URSI
100--Introduction to the City
Planning the City
- History
- James
Oglethorpe, Savannah GA—grid system with parks
- William
Penn, Philadelphia—grid
system with central park and satellites
- Early
19th Century—commercial areas & competitive position
(“Boosterism”)
- Late
19th Century—housing, design of public spaces and public
buildings, sanitation. Shape city
development through capital investment.
- Chicago
Plan of 1909, Daniel Burnham (“Make no small plans; they have no
fire stir men’s blood.”)—first modern city plan
- 1926,
Euclid vs.
Ambler—Supreme Court established that local governments have power
to control private use of land
- Power
of eminent domain permits government to take property with “just
compensation”
- Zoning
not an exercise of eminent domain, but of police power (provided it is
used to protect public health, safety, welfare)
- 1929,
Clarence Perry, “Neighborhood Unit” principle—arterial
streets at edges, community center/school at focus, walking distance)
- Tools
of Planning
- Capital
investment
- Transportation
(road capacity, mass transit, parking facilities)
- Water
& sewer lines
- Public
land acquisition (airport, industrial parks, other development magnets)
- Land
Use controls
- Subdivision
regulation (minimum street width, connection to street pattern, storm
water runoff, provision of utilities)
- Zoning
laws (type & intensity of development)—must specify how
provision is enforced and how provisions may be appealed
- Site
plan review (may include architectural and historic preservation
considerations)
- Pros
& Cons of Zoning
- Excessive
separation of land uses
- “New
Urbanism”—design for pedestrian
- mixture
of land uses
- high
density (1/4 mile radius)
- through-street
pattern
- pedestrian
circulation (narrow streets & traffic calming, sidewalks next to
curb, curb-side parking & tree planting, garages at rear of lot)
- open
spaces (porches to formal squares & greens)
- architectural
unity
- Exclusionary
zoning (limitation on multifamily housing, large minimum lot sizes)
- Infill
designs:
- 1868-69,
Melusina Fay Peirce, “Neighborhood
strategy” (kitchenless houses with
cooperative housekeeping center)
- 1984,
Dolores Hayden, “Redesigning the American Dream”
(reorganizing typical suburban block to increase density)
- Planning
Process
- Planning
board (may influence action of planners,
mobilize public support)
- Process
- Master
plan (general vision)
- Zoning
map & zoning ordinance
- Capital
facilities plan
- Public
participation/comment
- Adoption
by council
- Periodic
review
- Complications: planners
cannot make development occur
Based on LEVY, J.M. 2000. Urban America: Processes & Problems. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
© 2003 A.J.Filipovitch
Revised 1 January 06