Urban Form

Urban Form:
• It is the physical imprint of a city.
• Kevin Andrew Lynch was an American Urban planner who is best
known for his work on mental Mapping and on perpetual form of
urban environments.
Mental Mapping:
• A mental map is a person’s point of view perception of their area
interactions.
• The image which the user form in his mind about the architectural and
urban components of the city and their places so he can direct his
motion through the city after that.
Concept of Mental Mapping:
• Mental map of an individual can be
investigated by:
• Asking for the directions to a landmark
or other location.
• Asking someone to draw a sketch map
of an area or describe that area.
• Asking a person to name as many places
as possible in short period of time.
• Every human settlement consist of urban form and these settlements
consist of Elements.
• The interactions of these elements form a pattern which we call as Urban
Pattern.
• The term “urban form” is used to describe a city’s physical
characteristics. It refers to the size, shape, and configuration of an urban
area or its parts.
• Study of urban form is performed in order to understand the spatial
structure and character of a metropolitan area, city, town, or village by
examining the patterns of its component parts and the ownership or
control and occupation.
Elements of Urban Form:
Pathways:
• These are the streets, sidewalks, trails, canals, rail roads and other
channels in which people travel.
• They are important elements in city image because of following
reasons,
a. Concentration of users
b. Containing significant buildings and facades
c. All other elements are arranged along them.
 Edges:
• They can be real or perceived.
• These are walls, buildings, shorelines,
streets, overpasses etc.,.
• Edges are linear elements that form
boundaries between area or linear breaks in
continuity.
Districts:
• Districts are the medium to large parts of the city which shares the
same characteristics.
• Districts may have clear edges or soft uncertain ones gradually fading
away into uncertain areas.
Nodes:
• Nodes are the large areas you can enter and they will serve as the foci
of the city, neighbourhood, district etc.,.
• Nodes are the points, the strategic spots in a city into which an
observers can enter and which are intensive foci to and from which he
is travelling.
Landmarks:
• These are the buildings, signs, stores, mountains, public art etc.,.
• Landmarks are the other type of point reference, but in this case the
observer does not enter them within them, they are external. They are
usually a rather simply defined physical objects: Building, signs,
stores or mountains.
Neighbourhood Unit:
• The ‘neighborhood unit’ as a planning concept evolved in response to
the degenerated environmental and social conditions fostered as a
consequence of industrial revolution in the early 1900s.
• One of the earliest authors to attempt a definition of the ‘neighborhood
unit’ in fairly specific terms was Clarence Arthur Perry (1872-1944), a
New York planner.
• Perry’s neighborhood unit concept began as a means of insulating the
community from the ill-effects of vehicular traffic.
Clarence A. Perry’s Conception of the
Neighborhood Unit:
• Perry described the neighborhood unit as that populated area which would require
and support an elementary school with an enrolment of between 1,000 and 1,200
pupils.
• This would mean a population of between 5,000 and 6,000 people.
• Developed as a low density dwelling district with a population of 10 families per
acre, the neighborhood unit would occupy about 160 acres and have a shape
which would render it unnecessary for any child to walk a distance of more than
one-quarter mile to school.
• About 10 percent of the area would be allocated to recreation, and through traffic
arteries would be confined to the surrounding streets, internal streets being limited
to service access for residents of the neighborhood.
• The unit would be served by shopping facilities, churches, and a library, and a
community center, the latter being located in conjunction with the school.
• Perry outlined six basic principles of good neighborhood design.

Major arterials and through traffic routes should not pass through
residential neighborhoods. Instead these streets should provide
boundaries of the neighborhood;
Interior street patterns should be designed and constructed through use
of cul-de-sacs( a street or passage that is closed at one end), curved
layout and light duty surfacing so as to encourage a quiet, safe and low
volume traffic movement and preservation of the residential
atmosphere;
The population of the neighborhood should be that which is required
to support its elementary school;
• The neighborhood focal point should be the elementary school
centrally located on a common or green, along with other institutions
that have service areas coincident with the neighborhood boundaries;
• The radius of the neighborhood should be a maximum of one quarter
mile thus minimizing a walk of more than that distance for any
elementary school child; and
• Shopping districts should be sited at the edge of neighborhoods
preferably at major street intersections.

---Reference: Neighborhood Unit and its Conceptualization in the

Contemporary Urban Context by Meenakshi
Building Services:
Building:
• A structure that has a roof and walls and stands permanently in one
place.
• The primary function of the building is to provide shelter to its
occupants.
Services:
• Building function cannot be limited to provide shelter only.
Eg: Considering your self in an room or house or shopping mall. Now take
away the lighting, air conditioning and ventilation, the lifts and escalators,
acoustics, plumbing, power supply and energy management systems, the
security and safety systems..
• Basically building services is what that makes a building come to life. i.e what makes
building work.
• Building should be designed in such a way to provide an environment where people
can feel comfortable, work, live and achieve.
Building services include:
• Energy Supply – Gas and electricity
• Water supply – Supply, drainage and plumbing
• Heating and Ventilation
• Lighting – Day lighting and artificial lighting
• Escalators and lifts
• Harnessing solar, wind and biomass energy
• Communications, telephones and IT networks
• Security and alarm systems
• Fire detection and protection
• Air conditioning and refrigeration
Classification of Building services:
• Building services are mainly divided into:
1. Mechanical systems, Electrical systems and
2. Building Operation systems.
They are all very important part of planning, designing and
constructions of a building.
Mechanical systems:
• HVAC Systems:
It stands for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning. It includes a variety of active
mechanical/electrical systems to provide thermal control in buildings. Better thermal comfort
will influence occupant health, satisfaction and productivity.
• Site Drainage:
Removal of waste water from kitchens, bathrooms, sinks, soil waste, storm water management
and surface runoff to local sewerage system.
• Gas supply:
Cooking gas, commercial gas, oxygen and nitrogen gas in hospitals storage, Piping,
Pressure regulation and Supply of gas from its container to its required area.
• Plumbing:
Water distribution, water treatment, sanitary facilities, Storage, distribution, sanitary
fixtures.
• Fire Protection:
Water supply, water sprinklers, fire and smoke detection, announcement.
Electrical systems:
• Electrical power: Normal, standby, emergency power supply and
distribution.
• Lighting: Interior, exterior, emergency light.
• Auxiliary: Telephone, data, audio and video sound.
Building Operation Systems:
Transportation: Elevators, escalators, moving walkways/ travelators,
parking etc.,.
Processing: Products, food services, etc,.
Automation: Environmental controls, management, automated lighting,
automated parking etc.,.
Importance of Building Services:
• Building services are necessary for buildings.
• As an example certain type of building such as department store or
industrial buildings are almost 100% dependent on electrical lighting,
ventilating and air conditioning.
• High rise buildings rely on vertical transportation and high pressure
for water supply.
• The implementation of service demands a considerable amount of
floor and ceiling, so proper planning is necessary for their allocation.
Role of a supervisor:
• Responsible for the design and planning of the mechanical, electrical
and public health systems required for the safe, comfortable
environmental friendly operation of modern building.
• Building should be designed such that it provide better lighting,
comfortable space, temperature and air quality, convenient power and
communication capability, high quality sanitation and reliable systems
for protection of life and property.