Urban planning is concerned with the ordering and design of settlements, from the smallest towns to the world's largest cities. Shown here is Hong Kong's CBD.

Urban, city, and town planning are the discipline of land use planning which explores a very wide range of aspects of the built and social environments of urbanized municipalities and communities. Land use planning is the term used for a branch of public policy which encompasses various disciplines which seek to order and regulate the use of land in an efficient Other professions deal in more detail with a smaller scale of development, namely architecture, landscape architecture and urban design. The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation Landscape architecture involves the investigation and designed response to the landscape Urban design concerns the arrangement appearance and functionality of towns and cities and in particular the shaping and uses of urban Public space. Regional planning deals with a still larger environment, at a less detailed level. Regional planning is a branch of Land use planning and deals with the efficient placement of land use activities infrastructure and settlement growth across a significantly

Another key role of urban planning is urban renewal, and re-generation of inner cities by adapting urban planning methods to existing cities suffering from long-term infrastructural decay. Urban Renewal (similar to Urban Regeneration in British English) is a controversial U ^[1]

History

Urban planning as an organized profession has existed for less than a century; however, most settlements and cities have displayed various degrees of forethought and conscious design in their layout and functioning.

As agriculture replaced a nomadic existence, permanent human settlements, and larger settlements began to appear. Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture Nomadic people, (from the νομάδες nomádes, "those who let pasture herds" also known as nomads, are communities of people that These early cities became centers for trade, defense, and politics, distributing the agricultural surplus a settled farming society produces. A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status

Mural depicting the palace quarter of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon, Mesopotamia, around 600BC.

Cities laid out with forethought and design permeate antiquity. Perhaps the earliest of these were those of the ancient Mesopotamian and Harrapan civilizations of the third millennium BCE. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin A Civilization is a society in which large numbers of people share a variety of common elements

Ur located near the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in modern day Iraq and some ancient cities of the Indus Valley in modern day Pakistan are perhaps the earliest examples of deliberately planned and managed cities in history. Ur ( Sumerian:urim; Akkadian: ?) is modern Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq, and was a city in ancient Sumer. The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great Rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. Pakistan () officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia, Southwest Asia, Middle East and The streets of these early cities were often paved and laid out at right angles in a grid pattern. The grid plan or gridiron plan is a type of City plan in which Streets run at right angles to each other forming a grid. There was also with a hierarchy of streets (commercial boulevards to small residential alleyways). In Harrapan settlements, archaeological evidence suggests the houses were laid out to protect from noise, odors, and thieves, and had their own wells, and sanitation. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos Ancient cities often had drainage, large granaries, and well-developed urban sanitation^[2]

The Greek Hippodamus (c. A granary is a storehouse for threshed grain or Animal feed. In ancient or primitive granaries Pottery is the most Sanitation is the hygienic means of preventing human contact from the hazards of wastes to promote health Hippodamus of Miletus ( or Hippodamos Greek Ἱππόδαμος (498 BC &mdash 408 BC was an ancient Greek Architect Urban Planner Physician Mathematician Meteorologist 407 BC) is widely considered the father of city planning in the West, for his design of Miletus; Alexander commissioned him to lay out Alexandria, the grandest example of idealized urban planning of the Mediterranean world, where regularity was aided in large part by its level site near a mouth of the Nile. Miletus (mī lē' təs ( Ancient Greek: Μίλητος literally Transliterated Milētos, Latin Miletus) was an Ancient Alexandria ( Egyptian Arabic: اسكندريه Eskendereyya; Standard Arabic: ar الإسكندرية Al-Iskandariyya; Ἀλεξάνδρεια

The ancient Romans used a consolidated scheme for city planning, developed for military defense and civil convenience. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC The basic plan is a central forum with city services, surrounded by a compact rectilinear grid of streets and wrapped in a wall for defense. To reduce travel times, two diagonal streets cross the square grid corner-to-corner, passing through the central square. A river usually flows through the city, to provide water and transport, and carry away sewage, even in sieges. Effectively, many European towns still preserve the essence of these schemes, as in Turin. The Romans had a very logical way of designing their cities. They put all the streets at right angles, set up in a square grid. All the roads were equal in width and length except for two. These two roads formed the center of the grid and intersected in the middle. One went East/West, the other North/South. They were slightly wider than the others. All roads were made of carefully fitted stones and smaller hard packed stones. Bridges were also constructed where needed. Each square marked by four roads was called an insulae. An insulae was the Roman equivalent of a city block. Each insulae was 80 yards square. The land of each insulae was divided up. As the city developed, each insulae would eventually be filled with buildings of various shapes and sizes and would be crisscrossed with back roads and alleys. Most insulae were given to the first settlers of a budding new Roman city, but each person had to pay for the building of their own houses. The city was surrounded by a wall to protect the city from invaders and other enemies, and to mark the cities limits. Area outside of the walls and city limits was left for farmland. At the end of each main road, there was a large gateway with watchtowers. A portcullis covered the opening when the city was under siege. Other watchtowers were constructed around the rest of the city’s wall. An aqueduct was built outside of the city's walls. This brought in the water necessary for the city's functioning.

The idea of rational planning collapsed with the idea of the res publica in the European Early Middle Ages. This article is about the Latin phrase For the historical state see Roman Republic; for the dialogue by Cicero see De re publica; for the former Estonian The Early Middle Ages is a period in the History of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire spanning roughly five centuries from AD 500 Round a fortress or fortified abbey or next to a Roman nucleus — sometimes itself abandoned— urban growth occurred "like the annular rings of a tree"^[3] whether in an extended village or the center of a larger city. Since the new center was often on high, defensible ground, the city plan took on an organic character, following the irregularities of elevation contours like the shapes that result from agricultural terracing. Topography ( topo-, "place" and graphia, "writing" is the study of Earth 's Surface features or those of Planets In Agriculture, a terrace is a leveled section of a Hilly cultivated area designed as a method of Soil conservation to slow or prevent the rapid

The ideal centrally-planned urban space: Sposalizio by Raphael, 1504

The ideal city resurfaced in the Early Renaissance in Florence, where the star-shaped city plan was adapted from the new cannon-resistant star fort. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere A star fort or trace italienne is a Fortification in the style that evolved during the age of Black powder, when cannons came The star-shaped fortification had a formative influence on the patterning of Renaissance urban planning: "The Renaissance was hypnotized by one city type which for a century and a half— from Filarete to Scamozzi— was impressed upon utopian schemes: this is the star-shaped city"^[4] Radial streets extend outward from a defined center of military, communal or spiritual power. Vincenzo Scamozzi ( September 2, 1548 - August 7, 1616) was an Italian Architect and a writer on architecture active mainly Only in ideal cities did a centrally-planned structure stand at the heart, as in Raphael's Sposalizio of 1504 (illustration); as built, the unique example of a rationally-planned quattrocento new city center, that of Vigevano, 1493-95, resembles a closed space instead, surrounded by arcading. Raphael Sanzio, usually known by his first name alone (in Italian Raffaello) (April 6 or March 28 1483 – April 6 1520 was an Italian painter and Vigevano is a town and commune in the Province of Pavia, Lombardy, northern Italy, which possesses many artistic treasures and runs a huge industrial Filarete's ideal city, building on hints in Leone Battista Alberti's De re aedificatoria, was named "Sforzinda" in compliment to his patron; its twelve-pointed shape, circumscribable by a "perfect" Pythagorean figure, the circle, takes no heed of its undulating terrain in Filarete's manuscript. Antonio di Pietro Averlino (c 1400 - c 1469) also "Averulino" dubbed Filarete (Greek "lover of virtue" was a Florentine Leon Battista Alberti ( February 14, 1404 &ndash April 25, 1472) was an Italian author artist Architect, Poet Antonio di Pietro Averlino (c 1400 - c 1469) also "Averulino" dubbed Filarete (Greek "lover of virtue" was a Florentine "Pythagoras of Samos" redirects here For the Samian statuary of the same name see Pythagoras (sculptor. ^[5]

The true heirs of Greek rational planning were the Muslims, who are thought to have originated the idea of formal zoning (see haram and hima and the more general notion of khalifa, or "stewardship" from which they arise), although modern usage in the West largely dates from the ideas of the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion Zoning is a term used in Urban planning for a system of land-use Regulation in various parts of the world including North America the United Kingdom The Arabic term ḥaram has a meaning of "sanctuary" or "holy site" in Islam. The Congrès International d'Architecture Moderne ( CIAM) (or International Congress of Modern Architecture) founded in 1928 and disbanded in 1959 was

Many cities in Central American civilizations also engineered urban planning in their cities including sewage systems and running water. Mexico-Tenochtitlan, was the capital of the Aztec empire, built on an island in Lake Texcoco in what is now the Federal District in central Mexico. At its height, Tenochtitlan was one of the largest cities in the world, with close to 250,000 inhabitants.

In developed countries (Western Europe, North America, Japan and Australasia) during the last two centuries, planning and architecture can be said to have gone through various stages of general consensus. Western Europe at its most general meaning means 'all the countries in the West of Europe ' For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. Australasia is a Region of Oceania: New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, and neighbouring Islands in the Pacific Firstly there was the industrialised city of the 19th century, where control of building was largely held by businesses and the wealthy elite. Around the turn of the 20th century there began to be a movement for providing people, and factory workers in particular, with healthier environments. The concept of garden cities arose and some model towns were built, such as Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City the world's first garden cities, in Hertfordshire, UK. The garden city movement is an approach to Urban planning that was founded in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom For the US businessman see William Pryor Letchworth. For the New York State Park see Letchworth State Park. Welwyn Garden City is a Town in Hertfordshire, England. Welwyn Garden City is also referred to in Council parlance as WGC or less correctly Hertfordshire (ˈhɑːtfədʃə(r, abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of However, these were principally small scale in size, typically dealing with only a few thousand residents. ^[6]

It wasn't until the 1920s when modernism began to surface. Modernism describes an array of Cultural movements rooted in the changes in Western society in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century Based on the ideas of Le Corbusier and utilising new skyscraper building techniques, the modernist city stood for the elimination of disorder, congestion and the small scale, replacing them instead with preplanned and widely spaced freeways and tower blocks set within gardens. Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris, who chose to be known as Le Corbusier ( October 6, 1887 – August 27, 1965) was a Swiss There were plans for large scale rebuilding of cities, such as the Plan Voisin (based on Le Corbusier's Ville Contemporaine), which proposed clearing and rebuilding most of central Paris. The Ville Contemporaine or Contemporary City was an unrealised project to house three million inhabitants designed by the French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier in 1922 No large scale plans were implemented until after World War II however. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Throughout the late 1940s and 1950s, housing shortages caused by war destructions led many cities around the world to build substantial amounts of government housing. Planners at the time used the opportunity to implement the modernist ideal of towers surrounded by gardens. The most prominent example of an entire modernist city is Brasilia, constructed between 1956 and 1960 in Brazil. Brasília (bɾaˈziliɐ is the Capital of Brazil. The city and its District are located in the Central-West region of the country along a Plateau |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, many planners were coming to realise that the imposition of modernist clean lines and a lack of human scale also tended to sap vitality from the community. This was expressed in high crime and social problems within these planned neighbourhoods. ^[7] Modernism can be said to have ended in the 1970s when the construction of the cheap, uniform tower blocks ended in many countries, such as Britain and France. A tower block, block of flats, or apartment block, is a multi-unit High-rise Apartment building. Since then many have been demolished and in their way more conventional housing has been built. Rather than attempting to eliminate all disorder, planning now concentrates on individualism and diversity in society and the economy. This is the post-modernist era. ^[8]

Minimally-planned cities still exist. Houston is an example of a large city (with a metropolitan population of 5. 5 million) in a developed country, without a comprehensive zoning ordinance. Houston does, however, have many of the land use restrictions covered by traditional zoning regulations, such as restrictions on development density and parking requirements, even though specific land uses are not regulated. Moreover, private-sector developers have used subdivision covenants and deed restrictions effectively to create the same kinds of land use restrictions found in most municipal zoning laws. Houston voters have rejected proposals for a comprehensive zoning ordinance three times since 1948. Even without zoning in its traditional sense, metropolitan Houston displays similar land use patterns at the macro scale to regions comparable in age and population that do have zoning, such as Dallas. This suggests that factors outside the regulatory environment, such as the provision of urban infrastructure and methods of financing development, may play a greater role in the way American cities are developed than does zoning.

Sustainable development and sustainability

Sustainable development and sustainability have become buzzwords in the planning industry, with the recognition that present ways of consumption and living have led to problems like the overuse of natural resources, ecosystem destruction, urban heat islands, pollution, growing inequality in cities, the degradation of human living conditions and human-induced climate change. Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present Planners have, as a result, taken to advocating for the development of sustainable cities. ^[9]

However, the notion of sustainable development can be considered as rather recent and evolving, with many questions surrounding this concept. ^[10] That said, it is often not difficult to recognise what are 'unsustainable' forms of lifestyles, and urban planning is recognised to play a crucial position in the development of sustainable cities.

Stephen Wheeler, in his 1998 article, suggests a definition for sustainable urban development to be as "development that improves the long-term social and ecological health of cities and towns. "^[11] He goes on to suggest a framework that might help all to better understand what a 'sustainable' city might look like. These include compact, efficient land use; less automobile use yet with better access; efficient resource use, less pollution and waste; the restoration of natural systems; good housing and living environments; a healthy social ecology; sustainable economics; community participation and involvement; and preservation of local culture and wisdom. ^[12]

The challenge facing planners comes with the implementation of policy, programs, and the need to modify institutions to achieve the goals of sustainability.

Aspects of planning

Aesthetics

Towns and cities have been planned with aesthetics in mind, here in Bath, England, 18th-century private sector development was designed to appear attractive. Aesthetics or esthetics ( also spelled æsthetics) is commonly known as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values sometimes called Bath is a city in Somerset in the south west of England It is situated west of London and south-east of Bristol.

In developed countries there has been a backlash against excessive man-made clutter in the environment, such as signposts, signs, and hoardings. ^[13] Other issues that generate strong debate amongst urban designers are tensions between peripheral growth, increased housing density and planned new settlements. There are also unending debates about the benefits of mixing tenures and land uses, versus the benefits of distinguishing geographic zones where different uses predominate.

Successful urban planning considers character, of "home" and "sense of place", local identity, respect for natural, artistic and historic heritage, an understanding of the "urban grain" or "townscape," pedestrians and other modes of traffic, utilities and natural hazards, such as flood zones.

Some argue that the medieval piazza and arcade are the most widely appreciated elements of successful urban design, as demonstrated by the Italian cities of Siena and Bologna. For the Brazilian footballer see Wilson da Silva Piazza For the American baseball player see Mike Piazza For the coupé car Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Siena. Bologna (boloɲa from Latin Bononia, Bulåggna in Bolognese dialect is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy

While it is rare that cities are planned from scratch, planners are important in managing the growth of cities, applying tools like zoning to manage the uses of land, and growth management to manage the pace of development. Zoning is a term used in Urban planning for a system of land-use Regulation in various parts of the world including North America the United Kingdom Growth management is a set of techniques used by government to ensure that as the population grows that there are services available to meet their demands When examined historically, many of the cities now thought to be most beautiful are the result of dense, long lasting systems of prohibitions and guidance about building sizes, uses and features. These allowed substantial freedoms, yet enforce styles, safety, and often materials in practical ways. Many conventional planning techniques are being repackaged using the contemporary term, smart growth. Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in the center of a city to avoid Urban sprawl; and advocates compact

There are some cities that have been planned from conception, and while the results often don't turn out quite as planned, evidence of the initial plan often remains. (See List of planned cities)

Safety

The medieval walled city of Carcassonne in France is built upon high ground to provide maximum protection from attackers. This is a list of planned cities (sometimes known as planned communities or New towns by country Safety is the state of being "safe" (from French sauf) the condition of being protected against physical social spiritual financial political Carcassonne (Carcassona is a fortified French town in the Aude département, of which it is the Prefecture,

Historically within the Middle East, Europe and the rest of the Old World, settlements were located on higher ground (for defense) and close to fresh water sources. The Old World consists of those parts of Earth known to Europeans Asians and Africans in the 15th century Cities have often grown onto coastal and flood plains at risk of floods and storm surges. Urban planners must consider these threats. If the dangers can be localised then the affected regions can be made into parkland or Greenbelt, often with the added benefit of open space provision. A green belt or greenbelt is a policy or land use designation used in Land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped wild or agricultural land

Extreme weather, flood, or other emergencies can often be greatly mitigated with secure emergency evacuation routes and emergency operations centres. The weather is a set of all the phenomena occurring in a given Atmosphere at a given Time. A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land a deluge Emergency evacuation is the movement of people from a dangerous place due to the threat or occurrence of a disastrous event These are relatively inexpensive and unintrusive, and many consider them a reasonable precaution for any urban space. Many cities will also have planned, built safety features, such as levees, retaining walls, and shelters. Dike (constructionEmbankmentA levee, levée, dike (or dyke) embankment, floodbank or stopbank is a natural or artificial A retaining wall is a structure that holds back Soil or rock from a Building, structure or area

In recent years, practitioners have also been expected to maximize the accessibility of an area to people with different abilities, practicing the notion of "inclusive design," to anticipate criminal behaviour and consequently to "design-out crime" and to consider "traffic calming" or "pedestrianisation" as ways of making urban life more pleasant.

City planning tries to control criminality with structures designed from theories such as socio-architecture or environmental determinism. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment Socio-architecture is a phrase coined by psychologist Humphry Osmond and Canadian architect Kyo Izumi as part of their research for the best architectural form for Environmental determinism, also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism, is the view that the physical environment rather than social conditions These theories say that an urban environment can influence individuals' obedience to social rules. The theories often say that psychological pressure develops in more densely developed, unadorned areas. This stress causes some crimes and some use of illegal drugs. The antidote is usually more individual space and better, more beautiful design in place of functionalism.

Oscar Newman’s defensible space theory cites the modernist housing projects of the 1960s as an example of environmental determinism, where large blocks of flats are surrounded by shared and disassociated public areas, which are hard for residents to identify with. The Defensible Space Theory of architect and city planner Oscar Newman encompasses ideas about crime prevention and neighborhood safety As those on lower incomes cannot hire others to maintain public space such as security guards or grounds keepers, and because no individual feels personally responsible, there was a general deterioration of public space leading to a sense of alienation and social disorder Source

Jane Jacobs is another notable environmental determinist and is associated with the "eyes on the street" concept. Jane Jacobs, OC, OOnt ( May 4, 1916 – April 25, 2006) was an By improving ‘natural surveillance’ of shared land and facilities of nearby residents by literally increasing the number of people who can see it, and increasing the familiarity of residents, as a collective, residents can more easily detect undesirable or criminal behaviour.

The "broken-windows" theory argues that small indicators of neglect, such as broken windows and unkempt lawns, promote a feeling that an area is in a state of decay. Fixing Broken Windows Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities by George L Anticipating decay, people likewise fail to maintain their own properties. The theory suggests that abandonment causes crime, rather than crime causing abandonment.

Some planning methods might help an elite group to control ordinary citizens. Haussmann's renovation of Paris created a system of wide boulevards which prevented the construction of barricades in the streets and eased the movement of military troops. The Haussmann Renovations, or Haussmannisation of Paris, was a work commissioned by Napoléon III and led by the Seine prefect, Baron In Rome, the Fascists in the 1930s created ex novo many new suburbs in order to concentrate criminals and poorer classes away from the elegant town. Rome ( Roma ˈroma Roma is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city with more than 2 Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology South San Jose (cropjpg||thumb|A suburban development in San Jose California. In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment

Other social theories point out that in Britain and most countries since the 18th century, the transformation of societies from rural agriculture to industry caused a difficult adaptation to urban living. A society is a Population of Humans characterized by patterns of relationships between individuals that share a distinctive Culture and Institutions These theories emphasize that many planning policies ignore personal tensions, forcing individuals to live in a condition of perpetual extraneity to their cities. Many people therefore lack the comfort of feeling "at home" when at home. Often these theorists seek a reconsideration of commonly used "standards" that rationalize the outcomes of a free (relatively unregulated) market.

Slums

Main article: Slums

The rapid urbanization of the last century has resulted in a significant amount of slum habitation in the major cities of the world, particularly in developing countries. A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security Urbanizationn (also spelled urbanisation) is the physical growth of Urban areas into rural or natural land as a result of population in-migration to an existing There is significant demand for planning resources and strategies to address the issues that arise from slum development, and many planning theorists and practitioners are calling for increased attention and resources in this area, particularly the Commonwealth Association of Planners. The Commonwealth Association of Planners, abbreviated to CAP, was formed provisionally on 23 September 1970 and its constitution ratified in March 1973 to among other things ^[14] When urban planners give their attention to slums, one also has to pay attention to the racial make-up of that area to ensure that racial steering does not occur. Racial steering refers to the practice in which Real estate brokers guide prospective home buyers towards or away from certain Neighborhoods based on their race

The issue of slum habitation has often been resolved via a simple policy of clearance, however more creative solutions are beginning to emerge such as Nairobi's "Camp of Fire" program, where established slum-dwellers have promised to build proper houses, schools, and community centers without any government money, in return for land they have been illegally squatting on for 30 years. Nairobi (naɪˈroʊbɪ is the capital and largest city of Kenya. Camp of Fire is a slum development programme in Nairobi, Kenya which has been initiated by Slum Dwellers International, where established slum-dwellers The "Camp of Fire" program is one of many similar projects initiated by Slum Dwellers International, which has programs in Africa, Asia, and South America. Slum Dwellers International (SDI is a global NGO that manages networks of the urban poor and Slum dwellers that are organised into Federations and which South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a ^[15]

Urban decay

Main article: Urban decay

Urban decay is a process by which a city, or a part of a city, falls into a state of disrepair. Urban decay is a process by which a City, or a part of a city falls into a state of disrepair Urban decay is a process by which a City, or a part of a city falls into a state of disrepair A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status It is characterized by depopulation, economic restructuring, property abandonment, high unemployment, fragmented families, political disenfranchisement, crime, and desolate and unfriendly urban landscapes. Depopulation is a term used to describe any great reduction in a human population Economic restructuring refers to the phenomenon of Western Urban areas shifting from a Manufacturing to a Service sector economic base Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. Disenfranchisement or disfranchisement is the revocation of the right of Suffrage (the right to vote to a person or group of people or rendering a person's vote In the sociological field, crime is the breach of a rule or Law for which some governing authority or force may ultimately prescribe a Punishment

Urban decay was associated with Western cities, especially North America and parts of Europe during the 1970s and 1980s. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. During this time period major changes in global economies, transportation, and government policies created conditions that fostered urban decay^[16]. Transport or transportation is the movement of people and goods from one place to another

The effects of urban decay run counter to the development patterns found in most cities in Europe and countries outside of North America, where slums are usually located on the outskirts of major metropolitan areas while the city center and inner city retain high real estate values and a steady or increasing population. A slum, as defined by the United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security A central business district ( CBD) is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis Real estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions notably in the USA, United Kingdom In contrast, North American cities often experienced an outflux of population to city suburbs or exurbs, as in the case of white flight. South San Jose (cropjpg||thumb|A suburban development in San Jose California. A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential from which most of the Workforce commute out to earn their livelihood White flight is a term for the demographic trend in which working and Middle-class White people move away from Suburbs ^[17].

There is no single cause of urban decay, though it may be triggered by a combination of interrelated factors, including urban planning decisions, the development of freeways^[18], suburbanisation, redlining^[19], immigration restrictions^[20], racial discrimination, and ill-informed government subsidies. Suburbanization (or suburbanisation) is a term used to describe the process of population movement from within towns and cities to the rural-urban fringe Redlining is the practice of denying or increasing the cost of services such as Banking, Insurance, access to jobs access to health care or even Supermarkets List of racism-related topics|Racism by country Racism, by its simplest definition is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that

Reconstruction and renewal

Main article: Urban Renewal

The overall area plan for the reconstruction of Kabul's Old City area, the proposed Kabul - City of Light Development. Urban Renewal (similar to Urban Regeneration in British English) is a controversial U

Areas devastated by war or invasion represent a unique challenge to urban planners: the area of development is not one for simple modification, nor is it a "blank slate". Tabula rasa ( Latin: blank slate) refers to the epistemological thesis that individual human beings are born with no built-in mental content Buildings, roads, services and basic infrastructure like power, water and sewerage are often severely compromised and need to be evaluated to determine what, if anything, can be salvaged for re-incorporation. There is also the problem of population. More often than not, people are also still living in these areas, displaced but not removed, and their issues need to be addressed. Historic areas and religious or social centers also need to be preserved and re-integrated into the new city plan. A prime example of this is the capital city of Kabul, Afghanistan, which after decades of civil war and occupation has regions that have literally been reduced to rubble. } Kābul ( Persian and Pashto: کابل, IPA:) is the Capital and largest city of Afghanistan, with Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, Despite this, the indigenous population continues to live in the area, constructing makeshift homes and shops out of whatever can be salvaged. Any reconstruction plan proposed, such as Hisham Ashkouri's City of Light Development, needs to be sensitive to the needs of this community and its existing culture, businesses and needs. Hisham N Ashkouri (born August 15, 1948, Baghdad, Iraq) is a Boston and New York -based Architect. The Kabul - City of Light Development is an urban reconstruction plan first proposed by urban planner and architect Hisham N

Urban Reconstruction Development plans must also work with government agencies as well as private interests to develop workable designs.

Transport

Main article: Transportation planning

Very densely built-up areas require high capacity urban transit, urban planners must consider these factors in long term plans. Transportation planning is the field involved with the siting of Transportation facilities (generally Streets Highways sidewalks bike lanes and Public

Although an important factor, there is a complex relationship between urban densities and car use.

Transport within urbanized areas presents unique problems. The density of an urban environment can create significant levels of road traffic, which can impact businesses and increase pollution. Parking space is another concern, requiring the construction of large parking garages in high density areas which could be better used for other development.

Good planning attempts to place higher densities of jobs or residents near high-volume transportation. For example, some cities permit commerce and multi-story apartment buildings only within one block of train stations and four-lane boulevards, and accept single-family dwellings and parks farther away.

Densities can be measured in several ways. A common method, used is the Floor area ratio, using the floor area of buildings divided by the land area. The Floor Area Ratio (FAR or Floor Space Index (FSI is the Ratio of the total floor area of buildings on a certain location to the size of the land of that location Ratios below 1. 5 could be considered low density, and plot ratios above five very high density. Most exurbs are below two, while most city centres are well above five. A commuter town is an urban community that is primarily residential from which most of the Workforce commute out to earn their livelihood Walk-up apartments with basement garages can easily achieve a density of three. Skyscrapers easily achieve densities of thirty or more.

City authorities may try to encourage lower densities to reduce infrastructure costs, though some observers note that low densities may not accommodate enough population to provide adequate demand or funding for that infrastructure. In the UK, recent years have seen a concerted effort to increase the density of residential development in order to better achieve sustainable development. Increasing development density has the advantage of making mass transport systems, district heating and other community facilities (schools, health centres, etc) more viable. However critics of this approach dub the densification of development as 'town cramming' and claim that it lowers quality of life and restricts market-led choice.

Problems can often occur at residential densities between about two and five. These densities can cause traffic jams for automobiles, yet are too low to be commercially served by trains or light rail systems. A train is a connected series of vehicles that move along a track ( Permanent way) to transport freight or passengers from one place to another For specific light rail systems many of which use the words "light rail" as part of their name see List of light-rail transit systems. The conventional solution is to use buses, but these and light rail systems may fail where automobiles and excess road network capacity are both available, achieving less than 1% ridership.

The Lewis-Mogridge Position claims that increasing road space is not an effective way of relieving traffic jams as latent or induced demand invariably emerges to restore a socially-tolerable level of congestion. The Lewis–Mogridge Position was formulated in 1990. It captures the observation that the more roads are built the more traffic there is to fill these roads Induced demand is the phenomenon that after supply increases more of a good is consumed

Some theoreticians speculate that personal rapid transit (PRT) might coax people from their automobiles, and yet effectively serve intermediate densities, but this has not been demonstrated. Personal rapid transit (PRT, also called personal automated transport (PAT or podcar, is a Public transportation concept that offers on-demand non-stop

Addressing

If house numbering is part of the plan, the risk that the numbering task will end up in the hands of non-professionals can be reduced, saving citizens much lost time looking for addresses later. House numbering is the system of giving a unique Number to each Building in a Street or Area, with the intention of making it easier to locate This is especially important for non-grid plan areas with no city-wide addressing standard already in place. The grid plan or gridiron plan is a type of City plan in which Streets run at right angles to each other forming a grid.

Suburbanization

Main article: Suburbanization

Low (auto-oriented) density suburban development near Cincinnati, Ohio, United States

In some countries declining satisfaction with the urban environment is held to blame for continuing migration to smaller towns and rural areas (so-called urban exodus). Suburbanization (or suburbanisation) is a term used to describe the process of population movement from within towns and cities to the rural-urban fringe Human migration denotes any movement by Humans from one locality to another sometimes over long distances or Rural exodus (or rural flight) is a term used to describe the migratory patterns that normally occur in a region following the mechanisation of Agriculture. Successful urban planning supported Regional planning can bring benefits to a much larger hinterland or city region and help to reduce both congestion along transport routes and the wastage of energy implied by excessive commuting. Regional planning is a branch of Land use planning and deals with the efficient placement of land use activities infrastructure and settlement growth across a significantly The hinterland is the land or district behind the borders of a coast or river The term city region has been in use since about 1950 by Urbanists, Economists and Urban planners to mean not just the administrative area of a recognisable Commuting is the process of Travelling between one's place of residence and regular place of work

Environmental factors

Main article: Environmental planning

Environmental protection and conservation are of utmost importance to many planning systems across the world. Environmental planning is a field of study that since the 1970s has been sconcerned with a given society's collective stewardship over its resources that ultimately includes those of the Environmentalism is a broad philosophy and Social movement centered on a concern for the conservation and improvement of the environment. Not only are the specific effects of development to be mitigated, but attempts are made to minimise the overall effect of development on the local and global environment. This is commonly done through the assessment of Sustainable urban infrastructure. Sustainable urban infrastructure is a term used to describe Infrastructure that facilitates a place or Regions progress towards the goal of Sustainable living In Europe this process is known as Sustainability Appraisal. In United Kingdom Planning Law a Sustainability Appraisal is an appraisal of the economic environmental and social effects of a plan from the outset of the preparation process

Arcology seeks to unify the fields of ecology and architecture, especially landscape architecture, to achieve a harmonious environment for all living things. There is some dispute over whether this article should document both the meaning of this term as used in popular fiction as well as its technical meaning in the field of architecture or Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation Landscape architecture involves the investigation and designed response to the landscape On a small scale, the eco-village theory has become popular, as it emphasizes a traditional 100-140 person scale for communities. Ecovillages are intended to be socially economically and ecologically sustainable Intentional communities.

In most advanced urban or village planning models, local context is critical. In many, gardening assumes a central role not only in agriculture but in the daily life of citizens. Gardening is the practice of growing Plants for their attractive flowers or foliage and Vegetables or Fruits for consumption Agriculture refers to the production of goods through the growing of plants and fungi and the raising of domesticated Animals The study of agriculture A series of related movements including green anarchism, eco-anarchism, eco-feminism and Slow Food have put this in a political context as part of a focus on smaller systems of resource extraction, and waste disposal, ideally as part of living machines which do such recycling automatically, just as nature does. Green anarchism is a school of thought within Anarchism which puts an emphasis on Environmental issues. Green anarchism is a school of thought within Anarchism which puts an emphasis on Environmental issues. Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which attempts to unite Environmentalism and Feminism, with some currents linking Deep ecology and The Slow Food movement was founded by Carlo Petrini in Italy to combat Fast food. Green politics is a Political ideology which places a high importance on ecological and environmental goals and on achieving these goals through broad-based Living Machines are a form of biological Wastewater treatment designed to mimic the cleansing functions of Wetlands. The modern theory of natural capital emphasizes this as the primary difference between natural and infrastructural capital, and seeks an economic basis for rationalizing a move back towards smaller village units. Natural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital (manufactured means of production to environmental goods and services Infrastructural capital refers to any physical Means of production or Means of protection beyond that which can be gathered or found directly in nature Ecological economics is a Transdisciplinary field of academic research within Economics that aims to address the interdependence between human economies and natural A common form of planning that leads to suburban sprawl is single use zoning. Single-use zoning, also known as Euclidean zoning, is a practice of Urban planning where everyday uses are separated from each other and where land uses of the

An urban planner is likely to use a number of Quantitative tools to forecast impacts of development on a variety of environmental concerns including roadway air dispersion models to predict air quality impacts of urban highways and roadway noise models to predict noise pollution effects of urban highways. Roadway air dispersion modeling is the study of Air pollutant transport from a roadway or other linear emitter Roadway noise is the collective sound energy emanating from Motor vehicles In the USA it contributes more to environmental noise exposure than any other noise source and is Noise pollution (or environmental noise) is displeasing human- or machine-created sound that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life As early as the 1960s, noise pollution was addressed in the design of urban highways as well as noise barriers. A noise barrier (also called a soundwall, sound berm, sound barrier, or acoustical barrier) is an exterior structure designed to protect ^[21] The Phase I Environmental Site Assessment can be an important tool to the urban planner by identifying early in the planning process any geographic areas or parcels which have toxic constraints. A Phase I Environmental Site Assessment is a report prepared for a real estate holding which identifies potential or existing environmental contamination liabilities. Toxicity is the degree to which a substance is able to damage an exposed organism

Canyon effect

The canyon effect is a colloquial, non-scientific term referring to street space bordered by very high buildings. This type of environment may disallow direct sunlight to reach sidewalk level during most of the daylight hours. While an oft-decried phenomenon, this is very rare outside of very dense, hyper-tall urban environments, such as those found in Lower and Midtown Manhattan, Chicago's Loop and Kowloon in Hong Kong.

Sound

In urban planning sound is merely considered as a pollution problem. Lately a more positive approach towards sound in urban planning is rising. Sound is a quality and an opportunity. The sound of fountains is an example of a creatible enjoyable soundscape.

Process

Blight may sometimes cause communities to consider redeveloping and urban planning.

The traditional planning process focused on top-down processes where the town planner created the plans. An urban planner is a professional who works in the field of Urban planning for the purpose of maximizing the effectiveness of a community's land use and infrastructure A planner is usually skilled in either surveying, engineering or architecture, bringing to the town planning process ideals based around these disciplines. They typically worked for national or local governments.

Changes to the planning process[1] over past decades have witnessed the metamorphosis of the role of the urban planner in the planning process. Calls championing for more democratic planning processes have played a huge role in allowing the public to make important decisions as part of the planning process. Public is of or pertaining to the people relating to or affecting a nation state or community opposed to private; as the public treasury a road or lake Community organizers and social workers are now very involved in planning from the grassroots level. Community organizing is a process by which people living in proximity to each other are brought together by an organizationto act in their common self-interest (at least as per the views Social work is a discipline involving the application of Social theory and research methods to study and improve the lives of people groups and societies ^[22]

Developers too have played huge roles in influencing the way development occurs, particularly through project-based planning. Many recent developments were results of large and small-scale developers who purchased land, designed the district and constructed the development from scratch. The Melbourne Docklands, for example, was largely an initiative pushed by private developers who sought to redevelop the waterfront into a high-end residential and commercial district. Melbourne Docklands is a Coastal area within Melbourne, Australia.

See also

• List of planned cities
• List of urban planning topics
• List of urban studies topics
• List of urban planners
• List of urban theorists
• Planning Institute Australia
• New Urbanism
• Economic restructuring
• Smart Growth
• Transit Oriented Development
• Royal Town Planning Institute
• American Planning Association

Notes

References

• Garvin, Alexander (2002). The American City: What Works and What Doesn't. New York: McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-07-137367-5.   (A standard text for many college and graduate courses in city planning in America)
• Hoch, Charles, Linda C. Dalton and Frank S. So, editors (2000). The Practice of Local Government Planning, Intl City County Management Assn; 3rd edition. ISBN 0-87326-171-2 (The "Green Book")
• Tunnard, Christopher and Boris Pushkarev (1963). Man-Made America: Chaos or Control?: An Inquiry into Selected Problems of Design in the Urbanized Landscape, New Haven: Yale University Press. (This book won the National Book Award, strictly America; a time capsule of photography and design approach. The National Book Awards are among the most eminent literary prizes in the United States. )
• Wheeler, Stephen (1998). "Planning Sustainable and Livable Cities", Routledge; 3rd edition.
• Environmental Design of Urban Buildings: An Integrated Approach, Matheos Santamouris: 2006
• Atmospheric Environment Volume 35, Issue 10, April 2001, Pages 1717-1727. "Traffic pollution in a downtown site of Buenos Aires City"
• T. R. Oke (1982). "The energetic basis of the urban heat island". Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 108: 1–24.

Further reading

• City Planning According to Artistic Principles, Camillo Sitte, 1889
• Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, Ebenezer Howard, 1898
• The Improvement of Towns and Cities, Charles Mulford Robinson, 1901
• Town Planning in practice, Raymond Unwyn, 1909
• The Principles of Scientific Management, Frederick Winslow Taylor, 1911
• Cities in Evolution, Patrick Geddes, 1915
• The Image of the City, Kevin Lynch, 1960
• The Concise Townscape, Gordon Cullen, 1961
• The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs, 1961
• The City in History, Lewis Mumford, 1961
• A Pattern Language, Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa and Murray Silverstein, 1977
• Urban Planning, 1794-1918: An International Anthology of Articles, Conference Papers, and Reports, Selected, Edited, and Provided with Headnotes by John W. Camillo Sitte ( 17 April 1843 – 16 November 1903 in Vienna) was a noted Austrian Architect, painter and city Sir Ebenezer Howard ( 29 January 1850 – May 1 1928) was a prominent British Urban planner. Charles Mulford Robinson (1869&ndash1917 was a journalist and a writer who became famous as a pioneering Urban Planning theorist The Principles of Scientific Management is a monograph published by Frederick Winslow Taylor in 1911 Frederick Winslow Taylor ( 20 March 1856 &ndash 21 March 1915) widely known as F Sir Patrick Geddes (1854 - 1932 was a Scottish Biologist and Botanist, known also as an innovative thinker in the fields of Urban planning See Kevin Lynch for other people with this name Kevin Andrew Lynch (1918 Chicago, Illinois - 1984 Martha's Vineyard Thomas Gordon Cullen (1914-1994 was an influential English Architect and urban designer who was a key motivator in the Townscape movement and carried it The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs, is arguably the most influential book written on Urban planning in the 20th century Jane Jacobs, OC, OOnt ( May 4, 1916 – April 25, 2006) was an The City in History Its Origins Its Transformations and Its Prospects is a 1961 National Book Award winner by American Historian Lewis Mumford Lewis Mumford ( October 19, 1895 &ndash January 26, 1990) was an American Historian of Technology and Science A Pattern Language Towns Buildings Construction is a 1977 book on Architecture. Christopher Alexander (born October 4, 1936 in Vienna, Austria) is an architect noted for his theories about design and for more than 200 Murray Silverstein co- Authored the Book A Pattern Language. At that time he taught Architecture courses at the University of Reps, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University.
• Urban Development: The Logic Of Making Plans, Lewis D. Hopkins, Island Press, 2001. ISBN 1-55963-853-2
• The City is the Frontier, Charles Abrams, Harper & Row Publishing, New York, 1965.

External links

• Urban and Regional Planning at the Open Directory Project