CLARENCE ARTHUR PERRY – Neighborhood Concept

Clarence Arthur Perry (1872-1944) was an American planner.

 He formulated the idea about the neighborhood unit and community life which is 5-minute
walk to define walking distances from residential to non-residential components.
 Perry was very concerned about the walkability to and from schools.
 His ideas were realized in neighborhoods like Radburn through the work of Clarence Stein.

Evolved due to the advent of Industrial revolution and degradation of the city environment caused
due to:

 High congestion
 Heavy traffic through the city
 Insecurity to school going children
 Distant location of shopping and recreation activities

To create a safe and healthy physical environment in which

 Children will have no traffic streets to cross on their way to school, schools which are within
walking distance from home
 An environment in which women may have an easy walk to shopping center where they may
get daily household goods
 Employed people may find convenient transportation to and from work
 Well equipped playground near the house where children may play safely with their friends
for healthy development of their mind and spirit.

Neighborhood Concept - CLARENCE ARTHUR PERRY - VISION

 The design of the Neighborhood model was in essence an inspiration from the Garden
Cities concept of Radburn community.
  The Clarence A. Perry Neighborhood comprises of four levels:
 Enclave
 Block
 Superblock
 Neighbourhood

Neighborhood Concept - ENCLAVE

The fundamental component was an enclave of twenty or so houses.

 These houses were arrayed in a U-formation about a short vehicular street called a lane,
a cul-de-sac court with access to individual garages.
 While the back of each house faced this court the front of the house had a garden.

Neighborhood Concept - BLOCK

 Three or more of these enclaves were lined together to form a block.

 Enclaves within the block were separated from one another by a pedestrian pathway
that ran between the front garden so fall the houses.
 The blocks, usually four in number, were arranged around the sides of a central parkway
in such a manner so as to enclose the open green space
Neighborhood Concept – SUPER BLOCK

 The clustered 5blocks together with the central parkway comprised what Stein and Wright
termed as superblock.

Neighborhood Concept – NEIGHBOURHOOD

 Four to six superblocks commonly formed a neighbourhood that was bounded by major
roads or natural features.
 At one end of the parkway there could be a school with community rooms.
 Roads in the neighbourhood were to be hierarchical- major through traffic roads to border
each neighbourhood, distributor roads to surround each superblock, and cul-de-sac to
provide access to individual property lots.

Neighborhood Concept – SIX (6) Basic Principles

 The radius of the neighborhood should be a maximum of 1/2 mile

 The neighborhood focal point should be the elementary school centrally located on a
common or green along with other institutions that have services area coincident with the
neighborhood boundaries.

 Traffic routes should not pass through residential neighborhood.

 Interior street pattern should be designed and constructed through use of cul-de-sacs.

 The population of the neighborhood should be such it supports an elementary school.

 Shopping districts should be sited at the edge of the neighborhood

Urbanization in India
Population and economic growth has fostered urbanization in the country and the
number of urban towns and cities have drastically increased. This growth is expected
to continue in the years to come and India has to step up its game in order to catch
up with this kind of change. Investments have to be made in order to better serve
the country.

There are several factors at play that have led to the urbanization in India –
population growth and migration as one of the 2 major factors. Recently, a third
factor has been seen as a huge contributor to the urbanization growth: the
expansion of towns and cities. This factor is due to the high economic growth that
the city has witnessed over the years. Because of this, the government in India has
decided to grab the opportunity: projects to further thrust the country into
urbanization, a number of smart cities to be put up in various locations, and other
initiatives.

Currently, there are nine major cities in India: New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore,
Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, Surat and Pune. Urbanization begins in
these massive cities as each one is teeming with varied businesses, advancement
and spatial complications.

Trends supporting urbanisation in India

Here are some key points regarding urbanization and planning in India:

 Private cities are now expanding due to the support of private companies.
Private developers are building private housing projects that will
exponentially grow in the years to come.
 The Delhi-Mumbai Corridor is an infrastructure program set to develop
‘Smart Cities’ and combine next-generation technology with infrastructural
development.
 The transport and logistics sector of India underlines the importance of
interconnecting the different modes of transportation: road, rail, sea and air.
An efficient multi-modal system is relevant in the development and
successful growth of the infrastructural systems.
 Special Economic Zones dot the landscape of India. Each of these zones is
focused on a particular sector such as IT, apparel and fashion, or petroleum
and petrochemical industries.
 Industrial townships are built to house employees close to the factories and
manufacturing plants at which they work. After the success of the pioneering
industrial township – Tata’s Steel Town – the government is planning on
developing more like it.
  India’s expected economic growth opens up expansion prospects for Indian
airports. Domestic and international passengers are inevitably predicted to
double in number in the years to come.

Opportunities in India’s urban infrastructure

In order to face the challenges of urbanization, infrastructures need to be improved.
Unfortunately, rapid population growth and a lack of adequate investment is
making urban infrastructure growth slow.

Affordable housing in India

India is facing a house shortage in urban areas at the moment and more housing
would be required in order to meet future demand. This demand comes from the
economically weaker section due to lack of housing policies. Some parts in India
have introduced public-private-partnership policies, which have led to the
development of housing.

Transport business opportunities in India

Private mode of transport is dominant in India. There is a heavy reliance on private

transport that has led to the congestion of roads and increasing commuting time
and pollution. Road networks therefore need to increase because of the influx of
these vehicles.

On a separate note, public mode of transport is gradually decreasing in terms of

popularity.
In an effort to improve the urban transport situation in India, new metro rail
networks have been developed.

Water and wastewater management in India

The water supply in India faces several issues and the water and wastewater
management in the country needs to be improved. The government though has
made initiatives to improve water supplies establishing projects for selected areas.

Sewage and sanitation is also facing a dilemma in India at the moment.

Nevertheless, projects to further improve this is currently a work in progress.

Power and power infrastructure requirements in India

Increasing urbanization has led to increasing demand in energy consumption. India

greatly needs to increase their power-generating capacity and develop new ways of
generating power.