Settlement making process

Lesson outline

• A framework for settlement-making

• Spatial and structural principles for
settlement-making
 Overview
• Key concern to settlement making is
based on these approaches;
1. The human-centred approach emphasises that a central purpose of
planning;
• is to ensure that the developmental needs and activities of people living
in settlements are catered for and, in particular,

• That opportunities for people to achieve their full potential through their
own efforts are maximized.

• This approach, rather than being purely cost – or technologically-driven, is

people-driven and democratic.
 Overview
• Key concern to settlement making is
based on these approaches;
2. The nature-centred approach recognizes that natural systems interact in
highly synergistic ways, which must be respected if breakdowns in them
are to be prevented.

• Human actions on the landscape, such as settlement-making, must thus

be sensitive to ecological processes.

• Therefore, rather than imposing settlement development on the

environment, this approach emphasizes design with nature, thereby
creating synergy between man-made and ecological systems.
 Starting points
• There are three starting points for achieving positively performing
settlements
1. Pedestrian Movement
• The first is the importance of pedestrian movement. A fundamental
dimension of scale is related to movement on foot.
• The pedestrian condition describes the reality for the majority of
residents in towns and cities in the country.
• Settlement growth brings with it higher order opportunities, services and
movement systems.
• Consistent with the principle of equity, particularly in communities with
low levels of car ownership, public transport becomes a necessity once
the pedestrian scale is exceeded
 Starting points
2. Spatial thinking
• The second starting point is the importance of thinking spatially.

• In pedestrian-scaled environments the public spatial environment should

be viewed as the highest level of social infrastructure.

• In these environments a great deal of activity occurs in the public spaces,

with the result that the quality of the public-spatial environment
profoundly affects the quality of life.

• Thinking spatially, in this context, requires that all public spaces,

particularly streets, be viewed as public space.
 Settlements structure
• The meaning of structure
• Spatial structure is a concept used to interpret, design and make human
settlements.

• The spatial structure of a settlement results from an interplay between the

formally planned (or programmatic) and the spontaneous (or non-
programmatic) dimensions of settlement-making.

• The planned dimension is essentially quantitative. It requires the identification

of the major elements of land use and the development of a land and
engineering services
• By contrast, the spontaneous, or non-programmatic, spatial structure is
essentially qualitative, having at its core a concern with the whole rather than
the parts.

• It reflects how people, over time, have addressed the making of a place to
meet their needs and enrich their lives.
 Settlement structure
• The term “structure”, as used here, refers to the creation of the public
environment: that realm which is shared by all inhabitants, as opposed to
the private realms of individual households and businesses.

• The art of planning and design is to arrange the elements of structure into
a system of references that supports the processes of living, and which
establishes a spatial logic eliciting responses from the many actors who
contribute to settlement-making.
 Settlement structure
• The elements of structure
• the elements of structure are described in terms
such as
– circulation networks, (connection)
– public transport systems, (Connection/space)
– open spaces, (space)
– public facilities, (public institutions)
– and public utilities (engineering services).
 Structuring element - Connection
• Connection refers to movement of all kinds, including fixed line systems such
as roads, light - and heavy - rail systems, underground rail systems, as well as
pedestrian and bicycle routes.

• As a general principle, movement should be seen as an activity which occurs

within space.

• The movement system, therefore, is the network of spaces through which

people move in various ways, from the pedestrian mode to modes specifically
conceived for fast movement.

• It is primarily within this network of movement spaces that the public life of a
community takes place.

• Consequently, its making should be informed not only by technocratic

considerations, but also by human and environmental considerations.
 Structuring element - Connection
• The movement system has considerable structural
significance as it defines
– the pattern of accessibility, both within the settlement and between
settlements.

– It is this pattern, in turn, which sends structural signals to individuals,

entrepreneurs and place-makers, and which significantly affects the
range of choices and opportunities the settlement offers inhabitants
 Structuring element - Space
• Space lies at the heart of the non-programmatic
(spontaneous) approach to settlement-making.

• It is not just one element of a settlement programme, such as

“public open space” (as designated in town planning
schemes), but should be approached as part of thinking
about the whole.

• Settlements are characterized by diversity. They are many-

placed places. Some parts are more public, others are more
private, while others are more neutral, serving broader, more
diverse sets of citizens and urban activities.
• Public spaces are the meeting places of people in settlements.
• The public spaces comprise the urban “rooms” and “seams”
of connectivity.
• There also exists a continuum of spaces, which represents a
transition from more public to more private living.
• The order in settlements thus not only relates to access, but
also to degrees of publicness and privacy. A similar order of
publicness and privacy exists in relation to social institutions
and activities, and places of perceived value.
• At the heart of settlement-making lies the creation of a
continuum, or hierarchy, of public spaces and movement
systems, which attract, and give order to, activities, events
and elements in accordance with their need for publicness
or privacy.
 Structuring element - Public institutions
• Historically, the institutions which were most valued by society - such as
institutions of learning, worship, exchange, markets and universities -
served as the key structuring elements of settlements.

• The siting of these, in turn, formed the basis for the locational choices of
other, more private, uses, such as housing.

• In the absence of certainty about what institutions will be prioritised by

communities, the social space itself becomes the highest form of social
institution

• The location of institutions in relation to the other elements of structure

is also of critical importance.

• Commonly, institutions occur in central places, are easily accessible in

terms of movement patterns, and are announced by public spaces.
 Structuring element - Public utility services
• Public utility services refer to those engineering services that are essential
to the functioning of settlements.

• They include water provision, sewage removal, stormwater disposal,

solid-waste removal and electricity supply.

• These services are essential to the maintenance of public health in

settlements.

• As a general principle, utility services should be provided as efficiently and

as cost-effectively as possible, taking due cognizance of the human- and
nature-centred approach to settlement-making proposed herein.

• However, in terms of structuring settlements, utility services should

follow, not lead.
Spatial and structural principles for
settlement-making
• “Principle” refers to a set of spatial “rules”, which should be
applied in the settlement-making process.

• The principles which are important in achieving well-

performing settlements are of a structural and a spatial
nature
 Structural principles

1. The principle of reinforcement

2. The principle of continuity
3. The principle of discontinuity
4. The principle of externalization
5. The principle of concentration along routes
6. The principle of accommodating sameness and diversity
 Structural principles - The principle of reinforcement

• It is necessary to think structurally about all elements within the settlement. This
means that each structural element should reinforce the others.

The integration of the elements increases the potential impact to a far greater
extent than if they were to be considered in isolation
 Structural principles - The principle of continuity

a. Continuities of green space

b. Continuities of movement
c. Continuity of built form
d. Continuity of public space
 Structural principles - The principle of continuity

a. Continuities of green space

• Human society functions in a landscape that consists of the original (or
primeval) natural landscape, as well as rural and urban landscapes.

• Access to all elements can be considered a basic need for human

beings. As a result, establishing continuities of green space becomes an
important element in the settlement-making process.

• At a larger settlement scale, the promotion and protection of such

continuous systems become important planning principles.

• At a smaller scale of settlement, green spaces in new developments

should contribute to emerging continuous green systems.
 Structural principles - The principle of continuity
b. Continuities of movement
• The movement, or flow, of people, finance, goods and services is the energy
network of settlements.

• Activities requiring the greatest degree of exposure will tend to gravitate

towards the most accessible points and links in the energy network.

• The movement network exhibits its own ordering structure.

• At the settlement level the energy potential contained in the network is

released through stopping, not through movement.

• The application of the principle of continuity consists of the creation of a

complex and diverse pattern of movement and accessibility.

• This will enable all settlement activities, large and small, formal and informal, to
 Structural principles - The principle of discontinuity
• In the settlement-making context the principle of discontinuity refers to the
promotion of breaks in particular components of the urban system, to achieve
particular effects.
– Discontinuities of movement
– Discontinuities of built form
 Spatial principles

• There are four spatial principles, which are central to

creating positive settlements. These are;
– definition,
– scale,
– flexibility and
– intensity of space-use.
 Spatial principles
• Definition

• In positive environments the public space is defined by buildings and other

space-defining elements, such as walls and planting
• Scale
• Scale refers to judgement about relationships such as size, distance and height. In
settlement terms, reference is usually made to a “human scale”, which is the scale
that human beings feel comfortable with.
• Flexibility
• Positive environments reflect flexibility in their spatial structures. The principle of
flexibility thus refers to the creation of spatial structures which can accommodate
the unexpected demands made upon them over time.
• Intensity of space use
• Land should be used as intensively as possible as this has positive spin-offs for
settlement-making