TOWN PLANNING

ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN

SETTLEMENTS

Town Planning
Town planning is an art of shaping and guiding the physical
growth of the town creating buildings and environments to
meet the various needs of the public such as social, cultural,
economic and recreational etc. and to provide healthy
conditions for both rich and poor to live, to work and to
play or relax

INTRODUCTION
⮚Town planning is a science of organization which has been around for
hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of years, ever since humans moved
from being hunters and gatherers to settled farmers.
⮚With settlement comes the need of the population for pathways and
roads, municipal buildings, water supplies, sewage and refuse removal
plans, and in this day and age cabling for electricity and phone lines.
⮚This is where town planning comes in.

INTRODUCTION
⮚Town planning is not only a reactionary field but also an area
concerned with prediction.
⮚A big part of town planning is the forecasting of the future needs and
requirements of a built up area so that the population will remain
happy, healthy and safe.
⮚This means that a great deal of research needs to be done and
maintained so that every aspect of each built up area is monitored.
⮚Water levels, traffic levels, road use, population levels, health and
education requirements, police and fire coverage and new
development areas all need to be closely watched.

Objects of Town Planning

Four essential objects or ideals of any town planning scheme are
❑ beauty
❑ convenience
❑environment
❑health

Beauty
The object of beauty is achieved by taking the most possible advantages of the
natural conditions surrounding the town and also by giving architectural finishes to
the various components of the town
Also includes the preservation of trees, natural greenery, architectural buildings,
temples, churches, mosque,building of cultural and historical significance etc.

Objects of
TownPlanning Convenience
⮚Form of various economic, social and recreational amenities to be
given to the public
⮚Amenities include cheap power and electricity
⮚Proper cities for industrial units, transport facilities, adequate water
supply, easy disposal of sewage and industrial waste, facility to
commercial units
⮚The recreational amenities include open spaces, parks, town halls,
playground, cinema houses, community centres, stadiums etc.

Objects of TownPlanning
Environment
The object of the environment should be moulded in such a way that man
can go about his normal activities with the least amount of strain
To bring a better relation with man and environment
Health
Right use of land for right purpose, by providing parks, playground for the
public, by maintaining the pollution of various forms to the lowest possible
degree etc
◦ Achieved by dividing the land into zones such as residential, commercial etc
◦ Avoiding the encroachment of one zone upon the smooth and orderly
development of the town in future

Principles of town planning

⮚Interdisciplinary subject, demands knowledge of various professions,
especially those of engineering, architecture and surveying
⮚The town should not be designed only to satisfy the needs of the
future generation
⮚Town should not develop in a haphazard fashion
⮚Guiding principles of Town Planning:
⮚Green Belt Housing public buildings ⮚Zonning road systems recreational
centre ⮚Transport facility
Principles of town planning

▪ There should be no haphazard method in planning process

▪ Housing needs of various categories of people should be catered, So as to prevent

growth of slums.

▪ Civic amenities like shopping centers, dispensaries, schools etc should be provided to
the residents.

▪ Adequate open spaces should be reserved for public recreation and for future
expansion of the town.

▪ Public and semi public buildings should be grouped and distributed throughout the town

▪ The system of zoning should be strictly followed.- the town should be divided into zones
such as residential zone, commercial zone, industrial zone, recreational zone etc.

▪ The growth of town should be controlled by the provision of green belt. ▪ This area can
be used for agricultural purpose, recreational amenities like parks, play
grounds and picnic spots etc.
▪ The main pupose of green belt is to prvent th urbanization beyond the outer
periphery of the town.
 ⮚ Physical, social and economic planning of an urban environment
⮚ The simplest definition of urban planning is that it is the
organization of all elements of a town or other urban
environment.

Necessity of town planning

After the industrial revolution took place in (1760-1820) the towns and cities become
overcrowded .
And this has resulted in the haphazard development , chaos and disorder of the town.

Following are the major issues which the town suffers in the absence of town planning

▪ The suburban sprawl has entirely engulfed every town and city. The people have to go far
off in the countryside to get open air &breeze.

▪ People will have o take long uncomfortable journey from place of work to place of
residence. As such there is waste of time, money and energy.

▪ Roads become congested with increasing traffic and resulted in accidents and noise
pollution.

▪ The siting of industries in the heart of the city has resulted pollution of air, water etc.

▪ The increased industrial population has given rise to the formation of squatter
settlements, slums etc.

▪ Insufficient open space , parks, play grounds have caused unhealthy living conditions. ▪

Lack of public infrastructure such as water supply, drainage, sewage, electricity etc.

Green belt
The provision of a green belt on the periphery of town results in the
limitation of its size and hence the final size of the town can well be
anticipated
Housing
⮚Housing should be provided to various categories of people
⮚Development of slums should be avoided
⮚If slums are existing, they are to be cleared by providing of some alternative
arrangement
Public buildings
⮚Well balanced grouping and distribution of various public buildings
throughout the town
⮚Unnecessary concentration of the public buildings at certain spots of the
town should be avoided
Recreation centres
Depending upon the size of town, enough space should be reserved for
the development as recreation centre for the general public

Road system
⮚Road layout shows the efficiency of the town
⮚The provision of a faulty road system in the initial stages of town
formation proves to be too difficult and costly to repair or to re-arrange
 in future
Transport facility
Town should be provided with suitable transport system so that there is
minimum loss of time from place to work to the place of residence

Zoning
The town should be divided into suitable zones such as
commericial zone, industrial zone, residential zone etc
Suitable rules and regulations should be formed for the development
of each zone

Origin of towns
The town or city has originated because of certain specific cause
The contributing forces for the origin of
towns and cities are topographical and
functional
Topographical features
⮚ Conditional favourable to industrial units
⮚ Hilly areas to achieve the object of defence
⮚ Plain areas useful for business activities
⮚ River banks
⮚ Sea or ocean fronts

Origin of towns
Functional aspects
◦ Education
◦ Health resort
◦ Political
◦ Religious

Growth of Town
Various forces that contribute to the overall development of a town are
transport facilities, installation of industries
 ◦ Expansion of factories
◦ Provision of defence or security
◦ Proximity of agricultural lands
◦ Availability of infrastructure
◦ Political importance

Growth of a town
Growth of a city and towns can be identified in two ways
Growth according to origin
◦ Natural Growth
◦ Planned Growth

Growth according to direction

o Horizontal growth
o Vertical growth

Natural Growth
⮚Development of the town taking place without any future planning
⮚The people takes decisions regarding the growth of the town for
immediate comfort and convenience
⮚The provision of various essential amenities such as road system,parks,
playground, school, commercial centres, hospital etc are made in an
irregular way without any consideration for future expansion

⮚The natural growth of the town may be in the form of the following 4 types
⮚Concentric spread
⮚Ribbon development
⮚Satellite growth
⮚Scattered growth

Concentric Spread
⮚Settlement around or near to the CBD ( Central Business District)
⮚The town develops in the form of concentric rings with nucleus as town
⮚The town growth is represented by a series of concentric circles or rings
⮚First zone: CBD – focal point of commercial , social and civic life of the town area ⮚The
people who can afford more transport charge and time go away from the central zone

⮚Low income housing, better class residences and high class residences are
subsequently formed away from the central business district resp.

Ribbon Development
⮚Settlement along the road surface and with the improvement of motor
traffic
⮚Building activity expands in a natural way along the sides of main road
Disadvantage of Ribbon Development
1. As the houses extend in a long strip, there is increase in cost of various
basic utility services such as water supply, electricity, postal deliveries,
telephone, etc. It thus results into wastage of available resources.
2. The development of ribbons causes to loose and to scatter the
community so that there is lack of social life.
3. The future improvement becomes costly and difficult, if not impossible.
4. The houses face heavy traffic associated with noise, dust and
undesirable smells.
5. The interior portion is left undeveloped which results in the wastage of
valuable land
Disadvantage of Ribbon Development
6. There are chances of traffic accidents and traffic delays because of
the presence of pedestrians on the main road.
7. The ribbon development is purely an urban formation which is
aesthetical faulty.
8. The ribbon development spoils the countryside and if it is carried to
the extreme, it would make it non-visible as least to the road user.
9. The through traffic of main road is considerably affected by the
local traffic.
10. The traffic capacity and efficiency of main road are reduced.

Satellite Growth
⮚smaller metropolitan areas that
are located close to, but are mostly
independent of larger
metropolitan areas.
⮚The satellite city is too far from
the urban core to be considered
part of the metropolitan area.

Features of satellite towns

⮚It has its own local government and corporate life
⮚It is a town in the full sense of the word except that it depends to a
certain extent upon a nearby large town or city
⮚It is connected to the parent city by local trains, buses etc. In such a
way that men can reach to the parent city without any difficulty
⮚Eg. Navi Mumbai – Mumbai
⮚Magarpatta – Pune
⮚Technopark -Trivandrum

Features of satellite towns

⮚Generally situated beyond the green belt of the parent city ⮚Mainly
residential area having only local shops, schools for children ⮚People
mostly depend on the parent city for employment opportunities

Scattered growth
Development takes in a very irregular way
Results into traffic congestion, encroachment of industries on
residential areas, slums, lack of recreational spaces and other problems
which prove to be too difficult to be solved in future.

Planned Growth
Growth is controlled by suitable rules and regulations
Provision of various amenities like water supply, drainage, park etc is
made to meet the future generation
Orderly growth avoids clashing of many activities of normal
town Eg.
Chandigarh city

Gandhinagar,Gujarat

Growth according to direction

Horizontal Direction
The town expands horizontally in all direction
Possible at places where land is available in plenty at nominal cost
Vertical Direction
The building of the town are designed and developed as multi
storeyed flats
Possible at places where land is costly

Stages in Growth of Town

⮚Patrick Geddes
⮚ Primary: Agriculture necessity
⮚ Secondary: Centre of exchange of Money (Marketing Town) ⮚
Tertiary: Residential, Educational, Recreational
⮚Lewis Mumford
⮚Eopolis: Single unit (agri)
⮚Polis: Self contained (commerce, Industry)
⮚Metropolis: (Metro)- High density, all facility
⮚Magapolis: Over grown (Initial Collapse)
⮚Tyrannpolis: Further decay in trade, commerce, power
 ⮚Necropolis: (Necrosis) – Complete breakdown, famine, dieses

Classification of Towns
Classification of towns can be done on a number of basis and different
countries and organizations use different classification of towns. It can
be on basis of income level, education level, according to per capita
income etc.
classification of Towns as per census
Places which satisfied the following criteria:
i. A minimum population of 5,000;
ii. At least 75 per cent of the male main working population
engaged in non-agricultural pursuits
iii. A density of population of at least 400 persons per sq. km.