Chapter 10

Town Planning
 
Contents
I. What is Town Planning
v Town planning is an applied study of urban d
esign.
v Using the tools of architecture, economics, a
nd lately, the behavioral sciences, planners ha
ve attempted to rationally redevelop our cities
, expand small town, or redevelop new sites a
s “new towns.”
v The basic idea behind town planning is that t
he planner is attempting, through rational alte
ration and control of the environment, to affec
t the future.
II. Theoretical Background
v Town planning theory
Ø1. Ebenezer Howard and the Garden City
Ø2. Lewis Mumford’s Theory of Planning
 
1. Ebenezer Howard and the Garden City
v In response to the conditions in industrial cities,
Howard proposed in 1898 the garden city.
v Howard believed that the way to cure major
social problems was to move people back to a
relatively small, open, economically and socially
balanced community.
 
V Garden cities have six key characteristics:
n     (1)population was to be strictly limited to
roughly
30,000,
n     (2)open green spaces are easily accessible
and
interspersed throughout the city,
n     (3)a green belt surrounds the city,
n     (4)industry was to be diversified,
n     (5)the city’s design had to fit the land,
n     (6)all lands were to be held by the
development corporation.
 
2. Lewis Mumford’s Theory of Planning
v  Internationally renowned for his writings on
cities, architecture, technology, literature, and
modern life, Lewis Mumford was called by Malcolm
Cowley, “the last of the great humanists.” His
contributions to literary criticism, architectural
criticism, American studies, the history of cities,
civilization, and technology, as well as to regional
planning, environmentalism,  and public life in
America, mark him as one of the most original
voices of the twentieth-century.
 
v Cities can be classified along two dimensions:
Ø  1. Form
(1)historical development
(2)physical structure
(3)geographic space
(4)region
Ø 2. Function—a stage for human interaction
 
“ 整体而言，城市是一个集合体，涵盖了地理学意
义上的神经丛、经济组织、制度进程、社会活动的
剧场以及艺术象征等各项功能。城市不仅培育出艺
术，其本身也是艺术，不仅创造了剧院，他自己就
是剧院。正是在城市中，人们表演各种活动并获得
关注，人、事、团体通过不断的斗争与合作，达到
更高的契合点。”

——路易
斯 · 芒福德，“城市是什么？”

( 《帝国、都市与现代性》， 2006)
 
v If city’s functions properly, people can be happy,
healthy, and fulfilled. If it functions improperly,
people can be devastated.
v Whether the city helps or hinders people is
dependent on the “dominant theme of the era” of
which the city is a part.
v Mumford defines six dominant themes. Three of
these themes, or eras, are constructive; three
destructive.
 
City Development Phases
 
v Mumford’s plan for urban design:
Ø  1. Densities must be kept low.
Ø  2. The size of cities must be limited.
Ø  3. People must live in natural, open, green
environments.
Ø  4. Most interaction must be kept on a primary
level to assure mental health and the quality of
social relationships.
Ø  5. The family, as the most important primary
group, is the focus of redevelopment.
Ø  6. Neighborhoods are the main units of
redevelopment and settlement.
Ø  7. Education, both formal and informal, is stress
ed.
Ø  8. Vehicular and pedestrian traffic are separate
d.
Ø  9. Mumford’s new cities are complete communit
ies.
 
III. Examples of New Town Development Policies
v 1. Great Britain
v 2. The United States
 
1. New Town Development in Great Britain
vForshaw and Abercrombie
Ø  County of London Plan (1945)
Ø  The Greater London Plan (1944)
v The criticisms of British’s New Town Policy from
Lionel March:
Ø  (1) Lack of studies concerning effects of plannin
g.
Ø  (2) Planning decisions are often politically motiv
ated.
Ø  (3) Planning tends to be paternalistic.
 
2. New Towns in the United States
v (1) Garden Suburbs
Ø  “Garden City” movement in the United States
Ø  Henry Wright and Clarence Stein (1920s)
Ø  “superblock” model/ “Radburn Idea”
v(2) Columbia
Ø  James W. Rouse
v(3) Federal New Communities Policies
 
v Critiques of American’s New Communities
Policy:
Ø  It will have little effect on population
concentration.
Ø  Even if a new town policy is necessary, current
legislation is inadequate.
Ø  It appears that federal legislation and the way in
which that legislation is implemented lack real
understanding of the importance of timing,
especially in development of complete
communities.
IV. The Physical-Ecological Determinists versus T
he Social-Culturalists
v The Physical-Ecological Determinists see a direc
t cause-and-effect relationship between physical e
nvironmental variables and social consequences.
v According to their position, to modify human beh
avior position, one modifies physical settings.
v While the dominant perspective in town planning
is Physical-Ecological Determinism, there are othe
r stances. The most important of these other persp
ectives is the Socio-Culturalist.
 
v Socio-Culturalist generally argue that the manner
in which a given physical setting affects its inhabita
nts will depend on their culture, and social organiz
ation.
v It is necessary to understand the culture (values,
beliefs, interaction patterns, and ways of life) and s
ocial organization of the group who will be subject t
o the plan.
v The environment can be divided into three comp
onents:
Ø     (1)physical environment
Ø     (2)social organization
Ø     (3)culture
 
v Those two approaches, the Physical-Ecological
Determinists and the Social-Culturalists, represent
extremes of the planning continuum.
v The debate between them will probably continue
far into the future.
v Some empirical studies derived from these theor
etical positions had been become available:
Ø   (1) Density
Ø   (2) Spatial Determinism
Ø   (3) Neighborhood Development
 
V. Summary
v One of the most influential early development in
modern town planning is Ebenezer Howard’s
garden city.
v Building on Howard’s and others’ works, Lewis
Mumford had devised an eloquent and far-
reaching theory of planning.
v Mumford, and such planners as Frank Lloyd
Wright, and Clarence Stein, can be classified as
Physical-Ecological Determinists. Some examples
of applications of their policies can be seen in
Great British’s and American’s new town policies.
v In the wake of the massive planning efforts base
d on Physical-Ecological Determinism, other planni
ng perspectives has developed. The most importa
nt among these is the Socio-Culturalist.
v According to the Socio-Culturalist position, physi
cal dimensions of the environment gain importance
largely because of their social and cultural implicati
ons. Thus, in planning, it is important to understan
d the social organization and culture of the specific
groups involved.