INTRODUCTION TO TOWN
PLANNING
What is planning?
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Definition of planning is subjective
It is considered a science and art.
It is pre-thinking and pre-arranging things.
Planning is a future-oriented problem solving process.
It is a way of thinking about social and economic problems
It is concerned with the relation of goals to collective decisions and strives
for comprehensiveness in policies and programs (freidman)
• It is the link between technical knowledge and action in the public domain.
• An orderly sequence of activities that will lead to the accomplishment of
stated goals
What is town planning?
• It is the art and science of organizing land use and siting of buildings
and communication routes to provide best possible degree of
economy, beauty and convenience in terms of the available resources
and time.
• It is the organization of all elements of a town or other urban
environment
• Town planning integrates land use and other managerial aspects of
settlements to improve the economic and social environments of
communities and achieving health, beauty, convenience, preservation
and sustainability.
Town planning - aims
• Production of the guidelines dictating the course of development of a
city or town
• Improve built environment
• Preserve the best features of our environment for benefit of future
generations – cultural and historical preservation – environmental
conservation
• Fulfill social and economic needs of population and nations
• Reduce poverty and inequality in development
• Health, beauty, convenience, comfort and security
Urban planning
• Similar to town planning but done on a much larger scale
• An urban environment is one in which natural environment is
dominated by the man made environment
• A city is a large human settlement, a town is a mid sized human
settlement
• Economic base and infrastructure are also used to define whether a
human settlement is a city, town or village.
Elements of a city
• Transportation and communication routes
• Buildings; public, commercial, residential, recreational, educational,
industrial, military, government
• Urban agriculture, vegetation
Why urban/town planning is needed?
• Urbanization is increasing
• Population is growing. Planning is needed to make better use of
resources
• Social inequality
• Realizing a settlement’s economic potential by overcoming
weaknesses such as:
• Lack of innovative urban development vision
• Lack of coordination between departments responsible for urban
development
• Unsustainable development
• Environmental Degredation
• Corrupt and poorly managed Urban governance institutions
Why urban/town planning is needed?
• Facing new socio-economic and climatic challenges:
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Urban security
Public Health and Safety
Financial crises
Global Warming and climate change
Social changes
Outcome of planning = plan
• A plan is a diagram or a list of steps or activities or actions
• The steps must be performed within the allotted or available time and
resources
• The performance of the steps leads to the fulfillment of objectives or
goals
• The plan is like a compass which helps in following the course of
development
• A successful plan is based on thorough and accurate research
Levels of Urban Planning
• Local/District – short or medium term development of a town
• Regional – medium term development focusing on solving problems
with regional dimesions
• National – economic and long term development for national
interests
How town planning provides health?
• Regulating and reducing pollutions of different kinds – air, noise,
water
• Providing open spaces such as parks for public use
• Water and waste treatment facilities
• Use of renewable technologies for provision of electricity
• Providing pathways that encourage walking and reduce the use of
vehicles that use non renewable fuels
• Implementation of environmental protection laws
• Proper disposal of waste
What does beauty and convenience mean?
• Convenience is understood in the form of various economic, social
and recreational amenities to be given to the public
• Provision of jobs, provision of places for social gatherings, provisions
of basic infrastructure facilities such as electricity, water, sewerage
system, roads
• Beauty means to preserve the aesthetic in the design of all elements
of the town or city plan.
• Beauty is achieved by taking the best possible advantages of the
natural conditions.
Principles of town planning
• No Haphazard methods of planning are to be employed
• Fulfillment of basic needs such as housing is necessary for all levels of
society
• Provision of basic infrastructure facilities or civic amenities
• Provision of open spaces
• Accessibility ( modes of transportation – rail, road, air, water)
• Proper systems of zoning to be implemented
• Provision of green belts to control future growth of a city and prevent
environmental degredation
Goals vs Objectives
GOALS
OBJECTIVES
Goals are defined in general terms
Specific in nature
Long term
Short or medium term
May not be measurable and are not tangible
Can be measured or be tangible
Forms of planning
• Land use planning
• Physical planning
• Allocative planning
• Imperative planning
• Indicative planning
Land use planning
• Exercise in public policy that designates and regulates the use of land
• Outcome is a plan or document that outlines:
• Allocation and zoning of land based on the nature of use
• Regulation measures for the intensity of use
• Formulation of legal and administrative devices for supporting and
implementing the plan
Physical planning
• It is the planning of an area’s physical structures or infrastructure e.g.
communication and transportation facilities, municipal utilities etc.
• It is concentrated on local or regional level.
• It uses the land use plan as a framework for optimal development of
physical infrastructure in an area
Allocative planning
• It is a kind of regulatory planning.
• It is concerned with the resolution of conflicts through evolving
policies to ensure efficiency of an existing system
• It is concerned with coordination among different components of a
system.
Indicative planning
• It is concerned with the implementation of planning or plans
• It lays down general guidelines for implementation
• It is advisory in nature
Imperative planning
• Also concerned with implementation of plans
• It is more guided and involves specific directives
What do planners do?
• Devise land use
• Address transportation and infrastructure requirements
• Planning social and community services
• Creating economic capacity in local communities
• Working internationally
Involves:
Politicians, developers, architects, engineers, citizens
Urban planning devices
• Development plans
• Zoning regualtions
• Building regulations
• Environmental protection laws
• Conservation areas
• Enforcements