LEGAL CONTEXT

TOPIC 1: CULTURAL ATTRIBUTES • Vary from local, regional, national level

• Change over time
LEGAL CONTEXT

Attribute Land Use

Significance LAND USE AND TENURE
pb-pu&rp Political boundaries Permitted uses and
review process
lui-lc&dc Land Use incentives Land Costs,
development costs
lur-pu&d Land Use Permitted uses and
Regulations densities
Easements & deed Locations of
e&dr- lopu
restrictions permitted uses

Category Attribute Land Use

Significance
Historic Significant Amenities,
buildings developmen
t restrictions
Infrastructur Streets Site Access
e Utilities Constructio • Fee simple purchase of land is the
n Cost acquisition
Buildings Massing Visual – for money or some other
(height, quality,
compensation
width) and sense of
– of the title to a land parcel. (Transfer
articulation place
(fenestration of Certificate of Title or TCT).
) -Land ownership or tenure, entails
Context Land Use Visual both rights and responsibilities.
Quality -Land use controls are intended to
Potential protect public health, safety, and
nuisances welfare.
(noise, -Government can invoke use of
odors) Eminent Domain
• Development rights also may be
restricted in ways other than gov’t.
land use regulations
- Easements - may ensure access to a
property that is accessible only by
crossing another property; for use of
emergency vehicle access or utility
maintenance vehicle access.
• Covenants and deed restrictions – for
conservation purposes, i.e., scenic
easements, purchase and transfer of
development rights to keep land
undeveloped for a defined period of
time, etc.
 • Prior history of land use – influence on Aerial Photographs
land use suitability
• Mapping – certified survey map of the
parcel boundaries, history of land
ownership, any deed restrictions or
covenants (cadastral map)
- Aerial photographs, topographic
maps, GIS maps, etc.

Cadastral Map

Orthophoto Map

Topographic Maps

LAND USE REGULATION

• National and Local Regulations

Sanborn Maps
- Originally created for the fire
insurance industry in the US. It
provides detailed info. On bldg.
footprints, heights, construction
materials, uses, etc.
- To protect environmental quality and
preserve historic and other cultural
resources
(NIPAs, EIA, etc.)
- To enhance quality of life
(Accessibility Law, National Building
Code)

LOCAL REGULATIONS

• Land Use regulation – “police powers”

of gov’t. to control land use and
influence the pace, location, and
character of new developments.
- Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP)
- Zoning Ordinance
- Subdivision ordinances, stormwater
management ordinances, landscaping
ordinances
 ZONING
• Division of a community into zones or
districts (e.g. commercial, residential,
institutional, etc.) according to the
present potential uses of land to
maximize, regulate and direct their use
and development according with the
Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP).
• It embodies among others regulations
on the uses in each zone or district and
deviations from the requirements
prescribed in the ordinance.
Zoning Map
2 Major Elements of Zoning
1. Zoning Ordinance – a legally binding
set of rules and set of rules and regulations affirming
regulations
the usage of land in a city/municipality.
It contains a set of allowed uses and
regulations that applies to each
designated zone.
map. def. 2. Zoning Map – a duly authenticated
division of diff. planned
map defining divisions of diff. planned
land uses and regulations of land into
zones in a city/municipality.
Legal issues to be investigated
1. Zoning classification (permitted land
uses and densities)
2. Easements, covenants, and other deed
restrictions
3. Gov’t. agencies with jurisdiction over
the property (- National- Local)
4. Bldg. placement requirements
(setbacks) (National Bldg. Code, Local
Ordinances)
5. Allowable buildable area
6. Parking requirements
7. Open space requirements
8. Stormwater management and erosion
control requirements
9. Landscaping requirements
LOCAL REGULATIONS
• Variances from the code
requirements, i.e., spot zoning,
Planned Unit Development (PUD), etc.
Urban Redevelopment
• Tomas Morato Avenue
Location:
- 3 kms. from Cubao, SM City and
QMC, 4 kms. from Mabuhay Rotunda
Limits:
- Sct. Albano St to E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave
Existing Land Use:
-Predominantly commercial
Proposed Development Features:
-Recovery of easements
-Uniform design for sidewalks
-Uniform design for signboards &
billboards
- Possible rerouting
LOCAL REGULATIONS
• Design review process becoming part
of the land use regulatory process
• Design standards/performance
standards and the process for
reviewing and approving designs must
be clear and unambiguous
Public Infrastructure
- Depth, location, and type of utility
systems and structures present on the
site and adjacent to the site are useful
info. In planning future uses of the site.
- Mapping – a site utility inventory
should at least include the locations
and sizes of the utility systems, if they
exist on or adjacent to the site:
o Stormwater sewer
o Sanitary sewer
 o Potable water • Mapping – the relationship between
o Electricity mass and space on a site and its
o Natural gas surroundings can be assessed through
o Telephone a figure and ground analysis.
o Television cable • The patterns of solids and voids reveal
a site’s sense of enclosure or openness
Circulation
of the urban texture surrounding the
• Consider established pedestrian and site.
vehicle circulation patterns
Perceptual Quality
• Consider effects of proposed
development on existing and future • Human perception of land-based
circulation patterns amenities – and disamenities –
• On-site circulation systems must be involves at least 3 senses: hearing,
internally well-organized and must be sight, and smell.
linked to off-site circulation system 1. Visual quality
• Avoid pedestrian-vehicle conflicts 2. Sound quality
• Mapping - Consider land use type 3. Air quality
(residential, commercial, etc.) & land
Visibility (or Viewshed) Map
use intensity (e.g. vehicle traffic,
density of residences)

Traffic Projections

• Estimate of existing and project traffic

volumes on adjacent streets and
highways

Buildings

• The massing and placement of bldgs.

in a city contributes to the character of
the neighborhood.
• The design context of a site must be • Identification of viewsheds, or areas
understood if the new development is visible from specific locations on the
to make a positive contribution to the ground can be done in GIS or
area’s visual quality. topographic maps.
• Label what can be seen on the map
Ten Common design attributes in traditional
(on-site and off-site)
commercial districts:
• Include distinctive features: rock
1. Height outcrops, water bodies, wooded areas,
2. Width isolated specimen trees; stone walls,
3. Setback ruins, churches, etc.
4. Proportion of Openings
Visual Quality
5. Horizontal Rhythms
6. Roof form • Consider the area’s scenic qualities, or
7. Materials visible characteristics (form, line,
8. Color color, texture, and proportion)
9. Sidewalk coverings • Take photos of scenes
10. Signs
 • Views and vistas to natural and List of Maps and Data Requirements and the
cultural features may be site amenities Corresponding Sources
with social as well as economic value.
Data Requirements Sources
• Residential real estate puts a premium
A. Geographical,
on seclusion and screening from off-
Administrative/Politic
site locations. al Profile
• Commercial project requires good 1. Geographic location NAMRIA (National
visibility from adjacent streets, of municipality. Mapping Resource
highways, and other off-site locations Coordinates Information
(advertising) (longitudinal/latitudin Authority)/ Topo
• A landfill, overhead wires, industrial al location) Map
sites are elements that degrade a 2. Location and LGU/ Provincial
landscape’s visual quality significant role in Physical Framework
• Views to historically significant bldgs., relation to the Plan/ RPFP (other
province, region, and national, local area
prominent mountains, or other
country, if any plans)
landmarks are important site
3. Municipal land area
attributes because they convey a
and boundaries
sense of place. 4. Political
DENR- FMB (Forest DENR-
• Restricting the heights of bldgs. In Subdivisions (Urban- Management
DEPARTMENT
OF
ENVIRONMENT
capital cities are efforts to maintain Rural Barangays) Bureau) & LMB (Land & NATURAL
RESOURCES
the visual prominence of each city’s Management
capitol bldg. Bureau)-LGU
5. Alienable and DENR (Department
Noise and Odors Disposable land of Environment and
• May vary on a daily or seasonal basis Natural Resources)
• Significant impact on the perceptual B. Natural and
Physical
quality and recreational experiences in
Characteristics
outdoor environments.
1. Climatological PAG-ASA (Phil.
• Odors are problems with sites near conditions – type of Atmospheric,
large industrial or agricultural climate, prevailing Geophysical and
operations. winds, ave. annual Astronomical
-Consider the direction of the rainfall & mean temp.- Services
prevailing breezes tidal patterns (for Administration)
• Prolonged noise can cause permanent coastal areas)
hearing loss, and can lead to other 2. Topography – NAMRIA
human health and development topographic relief,
problems. (i.e., delay in reading skills elevation, slope,
and language acquisition skills in surface drainage
(bodies of water within
children)
the city/municipality)
• Hearing protection is recommended
3. Vegetation/ BSWM (Bureau of
for anyone exposed to 85 decibels or Vegetative cover Soils and Water
higher, especially if the exposure is for Management) & LGU
a prolonged time. 4.Soil– type/
classification, soil
suitability, land
capability (if any)
5. Hydrogeologic DENR-MGB (Mines D. Environmental
Features – and Geoscience Condition
groundwater Bureau), PHIVOLCS 1. DENR, Project
resources, fault lines, Location/Distribution/ Studies, surveys,
volcanoes, bedrock condition of fish interview with the
foundation sanctuaries, coral community
6. Conservation areas reefs, mangroves,
Protected areas (NIPAS DENR seagrass beds
and non-NIPAS) both 2. Classification of DENR, Project
terrestrial and marine rivers/bodies of water Studies, surveys,
Ancestral Domains National Commission within the municipality interview with the
on Indigenous People community
(NICP), DENR 3. Quality of rivers, DENR, Project
Prime Agricultural DA marine waters, etc. Studies, surveys,
Land (NPAAAD) (degree of pollution) interview with the
Primary Forests and DENR-FMB (Forest community
other forest types Management 4. Probable source of DENR, Project
Bureau) pollution Studies, surveys,
Historical, cultural and NHI (National interview with the
natural heritage sites Historic Institute), community
NCCA, DENR 5. PHILVOLCS, DENR-
Wetlands (lakes, DENR, BFAR (Bureau Geologic/environment MGB, interview with
rivers, coral reefs, of Fisheries and al hazards – fault community, surveys,
mangroves, seagrass Aquatic Resources), zones, volcanoes, special studies, if any
beds, marshes) NAPOCOR tsunami prone areas,
Critical watersheds DENR, NIA (National areas prone to
Irrigation Authority), landslides/subsidence,
NAPOCOR, PNOC areas prone to noise,
Geothermal PNOC air pollution, etc.
sites/plants E. Other Land Related
Mining, Quarrying DENR, MGB, Data
areas Provincial 1. On-going and NGA (i.e., DPWH,
Government pipeline projects: type, etc.) LGU
C. Land Use/Special location, area covered
Interest Areas 2. Policies covering PPFP
Ancestral Domain NICP production,
Historical and cultural NHI/DOT/PTA/NCCA protection,
heritage areas /LGU infrastructure and
World Heritage Sites NHI/NCCA settlement areas as
Location of man-made LGU defined in the
structures, e.g. Dams, Provincial Physical
reservoirs, if any Framework Plan
Location/extent of LGU (PPFP)
mining, quarrying
activities such as sand,
gravel, etc.
Previous Land use LGU
maps (10-20 yrs. Ago,
if any)
Previous Land use LGU
plans, if any
TOPIC 2: SITE VALUES/ SOCIAL
IMPACT Site Survey and Assessment BUILT ENV
RURAL OR URBAN FRINGE LAND
USES
LAND VALUATION • Built Environment PEOPLE LIVING IN & AROUND THE
PROJECT AREA
PAST LAND USES & HIS. FEATURES
o Housing LAND OWNERSHIP & PLANNING
CONTROLS
o Open Space LANDMARKS
LANDSCAPE
o Social Facilities
o Industry, Warehousing and
Workshops
o Communications
o Services
• Rural or Urban Fringe Land Uses
o Agriculture
o Woodland
o Forestry
o Extractive Industries
• Economic value of property is due to • People living in and around the Project
various factors: Area
-Consider the attributes of the site o Local Population
itself, i.e., accessibility to amenities, o How People Use the Project Area at
scenic views, etc. Present
• Improvements made to the site, i.e., • Past Land Use and Historic Features
bldgs. and structures • Land Ownership and Planning Controls
• Principle of “highest and best use” of • Landmarks
the property from the property • Landscape
owner’s objectives and not the BUILT ENVIRONMENT

community’s. Housing

Impact on Land Values • Record the details of any housing

• Introduction of new land uses into any
area can cause problems and be
perceived by the locals as something
that will detract from the quality of life
(also, impact on land values)
• Zoning legislation – reduces the
conflict of incompatible land uses
Social Environment
• Deals with the land use information
that the site planner needs to obtain
about the people who live on and
around the project area.
• Each landscape has a different
character, as a result of the way that
people have related to the physical
and natural environment in the past.
within the project area (social survey)
including their needs and attitudes to
their external environment, i.e., urban
renewal projects, squatter relocation,
etc.
• Record any housing immediately
around the project area, i.e., type of
bldgs., approx. age, condition of the
bldg., also something about the people
who live there (reduce the risk of social
conflict)
• If area is of historic or townscape
interest, consider any characteristics
that should be reflected in the
proposed development.
Open Space
 • Local residents will use public spaces
that are within a 10–15-minute walk or
400 meters.
• People who use some of transport go
to that public space because of the
particular facilities that suit their
needs.
• These 2 groups have diff. needs and
expectations, i.e., parking problem
Social Facilities
• The type of facilities (schools, church,
sports facilities, day care, etc.)
depends on the characteristics of the
local population.
• Impact of new development might
require additional facilities, i.e.,
various housing schemes, “impact
fees”, etc.
Industry, Warehousing and Workshops
• Problems with noise, air, traffic, visual
detractor (unsightly storage areas),
etc.
• Absence of recreational facilities for
employees, insufficient parking,
negative social behavior patterns (i.e.,
call centers)
Communications
• Includes roads, footpaths, bus routes,
bus stops, railway lines, railway
stations, and car parks.
• Expensive to build and is a major
determinant of the future form of
development on individual sites.
o Nearest access points to main road
o Follow regulations concerning local
road hierarchy and road safety rules
(i.e., McKinley Rd. to Fort Bonifacio)
Services
• Includes electricity, gas,
communication cables, water and
sewerage.
• Establish availability of these services,
otherwise, the cost of servicing the site
may be considerable.
RURAL OR URBAN FRINGE LAND USES
Agriculture, Woodland, Forestry and
Extractive Industries
• Conversion of agricultural land to
built-up areas
• Agricultural productivity may be
affected if houses are built adjacent to
fields, i.e., use of fields for recreation
by children, dumping waste, dogs
PEOPLE LIVING IN & AROUND THE PROJ. AREA
Local Population
• Demographics (half a kilometer of the
site)
o Age structure
o Gender
o Population shift
o Unemployment trends
o Social and cultural mixes
o Lifestyle and recreation patterns
o How locals use the project area at
present
Past Land Use and Historic Features
• Includes walls, old roadways,
footbridges, and not just bldgs.
• Add to the local “sense of place” and
part of the local landscape character.
• Economic value through tourism
• Area may be designated for special
development related to its historic
context.
• Potential for recreational and
educational interest of a site.
• Problem if site is being developed for
high-density housing or industry.
Legal Ownership and Planning Controls
• Zoning laws – allowable densities,
setbacks, bldg. height limit, open
space requirement, car parking
requirements, etc.
• Special controls – tree preservation,
conservation area status, special
requirements on materials, etc.
Landmarks
• Any feature, natural or man-made,
which stands out from the general
scene and is remembered by the
individual., i.e., rock outcrop, shop on
the corner, tower, etc.
• Kevin Lynch – mental map of a city;
“imageability”
Landscape
• No accepted rule as to what
constitutes beauty
• Consider the visual aspects of the
landscape, i.e., valleys, hills, natural
drainage systems, etc.
• How people use and manage the land
influences the detail of the landscape.
TOPIC 3: THE SOCIAL AND
PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS
ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
• Roger Barker – “behavior settings”
• Recurring pattern of behavior that
takes place in a physical space during a
time period.
• Edward T. Hall – “Proxemics”
• Design and planning should be
responsive to the social context within
which the design must operate and
which it serves.
Methods
• Learn from observation and direct
consultation with the users
- factual questionnaires survey, attitude
survey, interviews, etc.
• Become familiar with the general
principles or “universals” of behavior
and perception
Behavior and Environment
• The interaction between human
behavior and the nonhuman
environment is a two-way process.
• Behavior is the result of interaction
between:
1. The environment /physical factors
2. The individuals’ physiological/
biological mechanism and
psychological factors.
• In design, we consider 3 human
factors: physical, physiological, and
psychological factors
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
1. Physiological needs – need for water,
food, air, warmth
2. Safety and security needs – both
psychological and physiological
3. Belonging needs – need for affiliation
and be a member of a group
4. Esteem needs – need to be held in
esteem by oneself and by others
5. Actualization needs – need to fulfill
one’s capacities/potential
6. Cognitive needs – need to learn
7. Aesthetic needs – need for sense of
beauty
Physical Factors
• Relates to the physical shape and size
of person and the detailed form of the
environment.
1.20 m. Min. width
Gradient <1:20 or 5%
Max. cross gradient = 1:100
 infrared light to a hand-held receiver.
San Francisco, CA.
• Multisensory signage, combining “full
spatial” tactile and visual text and
maps and infrared talking signs. The
Lighthouse, New York
• Signage with raised tactile and visual
guide, including textures of water and
trees as map to public park, which also
includes wind chimes for aural
• Dual height viewports for children of
orientation. Flood Park, San Mateo
all ages in doors, part of wayfinding
County, CA.
system at the Lighthouse, New York
• Public toilet accommodating all users
City,
including families. Automatic sensor
• Meandering Brook designed for active
controls of plumbing. Visual and tactile
water play for children of all capacities.
operating instructions in various
Children’s Museum, Boston, MA.
languages. San Francisco,

Physiological Factors

• People need air, water, exercise, and

protection from the excesses of heat
and cold.
• Also, a semi-physiological need is the
need for self-preservation and
avoidance of pain.
- City regulations and design
• G. E. Real Life Design Kitchen including specifications for safety and security,
adjustable height appliances and i.e., fire code, BP 344, NBC, etc.
counters, natural light and high
Psychological and Social Factors
contrast trim for users with low vision.
• Human psychological and social needs,
behavioral patterns, and tendencies is
the most difficult to define and relate
to the form of the environment.
• Psychological needs and perception of
the environment differ according to a
multitude of variables including age,
social class, cultural background, past
experience, motives, and daily routine
of the individual.
• Creating places for people. Public rest
seats with differentiated heights.
Davis, CA.
• Talking sign system, providing a
directionally-sensitive voice message,
including bus schedule, transmitted by
5 Generalized Groupings of Motivational 4. Self-Expression
Forces and Psychological Needs - need for self-assertion and exhibition,
for dominance and power
1. Social Need
- Territoriality (concept of personal
2. Stabilizing Need
space is culturally bound)
3. Individual Need
- Need for accomplishment and
4. Self-expression
achievement
5. Enrichment Need
- For prestige

Psychological Needs
1. Social Needs
- Need for social interaction,
- Need for group affiliation,
- Need for companionship, and for love
- Need for social interaction
- Need for group affiliation
- Parks as places of congregation
o Sociopetal form designed to draw
people together.
2. Stabilizing Needs
- need to be free from fear, anxiety, and
danger
- Need to develop and to hold a clear
philosophy of life
- Hope to have a say in its form and
content through the democratic
process
- Need for a clear orientation
- Need to order and organize the
environment (“legibility”)
- Defensible Space
o A term used to describe a series of
physical design characteristics that
maximize resident control of behavior,
particularly crime, within a residential
community.
Establishing territoriality
o Shared Street Concept
- Its entrances are clearly marked
- There are no conventional,
straight stretches of pavement
with raised curbs, and the
pavement and sidewalk are not
rigidly demarcated
o Overcrowding in urban slum
conditions is detrimental to the mental
and physical health of its inhabitants.
- Pruitt Igoe was demolished in
1972 - a symbol of failure in the
design of mass housing projects
o Self-expression through play
- Allow for an environment that will
provide possibilities for play
5. Enrichment
- Need for self-realization and
personal creativity, i.e., design of
nursing homes
- Need for beauty and aesthetic
experience (design for complexity)
ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING AND USER
REQUIREMENTS

3. Individual Needs Behavior Settings

- to experience and develop self- • Tool to aid site planning and design.
awareness These spaces are the basic support
- Need for privacy system for human activities.
- Need for identity and sense of
personal uniqueness in the
environment
- Open space plan allows very little
privacy
Factors that Influence How People
Understand and Experience Environments
1. Senses – The people’s first contact
with the environment is through the
sense:
o Sight
o Taste
o Hearing
o Smell
o Touch
2. Needs – People have basic needs
which lead to an instinctive reaction to
the information received through the
senses:
o Survival
o Security
o Belonging
o Self-Expression
o Achievement of Aspirations
3. Desires – to fulfill these basic needs
people have a built-in desire to acquire
knowledge about their environment;
they are driven to do this by the need
to experience satisfaction
4. Aesthetics – people’s knowledge as
well as social and cultural conditioning,
and their past experiences result in
their developing sensibilities:
Implications for Site Planning
• They imply that for people to feel
satisfied with their environment, they
need to understand where they are
and they need to identify with the
place they call home.
Site Planning and Human Environmental
Preference
• Complexity and Diversity
• Mystery
• Legibility
• Influence of Past Experience
• Make available in the immediate
neighborhood a wide array of
environmental settings which each
individual could choose to experience
• Enhance the visual qualities of the
setting to emphasize the uniqueness
of the place so that people develop
individual attachments and group
perceptions.
User Requirements
• Demographic analysis
• Strategy of selection
- Utilitarian Rule
- Rule of Reform
4 Ways of Obtaining Useful Data on User
Needs
1. Be familiar with the type of research
and know where to look for
information which will allow for
general guidelines to be drawn up, i.e.,
gov’t. agencies, legal requirements,
etc.
2. Be familiar with the literature available
on the special needs of specific groups
in society, i.e., disabled, children,
elderly, adults in diff. stages of their
cycle, etc.
3. Be familiar with studies of particular
environmental settings, i.e., people’s
behavior in housing areas, schools,
open parks, etc.
4. Use public participation as a means of
finding out and providing the public
with what it wants.
User Requirement Brief
1. Activity list
- Identify the major activities
- Identify the spin-off activities
 2. Identify environmental settings - Sitting or standing looking out of
- range of experiences that the the window
users will most likely appreciate
3. Develop a scenario of activities and 2. Activities related directly to what
appropriate environmental settings happens inside the home but often
4. The site layout and design has to occurring immediately outside the
support not just the activities in the house -
bldg., but also those in the spaces - Drying clothes
around and beyond the bldg. - Getting goods into the house
- Cooking and eating
- Entertaining
Identifying the Major Activities - Looking after pets
- Children’s play
• Those which are essential to the - Growing plants
proper functioning of the site. - Keeping pets
- Normally identified in relation to - Sitting on the doorstep or in
the land-use category, i.e., the garden
residential, industry, education, - Sleeping in the sun
etc.
3. Activities that happen outside the
vicinity of the home as an essential
Identifying the Spin-off Activities part of living there -
- Children’s play
• Activities in which the users are likely
- Parking the car and leaving or
to become involved as a result of the
arriving in it
dev’t. of the major activities within the
- Sitting or standing to watch
site, as well as those on the adjacent
and talk to: the family, friends,
land or nearby sites.
neighbors, and passers-by
Ex. car parking, delivery and servicing
req’ts., outdoor eating/sitting during
lunch breaks, outdoor recreation, etc.

Example of the Major and Spin-off Activities

In and Around the Home

1. Activities inside the home -

- Sleeping
- Cooking and eating
- Relaxing: watching TV, listening to
radio, playing games, hobbies
- Storing belongings
- Washing: the person and clothes
- Cleaning
- Entertaining: friends and relatives
- Homework
- Household maintenance