Site Planning and Urban Design PDF

SITE PLANNING AND URBAN DESIGN History of Settlements Ancient Times Even in ancient times our earliest ancestors chose to live in groups for protection against the elements, for security against rival tribes, for ease in gathering food and simply for man’s natural need for companionship. An...

SITE PLANNING AND URBAN DESIGN History of Settlements Ancient Times Even in ancient times our earliest ancestors chose to live in groups for protection against the elements, for security against rival tribes, for ease in gathering food and simply for man’s natural need for companionship. And in choosing their place to live certain factors were considered – factors which extent still apply to the development of present day settlements. A. Natural factors that affect the development and growth of urban areas:  Potential for natural calamities (fire, flood, volcano eruptions, etc.)  Presence of fertile soil, bodies of water and other natural resources  Slope and terrain and other forms of natural defenses  Climate B. Innovations that influence the development of early cities:  The plow and rectilinear farming  Circular fencing and radiocentric planning Air view of rectilinear land division in a farming area. A village of rectilinear mud-brick house C. PRIMITIVE DWELLINGS: mostly had one room.  development of more complex civilizations led to division of the room into smaller ones for eating, sleeping, socializing.  Natural cave, enlarged by erecting piles of rocks at entrances. D. 7000 – 9000 B.C. Neolithic Cities  Jericho – an early settlement in Israel around 9000BC. It was a well-organized community of about 3,000 people built around a reliable source of freshwater. It was 3 hectares in size and enclosed with a circular stone wall.  Khirokitia – an early settlement in Cyprus around 5500BC. It was the first documented city with streets. The main street was narrow but had a wide terminal.  Catalhoyuk – an early settlement in Turkey around 7000BC. It was the largest Neolithic city with 13 hectares of land for a population of about 10,000 people. It was an intricately assembled complex without streets.  Khirokitia Catalhoyuk E. 3000 – 4000 B.C. In this era, cities in the Fertile Crescent were formed by the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys of Mesopotamia.  The City of Eridu is the oldest city.  The City of Damascus oldest continually inhabited city.  Babylon- the largest city with 80,000 inhabitants F. 3000 B.C.  Egyptian Civilization  No need for defensive walls  Urban mobility  Little evidence of controlled planning  No zoning, no defined blocks for housing  Social classes determined housing sites  Worker’s camps  Dependence on Nile River  Egyptians built reservoirs to store water, and dug Canals to carry it to the fields  Thebes and Memphis along the Nile Valley – These Egyptians cities were characterized by monumental architecture popularly symbolizes by the pyramids. G. 2500 B.C.  Indus Valley (present day Pakistan)  Mohenjo-Daro administrative – religious centers with 40,000 inhabitants H. 1900 B.C.  Yellow River Valley of China – “land within the passes”. Precursor of Linear City.  Anyang - largest city of the yellow River Valley I. 800 B.C. Beijing  Founded in approximately same location it is in today  Present form originated in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) J. BC to AD  Elaborate network of cities in Mesoamerica were built by the Zepotecs, Mextecs, and Astecs in rough rugged land.  Teotijuacan and Dzibilchatun were the largest cities 2.2. Greek Classical Cities A. 700 B.C.  Greek cities spread through the Aegean Region – westward to France and Spain  “polis”, defined as a “city-state” Most famous is the Acropolis a religious and defensive structure up on the hills, with no definite geometric plan.  Finite measurements of Greeks – built to the human scale  Sparta and Athens – the largest cities  Neopolis and Paleopolis – “new” and “old” cities. A Neopolis became a Paleopolis once another new city was built. B. 450-400 B.C.  The City of miletus-regarding as the first “planned” city.  3 sections of miletus – for artisans, farmers, and the Military. City of Melitus  Hippodamus – the first noted urban planner. Introduced the Grid system and the Agora (public marketplace) 2.3. Roman Classical Cities  Roman Cities: adopted Greek forms but with different scale-monumental, had a social hierarchy.  Roman Forms – focal points of Roman City planning.  Romans as conquerors – built forum after forum.  Romans as engineers – built aqueducts, public baths, utility systems, fountains, etc.  Romans as physical and social planners – developed housing variations and other spaces. Basilica-covered markets, law courts Curia – the local meeting hall; the capitol Domus – traditional Roman house; with a central atrium  Insulae – 3 to 6 storey apartments with storefronts  Romans were also fond of public works and arts 2.3. Roman Classical Cities  Decline of Roman power left many outposts all around Europe. Growth then revolved around the fortifications or the monasteries.  Towns were fine and intimate with winding roads and sequenced views of cathedrals or military fortifications.  Feudalism – affected the urban design of most towns.  The rise of the Church as a main urban component was signified in Constantinople (present day Turkey) and Sienna, Italy. The Main Cathedral in Sienna Climaxes the Architectural massing of the Town  Towns were fine and intimate with winding roads and sequenced views of the cathedral of military fortifications. Expansion was limited to the size he city could support but was not limited inland area.  There as a continuing increase in number of towns, although with a small population per town  New 11th century towns in Europe were mostly Coastal port towns.  Mercantilist cities continuous increase in size while the power of the feudal lords declined.  Ownership shifted to a new variety – that of the wealthy merchants while the Church continued its rise thus creating two privileged classes. The nobles and the clergy.  World trade and travel created major population concentrations like Florence, Paris, and Venice.  The growing population however, brought about congestion and slums, and ultimately led to the decline of the cities. 2.5. Renaissance and Baroque Periods  In 15th Century France the kings achieved unity and display their affluence and power by improving and beautifying their cities.  Arts and architecture thus became a major element of town planning.  Geometrical forms of cities were proposed.  Plan of an ideal city by Vasari Plan of an ideal city by G. Maggi Karlsruhe and Versailles – designed with gardens as major elements  Vienna emerged as the city of culture and the arts – the first “university town”  Landscape architecture showcased palaces and gardens, best displayed in the plans of Lenotre for Versailles in France and its adaptation in the design of Karlsruhe in Germany.  Rebirth of classical towns; plaza planning in Venice; grandeur in Civic structure a public space; streets were wide regular and circumferential with the piazza at the center, as in Italy 2.6. Settlements in the Americas  Early American towns were primarily founded as colonial outposts with strong trading ties to the mother country.  Medieval organic City taken after the “boug” (military town) and ‘fauborg” (citizen’s town) of the medieval ages. These towns did not have any regular street form.  Medieval Bastide – taken from the French bastide. These were new towns placed in previously unsettled areas. Most bastides enjoyed locations in river valleys and were built in regular grid- like or radial form around them.  The English Renaissance. “the European Planned City’ – two of these developed as capitals in Chesapeake Bay Region: Annapolis and Williamburg (designed by territorial Governor Col. Francis Nicholson. The other two became ports of the southeast coast; Charleston in South Carolina and Savannah in Georgia (designed by James Oglethorpe).  Bastide – rectified towns.  The Speculators Town – developments were driven by speculation with emphasis on equality (Philadelphia, designed by William Penn, best exemplifies he American Speculator’s Town)  Rectangular Gridiron  Broad & high Streets cross Each other at Center square & divide the City into four Quadrants. 2.7. Industrial Revolution  The Machine Age” – signified the change from manpower to assembly lines  Two schools of thought – the ‘reform movements”, that put emphasis on building from scratch to improve worker’s living conditions, and the “Specialists”, who believed that the problems of cities should be tackled one item at a time, beginning with the improvement of health and sanitary systems.  Robert Owens spearheaded the Reform Movement by  Proposing his ideal city meant for 800 to 1200 persons On at least 600 to 1800 acres of land.  Owens constructed an industrial Village at New Lanark  Mills in Manchester that was self-sufficient, educational, and Recreational facilities.  Owen’s son later built a similar type of Industrial Village in Indiana, called New Harmony.  A group of New England Planners also designed Brook Farm In Massachusetts.  Cabet conceptualized the city of Icarus, in Red. River, Texas  Tony Garnier also designed a hypothetical industrial Town, Une Cite Industrielle, with an imaginary site Consisting of a high plateau and level valley, all alongside a river. The plateau would be used for the residential component and the valley for factories, and other specialized spaces in areas where they develop a good relationship with complementary uses – thee ideas may have been a precursor to modern zoning. 3. EARLY THEORIES AND PRACTICES Though town planning and urban design emerged as early as the Greek and Roman Ancient times, the roots of our modern concepts were developed at a later era, when towns and cities were experiencing a decline brought about by congestion, disease, crime and other negative factors.  3.1 The Garden Cities  Ebenezer Howard - author of “Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path To Social Reform”, first conceptualized the Garden Cities’. These were new cities built in the countryside with rail access to the original city. Garden cities would have a central city with an optimum size of 58,000 to 65,000 in 6,000 acres of land, with satellite cities, also connected by rail, with an optimum size of 30,000 to 32,000 persons. The cities would all be surrounded by large greenbelts of agricultural land.  The Garden City Association was established by Howard in 1899, meant to provide financial machinery for the realization of his proposals.  Letchworth was the first developed Garden City, started in 1902 and designed by Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker. The plan was a combination of landscaping, informal street layouts, and a main axis focusing on a town center. It was built in an area of 4,500 acres; 3000 for agricultural uses and 1500 for the City proper.  Welwyn the second Garden City, built in 1920 was designed by Louis de Soisson. Welwyn brought formality and Georgian taste to the town built in a smaller land area of 2400 acres. The town’s focal point was a mile-long mall with beautiful Georgian houses and shops facing it. LETCHWORTH WELWYN  Hampstead Garden Suburbs – meant only for housing but with a variety of housing types lines along streets with terminating axes on civic buildings in a large common green.  3.2 The City Beautiful Movement  The exact period of the City Beautiful era is vague, but theorist suggest it begun with the Columbian Exposition in 1891.  Emphasis of the movement was on grand formal design, but also with social motives. Chicago and with his famous axiom of “make no little plans, they have no magic to stir men’s blood...”  Burnham is also credited with the designs of Cleveland, San Francisco, and Manila and Baguio, among others.  During the same era, Baron houseman worked on the reconstruction of Paris. BURNHAM’S PLAN OF CHICAGO  Emphasis was on a linear connection between the place de Concord, Arc de Triumph, and Eiffel Tower strengthened by a large boulevard, the now famous Champs De Ellysee. HAUSMANN’S PLAN of PARIS  3.3 New Capitals The City Beautiful Movement spread to different parts of the world. Grand designs were sought after by different Nations in the building of their new capitals, and proponents of the movement were invited to take part A BRASILIA. * The new capital of Brazil and a completely new twentieth century city was designed by Lucio Costa with a lot of influence from Le Corbusier. * Designed with two huge axes in the sign of the cross, with the principal multi-level traffic arteries traversing these axes. Separate centers for government, commerce, and entertainment are located along one axis, and the residential districts are distributed about the other. * Oscar Niemeyer was long the architects employed to design the buildings. B CHANDIGARH. * With the separation of India and Pakistan, the site of original Indian capital of Lahore was given to Pakistan, thus creating a need for a new capital. * Chandigarh was designed to be the Capital of Punjab province of India. * The original Master Plan was by Albert Myer but Le Corbusier eventually took over.  * Designed with a regular grid of major roads for rapid transport surrounding residential superblocks or sections each based on the rectangle, and measuring 800x1200 meters. * The whole plan represents a large scale application of the Radburn principle regularized by Le Corbusier’s predilection for the rectilinear and the monumental. C CANBERRA * The government of Australia sponsored a design competition in 1901 for the new capital and invited such top  urban designers as Daniel Burnham, Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie, and Frederick law Olmstead, but the winner ws Walter Griffin, who was a descendant of Frank Lloyd Wright. * Canberra’s design reflected the principles of the city beautiful movement with a triangular formation of three important buildings. The court of Justice, the Parliament House, and the Capitol Building, with each apex pointing to another important building or monument. D. NEW DELHI, INDIA * The Master Plan for new Delhi, designed by Sir Edward Lutyens is based on the great east-west axis of Kingsway, 1.5 miles long, with the Government house on a hilltop in the West end, and the eastern counterpoint a large hexagonal space reserved for palaces of the native princes. * Kingsway forms the base of a triangle, the northern point of which is a busy commercial node. * The planned area covers 2650 hectares, yet growth beyond a population of 57,000 people was not contemplated as extremely low garden-city type density was envisioned. The City Towers The problem of congestion in cities and the need for open space led to the conceptualization of high density living in tall structures that will take up less space. Unite d’ Habitation  This idea was first conceptualized by Le Corbusier in his book “The Cities of Tomorrow”  His first plan of high density living was in d’ Habitation in Marsellles; a “super building” that contained 337 dwellings in only ten acres of land. Le Contemporaine   Le Corbusier also planned Le Contemporaine, designed for a population of 3,000,000 people  Consisted of high rise office and residential buildings with a greenbelt for institution and recreational areas.  Beyond this were industrial areas.  Designed with a grid pattern of superblocks, 200 by 400 meters.  Transit was underground. High rise development High density Highways Frank Lloyd Wright A. BROADACRES  Frank Lloyd Wright proposed that every family in the U.S. live in one acre of land, in a city complete with all necessary amenities.  Critics argued that there was not enough land. This led to his own translation of high density living. B. THE MILE-HIGH TOWER  Frank Lloyd Wright proposed to house a significant amount of Manhattan residents to free up space for greenfields, in a building a mile high.  He suggested that 10 or more of these could possibly replace all Manhattan buildings. Radical Ideas A. THE LINEAR CITY Proposed by Spanish Engineer Soria Y Mata B. THE ARCOLOGY ALTERNATIVE The 3-dimensional city by Paolo Soleri C. THE FLOATING CITY By Kiyonori Kikutake D. THE BARBICAN DEVELOPMENT An early type of Planned Unit development that had all amenities in one compound with multi- level circular patterns. 3.7 THE NEIGHBORHOOD UNIT  Conceptualized by Clarence Perry and Clarence Stein, the neighborhood unit was defined as the physical environment wherein social, cultural, educational, and commercial are within easy reach of each other  Was not intended to segregate any boy by race, religion, or income. The unit was a template for new neighborhoods with the main objective being self-sustainability of smaller units.  The elementary school as the center of development and the size of the neighborhood was dependent on the population of the school. 3.8 Contemporary World Urbanization  “Millionaire” cities – large cities were the exemption prior to the twentieth century. But a few did exist in antiquity. The table refers to the earliest large cities. Leading World Cities in 900 A.D. City Population Baghdad (Iraq) 900,000 Changan (China ) 500,000 Constantinople (Turkey) 300,000 Kyoto (Japan) 200,000 Cordova (Spain) 200,000  Large cities subsequently dwindled in the middle ages. Millionaire cities generally did not emerge until the 20th century, as seen below: Leading World Cities in 1900 City Population City Population London 6,480.000 Vienna 1,662,000 New York 4,240.000 Tokyo 1,497,000 Paris 3.330.000 Leningrad 1,439,000 Berlin 2,244.000 Philadelphia 1,418,000 Chicago 1,717.000 Manchester 1,255,000  The Industrial Revolution generated jobs, increased productivity, and opened up mass markets for goods. Transportation innovations made factories more productive, generating additional capital to support urban growth.  Complex support systems are required to employ, feed, and house people in big cities. Only recently have very large cities, as a group, been practical and efficient to live.  Iron and steel construction technology, and the electric elevator represent two important factors in the growth of very large cities in recent times.  Improved medicine, transportation, and infrastructure are also frequently cited factors  Hierarchy of human settlements.  - Hamlet, neighborhood, small village - Community or town - City, urban area - Metropolis - Conurbation – a composite of cities, metropolises, and urban areas. - Megalopolis – merging of two or more metropolises with a population of at least 10 million.  Megalopolis – concept coined by Jean Gottmann for urban complexes in the Northeastern United States. The term means “Great City” in Greek. Today it is used to refer to massive urban concentrations created from strong physical linkages between three or more large cities. - Boston – New York – Philadelphia – Washington (United States) - Sn Diego – Los Angeles – San Francisco - Dortmund – Essen – Duesseldorf (Germany) - The Hague – Rotterdam – Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Tokyo – Yokohama – Nagoya – Osaka - Kobe 4. Contemporary World Urbanization 4.1 Pre-colonial Times  Like other cities in the world the earliest Filipino communities developed out of the need for their inhabitants to band together.  They were formed for security, or to be close to critical resources like food and water.  Most of the earliest towns were by the coast for the fisher folks or were where there was abundant agricultural land for the farmers.  The community unit was the barangay, consisting of 30 to 100 families. 4.2 Spanish Colonial Times A. LAWS OF THE INDIES * In 1573, king Philip Ii proclaimed the Laws of the Indies that established uniform standards and planning procedures for colonial settlements. * This laws provided guidelines for site selection, layout and dimensioning of streets and squares, the location of civic and religious buildings, open space, cultivation and pasturing lands, and even the main procedural phases of planning and construction. * The Plaza Complex was a result of several ordinances of the Laws of the Indies. * The plaza was surrounded by important buildings such as: 1. Catholic Church 2. Municipal or town hall 3. Marketplace and merchant’s stores 4. Elementary School 5. The homes of the “principalia” 6. Other government buildings. B. INTRAMUROS * Known as the ‘walled city of Manila”, Intramuros was the home of the Spanish (except for the Friars & the high ranking officials). * The city was 1.2 sq. KM in area, containing large Churches, plazas, office and residential buildings, housing 7000 residents surrounded by high walls. * Because of the physical limitations in growth, decentralization occurred and settlements were built in Malate, San Miguel, and Paco, among other areas.  4.3 American Period A. THE AMERICAN AGENDA * With the arrival of the Americans their agenda was to guide urban growth and physical development * In doing so, they put more emphasis on other values such as sanitation, housing, and aesthetics improvement. B. DANIEL BURNHAM * DANIEL Burnham, an architect / planner who designed Chicago, San Francisco, and parts of Washington D.C. was brought in her commissioned to design Manila based on the city beautiful movement theories he was known for. * Burnham’s design of Manila was very similar to his design of Washington D.C. evident in the strong similarities of the Capitol mall with Luneta Park. * Burnham went as far as ordering reclamation of the sea to create a better view of the ports. Washington, D.C.  Luneta Park C. BURNHAMS’S DESIGN FOR MANILA * Manila was designed with grand avenues and a strong central civic core. * It included a civic mall to house national buildings (only the Finance & Agriculture buildings were built.) * It fronted Manila Bay like most Baroque plans fronted a large body of water. * The Pasig River was to be an integral part of Manila as the main artery of trade and commerce. * The plan was “too grand” that it was never fully realized. D. MANILA AS THE FIRST CHARTERED CITY. * On July 31, 1903, by virtue of Act no. 183, the city of Manila was incorporated. * Manila was encompassed Intramuros, and the towns of Binondo, Tondo, Sta. Cruz, Malate, Paco, and Pandacan.. * The population then was 190,000 people. 4.4 Growth of Manila A. THE ARRABALES * Quiapo – the illustrado territory; the enclave of the rich and powerful, Also the manifestation of folk religiously. * Tondo - coastal city adjacent to Manila. * Binondo – the trading port developed by the Chinese and Arabs. * Sta. Cruz – the main commercial district with swirls of shops, movie houses, restaurants, etc. * San Nicolas – also a commercial town built by the Spanish with streets of “specialized” categories (i.e. ceramics, soap, etc) * Sampaloc – centered on two churches (Our Lady of Loreto and Saint Anthony of Padua). Also known as the first “University Town”. B. LATER SUBURBS * San Miguel (Malacañang) – where rest-houses were built for the Spanish government.  * Malate – the early “summer resort” of wealthy and cultured Filipinos. Then became the first fishing and salt making town. * Ermita – early tourist belt (red-light district) * Paco-first town built around a train station. * Pandacan – town built by the Americans for Oil depots C. FURTHER SUBURBANIZATION * Quezon City as the New Capital In 1939, Commonwealth Act No. 457, authorized the transfer of the capital to an area of 1572 hectares A Master Plan of Quezon City was completed. In 1941 by Architects Juan Arellano, Harry T. Frost, Louis Croft, and Engineer A. D. Williams.. * Constitution Hill In 1946 a search committee was formed to find a New site for the Capital. A 158 hectares’ area in the In the Novaliches Watershed was selected and called Constitution hill and the National Government Center. The three seats of government were to Form a triangle at the center of the complex with a 20-hectare civic space to be called the Plaza of the Republic. * Philippine Homesite and Housing Corporation PHHC, the precursor of the National housing Authority, built homes for the masses based on The neighborhood unit concept of Perry and Stein * Philamlife Homes Middle class residential homes developed by Philamlife Insurance Company. The master plan was designed by Architect and Planner Carlos P. Arguelles, based on Suburban Developments in California. * BLISS (Bagong Lipunan Sites and Services) Walk up housing units built for the government sector.  D. PRESENT DAY METRO MANILA * Metro Manila Cities and Municipalities population, area, and density. D. METRO MANILA CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICTS * Manila CBD – this traditional CBD is a center of business and commerce, has a population nucleus, and seats the national government. * Makati CBD – a business, financial, commercial, convention, and recreational center of the Metropolitan Region. Begun by the Ayala conglomerate in 1948.