The Urban World, 9th Ed.

J. John Palen

Chapter 13: Planning, New Towns, and New Urbanism

• Introduction• American Planning• 20th-Century Patterns• European Planning• New Towns• American New Towns• New Urbanism or Traditional Neighborhood• Summary

Introduction• Ancient Greece and Rome– The Greeks gave little attention to the physical

arrangement of their communities– The Roman provincial cities were modeled after the

gridiron pattern of encampment used by the Roman legions

• Renaissance and Later Developments– Planners in the 16th and 17th centuries often

designed stylized and static artificial communities– The 19th-century redesign of Paris must be listed

among the more successful attempts at city planning

American Planning• Washington, D.C.– Pierre L’Enfant’s plan for Washington, D.C., is the

best-known example of North American town planning during the 18th and 19th centuries

• 19th-Century Towns– During the 19th century, little creative energy went

into designing the rapidly multiplying new towns– The Federal Land Ordinance of 1785 encouraged

the gridiron pattern, since it divided all lands west of the Mississippi into units of one square mile

• Early Planned Communities– Historically, totally planned communities have not

fared well in North America

• Parks– In 1857, Frederick Law Olmsted began building

Central Park on 843 acres of wasteland– It inspired other cities to copy New York’s

successful plan– There was a pronounced profit as well as an

aesthetic motive in creating parks

• The City Beautiful Movement– Emerged from the World’s Columbian Exposition

held in Chicago in 1893– City leaders were determined to make a good

impression, and their goal was to create a modern wonder; the famous White City, lit at night by the then-new electric light bulbs

– It was a solid, conscious, and sincere attempt to improve the urban environment

– The greatest weakness was that it almost totally ignored the problem of housing, particularly that of the slums

• Tenement Reform– The early 20th century saw a movement by social

reformers such as Jane Addams to improve the quality of life in inner-city slums

– Many desperately needed housing improvements were made as a result of the campaigns of the reformers, but crime, violence, and alcoholism were not banished as a result

– The relationship between housing and social behavior is complex and unfortunately not amenable to simple brick-and-mortar solutions

20th-Century Patterns• The City Efficient– The emphasis shifted from the city beautiful to

the city efficient– Bold city planning was replaced by city

engineering– Planning and land-use regulation through zoning

became the accepted functions of local government

• Zoning and Beyond– Zoning, which became a force in the U.S. with the

New York City Zoning Resolution of 1916, was originally seen as a device to “prevent the intrusion of improper uses into homogenous areas”

– What made zoning significant was that now “bad” usages could be controlled by law

– Zoning was used before the Fair Housing Act of 1968 as a means of enforcing racial segregation

– New York City has now moved to a hands-off policy– Houston, TX, is the only major city in North America

without any zoning laws

• Master Plans to Equity Planning– Became the hallmark of city-planning agencies from the

1920s to the 1970s– The purpose of the master plan was to coordinate and

regulate all phases of city development– The death blow for many a master plan was the upsurge

of urban renewal and other development plans after World War II

• Crime Prevention through Environmental Design– CPTED used by providing natural access control with

house fences and shrubs, placing windows so open areas can be observed, using sidewalks, porches, and landscaping to define boundaries, and using street design to discourage criminal activity

European Planning• The major ways in which European planning

differs from American planning are these:– Government planning is expected and accepted as

necessary– There is greater governmental control of land– Housing subsidies are commonplace– Public transportation is widely used

• Planning and Control of Land– Some European cities enjoy the advantage of

control over their own municipal lands– Europe also has a tradition of urban planning– Land-use systems are not socially neutral

• Housing Priorities– During the postwar period there was heavy

emphasis on clearing slums and war-damaged central areas and on building new towns on the urban periphery

– In western Europe, high-rise housing projects are in disfavor, and the focus is on gentrification of older neighborhoods

• Transportation– In more densely populated European cities public

transportation is the norm– In order to decrease auto usage many European cities

use congestion pricing, where they charge motorists to drive into the center of the city

• Urban Growth Policies– European countries have national land-use or growth

policies– Many countries are seeking to stem migration to the

largest centers– Manufacturers are given economic incentives to invest

in depressed areas needing growth

• The Dutch Approach– The Netherlands is the most densely populated

country in Europe– The majority of the Dutch population is found in a

megalopolis, known as the randstad, or “rim city”– The Dutch have kept their town compact, and

valuable woods and fields are kept as a reserve for the use of all

– A system of local, regional, and national controls prevents urban sprawl

New Towns• British New Towns– The new town movement owes its origins to Ebenezer

Howard who proposed building whole new communities in a book

– The towns were to be completely planned, with all land held in public ownership to prevent speculation

– First Towns• The first garden city at Letchworth was plagued by many

difficulties• The second new town, Welwyn Garden City, was started in

1920. It eventually surmounted initial crises, and today is a pleasant and prosperous community

Figure 13.1Garden City and Rural Belt ModelHoward’s garden cities were designed to be self-sufficient and self-contained communities. Note that the rail lines do not enter the city proper.

– Government Involvement• WW II led to the Greater London Plan of 1944, with new

towns as one part of a four-part policy• The British government became directly involved in building

new towns through the New Towns Act of 1946• The government altered Howard’s original scheme• The new towns have not significantly altered social behavior

• New Towns in Europe– European new towns are really extensions of the older

city into the countryside, rather than attempts to create new rural or suburban utopian communities

– All were initiated, planned, and financed by the government

– Social problems have resulted in the ending of new town building

American New Towns• Public-Built New Towns– The U.S. government designed, financed, built, and for

a decade managed three planned greenbelt towns surrounded by areas of open land

– Public Law 65 of 1949 mandated that all the homes built by the government be sold

• Federal Support for New Towns– Congress in 1968 and 1970 voted federal funds and

technical aid to developers and guaranteed each developer’s bonds

– In 1974, the Ford administration ended support– The government lost $570 million

• Private New Towns: Reston, Columbia, and Irvine– The best known and most successful new towns– Privately financed

• Research Parks– Research Triangle is the most famous business-

oriented research park– Communities seek office and research parks

because they bring nonpolluting, high-tech, and high-employment to the area

– There are real limits to the number of such enterprises possible in a region

New Urbanism or Traditional Neighborhood Developments

• New Urbanism developers and planners follow smart growth practices

• New Urbanism is designed to minimize auto usage

• Celebration– Built by the Walt Disney Company outside Orlando– Many aspects of the residents lives are controlled– For those with above-average incomes– Failed to be racially diverse

• Creating Community– New Urbanism communities are connected by

traditional right-angle grids so there are multiple ways of getting somewhere

– Streets are kept narrow, and sidewalks are required– Built to a higher density and with a mix of income levels– Designed to encourage a mixture of people and activities

in order to create busy streets

• Limitations– Will people be willing to reduce their reliance on autos?– The question of how much community design can affect

behavior– May just become a niche market for affluent home

buyers