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Module 6: Urban Planning and Design

Lecture 35: City Planning (continued)

The Lecture Contains:

The Technique of Zoning

The Disadvantages of Zoning

Modernism in City Planning after World War II

Operation Research Approach and its Critiques

Participatory Planning

New Pluralism

References

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Module 6: Urban Planning and Design

Lecture 35: City Planning (continued)

During the 20th century the technique of zoning became increasingly more important. Based on
modernist principle that like activities should be located near one another and that manufacturing and
residential functions should be separated, zoning partitioned land use according to each.

Planners and policy makers perceived a need to sort out incompatible activities, set some limits upon
building size, and protect areas from being spoilt. Zoning regulations first introduced in the early
decades of the 20th century were the means for achieving these goals. Main purpose of zoning was
segregation of particular uses of urban space. Thus, housing, manufacturing and retail activities which
formerly intermixed now took place in different parts of the city.1

1 We can discuss the removal of polluting industries from the metropolis of Delhi.

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Lecture 35: City Planning (continued)

In the United States local planning in the form of zoning began with the 1916 NY city zoning law, but it
was not until the Great Depression of the 1930s that the federal government intervened in matters of
housing and land use.

Although zoning had advantages it also leads to certain problems. It increased routine
travel thereby contributing to traffic congestion. Some zoning codes provoked disputes such as single
residence versus lower-income households. The planning of special economic zones (SEZ) is
one type of exclusive spatial planning that has created serious social turmoil in many developing
countries.

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Lecture 35: City Planning (continued)

Extensive planning took place during World War II and after the war also. The
devastated cities of Europe were rebuilt through extensive rebuilding
programmes. The principle was modernist—several high profile architects
provided the guiding principle : one of them was the Swiss architect Le Corbusier.

The need was to produce large-scale relatively inexpensive projects and the
architects’ preference and technologies that could be replicated universally. It was during this time that
London was re-built. The Greater London plan was one such plan where a green-belt existed and
construction of new towns beyond the greenbelt—lowering population density in the inner city, and the
building of circumferential highways to divert traffic from the core.2

2We can discuss the Ring road in Delhi.

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Lecture 35: City Planning (continued)

There have been competing models of urban planning and one approach has been Operation
Research. This approach sought to find a universal method whereby experts would evaluate
alternatives in relation to a specified set of goals and then choose the optimum solution.

This scientific approach to public policy making was quickly challenged by critics who argued that the
human consequences of planning decisions could not be neatly quantified and added up.3

Also under attack was the ‘Garden City’ and Le Corbusier’s ‘towers in the park’ approach. Jane Jacobs
an urban analyst was one such critic. In her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities
(1961) she criticized large scale clearance operations for destroying the complex social fabric and
imposing an inhuman orderliness. Population density is not an evil but important for urban vitality. The
argument here just like the sub-cultural theorists is that density and diversity are assets that makes city
life vibrant.

3Discuss ‘abstract’ and ‘social’ spaces following Lefebvre.

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Lecture 35: City Planning (continued)

Participatory Planning

By the end of the 20th century these arguments were being taken seriously. Instead of demolition, the
emphasis became on rehabilitation of the existing buildings and neighbourhoods. The participatory
mode became honoured in some cities. Involving the people—public participation signifies spreading
and deepening of democracy.

It is also seen that where the government is authoritarian, so is planning. For example, China in
preparation for the Beijing Olympics of 2008 engaged in major displacement of its population to
construct roads and sports facilities.

The flip side of this participatory approach is that when all the ‘stakeholders’ are consulted rich
people might veto and stall constructing affordable housing in fear that such construction will lower their
property value. In the language of social movement theory this is known as “Not in My
Backyard”( NIMBY).4

4Discuss relocation of toxic industries from the city to the outskirts in cities like delhi.

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Lecture 35: City Planning (continued)

New Pluralism

Universal principles regarding planning have increasingly broken down as a consequence of the move
against ‘one plan fits all’. No standardized construction along modernist lines—now the planning
opinion is in favour of being

● sensitive to local differences (that is where the sociologists come in)

● willingness to accept democratic inputs.
● Mismatch between desirable standard and resources available
● Many informal structures fulfill the needs of the people—street, market, slums difficult to
eliminate in the name of progress.

Planning has its origin in the belief that a well-designed, comprehensively planned city
would be a socially ameliorative one. It is ‘environmental determinism’. The goals of
planning have subsequently become more modest and the belief that the physical environment can
profoundly affect social behaviour has diminished. But it is a part of public policy and even though it
does not radically alter human behaviour, it contributes to the improvement in the quality of life for a
great number of people.

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Lecture 35: City Planning (continued)

References

Urban planning. (2011). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/619445/urban-planning

● Jacobs, Jane. 1961. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. New York: Random House.

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