Sense of Space,

Place and Community

Session 1
PLANNING
The general idea:
“A human activity that considers
outcomes before choosing among
alternatives”

It is primarily goal-oriented
and focused on making a choice.
SEVEN TYPES OF PLANNING
In the context of Built Environments

(7)
(1) (2) (5) (6)
National
Site Subdivision Urban Regional
Development
Planning Planning Planning Planning
Planning

(3) (4)
Urban Town
Space and/or City
Planning Planning

COURSE COVERAGE
TYPE OF PLANNING SCOPE AND COVERAGE

(1) Site Planning Architectural in scope; tends to manipulate the physical composition
of a site relative to an immediate structure.
(2) Subdivision Planning Planning that is predominantly residential and ranges from the
medium to large scale
(3) Urban Space Planning Planning that is typically for in-city sites: concerned about the
relationship of exterior spaces (i.e. parks to buildings)
(4) Town and/or City Planning that involves large and citywide areas and covers all aspects
Planning of planning; often political and policy-oriented
(5) Urban Planning Assesses the growth strategies of towns and cities.

(6) Regional Planning Planning at a Macro-View: assesses the relationships of towns and
cities in the same region.
(7) National Planning that involves the entire country, mainly considering National
Development Planning Development: taking into account: GDP, GNP, employment and
external trade, (Gross National Happiness)
What to expect from the course?

(1)An in-depth appreciation of socio-cultural factors as

predominant considerations for designing urban, and special
types of communities;

(2)An understanding of the impact of socio-political policies and

its impact on physical design;

(3)A conception of the finite limitations of environmental

resources and taking it into consideration in designing the
built environment

(4)An understanding of the synergistic relationship between

policy, the built environment, and sustainability
THE URBAN FORM
What defines the urban form?
What is it made of?
What is an urban area?
URBANISM
A state of mind, a broad
concept generally referring
to all aspects of the urban
way of life.

Hence an “urbanite” is an
individual with an urban way
of life. The urbanite resides in
an “urbanized area”, a
geographic location bound
by space that exhibits urban
symptoms.
 The physical base refers to
elements of the City that give it
form i.e. road networks and
PHYSICAL BASE

structures
 ECONOMIC BASE

The economic base pertains to

PHYSICAL BASE

factors that allow a city to thrive

or exist, i.e. livelihood
 ECONOMIC BASE
POLITICAL BASE

The political base refers to the

PHYSICAL BASE

legal or policy-oriented
confinements and norms of a
city that gives it order and
structure.
 ECONOMIC BASE
POLITICAL BASE

SOCIAL BASE
The social base of a city refers to
PHYSICAL BASE

things and activities that give

vitality and meaning to a city,
i.e. cultural identifiers.
For a society to be established as
urban, the four (4) bases, namely
physical, economical, political, and
social must be well-defined.
 PHYSICAL ECONOMIC POLITICAL SOCIAL
EXAMPLE:
CEBU CITY
a a a a
Hence, urbanization is a process that
discusses cumulative growth in these
four bases.
URBANIZATION
The process of urban growth

Two phases/ types:

(1) Movement of the people from the rural to the urban;
(2) Change of lifestyle (values, attitude, behavior) from rural to urban
URBAN PLANNING
(1) …the control of housing and land uses;

(2) …the design of urban environment: infrastructure,

transportation networks;

(3) …Includes [the consideration of] urban regeneration

Dr. Serafim Polyzeus,“Urban Development”

Lecturer in Department of Planning and Regional
Development,
University of Thessaly,
Greece
URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING
is essentially exercising pre-monitive
control on non-physical and physical
components that impact the operations
of a society.

(2) Note the synergistic

(1) (3)
BUILT
POLICY
ENVIRONMENT
SUSTAINABILITY connectivity between
these components

KEY COMPONENTS
What are examples of non-
physical factors that urban
and regional planning touches
on?
What are the physical
components of an
urban area?
What are examples of
urban spaces?
TYPES OF URBAN AREAS
Metropolis and Metropolitan Area
“Chief City”, but not the capital; refers to any
large city
City
A political designation (financial & human
resources); A place governed by an
administrative body or organization; Larger
than a town or village
Conurbation, Megalopolis, Superconurbation
The spatial merging of two or more cities along
major transportation corridors; SUPERCONURBATION
is a giant conurbation or a megalopolis with a
population of at least 12 million
New Towns
A self contained, planned urban community built
from scratch; providing optimum living conditions
for its residents (usually of a specific niche)
“planned unit developments (PUD)”

DEFINITION OF TERMS
URBANITE
An individual living in an urban area,
projecting an urban way of life; using
elements of an urban lifestyle
URBANIZATION
The process of urban growth -
Two phases:
• Movement of the people
from the rural to the urban
• Change of lifestyle (values,
attitude, behavior) from rural
to urban
URBANISM
• A broad concept
generally referring to all
URBANIZED AREA aspects (political,
The built-up area where economic, social, etc.)
essentially urban land of the urban way of life.
uses i.e. buildings, roads, • Considered the end
etc. predominate. result of urbanization.
CITY SYSTEM AND THE URBAN SYSTEM
The hierarchy of cities in a country
based on economic, population size
and other functions; Interlinked by
increasingly sophisticated
transportation and communication
networks
is intervention
Is intervention limited to the
design of the built
environment?
In your opinion, what is the first,
most important consideration in the
design of built environments?
“Nothing in this world is more simple
and more cheap than making cities
that provide better for people.”

Jan Gehl,
Architect + Urban Designer
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen
GOOD
What’s a sign of good urban
design?
LIVABILITY.
Sense of Space, Place and Community
REFERENCES

Polyzus, Serafim “Urban Development” Accessed March 2012

Dobbins, Michael “Urban Design and People” John Wiley and Sons. © 2009

Gaete, Constanza Martínez. "Jan Gehl's 5 Rules for Designing Great Cities" [5 consejos de diseño
urbano elaborados por el arquitecto Jan Gehl] 16 Dec 2016. ArchDaily. (Trans. Valletta, Matthew)
Accessed 20 Jun 2017. <http://www.archdaily.com/801431/jan-gehl-5-rules-for-designing-great-cities/>