Urban Planning

Objective
To familiarize students with the origins and basic
concepts of urban planning.
 MODULE 1

1. Evolution, origins and growth of settlements:-

Characteristics of Rural and Urban settlements; Urban form based
on different determinants – Natural (climate, topography,
resources, geography) and Man-made (cultural, economic,
religious, administrative, political).

2. Planning efforts and impacts on historical cities - Ancient

civilizations (Mesopotamia, China, Egypt, Indus Valley, Mayan);
Classical cities (Greek, Roman, Medieval, Neoclassical,
Renaissance, Baroque, City Beautiful); Indian cities – (Vedic/Indo-
Aryan, Colonial, Dravidian, Mughal).
 MODULE 2

3. City Planning in Post-Industrial Revolution Era: - Responses to impacts

of industrialization in cities: Legislative reforms to public health, work and living
conditions; Spatial responses to Poor Living Conditions (Railroad tenements,
Dumbbell plan); Utopian visions - Model Towns (Robert Owen, J.S. Buckingham,
George Cadbury), Tony Garnier (Cité Industrielle).
4. Pioneers in planning theories - Ebenezer Howard (Garden City), Soria
Y.Mata (The Linear City), Patrick Geddes (Outlook Tower, Valley Section, Folk-Work-
Place, Civic Survey), Le Corbusier (Ville Contemporaine), Frank Lloyd Wright
(Broadacre City), Ludwig Hilberseimer (Decentralized City), Constantinos A
Doxiadis (Ekistics), Clarence Arthur Perry (Neighbourhood Unit); Clarence Stein
(American Garden Cities).
5. Planned and Built Cities: - Brasilia (Oscar Niemeyer), Chandigarh (Le
Corbusier), Islamabad (Constantinos A Doxiadis), Tel Aviv (Patrick Geddes). 6.
Alternate visions for cities: – Arcosanti (Paolo Soleri), New Urbanism (Peter
 MODULE 3

7. Urbanization in India: - Trends in urbanization in post-

independence India; Planned cities in Post-Independence
India (Bhubhaneswar, Gandhinagar, Jamshedpur); Census
classification of Indian cities (based on population size);
Growth, issues and management of Metropolitan cities;
Slums (official definitions and slum statistics)

8. Urban housing typologies – City Development

Authority layouts, Public Sector Townships, Affordable
housing, Slum Rehabilitation Projects.
 MODULE 4

9. Urban Structure: - Internal spatial structure of the city:

Concentric Zone theory; Sector theory; Multiple Nuclei Theory;
Characteristics of Central business district, Urban nodes (Origin and/or
destination of trips, location of major transport nodes, interfaces of
local/regional transport), Suburbs, Peri-urban areas.

10. Land use and Zoning: - Land use categories and

representation; Relationship between Land use and Zoning; Zoning
Types: Euclidian Zoning, Performance Zoning, Form-based Codes,
Incentive Zoning, Height Zoning, Open Space Zoning.
 MODULE 5

11. Planning Processes and Tools: - Urban

Redevelopment: Renewal, Rehabilitation, Conservation;
Scales of Planning: Masterplan/Comprehensive Development
Plan, Area Plan, Regional Plan, Perspective Plan, URDPFI
Guidelines; Steps of urban planning.
“A city should be built to give its

inhabitants security and happiness” –

Aristotle

In a quality city, a person should be able to

live their entire life without a car, and not

feel deprived. - Paul Bedford

"People get tired of living in towns

They move to the country and all settle down
They build themselves houses and roads and then
They all have to move to the country again"
Definition of planning is subjective
• It is considered a science and art.
• It is pre-thinking and pre-arranging things.
• Planning is a future-oriented problem solving process.
• It is a way of thinking about social and economic
problems
• It is concerned with the relation of goals to collective
decisions and strives for comprehensiveness in policies
and programs (freidman)
• It is the link between technical knowledge and action in
the public domain.
• An orderly sequence of activities that will lead to the
Urban planning is a technical and political process
concerned with the development and design of land use and the
built environment, including air, water, and
the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such
as transportation, communications, and distribution networks.

Urban planning deals with physical layout of human

settlements.

Urban planning guides orderly development in

urban, suburban and rural areas.
Three actors have main role in urban planning
• The decision-makers
• The technicians
• The users
It encompasses many different disciplines and brings
them all under a single umbrella.
 Why urban/town planning is
needed?
• Urbanization is increasing

• Population is growing. Planning is needed to make better use of resources

• Social inequality

• Realizing a settlement’s economic potential by overcoming weaknesses

such as:

– Lack of innovative urban development vision

– Lack of coordination between departments responsible for urban

development

– Unsustainable development

– Environmental Degredation

– Corrupt and poorly managed Urban governance institutions

 Why urban/town planning is
needed?
• Facing new socio-economic and climatic challenges:
Urban security
Public Health and Safety
Financial crises
Global Warming and climate change
Social changes
 IF PLANNING WAS NOT THERE

• Uneven & Chaotic development – contrasting urban

scenario
• Mixed Landuse – Industries springing up in residential zones
• Congested Transportation Network – overflowing traffic
than expected
 How town planning provides
health?

• Regulating and reducing pollutions of different kinds – air, noise,

water
• Providing open spaces such as parks for public use

• Water and waste treatment facilities

• Use of renewable technologies for provision of electricity

• Providing pathways that encourage walking and reduce the use of
vehicles that use non renewable fuels
• Implementation of environmental protection laws
• Proper disposal of waste
 What does beauty and convenience
mean?

• Convenience is understood in the form of various economic, social

and recreational amenities to be given to the public
• Provision of jobs, provision of places for social gatherings,
provisions of basic infrastructure facilities such as electricity, water,
sewerage system, roads
• Beauty means to preserve the aesthetic in the design of all
elements of the town or city plan.
• Beauty is achieved by taking the best possible advantages of the
natural conditions.
 Principles of town planning

• No Haphazard methods of planning are to be employed

• Fulfillment of basic needs such as housing is necessary for all levels
of society
• Provision of basic infrastructure facilities or civic amenities
• Provision of open spaces
• Accessibility ( modes of transportation – rail, road, air, water)

• Proper systems of zoning to be implemented

• Provision of green belts to control future growth of a city and
prevent environmental degredation
• C A A :- Constitutional Amendment Act (powered local bodies)
• P U R A :- Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas.
• U D P F I :- Urban development Plans Formulation and Implementation. 
• J N N U R M :- Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (City Modernization)
 Architecture

Urban Design

Urban Planning
“Architecture isn’t just the reflection of the state of society, it’s the reflection of the min
1
Architectur
e
The art or practice of
designing & constructing
buildings
The 3 Fs of Architecture

Function:
Fundamentally to provide shelter

Form:
An art that is appreciated by
many for its beauty.

Firmness:
Stability of structure
2 Urban
Design
The design of Functionality of
spaces between buildings &
structures
WHAT IS URBAN DESIGN?
• Art of Making Places for People

• Human Interaction with the environment

• Involves places such as Squares, Piazza, Streets,
Pedestrian Precinct
“A street is a spatial entity and not the residue
between buildings.”
– Anonymous
3
Planning
Urban

The Design & Organisation Of

Urban Space & Infrastructure
 What’s UP?
Taking a Look at Urban Planning

• Layout of
neighbourhoods, cities and
regions
• Fulfilling needs of
community & economy

Balancing the built & natural

environment
“If you can tell a man by his shoes, you can tell a city by its
pavements”
- Rowan Moore