RESEARCH: NEW TOWN

ASSIGNMENT
PLAN.2

SUBMITTED BY:
JESUS L. RODRIGUEZ
BSARCH 4B

SUBMITTED TO:
AR. LOUISEL JILL LIM
New Town, Edinburgh

The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767
and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best
known street is Princes Street, facing Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town across the geological depression
of the former Nor Loch. Together with the West End, the New Town was designated a UNESCO World
Heritage Site alongside the Old Town in 1995. The area is also famed for the New Town Gardens, a
heritage designation since March 2001.
Proposal and planning
The idea of a New Town was first suggested in the late 17th century when the Duke of Albany and York
(later King James VII and II), when resident Royal Commissioner at Holyrood Palace, encouraged the idea
of having an extended regality to the north of the city and a North Bridge. He gave the city a grant:
That, when they should have occasion to enlarge their city by purchasing ground
without the town, or to build bridges or arches for the accomplishing of the same, not
only were the proprietors of such lands obliged to part with the same on reasonable
terms, but when in possession thereof, they are to be erected into a regality in favour of
the citizens.
It is possible that, with such patronage, the New Town may have been built many years earlier than it was
but, in 1682, the Duke left the city and became King in 1685, only to lose the throne in 1688.

The decision to construct a New Town was taken by the city fathers, after overcrowding inside
the walls of the Old Town reached breaking point and to prevent an exodus of wealthy citizens from
the city to London. The Age of Enlightenment had arrived in Edinburgh, and the outdated city fabric
did not suit the professional and merchant classes who lived there. Lord Provost George
Drummond succeeded in extending the boundary of the Royal Burgh to encompass the fields to the
north of the Nor Loch, the heavily polluted body of water which occupied the valley immediately
north of the city. A scheme to drain the Loch was put into action, although the process was not fully
completed until 1817. Crossing points were built to access the new land; the North Bridge in 1772,
and the Earthen Mound, which began as a tip for material excavated during construction of the New
Town. The Mound, as it is known today, reached its present proportions in the 1830s.

As the successive stages of the New Town were developed, the rich moved northwards from cramped
tenements in narrow closes into grand Georgian homes on wide roads. However, the poor remained in
the Old Town.

The First New Town

A design competition was held in January 1766 to find a suitably modern layout for the new suburb. It was
won by 26-year-old James Craig, who, following the natural contours of the land, proposed a simple axial
grid, with a principal thoroughfare along the ridge linking two garden squares. Two other main roads were
located downhill to the north and south with two minor streets between. Several mews off the minor
streets provided stable lanes for the large homes. Completing the grid are three north-south cross streets.
Craig's original plan has not survived but it has been suggested that it is indicated on a map published by
John Laurie in 1766. This map shows a diagonal layout with a central square reflecting a new era of civic
Hanoverian British patriotism by echoing the design of the Union Flag. Both Princes Street and Queen
Street are shown as double sided. A simpler revised design reflected the same spirit in the names of its
streets and civic spaces.
Competing models

Starting in the 20th century, a number of urban planning theories came into prominence and, depending
on their popularity and longevity, influenced the appearance and experience of the urban landscape. The
primary goal of city planning in the mid-20th century was comprehensiveness. An increasing recognition
of the interdependence of various aspects of the city led to the realization that land use, transport, and
housing needed to be designed in relation to each other. Developments in other disciplines,
particularly management science and operations research, influenced academic planners who sought to
elaborate a universal method—also known as “the rational model”—whereby experts would
evaluate alternatives in relation to a specified set of goals and then choose the optimum solution. The
rational model was briefly hegemonic, but 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.

The modernist model, involving wholesale demolition and reconstruction under the direction of planning
officials isolated from public opinion, came under fierce attack both intellectually and on the ground. Most
important in undermining support for the modernist approach was urbanologist Jane Jacobs. In her
book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), she sarcastically described redeveloped
downtowns and housing projects as comprising the “radiant garden city”—a sly reference to the influence
of Le Corbusier’s “towers in the park” (from his cité radieuse concept) and Ebenezer Howard’s
antiurban garden city. Jacobs criticized large-scale clearance operations for destroying the complex social
fabric of cities and imposing an inhuman orderliness. Rather than seeing high population density as an
evil, she regarded it as an important factor in urban vitality. She considered that a lively street life made
cities attractive, and she promoted diversity of uses and population groups as a principal value in
governing urban development. According to Jacobs, urban diversity contributes to sustainable growth,
whereas undifferentiated urban settings tend to depend upon unsustainable exploitation, exhibited in the
extreme form by lumber or mining towns that collapse after the valuable resources have been removed.
Jacobs was not alone in her criticism. Beginning in the 1960s, urban social movements, at times
amounting to insurrection, opposed the displacements caused by large-scale modernist planning. In cities
throughout the United States and Europe, efforts at demolishing occupied housing provoked fierce
opposition. Within developing countries, governmental attempts to destroy squatter settlements
stimulated similar counteroffensives.

By the end of the 20th century, planning orthodoxy in the United States and Europe began to take
Jacobs’s arguments into account. New emphasis was placed on the rehabilitation of existing buildings,
historical preservation, adaptive reuse of obsolete structures, mixed-use development, and the “24-hour
city”—i.e., districts where a variety of functions would create around-the-clock activity. Major new
projects, while still sometimes involving demolition of occupied housing or commercial structures,
increasingly came to be built on vacant or “brownfields” sites such as disused railroad yards, outmoded
port facilities, and abandoned factory districts. Within developing countries, however, the modernist
concepts of the earlier period still retained a significant hold. Thus, for example, China, in preparation for
the Beijing Olympics of 2008, engaged in major displacement of its urban population to construct roads
and sports facilities, and it likewise developed new commercial districts by building high-rise structures
along the functionalist Corbusian model.

Contemporary planning

The ways in which planning operated at the beginning of the 21st century did not conform to a single
model of either a replicable process or a desirable outcome. Within Europe and the United States, calls for
a participatory mode—one that involved residents most likely to be affected by change in the planning
process for their locales—came to be honoured in some cities but not in others. The concept of
participatory planning has spread to the rest of the world, although it remains limited in its adoption.
Generally, the extent to which planning involves public participation reflects the degree
of democracy enjoyed in each location. Where government is authoritarian, so is planning. Within a more
participatory framework, the role of planner changes from that of expert to that of mediator between
different groups, or “stakeholders.” This changed role has been endorsed by theorists supporting a
concept of “communicative rationality.” Critics of this viewpoint, however, argue that the process may
suppress innovation or simply promote the wishes of those who have the most power, resulting in
outcomes contrary to the public interest. They are also concerned that the response of “not in my
backyard” (“NIMBYism”) precludes building affordable housing and needed public facilities if
neighborhood residents are able to veto any construction that they fear will lower their property values.

In sum, the enormous variety of types of projects on which planners work, the lack of consensus over
processes and goals, and the varying approaches taken in different cities and countries have produced
great variation within contemporary urban planning. Nevertheless, although the original principle of strict
segregation of uses continues to prevail in many places, there is an observable trend toward mixed-use
development—particularly of complementary activities such as retail, entertainment, and housing—
within urban centres.

Changing objectives

Although certain goals of planning, such as protection of the environment, remain important, emphases
among the various objectives have changed. In particular, economic development planning, especially in
old cities that have suffered from the decline of manufacturing, has come to the fore. Planners
responsible for economic development behave much like business executives engaged in marketing: they
promote their cities to potential investors and evaluate physical development in terms of its
attractiveness to capital and its potential to create jobs, rather than by its healthfulness or conformity to a
master plan. Such planners work to achieve development agreements with builders and firms that will
contribute to local commerce. Especially in the United States and the United Kingdom, planning agencies
have concerned themselves with promoting economic development and have become involved in
negotiating deals with private developers. In the United Kingdom these can include the trading of
planning permission for “planning gain” or other community benefits; in other words, developers may be
allowed to build in return for providing funds, facilities, or other benefits to the community. In the United
States, where special permission is not required if the building fits into the zoning ordinance, deals usually
involve some kind of public subsidy. Typical development agreements involve offering land, tax
forgiveness, or regulatory relief to property developers in return for a commitment to invest in an area or
to provide amenities. An agreement may also be struck between the city and a private firm in which the
firm agrees to move into or remain in an area in return for various concessions. Many such arrangements
generate controversy, especially if a municipality exercises the right of eminent domain and takes
privately owned land for development projects.

A late 20th-century movement in planning, variously called new urbanism, smart growth,
or neotraditionalism, has attracted popular attention through its alternative views of suburban
development. Reflecting considerable revulsion against urban sprawl, suburban traffic congestion, and
long commuting times, this movement has endorsed new construction that brings home, work, and
shopping into proximity, encourages pedestrian traffic, promotes development around mass-transit
nodes, and mixes types of housing. Within the United Kingdom, Prince Charles became a strong
proponent of neotraditional planning through his sponsorship of Poundbury, a new town of traditional
appearance in Dorset. Similar efforts in the United States, where growth on the
metropolitan periphery continued unabated, chiefly arose as limited areas of planned development amid
ongoing dispersal and sprawl. Although the movement’s primary influence has been in new suburban
development, it has also been applied to the redevelopment of older areas within the United Kingdom
and the United States. Paternoster Square in London, adjacent to Saint Paul’s Cathedral, and a number of
HOPE VI schemes in the United States (built under a federal program that demolished public
housing projects and replaced them with mixed-income developments) have been erected in accordance
with neotraditional or new urbanist ideas.

New pluralism

Universal principles regarding appropriate planning have increasingly broken down as a consequence of
several trends. First, intellectual arguments against a “one plan fits all” approach have gained ascendancy.
The original consensus on the form of orderly development embodying separation of uses and
standardized construction along modernist lines has been replaced by sensitivity to local differences and
greater willingness to accept democratic input. Second, it has become widely recognized that, even where
the imposition of standards might be desirable, many places lack the resources to attain them. Within the
developing world, informal markets and settlements, formerly condemned by planners, now appear to be
inevitable and often appropriate in serving the needs of poor communities. Planners in these contexts,
influenced by international aid institutions, increasingly endeavour to upgrade squatter settlements and
street markets rather than eliminate them in the name of progress. Third, political forces espousing
the free market have forced planners to seek market-based solutions to problems such as pollution and
the provision of public services. This has led to privatization of formerly publicly owned facilities and
utilities and to the trading of rights to develop land and to emit pollutants in place of a purely regulatory
approach. (See also environmental engineering; environmental law.)

Planning in its origins had an implicit premise that a well-designed, comprehensively planned city would
be a socially ameliorative one. In other words, it tended toward 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. Nevertheless, planning as practice and discipline relies
upon public policy as an instrument for producing a more equitable and attractive environment that,
while not radically altering human behaviour, nonetheless contributes to improvements in the quality of
life for a great number of people.
City
A city is a large human settlement. It can be defined as a permanent and densely settled place with
administratively defined boundaries whose members work primarily on non-agricultural tasks. Cities
generally have extensive systems for housing, transportation, sanitation, utilities, land use, production of
goods, and communication. Their density facilitates interaction between people, government
organisations and businesses, sometimes benefiting different parties in the process, such as improving
efficiency of goods and service distribution.
Historically, city-dwellers have been a small proportion of humanity overall, but following two centuries of
unprecedented and rapid urbanization, more than half of the world population now lives in cities, which
has had profound consequences for global sustainability. Present-day cities usually form the core of
larger metropolitan areas and urban areas—creating numerous commuters traveling towards city
centres for employment, entertainment, and education. However, in a world of intensifying globalization,
all cities are to varying degrees also connected globally beyond these regions. This increased influence
means that cities also have significant influences on global issues, such as sustainable development, global
warming, and global health. Because of these major influences on global issues, the international
community has prioritized investment in sustainable cities through Sustainable Development Goal 11. Due
to the efficiency of transportation and the smaller land consumption, dense cities hold the potential to
have a smaller ecological footprint per inhabitant than more sparsely populated areas.Therefore, compact
cities are often referred to as a crucial element of fighting climate change. However, this concentration
can also have significant negative consequences, such as forming urban heat islands, concentrating
pollution, and stressing water supplies and other resources.
Other important traits of cities besides population include the capital status and relative continued
occupation of the city. For example, country capitals such as Beijing, London, Mexico
City, Moscow, Nairobi, New Delhi, Paris, Rome, Athens, Seoul, Singapore, Tokyo, Manila, and Washington,
D.C. reflect the identity and apex of their respective nations. Some historic capitals, such
as Kyoto and Xi'an, maintain their reflection of cultural identity even without modern capital status.
Religious holy sites offer another example of capital status within a
religion, Jerusalem, Mecca, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Haridwar and Prayagraj each hold significance.

Municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-
government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term municipality may also mean the governing body of a given municipality.A municipality is a
general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district.
The term is derived from French municipalité and Latin municipalis.The English word municipality derives
from the Latin social contract municipium (derived from a word meaning "duty holders"), referring to the
Latin communities that supplied Rome with troops in exchange for their own incorporation into the
Roman state (granting Roman citizenship to the inhabitants) while permitting the communities to retain
their own local governments (a limited autonomy).
A municipality can be any political jurisdiction, from a sovereign state such as the Principality of Monaco,
to a small village such as West Hampton Dunes, New York.

Town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the
criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
What Is The Difference Between A City And A Town?
Overview Of The Differences
Although towns and cities are urban centers, they generally differ by geographical size, population, and
level of infrastructural development. The main difference between the two urban centers is that cities are
much larger and more developed than towns. However, a place referred to as a city in one country may
be a town or a settlement in another country and vice versa. For instance, a settlement with at least 200
people in Denmark or Sweden qualifies to be a town. Other countries like France do not distinguish
between cities and towns and refers to the urban centers by common names like “villes.” In some
countries like the United States, cities are legal entities with some degree of autonomy, while in other
countries, they simply refer to large urban settlements.

What Is A City?
Beijing city, capital of China.
Cities are distinguished from other urban
centers like towns and suburban by their
relatively large size, function, population,
and status conferred by the government.
A city is defined as an urban center with
a larger geographical area and
population than a town. It is a densely
populated area with a legally defined
boundary and whose population are
engaged in non-agricultural activities as
sources of livelihood.

A city is considered the most developed

urban center in a country and boasts of
advanced infrastructural systems, including housing, transportation, communication, and other social
amenities. Most cities have a central business district (CBD), downtown, or city center that serves as
political, economic, and religious centers. Cities also have public spaces like natural sites, parks, and sports
facilities. A capital city is a city that functions as a country or region’s administrative center and seat of
government. Examples of capital cities include Nairobi, London, Rome, Paris, and Beijing. Cities such as
Mecca and Jerusalem serve as religious capitals.

Cities are continuously growing in geographical size and boundary, merging with the surrounding areas to
form metropolis areas. Countries like China, the United States, Brazil, and Japan have megacities, large
cities with more than 10 million people. Different countries have different ways of designating urban
centers as cities. In the US, a city is an entity with legal powers assigned to it by the county or state
authorities. In the UK, an urban center is designated a city by the queen or sitting monarch. Thus, a
settlement cannot be referred to as a city without a royal decree.

What Is A Town?
Scarborough town in the United Kingdom.
A town, like a city, does not have a distinct definition
hence the boundary between a city and a town is
unclear in most places. However, a town is generally
defined as an urban settlement larger than a village
but smaller than a city. Towns are smaller in
geographical size and population than cities in the
same country. Initially, a town was an enclosure or a
space enclosed by a fence and had some degree of development. In the Netherlands, the enclosed space
was a garden for the wealthy. In England, a town was a settlement that frequently held fairs and markets.
However, the term's modern usage refers to old market towns, areas governed by town councils, or urban
centers that would be designated cities by the monarch.

There is no official definition of a town in the US, and the term's usage varies from state to state. In some
states like Alabama, a town is defined by population. For instance, a settlement with more than 2,000
people is a city, while one with less than 2,000 people. In Louisiana, a town is a community with 1,001-
4,999 people. In some states, a town is a form of municipal government with legally defined borders.
Towns with distinct governments are known as incorporated towns, while the rest are known as
unincorporated towns.

India has two types of towns; census and statutory towns. A statutory town is an urban center with a
municipality, civic administration body, or municipal corporation. A census town is a town with at least
5,000 inhabitants and a population density of 400 people per square kilometer. Also, 75% of the male
population must be engaging in non-agricultural activities.

Summary Of The Difference Between A City And A Town

Definition
A city is a large urban area with a greater geographical area, higher population, and population density,
and is more developed than a town. On the other hand, a town is an urban area with a larger area than a
village but smaller than a city. A city is well-planned with proper infrastructure and modern amenities
than a town.

Demography And Geography

A city has a high population density comprising diverse ethnicities, cultures, races, religions, and
languages. Although a town may share some demographic characteristics with a city, it is less densely
populated, with a less diverse population in terms of ethnicities and languages than in the cities. Cities
occupy larger areas than towns and may merge with surrounding areas to form metropolises. Towns do
not expand into the surrounding area like cities do.

Facilities And Economy

Cities have more advanced facilities and infrastructures like transportation systems, hospitals, schools,
and other social amenities than towns. Most companies like banks, NGOs, communication companies
have their headquarters in cities. Cities also have larger economies than towns. The cities’ large
populations are often engaged in varieties of business activities that generate more income than towns.
The economies of towns depend on small and medium enterprises.

Administration
Cities are the seat of government for regions and countries. Thus, important government administrative
offices are located in cities. Towns are rarely designated capital status and are governed mainly by
municipal councils. Most heads of cities like mayors are elected leaders, while heads of towns like
chairpersons are mostly appointed.
AN EXAMPLE OF A LOCAL CITY IS…
BACOLOD CITY

Bacolod, officially known as the City of Bacolod (/bɑːˈkɔːləd/; Hiligaynon: Dakbanwa/Syudad sang
Bacolod; Tagalog: Lungsod ng Bacolod), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the region of Western
Visayas, Philippines.It is the capital of the province of Negros Occidental, where it is geographically
situated but governed administratively independent.
With a total of 600,783 inhabitants as of the 2020 census, it is the most populous city in Western
Visayas and the second most populous city in the entire Visayas after Cebu City. It is the center of
the Bacolod metropolitan area, which also includes the cities of Silay and Talisay with a total population of
791,019 inhabitants, along with a total area of 578.65 km2 (223.42 sq mi).
It is notable for its MassKara Festival held during the third week of October and is known for being a
relatively friendly city, as it bears the nickname "The City of Smiles". The city is also famous for its local
delicacies piaya, cansi, and chicken inasal.

AN EXAMPLE OF A LOCAL TOWN/MUNICIPALITY IS…

LA CASTELLANA

La Castellana, officially the Municipality of La Castellana, is a 1st class municipality in

the province of Negros Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of
79,492 people.
The town is named after the famous "Paseo de la Castellana" in Madrid, Spain.
La Castellana is a rural town at the base of Kanlaon Volcano, known for its natural springs, water falls and
scenic spots. It is an agricultural town engaged in sugarcane, rice and banana farming. It is home of many
festivals namely Bailes de Luces, Banana Festival and Senior San Vicente Ferrer Feast Day where devotees
far and near attend to for healing. Caduhada Spring Resort is a popular tourist spot located in Sitio
Mambangon, Barangay Cabacungan. La Castellana is 65 kilometres (40 mi) from Bacolod.