Sustainable Cities/Urban Planning
Final Thoughts on Urban Planning.
Urban Planning must take into account the interaction between markets, regulations, infrastructure and the communities needs and desires. In development class and then further bolstered in Sustainable cities I have learned that it is the utmost importance that public participation is involved in the planning action of a project. Lewis Mumford defines a city as “a conscious work of art, and it holds within its communal framework many simpler and more personal forms of art.” Urban planning is a growing sector as more and more people are leaving the hillside and moving to cities.( Nearly half of the world’s population inhabit cities) The continuous growth of cities, however, is coupled with outrageous consumption and large energy demands. Urban Planning today needs to be sustainable.
The uncontrolled urban expansion needs to be focused in a sustainable way. Ebenezer Howard bolsters my perspective that we need to keep the nature in the city; that the concrete jungle needs to be parallel with the natural environment. The project Plan Zuid of Amsterdam successfully includes green and open spaces as a key element of their plan and uses the open green spaces to act as structural axis as the cities continues to grow south. I have learned that the four functions of urban planning is to develop a space that is livable, workable and provides recreation and circulation. In our exercise we worked to develop a space where we had to include green open space, community facilities and an integration of social classes by varying the types of housing. We could have made things more complex but due to time constraints we did not have to consider such things as traffic or ethnic, cultural and natural diversity. There are so many things to consider when planning an urban terrain. I hope that due to the current environmental degradation and the impact human activity is having on the planet that we as citizens are working with the expertise of environmentalist and urban planners to build cities that include ecology.
What is your favorite city and why? I said that New York City was one of my favorite cities. It is not due to the sustainable green aspect but the multiculturalism aspect. The diverse music styles, art, sounds, shows, festivals and energy create a dynamic city. NYC is now working to improve its energy efficiency and work towards a more sustainable environment. I think when planning a sustainable city it is important to integrate people and then create a sense of belonging.
In our class we broke our urban plan down into four stages. The first the intervention aims and definition. This is where strategic goals and sustainable measures are defined. Secondly, we discussed the reference situation analysis, including environmental, economic and social analysis. Each one of these is then further broken down for instance on the social and urban analysis you need to access: patrimonial levels, cultural/traditional values, the system, mobility and demography. Once you have an analysis you can begin plan design. The plan design will have several hurdles. The property limits survey, restraining elements, the strategies an sustainable factors such as soil, water and energy, the flow design the roads and connection in a city, the building setting ( where we included height of the building and type of housing) and of course, public spaces and facilities. After the plan is proposed, evaluated and verified then implementation can begin.
Conclusions: Urban Planning is a complex field that must look towards a green future so that planning and implementation does not jeopardize a sustainable future. There is an opportunity to link creativity, culture, the environment with a prosperous sustainable city.
Check out another Dan Hill and his blog :cityofsound.com
Sources:
Fitzgerald, Joan. Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development. New York: Oxford UP, 2010.
Sustainable Design and Urban and Regional Planning. Web. 23 Jan. 2012.
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23 Jan 2012
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Lauren Musiello
IMSD /
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