman’s analysis of the central city, older and

newer suburbs, and rural areas, utilized the technique to describe existing

situations. By contrast, Duany Plater- Zyberk and other New urbanists use the

75

transect to describe the way things ought to be (Brower, 2002). This use of

urban design concepts and categories of urban or rural character to define and

manage the future, is characteristic of most form-based zoning codes.

2.6.2 Principles and Concepts of the Transect

Duany (2002), draws a cross section through an imaginary

landscape, identifying six types of environmental zones, where each is

defined by its morphological character, moving from T1 (Transect1- Natural)

through ascending scales of rural, suburban and urban areas leading to the

densest area T6 (Transect6- Urban Core) as shown in Figure 2.23 and Table

2.7. A seventh classification, an ‘Assigned’ or ‘Special District,’ similar to the

conventional planning’s ‘special use districts,’ exists for uses, such as big

hospital complexes, airports, landfills and the like, that do not fit easily into

urban or suburban zones, or which, because of noxious by-products such as

dust and noise, need to be kept at a distance from residential areas. This

hierarchical scale enables designers, planners and the public to see the various

kinds of rural and urban landscape as a continuum that relates to urban uses.

Figure 2.23 A schematic layout of different transect zones

76

Table 2.7 Transect zone (T1 to T6) with the characteristics of each transect

Transect Zone No

and NameCharacteristics of the Transect Zones

T1 - The NaturalZone

Lands approximating a wilderness condition, permanently set asidefor conservation in an essentially natural state.

T2 - The Rural

Zone

Lands in open or cultivated state or sparsely settled.

These include woodland, grassland and agricultural land.

T3 - The Sub-Urban Zone

Low density areas, primarily comprising of single family and twofamily residential units, with relatively deep setbacks, streetscapes

with swales, and with or without sidewalks. Blocks may be large and

the roads may be of irregular geometry to accommodate natural andhistoric conditions.

T4 - The General

Urban Zone

Zone with mixed use, but primarily residential urban fabric with a

range of building types including row houses, small apartmentbuildings, and bungalow courts. Setbacks are short with an urban

streetscape of wide sidewalks and trees in planters. Streets typically

define medium-sized blocks.

T5 - The Urban

Centre Zone

Zone with higher density mixed-use building types thataccommodate retail and office uses, row houses and apartments. A

network of small blocks has streets with wide sidewalks, steadystreet tree planting and buildings set close to the frontages with

frequent doors and windows.

T6 - The Urban

Core Zone

Zone with highest density and greatest variety of uses, includingcivic buildings of regional importance. A network of small blocks

has streets with wide sidewalks, with steady tree planting andbuildings set close to the frontage with frequent doors and windows.

The transect approach is an analytical method and a planning

strategy. It can be formally described as a system that seeks to organize the

elements of urbanism— building, building lot, land use, street, and all of the

other physical elements of the human habitat—in ways that preserve the

integrity of different types of urban and rural environments (Emily Talen

2002). These environments can be viewed as variations along a continuum

that ranges from rural to urban. Along this continuum, human environments

vary in their level of urban intensity. Adhering to this system of organization,

urban environments are preserved in their urban state, while rural

environments are preserved in their rural state, and the mixing of elements—

a rural element in an urban environment and vice versa—is avoided.

77

Most transect methods, like Geddes’ method, focus on discovery,

interpretation and analysis. Transect planning is somewhat different in that, it

uses the urban-to-rural transect as a basis for normative planning. The

discovery of urban-to rural transects is used, for example, to expose the

‘regional vernacular’ as an underlying foundation for a new regulatory code.

Thus, the purpose of transect planning is to proactively guide the urban

pattern in a way that shows a logical progression of urban elements, from the

rural to the urban (Emily Talen 2002).

This kind of approach constitutes a fundamental change in the

current planning practice. Not only does it require a much stronger integration

of plan and implementation, it also requires a new system of land

classification and regulation— one that arranges the elements of urbanism

according to the principles of a transect-based distribution. Planners facilitate

this system by learning how to allocate spatially, by finding the appropriate

location and juxtaposition of urban elements along a continuum of human

habitats, from the urban to the rural. This serves to integrate natural and man-

made systems in a way that is, in our modern world, conspicuously missing.

To achieve this, transect planners have given the maximum focus to

the coding of a transect-based system. Such a system must: (1) spatially locate

a discrete number of transect environments, ranging from the natural to the

urban; (2) apply standards within each environment, so that development

within them does not detract from the integrity of each place; and (3) be

flexible enough to allow one transect eco zone to evolve into another, thereby

incorporating a dynamic, rather than static, approach in guiding urban

development. (Emily Talen 2002)

Andres Duany, one of the Ahwahnee Principle’s authors and a

founder of the Congress for New Urbanism, has taken the idea of the

“transect” from natural science and applied it to land use planning. The

78

transect, as used in ecological studies, draws a cross section through different

habitats to understand their interrelationships along a continuum in a better

way. Applied to an urban/rural continuum, the transect helps us to better

understand, where different uses and building types fit well or where they are

inappropriate. Seen from this perspective, we learn that a controversial use or

development project is not inherently bad, but may simply have been

proposed for the wrong location. Duany codes all the features and concepts

that guide communities, neighborhoods and development, into six different

districts along the transect (T1 to T6): from the natural preserve to the urban

core. He also includes a special district for uses, such as a university campus,

airport or stadium. Setbacks, for instance, shrink as development progresses

from the rural to the more highly urban. Likewise, there is a lesser area

devoted to greenery in the urban core than in the rural districts. Building

heights, however, increase. This unified development ordinance, or “Smart

Code,” links all commonly regulated dimensions and features, building bulk,

street lighting, sidewalks, parking and landscaping to the different districts.

This framework allows for a common understanding that relates development

characteristics to places within the urban fabric.

This common language allows developers, planners and residents –

even in different cities – to readily comprehend the context for different uses

and building types. The graphical nature of the transect fits very well with the

Form-Based Code. Duany Plater-Zyberk has been instrumental in bringing

this classification methodology into real-world applications in the form of

Form-Based Code projects across the US.

A zone is to help the practitioner to understand how changes in

the context, and the level of activity the context generates, changes the design

of the thoroughfare. Figure 2.24 gives examples of how a metropolitan area’s

transition in development intensity, varies from the natural to the urban core

79

in the transect based ecological analysis and conventional zoning based

ecological analysis.

Figure 2.24 Index of diversity- a comparison of transect based zone and

conventional zone ecological analysis

This research uses the Transect as the organizing principle for the

preparation of the regulating plan. Since a City Specific Planning Model is

being formulated in general for any city, the criteria of the morphological

analysis varies from place to place, the transect being specified as a Context

Specific Transect. Instead of using only the conventional land use zoning and

development regulations, the parameters identified for zoning the city

according to the context, such as the open space and built up area ratio,

building disposition, building configuration etc. can be formulated and

integrated in the City Specific Planning Model.

2.6.3 Methods And Parameters For the Transect Zone

The different parameters used to zone the city into the various

transect zones from the rural to the urban core land use intensity, density,

building disposition, building configuration, building function, standards,

mixed use and neighbourhood are shown in Figure 2.25.

80

An urbanized area of at least 40 acres that isprimarily Residential

Multiple functions within the same buildingthrough superimposition or adjacency, or inmultiple buildings within the same area by

adjacency

STANDARDS ParkingArchitectureLandscape

Signages

TRANSECT ZONE-PARAMETERS (Andrews Duany and Emily Talen, 2002)

The placement of a building in its lotBUILDING DISPOSITION

The number of dwelling units within a standard measure

of land area, usually given as units per acreDENSITY

The form of a building, based on itsmassing, private frontage, and heightBUILDING CONFIGURATION

LAND USE

INTENSITY

A measure of the extent to which a land parcel is developed in

conforming to the zoning ordinance and is measured by the built up areaper unit area of land

BUILDING FUNCTION The uses accommodated bya building and its lot

MIXED USE

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Figure 2.25 The different parameters used to zone the transect

In the conventional planning model, the master plan, the regulating

plan is prepared with the land use zone map. This research develops the City

Specific Planning Model using the Form-Based Code to enhance the

imageability for parts of the city as well as the whole and adopts the transect

as the organizing principle to prepare the regulating plan. The most important

transect parameters; land use intensity and density are taken to prepare the

regulating plan for the study area, Chennai city.

2.6.3.1 Other Context Specific Sector Zone/ Special Districts within the

Transect

As discussed earlier, within the Context Specific Transects, Green

Field Development (GFD), Grey Field Development (GFD), Infill Development

81

TOD is Regional Center Development (RCD)

with transit available or proposed.

A Community Type based upon a Standard

Pedestrian oriented toward a Common

Destination consisting of a mixed-use center

or corridor, and having a minimum

developable area of 80 acres.

TOD OR TRANSIT-ORIENTED

DEVELOPMENT

TND OR TRADITIONAL NEIGHBORHOOD

DEVELOPMENT

INFILL DEVELOPMENT

OTHER CONTEXT SPECIFIC SECTOR ZONES/

SPECIAL DISTRICTS WITH IN THE TRANSECT

Development of an area previously used primarily as a

parking lot. Shopping centers and shopping malls are

typical Grey field sites

GREYFIELD DEVELOPMENT

Development planned for an undeveloped area outsidethe existing urban fabric

GREENFIELD DEVELOPMENT

A development within the existing urban fabric

CLD OR CLUSTER DEVELOPMENT Areas suitable for hamlets

Under conventional zoning, a developer with 100 acres

may have no choice but to build one kind of residential

units at a consistent density

Under the new code, the developer could opt to build a

village — with the developer deciding how much of the

project would be designated Rural (0 to 30 percent),

Edge (10 to 50 percent), General (30 to 50 percent), and

Center (30 to 50 percent)

All of these zones have options in terms of

thoroughfares, building types, frontages, civic spaces,

and other elements

ADVANTAGES OF TRANSECT ZONING

(ID), Cluster Development (CLD), Traditional Neighbourhood Development

(TND), Transit Oriented Development (TOD), and Street Frontage Design are

identified as shown and explained in detail in Figure 2.26.

Figure 2.26 The other context specific sector zones/ special districts

within the transect

2.6.4 Advantages of the Transect Zoning

The different advantages of Transect Planning are outlined in

Figure 2.27.

Figure 2.27 Advantages of transect planning

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Special District designations shall be

assigned to areas by their

Intrinsic function,

Disposition, or

Configuration,

Cannot conform to one of the six

normative Transect

Zones or

Transect Zones are

administratively similar to the

land-use zones in

conventional codes, except

that in addition to the usual

building use

Density

Height,

Setback requirements

Other elements of the

intended habitat are

integrated including those

TRANSECT

The transect approach is an analytical method and a planning strategy. It can be

formally described as a system that seeks to organize the elements of urbanism—

building, lot, land use, street, and all of the other physical elements of the human

habitat—in ways that preserve the integrity of different types of urban and ruralenvironments.

A system of ordering human

habitats in a range from the

most natural to the most

urban.

The Smart Code is based upon

six Transect Zones which

TRANSECT ZONE (T-ZONE)

SPECIAL DISTRICT (SD)

2.6.5 Conclusion

From the literature review on transects, Figure 2.28 concludes the

detailed analysis done on the transect. This enables the development of a City

Specific Planning Model (CSPM) using the Context Specific Transect (CST)

as the organizing principle, for preparing the regulating plan for the entire

city, with identified special districts/ zones within the transects.

Figure 2.28 The overall view of the transect

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2.7 PLANNING THEORIES AND DIFFERENT CITY MODELS

Planning’s formative history is usually constructed around three

separate movements that occurred at the end of the 19th century and framed

as reactions to urban unpleasantness and harsh living conditions: (i) the

garden city movement originating in the UK, (ii) the city beautiful movement

founded in the USA and the (iii) major push for public health reform that was

common to both the countries.

The planning theory in history is thus classified into three main

periods: (1) the formative years (late 1800s to 1910) dominated by

personalities such as the garden city pioneer Ebenezer Howard and city

beautiful designer Daniel Burnham; (2) the modernist period (1910–1970)

encompassing the birth, development and consolidation of the profession of

planning, during which regional and national initiatives were formulated and

schools of planning were created in British and American universities; and (3)

the postmodern era (1970 to the present) characterized by recurring crises,

where planning as a civic enterprise has been attacked from within the

profession. From Lynch’s (1981) planning theories and concepts, “the city as

a sacred ceremonial centre moved into the city as a machine for living and

city as an organism”, a summary of the models of settlement form gives an

outline of different general patterns, central place patterns, textures,

circulation, open space patterns and temporal organization for different city

models (Grahame Shane David 2005).

84

2.8 IMAGEABILITY OF THE CITY WITH THE DIFFERENT

CITY MODELS

Frey Hildebrand (1999) analyses the overall forms and patterns of a

city and the imageability of the different city forms like the core city, star city

satellite city, and the linear city, as shown in Figure 2.29 based on the

condition that the overall relationship between the built-up and open land is

around 60% to 40%. The population density close to the 60 pph is chosen as

the threshold value. Each model is to accommodate a population of 2, 50,000

and 5, 00,000 respectively; this will give an insight into the changing land

requirements and dimensions of each city model as a result of doubling the

population. For the dispersed city models - The star and satellite city- the

population accommodated in the central city is to be about 23% of the total

city population, with 77% in the ‘fingers’ or satellites. The evaluation of the

performance of city models, based on agreed sustainability characteristics, is

done for all the six city models under 15 headings.

Linear city Regional City Core city

Star city Galaxy of Settlements Satellite city

Figure 2.29 The different city forms (Hildebrand Frey 1999)

85

Table 2.8 Comparison of the imageability criteria of the six city models

City Models

CharacteristicsCore City Star City Satellite City

Galaxy of

settlementsLinear city

Polycentric/

Regional city

Imageability of

the city (the

physical entity)

as a Whole

With limited size it

is Highly

imageable

Good if star

is small

Very good Overall

image is

non-

existent

The considerable

length of the city

model prevents the

imageability of the

city.

The potentially

limitless size

prevents the

imageability of the

city

Imageability of

parts of the city

(neighborhoods,

districts, towns

etc.)

Needs careful

design attention

Central area

is imageable.

Finger areas

need careful

design

attention.

Requires careful

designs and

specific sets of

activities to

make them

imageable.

Nodes with

in

settlements

have limited

imageability

Unless the transport

and provision nodes

are carefully

designed,

imageability may

not be good.

Nodes and

transport channels

can have

imageability if

they have

distinguished

design features and

sets of activities

Out of the fifteen characteristics compared, the imageability of the

city as a whole and of parts of the city for all the six city models are shown in

Table 2.8. This indicates that the overall imageability is good only if the size

and form is limited to the core, star and satellite city. From all the other city

models it is understood that the imageability of the parts of the city can be

achieved only through careful planning and design. For the study area,

Chennai city, which is similar to Copenhagen's finger plan (star city), has a

single dominant centre of high density and mixed uses, and the transportation

routes radiate out from the centre. The imageability for Chennai can be

1. Degree of containment of

development

2. Population density relative to the

land needed

3. Viability of public transport

4. Dispersal of vehicular traffic

5. Viability of mixed uses

6. Access to services and facilities

7. Access to green open spaces

8. Environmental conditions

9. Potential for social mix

through variety of housing

10. Potential of local autonomy

11. Potential self sufficiency

12. Degree of adaptability

13. Imageability of the city as a

whole

14. Imageability of parts of the

city

15. Sense of place and centrality

86

achieved only through the careful planning of the central area and the finger

areas such as the transportation corridor.

2.9 RESEARCH DESIGN

2.9.1 Introduction

The process of modern city planning seeks to steer market forces in

city building towards the citizen’s welfare and public good. Zoning and

building by-laws are still among the primary tools of such planning. In

addition, master plans seek to lay out a physical pattern of land use and

transportation routes for the city, or the metropolitan area as a whole. Thus,

master plans serve as a guide for public agencies to tailor their sectoral

programming to the plan, while facilitating private investments in the same

manner (Chennai Master Plan 2008, Vol1, Introduction). The draft master

plan for the CMA consented to by the Government was notified in the

Gazette on 5.08.75 and from that date developments have been regulated

with reference to the master plan and development control rules.

Though the Madras Town Planning Act was enacted in 1920

itself and a few Detailed Town Planning schemes were sanctioned for

small areas within Chennai City, no comprehensive plan for the city or for

the metropolitan region was prepared. (Chennai Master Plan 2008, Vol1,

Introduction) The Madras Town Planning Act was superseded in 1971 by

the Tamilnadu Town and Country Planning Act. According to section 17,

sub-section (2) of the Act, the Development Plan may propose or provide

for all or any of the matters as per the list, and one important aspect in that was

the control of architectural features, elevation and frontage of buildings and

structures- which has not been addressed effectively in the framework of

the Development Regulations even in this second master plan, 2008.

Vision 2026 is to make Chennai a prime metropolis, which will be

more livable, economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable and with

87

better assets for the future generations (Chennai Master Plan 2008, Vol1,

Introduction). How this is going to be achieved is not reflected in the planning

policies.

The topography of Chennai is a flat coastal plain with the climate

being hot and humid, the predominant wind direction being from South East

to North West, but all these have never been reflected as the policy criteria for

the built environment. The comparison of the current Master Plan Model of

Chennai city with the imageability parameters has been streamlined in

arriving at the area of research.

2.9.2 Methodology and Procedure of the Research

The method of research is applied research (Nagarajan 2008). The

approach for this research is derived from the principles of the transect zone,

the system coded by the firm of Duany Plater- Zyberk, and this code is

copyrighted as the smart code, in a modified format. The strategy used to

arrive at a modified form of the Form-Based Code to enhance the

imageability of the study area is that of Correlation Research, the study

sought to clarify patterns of relationship between imageability and the Form-

Based Code through the multi case study method. The steps in Paul

Crawford’s Model are used to prepare the Form-Based Code for the study

area, Chennai city.

A method of framing variable standards within a generalized theory

through an analysis of the man-environment relations is proposed, considering

the specifics of a situation, the context, and the images involved

(Rapoport Amos 1977) - the Modified Filter Model. The six stages of the

research are given below.

88

Understanding the Form- Based Code, itscomponents, processes, different forms,approaches, methods, implementation

techniques, etc.

Inadequacy in the conventionalplanning model in addressing the

Imageability parameters

Historical case studies ofIndian cities: Developmentregulations and Imageability,

and East Asian cities

Enquiring about the newplanning models which

address the Imageability

parameters in a better way

Establishing the need for research

Grouping of parameters

a. Quantitative/ Spatial / First Order

b. Qualitative/ Visual / Second Order

Enquiring about the current planning

model of the city which regulates the

Imageability.

Comparing and analyzing the

parameters of Imageability with the

planning model.

1. Understanding the uses of

Imageability and its needs

2. List of the Parameters to

measure Imageability

2.9.2.1 Stage I

The Correlation approach for an understanding of the theoretical

framework of imageability, the parameters to measure imageability, and the

existing Master Plan and Development Regulations leading to the need for

this research is shown are Figure 2.30.

Figure 2.30 The sequence of stages to establish the need for research

2.9.2.2 Stage II

Figure 2.31 gives an outline of the assessment of the result of the

correlation approach of stage-I.

Figure 2.31 The sequence of stages taken for the assessment

89

Imageability case studies of

other countries and developing

the standards for the

Imageability parameters for

the study area.

Existing model of Master

Plan and DevelopmentRegulations in Chennai

Overall analysis of the Form-

Based Codes, which leads to aMacro theory of the Transect

Developing a City Specific Planning

Model to evaluate and enhance

Imageability using different Context

Specific Transects to prepare the

regulating plan and formulating the FBC

with respect to building regulations and

building and street frontage guidelines.

Current divisions of Chennaiwith land use, and otheradministrative units like wards,zones, taluks etc.

Analysis of the

study area-Chennai

Evaluation of the Imageelements of the city fromevolution to the present

Parameters to zone the city withthe Transect as the planningstrategy using the smallest

administrative unit-ward/division.

Formulating standards for theidentified Imageability

parameters for the study area.

2.9.2.3 Stage III

An overall analysis which leads to the application of the theory to

develop a City Specific Planning Model is shown in Figure 2.32.

Figure 2.32 The sequence of stages taken to develop the city specific

planning model

2.9.2.4 Stage IV

Figure 2.33 explains how the City Specific Planning Model developed

in stage III is applied to Chennai city to zone the city into Context Specific

Transects

Figure 2.33 The sequence of stages taken to apply the city specific

planning model

90

Historical development of the

city and the importance of thestreet /area in enhancing the

Imageability

Selecting the Context Specific

Transects for formulating the Form-Based Code to enhance theImageability in general, and inparticular, the historical streets and

Special Districts ( SD).

Field survey of the selectedstreets/ areas through a systematicobservation recording methodwith a coding system for theselected parameters of

Imageability

Evaluation of the existing Imageabilityand comparing it with the Imageabilityparameter standards formulated, theForm-Based Code is formulated for each

case.

2.9.2.5 Stage V

The validation of the City Specific Planning Model developed in stage

III with the selected cases of streets within the selected transects and the

identified Special District of Chennai city is outlined in Figure 2.34.

Figure 2.34 The sequence of stages taken to validate the model

2.9.2.6 Stage VI

Developing the FBC for the selected transect in general and the

street/area, Special Districts in specific to enhance the imageability is shown

in Figure 2.35.

91

FBC with respect to Specific code at built level, at building with street level and

other public standards in context for each area.

Desired Imageability for the

selected transect as a whole and

specific Imageability for theidentified streets/area

KAMARAJAR SALAIANNA SALAI

MYLAPORE AREA(TND- SD)

Figure 2.35 The sequence of stages taken to formulate the FBC for the

selected area/street

2.10 DATA BASE

2.10.1 Study Area, Chennai City

Chennai, situated on the shores of the Bay of Bengal is the Capital

of Tamilnadu state, and is the fourth largest metropolis in India as shown in

Figure 2.36. Its older name ‘Madras’ was officially changed to 'Chennai' in

1996. Chennai Metropolis with a latitude between 12°50'49" and 13°1 7'24",

and a longitude Between 79°59'53" and 80°20'12" is located on the

Coramandal coast in South India and the land is a flat coastal plain.

Figure 2.36 Chennai location map

INDIA

CHENNAI

TAMILNADU

92

Three rivers, viz., the Kosasthalaiyar, Cooum and Adyar pass

through the Chennai Metropolitan Area and these rivers are placid and

meander their way to the sea. Buckingham Canal, a man-made canal, is

another large waterway which runs North-South through this metropolis.

Sholavaram, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam Lakes are the three large

lakes in the area.

Chennai lies on the thermal equator and most of the year it is hot

and humid. The highest temperature attained in May-June is usually about

400C (104

0F) for a few days. The coldest time of the year is early January, and

during that month the temperatures are about 200C (68

0F). The Predominant

wind direction is from South East to North West.

The Chennai Metropolitan Area comprises the area covered by the

Chennai City Corporation (Chennai District) of 176 sq.km comprising 155

wards (villages/ Local Bodies) in 10 corporation zones. Chennai has a very

heterogeneous mix of architectural styles ranging from ancient temples to the

British colonial era buildings and to the latest modern buildings. Most of the

buildings constructed during the colonial era are in the Indo Saracenic style.

Chennai is a major transportation hub for road, rail, air and sea

transport, connecting major cities inland and abroad; it is also one of the

major educational centres in India, with a number of colleges and research

institutions. Chennai is thus emerging as an important metropolis in the South

Asian region.

The three case studies selected for formulating the Form-Based

Code for Chennai city streets are Anna Salai (from Anna Flyover to Tarapore

Towers), Kamarajar Salai (from Napier Bridge to Light House) and the four

streets surrounding the Kapaleeswarar temple (North, South, East, West Mada

93

streets) of Mylapore under the Context Specific Transect; CST 6, CST 5 (Eco

Zone), and CST 6 (Traditional Neighbourhood Development) respectively.

2.10.2 Source of the Data

1. Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority -DDPs

2. Chennai Second Master Plan-2008

3. Eicher City Map- Chennai 2005

4. Chennai Guide Map-Survey of India, 2002

5. Chennai Corporation- Ward Details with the Lot and Built up

area in each lot- Chennai Property Tax Division, March 2010

6. Census India 2001

For the reconnaissance survey along the major streets of Chennai

city, field surveys and observations were recorded through photographs and

data sheets in the designed format by traveling in a two-wheeler, car and bus.

The detailed primary data for the identified three areas and streets of Chennai

city has been collected by foot, over a period of two years, from

August 2008 – April 2010.

2.10.3 Collection of the Data

Data is collected in the form of primary survey via photographs and

observations marked in the prescribed format, prepared by the method of the

coding system.

2.10.3.1 Secondary Data

Secondary data is collected from the literature review. Data

collected in the form of prints of maps from the Chennai Metropolitan

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Development Authority (CMDA) is converted into a softcopy by scanning

and drafting, and editing with the Auto Cad 2008. The information regarding

the property tax in the form of Microsoft office files from the Chennai

Corporation are converted into Microsoft Excel files for the entire 155 wards

(22783 Pages) and analysed with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences

(SPSS). With the identified parameters to measure the Transect Zone; the land

use intensity and density is calculated. Both the data are put together and

mapped to prepare the regulating plan of Chennai city with the different

Context Specific Transects (CST). Within each CST Special Districts (SD)

are identified further, through the field survey.

2.10.3.2 Primary Data

Primary data was collected for the identified Imageability

parameters through the field survey with the observation and coding system.

2.10.4 At City Level

The Overall data was based on the built up area and open space

ratio to prepare the map of Chennai City according to the Context Specific

Transect Zone.

2.10.5 At Street Level

The data regarding the width and profile of the street, buildings abutting the

street, street furniture, trees, parking are collected to prepare the street map.

2.10.6 At Building Level

The height of the buildings, total massing, building use, the style of

the building, orientation, exterior colour, material finish, fenestrations,

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presence of trees in the building premises, parking, and signages are collected

to analyse and evaluate the imageability.

2.10.7 Street and Building Level

Data regarding the sense of enclosure (Height of the building to

Abutting Street width ratio), pavements, and details of the front set back are

collected.

2.10.8 Characteristics of the Data

Data has been collected in the form of observation tables, maps in

the Acrobat pdf format, and ward details in the form of Microsoft Access.

2.10.9 Analysis of the Data

The analysis of the data collected from the field survey is done by

the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).

2.11 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH

2.11.1 Scope

Even though it is understood from the literature study that

imageability and the governing planning regulatory of the city for the same

are interrelated, not much research has gone into developing a model of

linking these two. Available studies and research on imageability are

compiled to identify the list of parameters to measure the imageability. These

parameters are integrated into the existing system of the planning model,

master plan and development regulation system, through the proper approach

and method to enhance the imageability. This research would develop a

planning model for formulating the Form-Based Code (FBC) for cities in

general and for Chennai city in specific. This planning model is validated for

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Chennai in the case of selected streets/area in the Context Specific Transect

(CST).

2.11.2 Limitations

1. The second step in Paul Crawford’s Model to prepare the

Form-Based Code, i.e., public visioning and charrette, is not

incorporated in the formulation of the Form-Based Code for

Chennai.

2. Only two major streets and one Special District pertaining to

three different Context Specific Transects are taken in detail

for the formulation of the Form-Based Code.

3. The Form-Based Code is formulated only as street based, with

selected parameters.

4. The study area is limited to the Chennai city boundary.

2.12 CHAPTER WISE SUMMARY

Chapter 1 contains five main topics which are, 1) an overview of

the thesis 2) need for the research 3) premise of the research 4) the research

questions and 5) objectives of the research.

Chapter 2 provides the literature review on imageability and

explains the definitions and different models of image, need and uses,

different elements of the image, different classifications of the image,

parameters to measure imageability, quantitative and qualitative elements, list

of cues for strong imageability and a good city and its image. The literature

review on an appraisal of the urban planning tools and models, the elements

of settlements and their design, ancient planning principles and elements,

current urban planning tools and models with zoning as a planning tool,

principles of framing development regulations and formulation of standards

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and the master plan, zoning and outlines of the development regulations on the

city form and image are also covered in Chapter 2.

The case studies on the current urban planning models for some of

the East Asian cities and Indian cities with their master plan, development

regulations and imageability elements are analyzed. New approaches and

planning techniques with a stress on the Form-Based Code (FBC) are

presented. A comparison of the imageability parameters with the FBC, an

analysis of the Form-Based Code, history of the FBC and its processes,

components of the FBC, steps to prepare the FBC, different forms of

organizing the FBC, different approaches and methods for the FBC, different

implementation methods for the FBC, the advantages of the FBC and the

important points to be incorporated in the FBC are discussed in detail. The

history of the Transect, the principles and concepts of the transect along with

the methods and parameters for the transect zone are analyzed along with the

analysis of planning theories, and the different city models and their

imageability.

The next part in Chapter 2 gives the outline of the research design

with the methodology and procedure for research along with a detailed

explanation of the six different stages of research. An introduction to the

study area, Chennai, along with the source of data, method of data collection

at different levels, characteristics of the data and how it is analyzed, are

explained. The chapter wise summary is outlined at the end of this chapter.

In Chapter 3 the formulation of a planning model is developed. The

comparison of the different case studies of the Form-Based Codes and their

implementation methods is done to arrive at a suitable method for the study

area, Chennai city. A City Specific Planning Model (CSPM) as a tool to

evaluate and enhance imageability has been developed at the end of the

chapter.

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Chapter 4 contains the study area of this research, Chennai city,

which is outlined in three aspects. The first one analyses the image elements

of Chennai city from the evolution of the city to the present scenario. The

second part outlines the different major plans for Chennai at different periods

and their policies on the image of the city. The third part analyses the

reconnaissance survey conducted along the major street networks of Chennai

city to select the streets in different Context Specific Transects, to develop

various models and formulate the Form-Based Code in the form of a street

frontage hybrid.

Chapter 5 gives an outline of the method for the formulation of

standards for imageability parameters by analyzing the different case studies.

The imageability parameters considered, and the standards for these in

general to the specific for the study area, Chennai city, are formulated.

The application of the City Specific Planning Model to the study

area of Chennai city is explained in chapter 6. The preparation of the

regulating plan for the whole of Chennai city consisting of 155 wards with

respect to the density and land use intensity, to zone the city into various

Context Specific Transects and Special Districts, is identified within the

respective Context Specific Transects. Three different areas/streets in the

Context Specific Transects of Chennai are identified and the existing images

are evaluated and analyzed.

Chapter 7 outlines the summary of the findings to formulate the

Form-Based Code to enhance the Imageability of the selected Special District

areas/ streets within the Context Specific Transect with the conclusions.

Reflection on methodology along with the limitations and the implications of

the research are given at the end of the Chapter.