Introduction to City & Regional Planning

Introduction to City & Regional Planning

• A city is a dynamic entity, constantly evolving, encompassing diverse aspects like population, buildings, size, and form.
• It's a focal point for agricultural, industrial, commercial, religious, and political activities.
• City planning is a systematic program (short or long-term) designed to improve city utilities and infrastructure, evolving alongside civilization.
• Planning strategies address problems like overpopulation and pollution, integrating land use and transportation planning.
• It promotes the creation of livable communities, directs city expansion, and creates sufficient agricultural land for residents.

Who Plans?

• Planning involves diverse specialized roles, including planners (e.g., real estate developers, tourism planners, traffic planners, and regional planners), architects, landscape architects, engineers (civil, infrastructure and environmental), and specialists in social, economic, legal, and geographic aspects.

Levels of Planning

• Planning operates on various scales, starting with international, national, regional, city, and neighborhood levels (detailed planning).

New Planning Visions

• Effective planning considers key aspects like traffic flow, population density, land use, essential services and infrastructure, environmental factors, and the social context.

History of City Planning - Ancient Egypt

• Predynastic Egypt exhibited two types of cities: Those for the living (east bank) and those for the dead (west bank).
• Ancient Egyptian cities were characterized by walls, houses along main streets, temples as central hubs, and cemeteries/mortuary temples outside the city.
• City forms differed, with some being centralized, linear, or irregular.
• Cities of the dead included tombs and pyramids, significant structures reflecting the social and religious organization of the time.
• Dwellings were primarily built from mud bricks, often with inner courts and gardens.

History of City Planning - Mesopotamian Cities

• Mesopotamian cities featured walls, streets, markets, temples, and houses and gardens.
• They often followed irregular forms, with regular elements integrated into the layouts.
• Defense systems included walls, canals, and gates.
• Temples usually formed the city nucleus and functioned as important hubs.

History of City Planning - Acadian City (Mari), Babylonian Cities, & Assyrian Cities

• Acadian cities, like Mari, displayed circulation patterns with rivers flowing through them, placing poorer citizens on city edges.
• Babylon demonstrated a more centralized design with a vast Royal Palace and the Ishtar Gate as central elements.
• Assyrian cities, like Khorsabad and Nineveh, included prominent structures like palaces and temples.

History of City Planning - Greek Cities

• Greek cities, like Miletus and Athens, employed a gridded street plan often centered on the city's highest point (Acropolis) with streets intersecting at right angles, facilitating efficient urban spaces.
• Miletus, used a gridded plan of identical city blocks with wide main streets and market spaces.
• Athens highlighted the central Agora (marketplace) as the hub and a grid based city design approach.

History of City Planning - Roman Cities

• Roman cities utilized the Hippodamian grid system but also developed impressive infrastructure like roads, aqueducts, and public buildings.
• Major cities, like Pompeii and Rome, are examples of intricate urban design with various building types, including forums, temples, and amphitheaters, integrated within the grid plan.
• Roman cities demonstrated diverse planning ideas, from imperial and colonial settlements to regional market towns.

History of City Planning – Pompeii, Rome, & Tigmad Cities

• Pompeii showed typical Roman topography with gridded streets.
• Rome's central element was the Roman Forum.
• Tigmad featured a chessboard pattern, surrounded by a fence, and its layout reflected its geographical context.

Port City Relationship

• Port cities often evolve around a port's defensive purposes, integration with supporting infrastructure, or as a parasitic urban form.
• The connection between ports and associated urban centers has become less consistent due to ongoing changes.
• Waterfront areas are subject to revitalization, responding to developments in shipping, technology, and industrial growth.
• Port cities often show segregation of port and city functions, although this is evolving with modernization.

Theories of City Planning - Le Corbusier

• Le Corbusier emphasized technological advancements in urban planning, advocating for high-density buildings, extensive transportation networks, efficient use of spaces, and incorporating nature.

Theories of City Planning - Ebenezer Howard

• Ebenezer Howard championed the "garden city" concept that promoted integrating city and rural elements, spreading urban density and creating low-density residential areas within the urban area to balance city and country living.

Theories of City Planning - Raymond Unwin

• Raymond Unwin contributed to the garden city movement.
• Unwin emphasized the design aspects of a garden city, highlighting the importance of central elements alongside their satellite towns.

Theories of City Planning - Eric Golden, Frank Lloyd Wright, Soriya Matra, & Constantine Doxides.

• These urban planners have various approaches, including "equal-cell theory," "broad-acre city," "linear city" concepts, reflecting different urban visions and responses to challenges of urban development.

Planning New Cities

• Planning for new cities involves comprehensive strategies.
• A key element is establishing a clear vision encompassing the location's unique characteristics and long-term goals.
• Infrastructure and essential services, along with sustainable design and planning aspects, are important in new city development.
• Economic development, social inclusion and equity, governance and management, and environmental sustainability strategies are also considered in the planning process.

Traffic Planning

• Roads are the main circulatory system of a city.
• Roads' types (main, secondary, collectors and local roads ) impact road design and usage.
• Road layouts (perpendicular, radial, and organic) and road design (dead ends, intersections) influence traffic flow.
• Traffic control elements such as lane design, signs, and traffic signals are crucial for managing traffic.
• Parking design, pedestrian areas, and traffic safety features (bridges, sidewalks, and bicycle lanes) all contribute to smooth traffic flow in the city.

Explore the fundamentals of city and regional planning, focusing on the diverse aspects that shape urban environments. This quiz covers the roles of various planners and the strategic approaches to addressing urban challenges like overpopulation and pollution. Learn how effective planning fosters livable communities and sustainable city development.