1.1.

Understanding and defining Urban Design

INTRODUCTION

Some of you may have encountered the term "urban design" for the first time and may wonder whether your definition and or basic understanding of this
profession is valid. This lesson will expose you to the basic principles and ideas associated with urban design and eventually gives you a working definition and
unified understanding of the same.

Urban Design

Urban design as a profession though some might considered to be relatively new is not new. It was coined as 'civic design' - which fundamentally focus on the
siting of buildings and their relationship to open spaces, in North America in the late 1950's but it only gained popularity in the early 1970's to address the
growing and intricate urban problems. It has also been historically credited in forming cities. Recently, urban design denotes a more expansive approach -
evolving from an initial, predominantly aesthetic, focusing only with the distribution of building masses and the spaces between buildings; it is now primarily
concerned with the quality of the public realm (public space, public environment or the public domain) - both physical, socio-cultural, and the making of places
for people to enjoy and use.

Public spaces are areas that are open and accessible to all people. Examples of these are: streets, pathways, sidewalks, parks, public squares, natural areas,
beaches and public buildings such as libraries. Ample public space is considered essential to the quality of life and economy of a city. Public space may include
places for personal solace, companionship, family and community.

Since urban design involves the design and coordination of all that makes up the city, the public space is only one among the elements of urban design. It also
includes the following:

• Buildings - the most pronounced elements of urban design; they shape and articulate space by forming and shaping the street walls of the city.

• Public Spaces - these are the living room of the city, the place where people come together to enjoy the city and each other.

• Streets - the connections between spaces and places, as well as being spaces themselves. They are defined by their physical dimension and character as
well as the size, scale, and character of the buildings that line them. Streets range from grand avenues to small, intimate pedestrian pathways and
corridors. The pattern of the street network is part of what defines a city and what makes each city unique.

• Landscape - the green part of the city that weaves throughout - in the form of urban parks, street trees, plants, flowers, and water in many forms. The
landscape helps define the character and beauty of a city and creates soft, contrasting spaces and elements.

Urban design weaves together these elements into a coherent, organized design structure.
But, urban design is not easily understood by people most especially laymen; and there does not exist a commonly agreed definition of urban design yet, mainly
due to its interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary character which makes urban design, ambiguous. The terms "urban" and "design" are broad terms which could
have many different definitions to different people. "Urban" suggests the characteristics of towns and cities; while "design" refers to activities of sketching,
planning, and arranging and pattern making. But within the practice of urban design, "urban" has a wide and inclusive meaning embracing not only the city and
the town but also the village and the hamlet. And "design", rather than having a narrowly aesthetic interpretation, is as much about problem solving and/or the
processes of delivering or organizing development.

In the Philippine settings, urban areas definition are governed by the established criteria of the National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB). Kindly search and
refer to the internet and look for the criteria on how cities, municipalities, and barangays are classified into rural, urban, and urbanized areas. Try to distinguish
and differentiate the requirements for an urban and urbanized areas in the Philippines. Or you may want to explore it HERE. Links to an external site.

Links to an external [Link] are the criteria or parameters in determining urban/urbanized area?

Ambiguities of Urban Design

Aside from the two (2) problematic words or terms associated to "urban design", there are seven (7) ambiguities (questions) that needs to be addressed and
clarified for us to have a common understanding of urban design:

1. Should urban design be focused at particular scales or level?

2. Should it focus only on the visual qualities of the urban environment or, more broadly, address the organization and management of urban spaces?

3. Should it simply be about transforming spatial arrangement, or about more deeply seated social and cultural relations between spaces and society?

4. Should urban design be the province of architects, landscape designers, or planners?

5. Should it be a public or private activity?

6. Should it be seen as an objective-rational process (a science) or an expressive-subjective process (an art)?

7. Should the focus of urban design be its product (the urban environment) or the process by which it is produced?

These ambiguities essentially attempt to classify and distinguish the areas where urban design applies or works - either on the end-product, which is normally
manifested in the physical form and/or the processes used to arrive at the product of urban design. Appleyard (1982) states that there should not or cannot be a
single definition of urban design and if the existence of different kinds of urban design is recognized, then it is possible to get a better understanding of the
nature of it.

Urban Design Distinguishing Factors

Traditionally, urban design has been regarded either as a subset of planning or as an extension of architecture. It is concerned in particular the shaping and use of
urban public spaces. It also deals with the large scale organization and design of the city, with the massing and organization of buildings and space between
them, but not with the design of the individual buildings. We could analyze the various development factors that differentiate urban design from the other
discipline through the table below.

Distinguishing Factors

Architecture Urban Design Urban Planning

Large scale such as entire neighborhood or cities OR

Single Building/Complexes Typically considers the entire city
the cities public spaces

1, 2, 3, or 5 years Long time frames: 10-15 years Can extend beyond 30 years

Specific Development Control Less direct control Even less direct control

Deals with interconnection. Looks beyond the bounds

Deals only with the functional requirements of Deals with large number of variables: transportation,
of the city and understand how the city works.
buildings and how it satisfies users' needs place identity, pedestrian orientation, etc.
Allocates land uses among competing factors,

Employed by developers on variety of projects and also Involved in the political process where public policy is
Employed by individual/developers
by public bodies formulated

Involved with a spectrum of social, cultural and Involved with a spectrum of social, cultural and
Involved with only physical design issues
physical design issues physical design issues

Traditions of Thought in Urban Design

Historically, there are three (3) traditions of thought in urban design. Following are brief descriptions of these traditions and the personalities that are recognized
to advocate the traditions:

The Visual-Artistic Tradition

• More architectural and narrower understanding of urban design

 • Predominantly 'product oriented', focused on the visual qualities and aesthetic experience of urban spaces rather than on the cultural, social, economic,
political, and spatial factors and process contributing to successful urban design.

• This tradition failed to acknowledge public perceptions of townscapes and places.

• Camillo Sitte on his book entitled 'City Planning According to Artistic Principles" promoted this thought of urban design.

The Social-Usage Tradition

• Emphasized the way in which people use and colonize space

• Encompass issues of perception and sense of place which is the element lacking in the previous tradition.

• Kevin Lynch's on his treatise the "Image of the CityLinks to an external site." attempted to shift the focus of urban design in two (2) ways:

▪ In terms of appreciation of the urban environment

▪ In terms of the object of the study

• Jane Jacobs is also a key proponent and advocate of this tradition. In her book: "The dearth and life of Great American Cities", she argues that the city
could never be a work of art because art was made by 'selection from life', while a city was life at its most vital, complex and intense. Concentrating on
the socio-functional aspects of the streets, sidewalks, and parks, Jacob's emphasized their role as container of human activity and places of social
interaction.

The Making-Places Tradition

• From the synthesis of earlier traditions, urban design is simultaneously concerned with the design of urban space as an aesthetic entity and as a
behavioral setting.

• It focuses on the diversity and activity which help to create successful urban places, and in particular, on how well the physical milieu supports the
functions and activities taking place there.

• With this concept comes the notion of urban design as the design and management of the 'public realm'. Public realm is defined as the public face of the
buildings, the spaces between frontages, the activities taking place in and in between these spaces, and the managing of these activities, all of which are
affected by the uses of the buildings themselves.

Urban design involves place-making - the creation of a setting that imparts a sense of place to an area. This process is achieved by establishing:

▪ identifiable neighborhoods

▪ unique architecture

▪ aesthetically pleasing public places and vistas

 ▪ identifiable landmarks and focal points

▪ human element established by compatible scales of development and ongoing public stewardship.

Key elements of place-making include:

▪ lively commercial centers

▪ mixed-use development with ground-floor retail uses

▪ human-scale and context-sensitive design; safe and attractive public areas

▪ image-making

▪ decorative elements in the public realm

Seven (7) objectives of Urban Design relating to 'Concept of Place'

▪ Character – a place with its own identity

▪ Continuity & Enclosure – a place where public & private spaces are clearly distinguished

▪ Quality of the Public Realm – a place with attractive & successful outdoor areas

▪ Ease of Movement – a place that is easy to get to and move through

▪ Legibility – a place that has a clear image and is easy to understand

▪ Adaptability – a place that can change easily

▪ Diversity – a place with variety and choice

2.1. Urban Design Definition, Scope, Theory and Application

INTRODUCTION

You may have formed a framework on understanding what urban design right now but, as we have tried to have a common understanding and define what
urban design is, "there should not or cannot be a single definition of urban design but rather get a better understanding what it is about" according to Appleyard
(1982 in Memluk, 2015).

To sum up our working definition and common understanding of urban design in the previous module, we can say that urban design:

• Urban design can be roughly defined as the art and science of shaping cities and town, giving form and character through the design of public spaces

• Involves arrangement of public spaces, buildings, transport systems, services, and amenities
 • Traditionally, a subset of architecture, planning and landscape architecture

• It is designing of cities without dsigning buildings (Barnett)

• The art of making places (Cowan) - the recent "thought" in the traditions of urban design.

Urban design on the other hand connects: people and places; movement and urban form; and natural and built environment. It also transcends: planning and
transportation policy; building and landscape design; engineering and development economics.

Urban design involves many stakeholders whose interests and priorities may conflict and the physical product of urban design should serve the community's
needs and expectations with its social, cultural, and economic outcomes. In relation to planning, urban design is concerned with finding and appropriate physical
framework for human activities in cities. This makes urban design a highly complex phenomenon; as a result the definition can or should not be limited to
physical design (Memluk).

But essentially, our common understanding is that it involves the planning and design of the public realm (public domain, public spaces) whether in a small urban
areas or large city for the use, enjoyment and enhancement of their quality of life.

Some parts of private spaces such as private gardens, building facades, backyard and front yard are within purview of urban design. These private spaces can be
manipulated and controlled through prescriptive development or design guidelines in order for these spaces be used for public use.
Some strategies or tools to ensure that public spaces are provided for people are through development controls or guidelines. Among these are the following:

Incentive zoning is a provision of a municipal zoning ordinance that allows developers to create a higher density (usually expressed as housing units per hectares)
in return for providing some feature considered to be in the public interest such as plazas, arcades, and other open spaces. This extra often is called a density

bonus.

Cluster zoning requires the density of the development to be determined up front and designates a large amount of the land to be green space. In easier terms,
this type of zoning places homes close together (sometimes joined together, as in town homes) with small (if any) yards and a large area of green space that
everyone can use.

Benefits of cluster zoning are the uses of the green space. They can be available for residents to exercise, walk dogs, or even hike in. It may give residents the
opportunity to have a little bit of nature available in an urban setting. While residents may not have much room for yards of their own, they can relax and
socialize in the green space that is just steps away.
There are downsides to living in a development that is cluster zoned. As mentioned earlier, the homes may be connected (as in town homes). They may also be
small garden homes. The residents may be sacrificing square footage and privacy for the green space in the development.

Floor area ratio means the ratio between the sum of the areas of all floors of a building and the total area of the lot.

Floor area ratio (FAR) - is the relationship between the total amount of usable floor area that a building has, or has been permitted to have, and the total area of
the lot on which the building stands. A higher ratio likely would indicate a dense or urban construction. Local governments use the floor area ratio for zoning
codes.

FAR= Total Building Floor Area/Gross Lot Area

The floor area ratio accounts for the entire floor area of a building, not simply the building's footprint. Excluded from the square footage calculation are
unoccupied areas such as basements, parking garages, stairs, and elevator shafts.

Buildings with different numbers of stories may have the same floor-area-ratio value. Every city has a limited capacity or limited space that can be utilized safely.
Any use beyond this point puts undue stress on a city. This is sometimes known as the safe load factor.

The floor area ratio is variable because population dynamics, growth patterns, and construction activities vary and because the nature of the land or space where
a building is placed varies. Industrial, residential, commercial, agricultural and non-agricultural spaces have differing safe load factors, so they typically have
differing floor area ratios. In the end, local governments establish regulations and restrictions that determine the floor area ratio.

The floor area ratio is a key determining factor for development in any country, city or area. A low floor area ratio is generally a deterrent to construction. Many
industries, largely the real estate industry, seek hikes in the floor area ratio to open up space and land resources to developers. An increased floor area ratio
allows a developer to complete more building projects, which inevitably leads to greater sales, decreased expenditures per project, and greater supply to meet
demand.

Floor Area ratio is sometimes called floor space ratio (FSR), floor space index (FSI), site ratio or plot ratio.

The difference between FAR and FSI is that the first is a ratio, while the latter is an index. Index numbers are values expressed as a percentage of a single base
figure. Thus an FAR of 1.5 is translated as an FSI of 150%.

Example of How to Use the Floor Area Ratio

• The floor area ratio of a 1,000-square-foot building with one story situated on a 4,000-square-foot lot would be 0.25x. A two-story building on the same
lot, where each floor was 500 square feet, would have the same floor-area-ratio value.

• Considered another way, a lot has a floor area ratio of 2.0x and the square footage is 1,000. In this scenario, a developer could construct a building that
covers as much as 2,000 square feet. This could include a 1,000 square foot building with two stories.

In a nutshell,

• The floor area ratio is the relationship of the total usable floor area of a building relative to the total area of the lot on which the building stands.

• A higher ratio usually indicates a dense or highly urbanized area.

 • floor area ratios vary based on structure type, such as industrial, residential, commercial, or agricultural.

Other development controls or guidelines to regulate the use of private space for urban design are:

o Building heights

o Building setbacks

o Building bulk

o Architectural character

Examples of Urban Design Projects

o Streetscapes

o Mixed-use redevelopment

o Parks and open spaces

o Environmental graphics/way finding

o Environmental art

o Urban renewal

o Historic preservation

o Township creation

o Waterfront development

o Environmental lighting

Urban Design Best Practices

o New Urbanism

o Smart Growth

o Heritage Conservation
 o Landscape Urbanism

o Transit Oriented Development

o Sustainable street network

2.2. The Concept of the Public Good and Value of Urban Design

What is the Value of Urban Design?

Quality or good urban design is important for everybody because our lives are connected through our common built environment. We all live and work in
buildings, and use streets, public spaces, transport systems, and other forms of urban infrastructure. Quality urban design creates places that work and places
that we use and value.

Urban design has economic, environmental, cultural, and social dimensions. Increasingly we are recognizing the economic importance of our towns and cities to
the national economy. Quality of infrastructure and quality of life are key factors in creating successful towns and cities. Urban design can have significant positive
effects on both. Quality urban design also increases economic value with higher returns on investment, reduced management and maintenance costs, more
productive workplaces, and enhanced image and prestige.

Quality urban design values and protects the cultural identity and heritage of towns and cities and provides for creativity. It reinforces city’s and community’s
distinctive identity. Quality urban design also adds social, environmental, and cultural benefits by creating well connected, inclusive and accessible places, and by
delivering the mix of houses, uses and facilities that we need. It can enhance safety, reduce crime, and fear of crime and enhance energy efficiency. Quality urban
design can provide us with more and better opportunities for physical activity, resulting in improved physical and social well-being.

Quality urban design produces benefits at a city-wide level as well as at the scale of neighborhoods and individual buildings or spaces. For example, a well-
designed transport network integrated with land use improves accessibility and mobility, contributes to a better quality of life, encourages healthier lifestyles,
uses less non-renewable energy, and contributes to improved economic performance.

A well-designed building and adjacent spaces produce higher capital values and rental returns, lower long-term maintenance costs, increased productivity from
its occupants, better security and less crime and fear of crime, and increased civic pride.

The benefits of quality urban design accrue to businesses through increased productivity and prestige; to communities in improved urban environments and
safer, healthier places; and to developers and investors in better returns on investment.

Common Themes and Principles of Good (Urban) Design

o Character, image and response to context – places which have their own character and which are well related to their context

o Spatial coherence and town-scape structure – buildings which have a collective value and create places which are distinctive and understandable
 o Building design quality and external appearance – buildings which are designed to be visually appropriate, attractive and fit for purpose
providing architectural quality

o Movement, linkages, permeability and accessibility – developments and places which support good connections and which are well integrated

o Security and safety – designing places which are inherently safe in design

o Mixed-use, density and diversity – promoting uses which add to vitality and variety

o Adaptability and flexibility – ensuring places and buildings are robust

o Sustainability and eco-design – buildings and schemes which are more energy efficient

o Design process and ongoing maintenance and management – ensuring an effective design process starting with good analysis and ensuring
ongoing care is considered

Economic Value of Urban Design

Good urban design can be a factor for economic growth and regeneration as stated in the discussion above. Good urban design is being considered as a public
good since it provides benefits to the public.

What Is a Public Good?

In economics, a public good refers to a commodity or service that is made available to all members of a society. Typically, these services are administered by
governments and paid for collectively through taxation.

Examples of public goods include law enforcement, national defense, and the rule of law. Public goods also refer to more basic goods, such as access to clean air
and drinking water.

How Public Goods Work

The two main criteria that distinguish a public good are that it must be non-rivalrous and non-excludable. Non-rivalrous means that the goods do not dwindle in
supply as more people consume them; non-excludability means that the good is available to all citizens. These criteria are also present in the urban design thus,
provision of good urban design is provision of a public good.

Key Takeaways

o Public goods are commodities or services that benefit all members of society, and which are often provided for free through public taxation.

o Public goods are the opposite of private goods, which are inherently scarce and are paid for separately by individuals.

o Societies will disagree about which goods should be considered public goods; these differences are often reflected in nations’ government
spending priorities.
Rationale for government intervention in promoting good urban design

• based upon issues on equity and unequal distribution of wealth

• economic efficiency, prevention of market failures

• welfare of society – health and environmental impacts

• investments in regeneration to reverse physical and social decay, consequently reversing economic decline. Returns on investments would be:

o economic – job creation, business formation, market renewal

o social – improved community facilities, health,

o environmental – sustainability, health

Costs of good (urban) design

o more challenging or complicated building format – height/massing

o increased specification of construction and finish materials

o more sophisticated or complex construction methods

o higher environmental standards and better environmental performances

o more open spaces or streets within the scheme

o more or better infrastructure

o time – to get design right

o skills – namely the cost of using suitably qualified designers

o cultural change and initial time costs as developers leave their comfort zones

Beneficiaries of good (urban) design

Government
Investors Developers Occupiers Users/Society Designers
(Authorities)

Returns on Investments Investors attracted Better performance Regeneration Work Meeting obligations
Occupier demand Company image Impression; clients, guests New and retained jobs Prestige "ripple" effect

Returns on investments Health and sanitation Better environment

2.3. How Public Spaces Make Cities Work?

Public Space Architecture and Design

Architecture and public space, when work together, multiplies urban vitality effects. It is intended to foster neighborhoods with activity at the local level, with
endowments on the edges that are shared with adjacent areas, but also at the urban and metropolitan level, because it will have uses that will attract people.

Public space is a hot topic. In the west, there is anxiety that too much of it is being privatized, and governed by the rules of those who paid for it, rather than
being accessible to all people at all times. Publicly funded public spaces have rules too, of course. ‘All people’ doesn’t include muggers or vandals. The use of
shared space is always conditional. In this debate about the privatization of public space, ‘public’ has had much more attention paid to it than ‘space’.

3.1. The Neighborhood Unit, Traditional Neighborhood Development and 'Radburn'

INTRODUCTION

The ideas and principles of urban design are carried and applied into designing communities to address the problems of urban areas and create neighborhoods
with the end view of improving peoples quality of life.

The Neighborhood Unit

• Developed by and American planner, Clarence Arthur Perry.

• Had a huge impact on urban planning worldwide.

• Perry believed that “cities should be built (or rebuilt) to consist of an agglomeration of smaller units typically centered on and served by an elementary
school and bounded by major roads with shopping centers at intersections.

o Children of such units would be able to walk to their local school without having to cross major roads; the limited size of the units (typically 6-
10,000 inhabitants) would encourage community spirit.

• The theory was first publicized in 1939 in Housing for the Mechanic Age and gained rapid acceptance.

The “neighborhood unit” concept began as a means of combating the existing neighborhoods during this period seen as “islands locked” amidst a burgeoning sea
of vehicular traffic, a dangerous obstacle which prevented children (and adults) from safely walking to nearby playgrounds and amenities.
The “neighborhood unit” concept evolved to serve a much broader purpose, of providing a discernible identity for the concept of the "neighborhood", and of
offering to designers a framework for disseminating the city into smaller subareas (suburbs).

The Neighborhood unit defines the neighborhood as a component of a town and defines its size based upon a five-minute walking radius.

o the center holds the cultural uses such as a school.

o a five-minute walking distance is approximately 160 acres.

o Clarence Stein expanded the definition of neighborhood center (1942) by connecting the neighborhoods together to create towns. In the 1920’s
and 1940’s, the centers and anchors of neighborhoods were the schools.

o More recently, the quarter-mile walking radius has been expanded to a half mile with the addition of a transit hub.

o Traditional neighborhood size works well in the town, village, and urban city scales.

PRINCIPLES of Neighborhood Concept

1. Center the school - to encourage a child's walk to school, which was only about one-quarter of a mile and no more than one half mile and could be
achieved without crossing a major arterial street.

2. Size the neighborhood to sufficiently support a school - between 5,000 to 9,000 residents, approximately 160 acres at a density of ten units per acre.
 3. Implement a wider use of the school facilities – to serve neighborhood meetings and activities, and constructing a large play area around the building for
use by the entire community.

4. Place arterial streets along the perimeter - to define and distinguish the “place” of the neighborhood and by design eliminate unwanted through-traffic from
the neighborhood. In this way, major arterial defines the neighborhood, rather than divide it through its heart.

5. Design internal streets using a hierarchy that easily distinguishes local streets from arterial streets, using curvilinear street design for both safety and aesthetic
purposes. Streets, by design, would discourage unwanted through traffic and enhance the safety of pedestrians.

6. Restrict local shopping areas to the perimeter or perhaps to the main entrance of the neighborhood, thus excluding non-local traffic destined for these
commercial uses that might intrude on the neighborhood.

7. Dedicate at least 10 percent of the neighborhood land area to parks and open space

▪ creating places for play and community interaction (community idealism)

▪ protecting and promoting the public health and of considering the safety and welfare of citizens

Traditional Neighborhood Unit

Community design issues and concepts also apply on a larger scale than the appearance of one building or project. Communities around the state reflect a
variety of different development patterns that reflect evolving design concepts at different points of time -- e.g., the grid street patterns of the older sections of
some communities, the curvelinear street pattern of communities built in the 1950's and 1960's, and the cul-de -acs of the 1970's and 1980's and the dispersed
development patterns of the 1990's.

Increasingly people are returning to the concepts of traditional neighborhood design, also sometimes referred to as "new urbanism" or "neo-traditional
neighborhoods." The concepts focus on a number or planning and design principles from the early 1900's and earlier.

• A mixture of uses that integrate work places, commercial areas (such as grocery stores), civic spaces (such as parks and town squares) and housing
(mixing housing types and sizes). The design concepts also follows street patterns based on grids or variations of grids.

• Lots sizes in such developments tend to be smaller than in most conventional subdivisions so they consume less land for the same amount of dwelling
units. They average five or more dwelling units per net acre instead of the one to three houses per net acre that is common in many developing areas.

• Walking is encouraged with sidewalks, trees along the streets, narrow roads that slow down cars, and commercial, and parks that are located a short
walk from most houses. Public transportation is also encouraged.

Four Common Attributes of Traditional Neighborhood Development

1. Neighborhood Size-traditional neighborhoods are generally limited in size to encourage pedestrian activity. The optimal size of a neighborhood is 1/4 to 1/3 of
a mile from center to its edge, a distance equal to a five to 10 minute walk at an easy pace. Its limited area gathers the population within walking distance of
many of its daily needs.

2. The Street Pattern- designed to accommodate the needs of all modes of transportation. The neighborhood consists of a interconnected network, like grids, of
small thoroughfares. An interconnected street pattern with smaller blocks provides multiple routes, diffusing automobile traffic and shortening walking distances.
This pattern keeps local traffic off regional roads and through traffic off local streets. Neighborhood streets of varying types are designed to provide equitably for
pedestrian comfort and automobile movement. Sidewalks are required.

3. Mix of Land Uses- structured to provide a balanced mix of residences, shops, workplaces, civic uses, and recreation within the neighborhood. The integration
of multiple land uses allows residents to meet more of their daily needs through shorter trips.

4. Public Open Spaces- Formal and informal open space is located throughout a traditional neighborhood. The design of the neighborhood gives priority to open
space. These spaces enhance community activity, identity, and civic pride. The neighborhood plan creates a hierarchy of useful open spaces: a formal square in
the neighborhood center, parks and playgrounds throughout the neighborhood, and streets that promote walking and encourage informal meetings.

The existing zoning ordinances, subdivision regulations and other land use regulations of many communities are designed for development patterns of the 1960's
or 1970's. The requirements of these regulations often prohibit the construction of traditional neighborhoods. Often existing zoning ordinances disallow the
densities that are necessary for traditional neighborhoods. The ordinances also generally preclude the introduction of different uses in neighborhoods.

"RADBURN"

Conceived by Clarance Stein and Henry Wright.

Influencing factors:

• rapid industrialization after WWI

• migration to rural cities; dramatic growth of cities

• housing shortage

• need to provide housing and protection from motorized traffic

The “Radburn“ planning was inspired by Henry Wright’s “Six Planks for a Housing Platform” as follows:

1. Plan simply, but comprehensively. Don't stop at the individual property line. Adjust paving, sidewalks, sewers and the like to the particular needs of the
property dealt with - not to a conventional pattern. Arrange buildings and grounds so as to give sunlight, air and a tolerable outlook to even the smallest
and cheapest house.
 2. Provide ample sites in the right places for community use: i.e., playgrounds, school gardens, schools, theatres, churches, public buildings and stores.

3. Put factories and other industrial buildings where they can be used without wasteful transportation of goods or people.

4. Cars must be parked and stored, deliveries made, waste collected (Vehicular Movement) - plan for such services with a minimum of danger, noise and
confusion.

5. Relationship between buildings. Develop collectively such services as will add to the comfort of the individual, at lower cost than is possible under
individual operation.

6. Arrange for the occupancy of houses on a fair basis of cost and service, including the cost of what needs to be done in organizing, building and
maintaining the community.

The Idea

• Separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic

• Super block - large block surrounded by main roads

• Houses grouped around small 'cul-de-sacs' – each accessed from main road

• Living, bedroom faced gardens & parks, service areas to access roads

• Remaining land – 'Park areas'

• Walkways – designed such that pedestrians can reach social places without crossing automobile street.

3.2. Smart Growth

Smart growth is development that supports economic growth, strong communities and environmental health. It is sometimes called, "new community design".
"New urbanismLinks to an external site.", which focuses on the physical design of communities to create livable and walkable neighborhoods is also associated
with "smart growth".

“Smart growth” covers a range of development and conservation strategies that help protect our health and natural environment and make our communities
more attractive, economically stronger, and more socially diverse.

Proponents of 'smart growth" in the 1970s are Architects Peter Calthorpe and Andres Duany. It is the time when planners promote the idea of compact cities and
communities.

• Archt. Peter Calthorpe promoted and popularized the idea of urban villages
that relied on public transportation, bicycling, and walking instead of
automobile use.
• Archt. Andres Duany promoted changing design codes to promote a sense of
community, and to discourage driving.
In response to increasing community concerns about the need for new ways to grow that boost the economy, protect the environment, and enhance community
vitality, the US Environmental Agency joined with several non-profit and government organizations to form the Smart Growth Network (SGN) in 1996. The SGN’s
partners include environmental groups, historic preservation organizations, professional organizations, and local and state government
entities. They work to encourage development that serves the economy, community and the environment.

Main features of Smart Growth:

1. Compact neighborhoods and mixed-use development:

o This reduces sprawl & protects the climate.

o Includes adopting redevelopment strategies & zoning policies that channel housing and job growth into urban centers & neighborhood business
districts.

o Create compact, walkable, bike-& transit-friendly hubs by incorporating mixed-use development with homes, offices, galleries, and shops,
inclusion of affordable housing, restriction on suburban design forms, and inclusion of parks and recreation areas.

2. Transit-oriented development : TODs are residential or commercial areas designed to maximize access to public transport.

3. Pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly design: Biking and walking instead of driving can reduce emissions, save money on fuel and maintenance, and foster a
healthier population.

4. Revitalization of run-down areas: Cleaning up and redevelopment run-down areas or brownfields/infill (abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and
commercial facilities where redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination) can remove blight and environmental
contamination, catalyze neighborhood revitalization, lessen development pressure at urban edge.

5. Open space preservation: Preserving natural lands and encouraging growth in existing communities protects farmland, wildlife habitat, and outdoor
recreation.

Smart growth is guided by these 10 principles:

Smart Growth PrinciplesLinks to an external site.

Principles Description Benefits

 • mitigation of environmental costs of auto
• Integrating different housing types like single-
dependent development
and multi-family structures in new housing
[Link] range of housing opportunities and developments can support a • better jobs-housing balance
choices more diverse population and allow more
• generate a strong foundation of support for
distribution of households of all income levels
transit stops, commercial centers and other
across the region.
services

• Done by building places with multiple

destinations within close proximity, where
streets and sidewalks balance all forms of • lower transportation costs
transportation. They locate within an easy and • greater social interaction
safe walk of goods and services that a
2. Create walkable neighborhoods • increased physical activity thereby improving
community resident or employee needs on a
regular basis, which makes pedestrian activity personal and environmental health
possible, thus expanding transportation • expanded consumer choice
options, and creating streetscapes that better
serve a range of users.

• Since different communities have different

needs, programs addressing them are
best defined by the people who live and work
there. • improves public support
3. Encourage community and stakeholder collaboration • Encouraging community and • leads to innovative strategies that fit unique
stakeholder collaboration can lead to creative, needs of each community
speedy resolution of development issues and
greater community understanding of the
importance of good planning and investment.

• Encourages communities to craft a vision and

set standards and construction which respond
to community values of architectural beauty • community cohesion
4. Foster distinctive, attractive communities with a
and distinctiveness as well as expanded
strong sense of place • strong sense of belongingness of the people
choices in housing and transportation

o creating unique and interesting

communities which reflects the values
 and culture of the people who reside
there and foster a more cohesive
community fabric

• Since the private sector has the needed capital

in developing our communities, governments
5. Make development decisions predictable, fair and
should help make smart growth profitable to • private sector support
cost effective
private investors and developers by making the
right infrastructure and regulatory decisions.

• economies of agglomeration

• Putting uses in close proximity to one another • increase in social interaction

6. Mix land uses provides a more diverse and sizable population • revitalization of community life
and commercial base to support services.
• enhance vitality and perceived security
towards the streets

• Green space and wildlife habitat preservation

"Open space” – natural areas both in and surrounding
7. Preserve open space, farmland, natural beauty and the locality that provide important community space; • reduced water pollution
critical environmental areas habitat for plants and animals; farms; places of natural • help in reducing air pollution
beauty and critical environmental areas (e.g. wetlands)
• reduced heat island effect

• Multi-modal approach to transportation with

supportive development patterns by increasing • improved transportation options
high quality transit service; creating
8. Provide a variety of transportation choices • more efficient transportation
connectivity within road networks; and
ensuring connectivity between pedestrian, • reduced air pollution
bike, transit, and road facilities.

• Direction of development towards existing

communities already served by infrastructure • reduced development and service costs
9. Strengthen and direct development towards existing and utilizing resources that existing
communities neighborhoods offer can conserve open space • reduced green-field development and
and irreplaceable natural resources at the agricultural land conversion
urban fringe.
 • Suggests that communities be designed in a
way which permits more open space to be
• reduction of footprint of new construction
preserved, and that buildings can be
constructed which make more efficient use of • preservation of green spaces
10. Take advantage of compact building design
land and resources by encouraging buildings to
• cheaper to provide and maintain services and
grow vertically rather than horizontally, and by
utilities (water, sewer, electricity, etc.)
incorporating structured rather than surface
parking

Since smart growth advocates compact development, it tackles and addresses the problems of urban sprawl. [Link] defines urban sprawl (also called
sprawl or suburban sprawl) as the rapid expansion of the geographic extent of cities and towns, often characterized by low-density residential housing, single-use
zoning and increased reliance on the private automobiles for transportation. Urban sprawl is caused in part by the need to accommodate a rising urban
population; however, in many metropolitan areas it results from a desire for increased living space and other residential amenities.

Comparison between "smart growth" and urban sprawl

Attribute Sprawl Smart Growth

Density Lower density, dispersed development Compact development

Growth pattern Urban periphery (greenfield development Infill (brownfield) development

Land use mix Homogeneous (single-use, segregated) land uses Mixed land use

Large scale. Larger buildings, blocks, wide roads. Less Human scale. Smaller buildings, blocks and roads.
Scale detail since people experience the landscape at a More detail since people experience the landscape up
distance, as motorists. close, as pedestrians.
 Regional, consolidated, larger. Requires automobile Multi-nodal transportation and land use patterns that
Public services (shops, schools, parks)
access. support walking, cycling and public transport.

Automobile oriented transportation and land use Multi-modal transportation and land use patterns that
Transport
patterns, poorly suited for walking, cycling and transit. support walking, cycling and transit.

Hierarchical road network with numerous loops and Highly connected roads, sidewalks and paths, allowing
Connectivity dead-end streets, and unconnected sidewalks and relatively direct travel by motorized and non-
paths , with many barriers to non-motorized travel. motorized modes.

Streets designed to maximize motor vehicle traffic Streets designed to accommodate a variety of
Street design
volume and speed. activities. Traffic calming.

Unplanned, with little coordination between Planned and coordinated with jurisdictions and
Planning process
jurisdictions and stakeholders stakeholders

Emphasis on the "private realm" (yards, shopping Emphasis on the "public realm" (streetscapes,
Public space
malls, gated communities, public clubs) pedestrian environment, public parks, public facilities)

4.1. Planned Unit and Infill Development

Planned Unit Development (PUD)

A PUD is a site upon which residential, commercial, industrial or other land uses or any combination thereof maybe authorized in a flexible manner so as to
achieve the goals of the municipal comprehensive plan. It can encourage or require clustered developments and are increasingly used in more rural settings to
protect farmland and open spaces.

It is a tool used by cities and municipalities to encourage or require flexibility, creativity and innovation in the planning and design of development to achieve a
variety of objectives.

Zoning regulations need not be uniform for each class or type of land use, but where the use of land shall be in accordance with a preliminary PUD plan approved
by the legislative body. In this case, the property is subject to a different set of controls. Some PUDs are entirely residential, and some are entirely commercial.

Types

1. Residential PUDs
 •

o Planned residential developments of PRDs

o In rural districts, to encourage or require limited, clustered, low-density residential development while emphasizing the protection of important
natural features and resource lands identified in the municipal plan

o In urban settings, PRD standards may allow a mix of housing types and promote a more pedestrian oriented neighborhood design that
incorporates moderate to high densities of development, street trees, sidewalks, and parks.

2. Non-residential PUDs

o The municipalities may identify certain limited areas or situations for PUDs that include only non-residential uses, i.e. regional commercial
centers or industrial parks

3. Mixed-use PUDs

o Most common use of PUDs

o Promotes (requires) and integrated mix of residential and non-residential uses at moderate to high densities of development, as are found in
traditional town and village centers, and other designated growth center.

4. Other PUDs

o Rural mixed-use PUD

o Resort PUD

Objectives of PUD

o Urban Redevelopment

o Traditional Neighborhood Design

o Open Space Preservation

o Brownfield Redevelopment

▪ Brownfield - a tract of land that has been developed for industrial purposes, polluted, and then abandoned.

o Urban Infill and Redevelopment Links to an external site.(Links to an external [Link] to notes below)

▪ Infill development - refers to the development of vacant parcels within previously built areas. These areas are already served by public
infrastructure, such as transportation, water, wastewater, and other utilities.
 o Mixed-use development

o Other objectives:

▪ Flexibility in design

▪ Accumulation of large areas

▪ Creation of a variety of residential and compatible neighborhood arrangements

▪ Clustering of one residential type for better use of land and open spaces

▪ Allowance of sufficient freedom for the developer

▪ Efficient use of land

▪ Establishment of criteria

PUD Features (derived from the Land Use System)

Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) PUD

Long-term plan Medium-term program

Not adopted and observed by local legislative body Adopted and followed by local legislative body

Dealt with irrelevant, unimaginable problems seeking unrealizable goals Deals with pertinent problems seeking realizable objectives

Zoning PUD

Segregation of uses; emphasizing disharmony Mixture of uses, emphasizing compatibility

Single lot focus; incremental development Unified control; unit development

Preset regulation Administrative discretion

Subdivision Control PUD

Automatic disposal; limited design control Necessary site plan review; extensive design control

Fractional open space contribution Significant open space

Formal one shot, platting procedure, extensive expenses by the developer Staged platting producing self-contained units; limited expense to the developer

Examples of PUDs in the Philippines

o Tondo Foreshore area

o Baseco

o Chinatown

o Pandacan Oil Depot area

o Old Bilibid area

o San Lazaro area

o Intramuros

o Addition Hills

o Rockwell center

o Eastwood city

o Bonfacio Global City

o Bay City

o New Manila Bay - City of Pearl Project

Infill Development

Infill development (infill and redevelopmentLinks to an external site.) occurs on vacant or underused lots in otherwise built-up sites or areas. Infill projects can
take several forms, such as small addition in a residential backyard, a single-lot development, a brownfield development, or multi-parcel projects in urban
downtowns.
Goals and Benefits of Infill

• Preserve open space, agricultural land and forests by reducing development pressures on greenfield sites

• Provide opportunities to revitalize a neighborhood or downtown

• Increase the tax base for a jurisdiction by creating or renewing a property's value

• Make efficient use of of abandoned, vacant, or underused sites

• Enhance sustainability by making efficient use of existing community amenities and infrastructure

• Promote compact development and increase density

• Create a mixture of uses

Strategies for infill development

• Diversity - promote a mix of uses, including housing, retail, and commercial uses both horizontally and vertically

• Density - Successful infill development is often dense enough to make transit viable and support walkable retail districts.

• Transit - Infill projects can increase ridership on existing systems and make transit an even more viable option.

• Scale - Take into account the grain and scale of existing frontages, sidewalks, streets, transit systems need significant densities.

• Massing and articulation - Successful massing strategies promote interaction between the sidewalk pedestrian and the building by creating a street
frontage that is appropriate at the ground level.

4.2. Transit-Oriented Development

TOD is generally defined as development that is located within a 10-minute walk, or approximately 0.5 mile, from a light rail, heavy rail, or commuter rail station.
It also includes development along heavily used bus and bus rapid transit corridors. In some communities, waterborne transit supports TOD.

A mix of uses, including housing, retail, office, research, civic, and others characterizes TOD projects. TOD also involves development at higher densities than
typical, to take advantage of transit proximity and planning and design elements that encourage walkability and create pedestrian-friendly connections to the
surrounding community. TOD projects range widely in size, from infill loft developments to mixed-use centers to entire new communities.

TOD Concept

Many communities have limited opportunities for TOD, because land areas within the half-mile radius have already been developed, transit is not yet an available
transportation option, or potential development sites are not a suitable size for TOD. Most TOD projects contain at least 100,000 square feet (or 60-80 housing
units), and many are far larger. TOD can be developed at a smaller scale, but such projects have more difficulty absorbing the costs of creating a pedestrian-
friendly public realm. That said, economic benefits often accrue from reduced parking requirements and increased densities. When potential TOD sites become
available, communities should be ready to take advantage of the unique potential they offer.

Benefits of TOD

Certain benefits of TOD make it distinct from conventional development approaches. These benefits are numerous and include quality of life, public health,
economic development, community character, environmental quality, and transit use.

• Quality of Life
Transit-oriented development can result in many quality of life benefits including reducing automobile dependency, increasing the range of housing
options, both the types of housing and the range of affordability available to a community, and enhancing the vitality of neighborhood main streets and
centers.

• Public Health
Because transit-oriented development reduces automobile dependency, residents can take advantage of a more walkable environment. Reduced vehicle
trips also result in improved air quality.

• Economic Development
Transit-oriented development provides affordable access to jobs for people without automobiles or with fewer automobiles per household, attracts
employers to locate around station areas, and broadens the overall tax base.

• Community Character
The increased density in TOD projects provides opportunities to create public spaces and well-designed buildings that give identity and vitality in those
spaces.

• Environmental Quality
In addition to the public health benefits, transit-oriented development provides a design alternative to sprawl, and is an opportunity to pursue
environmentally sensitive site planning and 'green' architecture.

• Transit Use
Increased ridership and the potential for additional funding sources for new transit facilities are among the transit benefits of TOD.

Site Programming

When developing an overall site program for a transit-oriented development, four principles for achieving optimal use and function of the site should be
considered.
 • Build Densely
One of the primary characteristics of transit-oriented development is an increased level of density as compared to conventional development. Building to
a higher density lets one take advantage of reduced auto dependency, make efficient use of TOD sites, support pedestrian-friendly shops, and create
lively, people-filled environments. Locating between 1,500 and 2,500 housing units withing walking distance can support a new block of 'main street'
retail space, according to a 2002 study by Goody Clancy and the real estate firm of Byrne McKinney.

• Mix Uses
Along with higher densities, transit-oriented development can also be characterized by the emphasis on a mixed-use environment. To create such a
dynamic, enliven sidewalks and public with as much retail as the market will support, provide tax revenue-generating and job-producing commercial
development, and provide opportunities for residential to be located adjacent to or above such uses. This intentional programming can reinforce the
vitality of town centers and main streets, where transit stations are often located, The decision to include residential above or adjacent to commercial
and office uses will depend upon economic feasibility, market forces, local preferences, or other factors.

• Mix Housing Types and Prices

Take advantage of creating housing at higher densities to increase the diversity of housing in the community including affordable housing. According to
the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the share of households with children looking for housing will drop significantly by 2025, producing demand for a wider
range of housing options.

• Reduce Parking Requirements

One of the most important outcomes of transit-oriented development is increased transit use. Lower parking requirements and dedicated bicycle paths
and bicycle parking are among the actions that can be taken to achieve this. The higher density and land values of TOD often make it feasible to construct
structured parking or below-grade parking in place of surface lots. Lower parking ratios reduce overall project costs. Mixed-use projects can further
reduce parking requirements by enabling shared parking,such as office workers during weekdays and residents during evenings and weekends.

Site Design

Within a transit-oriented development site, the following design features should be emphasized in the site planning process.

• Pedestrian Access
Provide convenient, direct, and public pedestrian access to transit through TOD projects. Create continuity with local streets, and locate retail and other
pedestrian-friendly uses to encourage pedestrian flow to nearby commercial districts and main streets.

• Public Spaces
Create new public spaces, including lively streets, squares, and parks, that enhance nearby commercial districts. Take advantage of the increased
pedestrian activity generated by both transit and TOD. Relate the new spaces to public and semi-public uses that may also cluster to TOD locations.

• Sense of Place
Create a sense of place by orienting buildings and public spaces to create a strong sense of identity for the development, and by using buildings to frame
public spaces. Consider design guidelines or standards that celebrate these places.
 • Pedestrian Experience
Foster an enriched and invigorated pedestrian experience. Include retail and other pedestrian-friendly uses. Maximize windows and entries to build a
sense of connection between pedestrians activities within buildings. When surface parking is needed, locate it on the side or rear of buildings. Visually
screen parking areas with vegetation or create urban blocks that allow for screening of parking structures with residential units or retail on street level.

• Character and Quality

Enhance the quality and character of surrounding communities. Allow for well-designed buildings that emphasize place making. Orient buildings to new
and existing streets and squares. Use transitions in height and massing to respect, but not mimic, the fabric of nearby districts.

• Architecture
Encourage architecture that reflects transit's civic importance, creating buildings that, regardless of of architectural style, employ materials and design
that convey a sense of quality, permanence, and community-enriching character.

• Sustainability
The combination of transit use and intense development around transit stations is one of planning's most powerful policies for long-term sustainability.
Plans, guidelines and development approaches should work to reinforce this use and intensity. On a building or project scale, build for sustainability,
including site and building design, which reflects a commitment to environmental responsibility.

5.1. Participation

Role of Participation

Community participation is the involvement of people in the creation and management of their built and natural environments. Its strength is that it cuts across
traditional professional boundaries and cultures. The activity of community participation is based on the principle that the built and natural environments work
better if citizens are active and involved in its creation and management instead of being treated as passive consumers (Sanoff 2000).

The main purposes of participation are:

• to involve citizens in planning and design decision-making processes and, as a result, make it more likely they will work within established systems when
seeking solutions to problems;

• to provide citizens with a voice in planning and decisions, service delivery, and overall quality of the environment, and

• to promote a sense of community by bringing together people who share common goals.

Participation should be active and directed; those who become involved should experience a sense of achievement. Traditional planning procedures should be
reexamined to ensure that participation achieves more than simply affirmation of the designer’s or planner’s intentions.

Characteristics of Participation
Although any given participation process does not automatically ensure success, it can be claimed that the process will minimize failure. Four essential
characteristics of participation can be identified:

• Participation is inherently good.

• It is a source of wisdom and information about local conditions, needs, and attitudes, and thus improves the effectiveness of decision making.

• It is an inclusive and pluralistic approach by which fundamental human needs are fulfilled and user values reflected.

• It is a means of defending the interest of groups of people and of individuals, and a tool for satisfying their needs, which are often ignored and
dominated by large organizations, institutions, and their bureaucracies.

Experiences in the participation process show that the main source of user satisfaction is not the degree to which a person’s needs have been met, but the
feeling of having influenced the decisions.

Ladder of Citizen Participation

The ladder of citizen participation presents a typology of eight levels of participation. Each rung of the ladder corresponds to the degree to which stakeholders
had power in determining the outcome. The gradation represented go from non-participation to token participation to various degrees of citizen power. While
the ladder was conceived in the context of federal programs of the late 1960's, planners and urban designers today still should strive to ensure that they are
working near the top of the ladder in their public participation activities.

Categories of Participation

Participation can be classified into four categories, or “Experiences” with the goal of achieving agreement about what the future should bring (Burns 1979)

• Awareness; this experience involves discovering or rediscovering the realities of a given situation so that everyone who takes part in the process speaks
the same language, which is based on experiences in the field where change is proposed.

• Perception; this entails going from awareness of the situation to understanding it and its physical, social, cultural, and economic ramifications. It means
sharing with each other so that the understanding, goals, and expectations of all participants.
 • Decision making; this experience concentrates on working from awareness and perception to a plan for the situation under consideration. Here
participants propose plans, based on their priorities, for professionals to use as resources to synthesize alternative and final plans.

• Implementations; many community-based planning processes stop with awareness, perception, and decision making. This can have significant
detrimental effects on a project because it ends people’s responsibilities when the “how-to, where-to, when-to, and who-will-do-it” must be added to
what people want and how it will look. People must stay involved throughout the processes and take responsibility with their professionals to see that
there are results (Hurwitz 1975)

DETERMINATION OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The planning that accompanies the design of any participation program should first include a determination of participation goals and objectives. Participation
goals will differ from time to time and from issue to issue. In addition, participation is likely to be perceived differently depending on the type of issue, people
involved and political setting in which it takes place. If differences in expectations and perception are not made clear, the expectations of those involved in the
participation program will likely not be met, and people will become disenchanted.

Related to this, to address participation effectively, the task should conceptualize what the objective is for involving citizens. For example, is the participation
intended to:

• generate ideas

• identify attitudes

• disseminate information

• revolve some identified conflict

• measure opinions

• review a proposal; or

• provide a forum to express general feeling

PLANNING FOR PARTICIPATION

Once planners have identified the overall goals and objectives for the participation process, planning for participation requires the following steps (Rosner 1978)

• Identify the individuals or groups that should be involved in the participation activity being planned.

• Decide where in the process the participants should be involved, from development to implementation to evaluation.

• Articulate the participation objectives in relation to all participants who will be involved.
 • Identify and match alternative participation methods to objectives in terms of the resources available.

• Select an appropriate method to be used to achieve specific objectives.

• Implement chosen participation activities.

• Evaluate the implemented methods to see to what extent they achieved the desired goals and objectives.

THEORY AND PRACTICE

The theories and practices of participation can be synthesized into the following five statements:

There is no “best” solution to design and planning problems.

Each problem can have a number of solutions, based traditionally on two sets of criteria:

• Facts; the empirical data concerning material strengths, economics, building codes, and so forth.

• Attitudes; interpretation of the facts, the state of the art in any particular area, traditional and customary approaches, and value judgements.

• “Expert” decisions are not necessarily better than “lay” decisions”

Given the facts with which to make decisions, citizens can examine the available alternatives and choose among them. In a participation process, planners and
designers should work along with citizens to identify possible alternatives, discuss consequences of various alternatives, and state opinions about the alternatives
(not decide among them)

“A planning task can be made transparent”

Professionals often consider alternatives that are frameworks in their minds. They should be presented for users to discuss. After understanding the components
of planning decisions and exploring alternatives, citizens in effect can generate their own plan rather than to react to one provided for them. The product is more
likely to succeed because it is more responsive to the needs of the people who will use it.

“All individuals and interest groups should come together in an open forum.”

In this setting, people can openly express their opinions, make necessary compromises, and arrive at decisions acceptable to all concerned. By involving as many
interests as possible, the product is strengthened by the wealth of input. In turn, learning more about itself strengthens the citizens’ group.

“The process is continuous and ever changing.”

The product is not the end of the process. It must be managed, reevaluated, and adapted to changing needs. Those most directly involved with the product, the
users, are best able to assume those tasks.
The professional’s role is to facilitate the citizen group’s ability to reach decisions through an easily understood process. Most often this will take the form of
making people aware of alternatives. This role also includes helping people develop their resources in ways that will benefit themselves and others.

INDICATORS OF THE VALUE OF PARTICIPATION

A review of the public literature, conducted by Lach and Hixson (1998), revealed that participants valued such issues as public acceptability, accessibility, good
decision making, education and learning, time commitment, and trust. To identify value and cost indicators of public involvement, they conducted interviews
with people who had been involved in participatory projects. Combining the literature review, interviews, and expert judgement, they identified these key
indicators of the value of the participation.

• Opening the process to stakeholders

• Diversity of viewpoints

• Meaningful participation

• Integration stakeholder concerns

• Information exchange

• Saving time

• Saving and avoiding cost

• Enhanced project acceptability

• Mutual learning

• Mutual respect

Lach and Hixson also developed direct and indirect cost indicators of the public involvement effort. Certain costs can be linked to traditional accounting practice,
such as preparation and participation time, facilities, materials, and services. Other indirect costs, such as participants’ time commitment, lack of opportunity to
participate in other projects, and heavy emotional demands on participation, cannot be easily measured. The intent of their research was to develop prototype
indicators to be tested in ongoing and completed public involvement programs. Results from project participants indicated that the positive aspects of their
involvement were twofold: (1) a diversity of viewpoints in the participation process was valuable; (2) project savings occurred in the form of saving and avoiding
cost.

5.2. Participation Processes and Techniques

PARTICIPATION PROCESSES AND TECHNIQUES

Most development projects employ a wide range of participatory processes and techniques. They require different resources and respond to different objectives
identified by the community group. Each technique is briefly defined in the following list, and its deployment is noted at the beginning of each project.

• CharretteLinks to an external site.: A process that convenes interest groups in intensive, interactive meetings lasting several days.

• Community action planning: A process that empowers communities to design, implement, and manage their own community programs.

• Focus groups: A structured interview consisting of several individuals, permitting discussion of ideas.

• Game simulation: A technique of abstracting the essential elements of a problem without the normal constraints.

• Group interaction: A process in which interpersonal techniques are used to facilitate discussion and problem solving.

• Participatory action research: An empowerment process that involves participants in research and decision making.

• Public forum: An open meeting held by an organization or agency to present information about a project at any time during the process.

• Strategic planning: A process for developing strategies and action plans to identify and resolve issues.

• Visioning: A process to think about how the community should be and find ways to identify, strengthen, and work toward the end.

• Workshop: Working sessions to discuss issues in order to reach an understanding of their importance.

6.1. Urban Renewal

URBAN RENEWAL

A comprehensive scheme to redress a complex of urban problems, including:

• unsanitary, deficient, or obsolete housing;

• inadequate transportation, sanitation, and other services and facilities;

• haphazard land use; traffic congestion;

• and the sociological correlates of urban decay, such as crime.

Early efforts usually focused on housing reform and sanitary and public-health measures, followed by growing emphasis on slum clearance and the relocation of
population and industry from congested areas to less-crowded sites, as in the garden-city and new-towns movements in Great Britain. Late 20th-century
criticisms of urban sprawl prompted new interest in the efficiencies of urban centralization.

Each country approaches urban renewal according to its means and its political and administrative systems. One of the chief activities of urban renewal
is redevelopment, which is achieved through the clearance and rebuilding of structures that are deteriorated or obsolete in themselves or are laid out in an
unsatisfactory way. Other aspects of urban renewal involve the reuse of the land for new purposes, rehabilitation of structurally sound buildings that have
deteriorated or lost their original functions, and conservation—a protective process designed to maintain the function and quality of an area, for instance, by
requiring or assisting adequate maintenance while preventing inappropriate development or uncharacteristic changes in the use of land and buildings

Important processes in urban renewal

• Enlargement of pedestrian zones, mostly in the centers of cities

• Renewal of historic tradition –housing, industrial units, open spaces, green areas, parks, specific milieus

• New construction – interpolations or renovations of the whole part of a city

• The creation of new construction zones

• Construction of new housing and business buildings

• “Beautification”, refurbishing usually of central parts of cities – new lights, new pavements, new urban “furniture”

• Rehabilitation of old and organization of new green and recreation areas

• Restrictions of the extension of private traffic, especially into central zones

• Better organization, expansion, and multiplication of types and means of public transportation

Major terms and concepts in urban renewal

Reconstruction

• A process of change of primarily physical structure of a city

• Process, actions: new construction

• Less a process of rehabilitation of the existing structures and social composition of population

• Usually, limited to local issues, indirectly affecting wider areas of the city

Revitalization

• Wider and more complex process of urban renewal

• A complex evaluation of the reasons for degradation and the needs for revitalization – of what, why, “how much”, and “how”?
 • “Bringing back the life” into the degraded urban situations.

• Actions, methods, concepts: reconstruction, bringing in “new, more carrying population”, new constructions, rehabilitation of the existing structures and
contents, new situations,

Regeneration

• Similar to revitalization

• Development and implementation of many measures to revitalize, regenerate and reconstruct of the degraded parts of cities, as a whole and/or as parts,
milieus

• Actions: reconstruction of the existing structures, situations, construction of new structures and spaces, rehabilitation of “old” parts ...

• Sensitive towards the existing structures that are taken as starting points in the planning of regeneration – what, how, what is “valuable”, where, ...

Restoration

• Primarily a process of the renewal of traditional, but degraded elements of physical structures (situations) that used to exist before

• Restoration of old layouts of streets, squares, milieus, details... “going backward”

• Reconstruction of industrial architecture

• A combination of the facsimile methods, principles of “retraditionalization”, old and new structures

• Reconstruction of old elements but also new construction and replicas of old milieus. Touristification? Commercialization of the remains of the past?

Gentrification

• A process of change of social structure of inhabitants, mostly in the degraded parts of the city

• Type of change – from poor to rich social structures ...from less to higher carrying capacity of the inhabitants

• Who will start to live in the regenerated urban conditions ... and ...will introduce “new lifestyles”, bringing in also higher levels of aspirations in
consumption

• In that sense expanded the changed structures (“gentrified”) to the wider parts of cities

Explore HERE. Links to an external site.

Principle of Urban Renewal

• Urban renewal must be planned and – fundamentally – realized with the current residents and entrepreneurs.

• Planners must reach an agreement with residents and entrepreneurs about the aims of the renewal measures. Technical and social plans will go hand in
hand.

• The special character (of Kreuzberg) must be preserved. In parts of the city that are under pressure, confidence must be reawakened. Fundamentally
threatening damage to housing should be redressed immediately.

• The careful change of floor plans will enable new housing types.

• The renewal of houses and buildings must be gradual and must be completed little by little.

• The physical situation must be improved by minimum demolition, by green development in courtyards, and by the decoration of facades.

• Public facilities such as streets, squares and parks must be renewed and preserved in accordance with public needs.

• The rights of participation and tangible rights of persons affected by the social planning must be settled.

• Decisions about urban renewal must be made in an open way and preferably be discussed on location. The participation of affected people is to be
reinforced.

• After confidence has been generated, urban renewal needs solid financial commitments. Money must be available quickly.

• New forms of project responsibility must be developed. The responsibility for the commissioning and the responsibility for the actual work of the
renewal measures must be separated.

• Urban renewal according to this concept must be secured for the duration of the International Building Exhibition.

Objectives of Urban Renewal

Urban renewal needs the participation of the government, the URA, relevant District Councils, individual owners, professionals and non-governmental
organizations. The main objectives are:

• improve the living conditions of those residing in old districts;

• redeveloping dilapidated buildings into new buildings of modern standard and environmentally-friendly design;

• restructuring and re-planning of concerned urban areas;

• designing more effective and environmentally-friendly local transport and road networks within the concerned urban areas;
 • rationalizing land use within the concerned urban areas;

• promoting sustainable development in the urban areas;

• promoting the timely maintenance and rehabilitation of buildings in need of repair;

• preserving buildings, sites and structures of historical, cultural or architectural value;

• preserving as far as practicable local characteristics;

• preserving as far as practicable the social networks of the local community;

• providing purpose-built housing for groups with special needs, such as the elderly and the disabled;

• providing more open space and community/welfare facilities; and

• enhancing the townscape with attractive landscape and urban design.

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Examples of Urban Renewal

Cheonggyecheon, Seoul, South Korea

Cheonggyecheon is a 10.9 km (7.0 miles) long, modern public recreation space in downtown Seoul, South Korea. The massive urban renewal project is on the site
of a stream that flowed before the rapid post-war economic development required it to be covered by transportation infrastructure. The $900 million project
initially attracted much public criticism but, after opening in 2005, has become popular among city residents and tourists.

The stream was opened to the public in September 2005 and was lauded as a major success in urban renewal and beautification. Creating the environment with
clean water and natural habitats was the most significant achievement of the project. Species of fish, birds, and insects have increased significantly as a result of
the stream excavation. The stream helps to cool down the temperature on the nearby areas by 3.6 °C on average versus other parts of Seoul. The number of
vehicles entering downtown Seoul has shown a decrease of 2.3%, with an increasing number of users of buses (by 1.4%) and subways (by 4.3% - daily average of
430,000 people) as a result of the demolition of the two heavily used roads. This has a positive influence by improving the atmospheric environment in the
region.

The project attempted to promote the urban economy through amplifying urban infrastructure for a competitive city within the existing business and industrial
area centered on the stream. The Urban renewal project was the catalyst of revitalization in downtown Seoul. Cheonggyecheon became a center for cultural and
economic activities.
Rockwell Center, Makati City, Philippines

In 1995, Rockwell Land’s story began with the transformation of an unused thermal power plant into a thriving, self-sustained community. Now known as the
Rockwell Center, this flagship development was the first of several exceptional communities which now serve as the benchmark for living, leisure, and business.

A member of the Lopez Group of Companies, Rockwell Land continues to raise the standard for living spaces, creating environments that seamlessly harmonize
residences, work spaces, and lifestyle hubs, all with the Rockwell signature of innovation, exclusivity and unparalleled quality.

URBAN REVITALIZATION

Urban revitalization means to put new life into cities and to upgrade areas for higher social and economic uses. Urban revitalization involves investment to
remodel or rebuild a portion of urban environment to accommodate more profitable activities and expand opportunities for consumption, particularly retail and
housing for middle and upper income households.

According to Cowan (2005) revitalization is used to refer to ways of bringing a place to life (e.g. finding new uses for old buildings, promoting cultural activities)
that, unlike regeneration do not necessarily involve significant buildings.
Two (2) Major Components of Urban Revitalization

• Social Component – focused on residential areas

• Economic Component – targeted at commercial services

Residential restructuring implies rehabilitation of housing stock and residential environment of inner city neighborhoods with a view to attract middle class
consumers. Commercial redevelopment of CBD or local commercial centers entails physical renovation and economic revitalization secured by new retail and
office schemes, congress and cultural centers or sport arenas.

Two (2) Approaches to Revitalization (Zielenbach)

1. Individual-based approaches aim at people and improvement of their living conditions in neighborhoods (e.g. anti-poverty programs, new employment
opportunities, and support of social institutions)

2. Place-based approaches emphasize local economic development and increase in real estate values (e.g. adaptive re-use, gentrification, incumbent
upgrading).

Two (2) Processes of Larger Revitalization

• Changing residential neighborhoods

• Transforming commercial areas

The processes of residential revitalization generally suppose improvements to the built environment, yet they vary in terms of population change and social
status growth.

Two (2) Contrasting Process in Residential Revitalization

(Beaugard and Holcomb,1981)

• Gentrification: Gentrification involves invasion of middle-class or higher-income groups to traditionally working class areas where they renovate housing
and displace the previous inhabitants of lower social status (Hamnett, 1991). Evidently, gentrification involves physical upgrading and shift in the social
composition residents, as well as economic and cultural changes

• Incumbent upgrading: Incumbent upgrading implies that long-term residents (owner-occupiers) of the neighborhood invest in renovation of their
properties to improve their own housing condition (Beauregard & Holcomb, 1981).
In contrast to gentrification, rehabilitation of housing by incumbent upgrading does not displace indigenous population. Beside gentrification and incumbent
upgrading does not displace indigenous population. Beside gentrification and incumbent upgrading (Criekingen and Decroly, 2003) recognized two other
processes, marginal gentrification and upgrading, which are however rather nuances of the previous two. While gentrification is lead by new class of highly
skilled and highly paid 'gentrifiers' and results in creation of wealthy neighborhood, marginal gentrification is associated with middle class households and implies
rather trendy than wealthy neighborhood as an outcome (Criekingen & Decroly, 2003). Upgrading refers to revitalization process in long established middle and
upper class neighbourhoods where the physical improvements mainly consist of minor renovations made by newcomers (Criekingen & Decroly, 2003).

Two (2) Contrasting Process in Commercial Revitalization

• Adaptive re-use - the conversion of industrial sites and warehouse (brownfields) in Central and inner cities into residential lofts, retail stores or office
spaces (Zielenbach, 2000).

• Commercialization - Commercialization implies the increase of commercial functions in total land use of the area either by replacement of previously
residential functions in existing structure or by new construction on empty or previously developed land (Sykora, 1999).

Obviously, urban revitalization takes place under various conditions specific to each urban context. Since the circumstances differ from one city to another,
revitalization strategies are not identical and do not bring the same outcomes.

See examples of adaptive reuse project transformation HERE: Transforming blights to beaconsLinks to an external site.

Eight (8) Key Elements of Successful Revitalization Programs

Urban commercial districts face complex and locally specific problems and no one approach can possibly be successful in every urban district. Local Initiatives
Support Corporation’s (LISC) strategy for commercial revitalization is built around the need for flexible, on-the-ground responses to the specific issues facing each
neighborhood. The specific work plans and projects of each program will vary tremendously, but LISC’s experience to date leads to the conclusion that successful
neighborhood commercial revitalization programs share the following key elements:

1. Community Initiated: Successful urban neighborhood business district revitalization programs must evolve from key community stakeholders’ desire to
affect positive change. Key stakeholders include residents, merchants and property owners supported by community-based organizations, local
government and others important to the revitalization process.

2. Comprehensive: Truly effective urban neighborhood business district revitalization programs must be comprehensive in their design and
implementation, addressing a wide array of social, economic, physical and political issues.

3. Collaborative: Creating an effective collaborative process is extremely important to the revitalization effort for two primary reasons: It allows stakeholder
voices to be heard and brings together the collective resources of the community.

4. Diverse: Based on current demographic trends, urban neighborhoods are becoming increasingly culturally, racially, and economically diverse places to
live, work and recreate. The best revitalization programs embrace this diversity and incorporate it as a community asset.
 5. Vision Directed: Obtaining community buy-in for a specific vision-directed revitalization plan for a neighborhood business district can be very challenging
but is critical to success. The agreed upon vision should focus on the future and lead to specific, realistic and achievable activities directed toward
changes—both large and small—within a certain timeframe.

6. Capital Intensive: In most urban neighborhoods, success will involve significant new capital investment in commercial and residential real estate
development, interior and storefront renovations, infrastructure and streetscape improvements. The revitalization plan must ensure the availability of
adequate capital to support these types of activities.

7. Market Oriented: Urban neighborhood business districts must begin their revitalization efforts with the appropriate market information including an in-
depth analysis of the specific economic, social and physical conditions present in the district. Conducting market analyses, completing business
inventories, undertaking consumer surveys and other market research will greatly assist stakeholders in understanding their markets and will lead to the
development of realistic strategies for economic growth.

8. Sustainable: Revitalization of urban neighborhood business districts requires a long-term approach. Stakeholders must continuously identify resources,
both financial and human, to sustain the revitalization effort as well as build new institutional and systemic change mechanisms to manage the business
district as a community asset over the course of many years.

URBAN REDEVELOPMENT

Redevelopment consists of the removal of existing buildings and the re-use of cleared land for the implementation of new projects (Miller, 1959). This approach
is applicable to areas in which buildings are in seriously deteriorated condition and have no preservation value, or in which the arrangement of buildings are such
that the area cannot provide satisfactory living conditions (Miller, 1959). In such cases, demolition and reconstruction, of whole blocks or of small sections, is
often thought to be the only solution to ensure future comfort and safety of the residents.

For developers, redevelopment represents maximum profit through the sale of new centrally-located units. For local governments, this approach represents
maximum use of land, higher floor area ratio, and has the advantage of introducing higher income groups and commercial activities to the city center, which
increase tax revenues. It also leads to higher population density and improved services and infrastructures, which is highly desirable for modernizing inner-city
areas (Zhu Zixuan, 1989).

However, this approach may carry heavy social and environmental costs. The demolition of architectural environments is probably the most serious consequence
of the redevelopment approach (Kazemian, 1991). It can bring about the sacrifice of a community's cultural heritage and the destruction of viable
neighborhoods, depriving people of valuable housing resources which in many cases still serve a useful function (Frieden, 1964). Redevelopment generally
involves the relocation of the original population to another part of the city. Even when the residents are rehoused on the same site after its redevelopment, the
transformation of the neighborhood beyond recognition has inevitable psycho logical impacts upon the community.
In his book The Future of Old Neighborhoods, Bernard J. Frieden (1964: 123) summarizes the social costs of redevelopment in these terms:

"For tenants, owners, and businessmen alike, the destruction of the neighborhood exacted social and psychological losses. The clearance destroyed not only old
buildings, but a functioning social system. The scattering of families and friends was especially harmful to the many older people."

Redevelopment leads to the destruction of badly needed housing units and it does not prevent slums from reappearing in other parts of the city. It also
contributes to the impoverishment of the original residents by reduction of job opportunities, as resettlement areas are usually located outside of the city proper
(Mirbod, 1984).

In the majority of western countries, redevelopment has been discarded as a way to rejuvenate old city centers. However, in many developing countries,
redevelopment through slum clearance and reconstruction is still regarded as the only viable way to improve housing conditions and to modernize inner-city
areas.

Objectives of Redevelopment

• Promote historic preservation to maintain the township’s unique character, protect designated historic resources and complement economic
development efforts.

• Provide a balanced land use pattern that preserves residential neighborhoods, strengthens the vitality of commercial districts, enhances remaining
industrial areas, preserves and addresses parks and open space, protects environmentally sensitive natural features, accommodates community facilities
and facilitates local/regional circulation.

• Eliminate blighting, deteriorated and deteriorating area/influences

• Support and stimulate further growth of commercial and industrial uses and other similar uses consistent with the Redevelopment Plan.

• 6.2. The City Beautiful Movement

• One can consider the City Beautiful Movement a way opening up new ideas in planning (urban design) where the intent is to
improve and beautify the public spaces in cities - a sort of redevelopment and/or renewal strategy during the 1890s to 1920s
mostly in American cities.
•
•
• The City Beautiful Movement brought together the ideas of municipal art, civic improvement, and landscape design. The event
that is generally considered to mark the beginning of the movement is the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
 • Designed by Daniel Burnham, possibly the most prominent architect and urban designer of the day, and Frederick Law Olmsted Jr
(the son of the designer of Central Park), the fairgrounds presented the visitor with a carefully integrated combination of
landscaped areas, promenades, exposition halls, and other buildings. By the time the exposition closed, some 26 million people
had seen it. By itself, the exposition opened the nation's eyes to what the planner, the architect, and the landscape architect,
working in concert, could do.
• "In this "White City" of almost 700 acres Chicagoans and millions of visitors accustomed to urban ugliness, saw for the first time a
splendid example of civic design and beauty in the classic pattern and on grand scale, and they liked it. Indeed it marked the
beginning in this country of orderly arrangement of extensive building and grounds."
• One effect of the exposition was to set off a wave of particular type of planning activity in American cities. Plans coming out of
the City Beautiful movement tended to focus on those things over whihc municipal government had clear control - streets,
municipal art, public buildings, and public spaces. The results can be seen today in dozens of cities, particularly in civic centers,
municipal buildings, and the like.
• The City Beautiful movement obviously has closed links to the municipal art movement, and to argue about whether a turn-of the
century city hall and adjacent public spaces are products of one movement rather than the other is unimportant. Perhaps what
distinguishes the two movements is more a matter of scale than intent. The municipal art movement tended to focus on particular
points in the city: an arch, a plaza, a traffic circle, a fountain. The City Beautiful movement sought to create or remake a part of
the city: a civic center, a boulevard, a parkway.
6.3. Ten Principles of Livable Towns and Cities
It is among the objectives of urban design to create livable towns and cities. The ten (10) principles provided are already included in
other best practices of urban design which essentially aimed to enhance the well-being of the people. Kindly refer to the instructional
materials to further learning on this topic. The dialogue of Peter Calthorpe on the principles of building better cities can complement
your understanding on this topic.