Town Planning

Introduction Town Planning

1.1            General

The term ‘Town Planning’ is used to indicate the arrangement of various components or units of a town in a very organized manner. It also includes ways to improve and develop the existing town or for the extension of towns. Thus, the knowledge of town planning helps in achieving the best possible advantages of the town with respect to its land and the surrounding environment.

Town planning demands active imagination and sharp common sense of understanding various needs of the society. A town planner has to prepare the layout plans in such a way that the final results are appreciated by all the sectors of public, therefore, the town planning is a science as well as an art too. The science consists in collecting, correlating and analyzing the facts about the town. The art lies in arranging the components of town in such a way that final result is in the form of a beautiful, convenient, economical and efficient unit. The difference between town planning and architecture should be noted. The town planning expresses the life of a town. The architecture reveals the spirit of the town.

1.2            Objects of Town Planning

The four essential objects of town planning are beauty, convenience, environment and health.

1.      Beauty: The beauty is achieved by taking the advantages of the natural conditions surrounding the town and also by giving architectural finishes to the various components of the town. It includes the preservation of tress, natural greenery, architectural control on public buildings, temples, churches, mosques, and buildings of historical significance.

2.      Convenience: It means providing social and recreational amenities to the public. These amenities (facility) include cheap power and electricity, proper sites for industries, transport facility, adequate water supply, easy disposal of sewage and industrial wastes, etc. The recreational amenities include open spaces, parks, playgrounds, town halls, malls, multiplexes, community centres, stadiums, etc.

3.      Environment: It is an important factor in town planning. The environment of the town should be in such a way that people can lead their normal activities with least difficulty. The complex problems of modern society such as tiresome travel to work, long hours of work, limited time spent within the family and community, etc. has led to serious problems in the lifestyle of the people living in the towns, therefore, town planning is mainly concerned with brining about a better relation between man and his environment.

  

4.      Health: Health is accommodated in town planning by providing health centres, parks and playgrounds for the public, by maintaining the pollution of various form to the lowest level, etc. It is achieved by dividing the land into zones such as residential, commercial, industrial, etc. and maintaining orderly development of the town in future.

                 

Plate 3. Clean environment and health centres must be accessible easily.

It is, however, necessary for the town planner to maintain a proper balance between the four objects mentioned above.

1.3            Principles of Town Planning

The subject of town planning demands knowledge of various professions, especially those of engineering, architecture and surveying. The town should be designed to satisfy the future growth and development, therefore avoiding development of town in any haphazard fashion. Some of the guiding principles of town planning are as follows:

1.   Green belt: The provision of a green belt on the border of the town results in the limitation of its size and hence, the final size of the town can be anticipated.

2.    Housing: Good care should be taken to provide housing accommodation to various categories of people. The development of slums should be avoided, if slums are existing, they should be cleared by providing alternative arrangement for the slum dwellers.

      

3.    Public buildings: There should be well-balanced grouping and distribution of various public buildings throughout the town. The unnecessary concentration of public buildings at certain spots of the town should be avoided.    

4.  Recreation centres: Depending upon the size of the town, enough space should be reserved for the development of recreation centres for the public.

5.    Road systems: The efficiency of any town is measured by the layout of its roads. A well designed road system reflects good impression of the town. Faulty road system in the initial stages of town formation proves to be too difficult and costly to repair.

6.     Transport facilities: The town should be provided with suitable transport facilities so that there is minimum loss of time in travelling from work place to residence.

7.   Zoning: The town should be divided into suitable zones such as commercial zone, industrial zone, residential zone, etc. and suitable rules and regulations should be formed for the development of each zone.

1.4            Necessity of Town Planning

The necessity of town planning can be appreciated and it will help in tackling the unwanted situations mentioned below which a town faces in the absence of town planning:

1.      Defective road system resulting in the formation of narrow streets and lanes.

2.      Development of slums and squatter settlements.

3.      Haphazard location of industries.

4.      Heavy traffic congestion during the working hours of the day.

5.  Inadequate open spaces for parks and playgrounds resulting in unhealthy living conditions.

6.      Lack of essential amenities like electricity, water supply and drainage system.

7.      Noisy atmosphere disturbing the peace of city dwellers.

8.      Uncontrolled development of the town.

9.      Unhealthy living conditions, etc.

1.5            Origin of Towns

If a survey is carried out regarding the origin of some of the important existing towns and cities of the world, it can be easily established that any town or city has originated because of certain specific cause. The origin of towns can be broadly classified into two categories, namely, topographical and functional.

                       

The topographical features of origin of towns are as follows:

1.      Conditions favourable for industrial units,

2.      Hilly areas to achieve the objects of defence,

3.      Plain areas useful for business activities,

4.      River banks,

5.      Sea or ocean fronts.

The functional aspects of origin of towns are as follows:

1.      Education,

2.      Health resorts,

3.      Political,

4.      Community.

1.6            Growth of Towns

The towns grow during passage of time in number of ways and various forces which contribute to the overall development of a town are transportation facilities, industries, safety for public, proximity of agricultural lands, availability of electric power, political importance, etc. Some of the reasons why the people would like to stay in urban areas can be enumerated as follows:

1.    It is quite likely that people have often found to stay in groups or societies to safeguard themselves from dangers of theft.

2.      The humans by nature are social animal and they get much satisfaction of living their life in the company of friends and community.

3.      An urban man can develop contacts and make friends with like-minded people having common interest.

4.      The urban dwellers can maintain a very high degree of privacy.

5.   The urban are provide with reliable water supply, good market for business, large amount of opportunities to succeed, etc.

Also the facilities of transport and communication increase the population and leads to the growth of towns. The means of transport may take up the following forms:

1.     Aerial ports: In some cases, the airports plays an important role in the growth of a town.

2.      Railways: If the town is connected with railways, there will be increase of passengers and goods traffic even from long distances.

3.     Roadways: The neighbouring area is connected with the town and it leads to overall expansion of trade and industry.

4.     Waterways: If facilities of waterways are available, the town can grow as a harbor with possibility of foreign trade and business.

The above mentioned means of transport have led to the horizontal growth of town. But the availability of mechanical lifts, escalators and elevators has made it possible to have vertical growth of town in the form of skyscrapers.  

1.6.1    Types of Growth

The growth of towns and cities can be studied in the following two ways:

                               I.            Growth according to origin.

                            II.            Growth according to direction.

Growth according to origin: The growth of towns and cities according to the origin can be divided in two categories:

1.      Natural Growth: Most of the towns in the past have grown in a natural way, that is, the development of the town as such has taken place without any future planning. The provisions of various essential amenities such as road system, parks, playgrounds, schools, industrial units, commercial centres, hospitals, cinemas, etc., are made in an irregular way without consideration for future expansion of the town. The natural growth of a town may be in the form of following four types:

a.       Concentric spread

b.      Ribbon development

c.       Satellite growth

d.      Scattered growth.

a)      Concentric spread:

·         It is the natural tendency of the people to be as near as possible to town or city, therefore the town develops in form of concentric rings with nucleus as town.

·         These type of growth create many complicated problems such as traffic congestion, narrow streets, concentration of population, improper housing, etc.

·         The town growth is represented by a series of concentric circles or rings.

·         The first zone represents central business like commercial and social life of the town.

·         The second zone represents low-income housing, better-class residences and high-class residences are subsequently formed.

·         The idea of concentric spread is based on the fact that similar or functionally related activities will be located at the same distance from the centre of an urban area.

                                        

b)      Ribbon development:

·       It has been observed that because of improvement of road surface and growth of motor traffic, everyone build or occupy the places as near as possible to the main road.

·       The building activity therefore expands in a natural way along the sides of main road and long fingers or ribbons of houses, factories, shops, etc., develop as show in fig. below.

Disadvantages:

·         As houses extend in a long strip or ribbon, there is increase in cost of utility services such as water supply and electricity, postal deliveries, etc.

·         It results into wastage of available resources.

·         It lacks social life as ribbon development causes scatter of community.

·         The future improvement becomes costly and difficult, in some place it becomes impossible.

·         The interior place are left undeveloped which results in wastage of valuable land.

·         It causes accidents and traffic delays (jams) due to pedestrians on the main road.

·         The traffic capacity and efficiency of main road are reduced.

·         The ribbon development spoils the countryside view as it becomes non-visible at least for road users.

·         The problem of ribbon development is complex involving social-economic, political, technical and legal measures for its solution.

Measures required to control: It requires a co-operative effort by legislators, town planners, traffic department, judiciary, and adjacent land owners and last but not the least, the road users themselves.

·         Control of advertisements and obstructions to view.

·         Control of heavy traffic accessing the highway.

·         Regulating and control of traffic using highway.

·         Land-use zoning to check undesirable building.

·         Removal of encroachment (illegally occupy of land by petty shops and street food carters) from the road right-of-way.

The engineering measures to discourage ribbon development include expressway facility with completely controlled accesses, grade separated crossings, planning the roadside amenities, etc.

c)      Satellite growth: When a town reaches a certain size, satellite growth is bound to take place. The satellite town is mainly due to the metropolis and it indicate a body under the influence of a more powerful body but possessing its own identity. Development of satellite towns around the parent city is shown in the fig. below,

The features of a satellite town are as follows:

·         It has its own local government and corporate life.

·     It is a town in the full sense but it depends to a certain extent upon a nearby large town or city.

·      It is connected to the parent city by local trains, buses, etc. in such a way the people can reach to the parent city easily.

·         It is free to decide its economic, social and cultural activities.

·         It is generally situated beyond the green belt of the parent city.

·         It is mainly residential area having only local shops, schools for children, etc.

·       No industries are permitted, the people will have to depend on the parent city for employment opportunities.

·         It is neither a village nor a suburb.

·         It need not have zoning regulations.

·         Its size and development are controlled in such a way that it does not affect the parent town in future.

·     The satellite may even be considered to be the part of market for some goods and services from the parent town.

·     The workers living in particular satellite may belong to the labour force of a certain industry. It gives a wider choice to the employers of such industries for finding the best man for the job.

Disadvantages:

·      The main disadvantage of satellite growth is the necessity of the long journey to work. (It may be long journey in distance does not necessarily mean a long journey in time due to efficient modes of transport and traffic)

·         Satellite growth may be deprived of entertainment and cultural activity.

·         It is responsible for preventing the development of a community spirit.

·         Lack of community centres and halls.

d)     Scattered growth:

·         The growth of the town takes place in very irregular way.

·         It results in traffic congestion.

·         Encroachment of industries on residential areas.

·         Development of slums.

·         Lack of parks and various other problems which prove to be too difficult to be solved in future.

                             

                  

2.      Planned growth: In case of a planned growth, a town develops in a pre-determined line as conceived by the town planner. The overall growth of the town is controlled by the enforcement of suitable rules and regulations. There is rational distribution of various blocks such as residential, industrial, commercial, etc.

The provision of various amenities such as widths of streets, drainage lines, water supply lines, parks, playgrounds, etc. is made to meet with the future requirements. The modern concepts of town planning can very well be seen and appreciated in some of the recent new towns in many parts of the world.

           

          

Growth according to direction: With respect to direction, the growth of towns and cities can take place in the following two ways:

1.      Horizontal growth: The town expands and develops horizontally in all directions. It is clear that such a growth will be possible at places where land is available in plenty at nominal cost.

  

Advantages:

·         In general, there will be saving in cost as the buildings will usually consist of two or three floors.

·         It does not require the service of high technical personnel.

·         Maximum possible use of the natural light in the buildings.

·         The density of the population can be restricted.

·         There is economy of floor space as the provision of columns, lifts, etc. will not be required.

·         The surrounding marginal space can be utilized for developing gardens.

Disadvantage:

·         It uses more land and hence, it will prove to be uneconomical where the land value are very high.

·         The foundation cost per unit area will be more.

·         There will be absence of group living.

2.   Vertical growth: The buildings of the town are designed and developed as multi-storeyed flats. It is quite evident that such a growth will be possible at places where land is costly.

Advantages:

·         A sense of group living and unity develops as many families live in same building.

·         The foundation cost will be distributed between all the floors, therefore the foundation cost per unit area will be in the reasonable limit.

·         For floor above certain height, the natural sceneries such as sea view, river view, etc. can be enjoyed in a better way.

·         It will be possible to make maximum use of the modern technology such as fire-proofing, sound-proofing, heat insulation, air-conditioning, high speed elevators, etc.

·         There will be considerable saving in land and hence, it will prove to be economical where land values are very high.

·         There will be economy in construction cost as the buildings will be designed as framed structures with repetition of a typical floor plan at each floor level.

Disadvantages:

·         In case of natural calamities such as earthquakes or fire, it will be difficult for the inhabitants (dwellers) of the upper floors to escape safely.

·         The density of population will be more.

·         The design of flats will be stereo-typed and there is no scope for personal likes or dislikes.

·         The evils of group living will have to be tolerated.

·         The failure of lift, pumps, etc. will cause great inconvenience.

·         The people staying at upper floors will be deprived of natural living near the ground level.

·         There will be some wastage of floor space as lifts, supporting columns, etc. will have to be provided. 

1.7            Development of Towns

Depending upon the size, population, pattern of land ownership, distance from urban area, etc., and the settlement patterns in India can be grouped under the following four categories:

1.      Basic village: The population of basic village is of about 400 to 500 people and the primary occupation is agriculture. The primary school, open well for potable water, murum roads, mobile dispensary livestock breeding centre, etc.

2.      Rural town: The population of rural town is of about 2000 to 3000 people and it groups the surrounding 10 to 15 basic villages. It serves as a cultural, commercial and administrative centre and its stability can be increased by taking various steps such as tube well, open drains, secondary school, mobile library, community hall, murum roads, agricultural seeds research and development centres, etc.

3.      Service town: The population of service town is of about 5000 to 7000 people and it accommodates adequate level of amenities, services and economic activities to cater about 25 to 30 basic villages. The service town grants employment in small scale industries over and above the agricultural employment. The service town contains cinema, community halls, industrial estate, electricity, macadam roads, piped water supply, health centre, etc.

4.      Town: This is the last level of settlement and depending upon its location, its size will be decided. It may even ultimately convert into a big city possessing all the modern amenities and services. Thus, the town indicates the smallest urban community and it represents greater impact of rural character.

(Note: For more details on “Development of towns”, refer Town planning text book by Rangwala, -According to Lewis Mumford (Table 1-1), page no.17-18. –According to Griffith Taylor, page no. 18)

1.8            Distribution of Land Use

Any town possesses the following five distinct parts:

a.       Town centre

b.      Industrial area

c.       Residential area

d.      Open space

e.       Town periphery

The above five parts are well defined in case of planned town. They are, however, not very clear in case of an unplanned town. The brief description of each part is given below,

a.       Town centre: It indicates the central area containing commercial and administrative blocks, theatres, big temples, library, museum, etc.

b.      Industrial area: In this part, the manufacturing industries of different goods are located.

c.       Residential area: This part is mainly used for providing residential accommodation to the inhabitants of the town. But it also contains small shops, primary schools, gardens, small service industries, etc.

d.      Open space: This part of town is allotted to network of roads, parks and playgrounds and in fact, it indicates land which is substantially left in its natural state for the benefit of people.

e.       Town periphery: It is used to indicate the land which is located on the boundary of town and which is directly influenced by the town. However, it cannot be considered as part of the town. The town periphery includes market, gardens, nurseries, golf courses, etc.

1.9            Types of Town Planning

To maintain the continuity in the planning process, the following five forms of planning are to be considered:

1.      Local planning

2.      Country planning

3.      National planning

4.      International planning.

            Local planning:

·         The development plan of a city or town is prepared by keeping in view the local conditions.

·         It aims at proper distribution of population densities, regulation of traffic, location of shopping and recreational centres, provision of green belt, suitable division of area in various zones, etc.

·         Local planning is influenced by economic conditions and finances available for the development of the town.

Country planning:

·         The area surrounding a town cannot be allowed to develop in a haphazard way.

·         Generally, a town is surrounded by villages and rural planning becomes necessary for proper functioning of the town.

·         The surrounding village is linked up with suitable transport system in country planning.

·         Village industries such as dairy, poultry farming, basket and rope making, weaving, etc. are encouraged.

·         A proper balance between the agricultural and industry should be maintained without disturbing the character of rural area.

·         Country planning and town planning are related to each other and cannot be treated as two separate entities. 

Regional planning:

·         It includes proposals in a region for the distribution of population, industry, transport facility, rural services, etc.

·         The regional planning helps in controlling and reshaping the growth of major towns in the region.

·         In general, a region may be defined as an area within which interaction is more intense than its interaction with other areas and the modern practice is to include the following in regional planning:

                                                       I.            Agricultural regions.

                                                    II.            Industrial areas.

                                                 III.            Large hydro-electric power stations.

                                                 IV.            Resort and recreational areas.

                                                    V.            Suburban zones of cities.

Necessary:

The regional planning is necessary for the following reasons,

a.       To ensure profitable utilization of the resources at minimum expense for maximum benefit.

b.      It gives the information regarding the economic functions.

c.       It gives the local planners knowledge of relationship between the areas of the region, which will help them in planning.

d.      It allows planned and harmonious development of the national economy.

e.       It reveals new town planning and building principles.

f.       It serves as a link of co-operation and co-ordination between the areas of the region.

National Planning:

·         It suggests the setting up of the planning procedure on a national level.

·         By proper and careful national planning, the resources of national importance like railways, irrigation projects, heavy industries, hydro-electric works, etc. can be utilized in the best possible manner.

·         Developments is from top level to bottom level, that is International level to local level or vice-versa.

·         Developments in terms of various economic sectors such as agricultural, fishing, forestry, mining, quarrying, etc.

·         Developments in terms of various social sectors such as clothing, housing, food, education, health, employment, recreation, etc.

International Planning:

·    With the establishment of United Nations Organisation (UNO), the international planning has come into existence and efforts are made at international level to promote goodwill and co-operation between different countries of the world.

·         The various agencies appointed by UNO conduct surveys in various fields of human life such as education, health, housing, food, etc. such surveys helps in finding out remedies and solutions of complicated problems at an international level.

1.9.1    Site for an Ideal Town

The important features to be considered with respect to the site of a town are as follows:

1.      Availability of the natural advantages

2.      Availability of electricity

3.      Available means of communication

4.      Climatic conditions

5.      Contours of the area

6.      Development of the surrounding area

7.      Drainage of the area

8.      Facility available for sewage disposal

9.      Fertility of soils

10.  Frequency of the floods

11.  Growth of the trees

12.  Nature of soil

13.  Position of lakes and streams

14.  Water resources, etc.

In general, the national and regional development plans would decide the need of a particular area and the purpose which the town has to serve. Considering the physical feature of the area, the final selection of the site is made in such a way that the town functions efficiently.

1.10       Requirements of New Towns

The two important facts which are to be carefully examined before deciding the requirements of new towns are as follows:

1.   Function of the town: A new town is generally formed or developed for specific purpose. The purposes for which the towns may be designed are commerce, industry, culture, education, defence, health, recreation, government administration, etc. these purposes will help boost the economy, social welfare and political condition.  Once the function of a new town known, size of population to be accommodated in the town can be worked out.

2.      Welfare of the people: A new town should be designed for the welfare of the people. The welfare of the people is measured by three factors, namely, amenities, convenience and health.

General requirements:

·         Amenities such as sewer lines, water supply, electric power, etc.

·         Education.

·         Effective road networks.

·         Planned growth of the town.

·         Provision for future expansion.

·         Proper location of public building.

·         Parks and playgrounds.

·         Provision of suitable bye-laws for the town.

·         Recreation centres.

·         Zoning of town into suitable zone.

1.11       Modern Town Planning in India

In India, the various states have passed town planning act to enforce town planning activity. The main source of all these town planning acts are the English Town Planning Act of 1909, the main provision in this act is that local authorities are given power to prepare and to enforce town planning schemes on open lands in the city and on its fringe.

For the purpose of looking after the planning and execution of new parts within metro-centres, various organizations such as DDA (Delhi Development Authority), CIDCO (City and Industrial Development Corporation), CMPO (Calcutta Metropolitan Planning Organization), HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation), etc., are set up by the government.

          

In addition to local authorities, the State Government is empowered to declare urban development areas and to set up urban development authorities for such areas. Such authorities are given the following powers:

1.      To prepare development plans for the urban areas.

2.      To prepare town planning schemes.

3.      To carry out surveys in the urban development area.

4.      To guide, direct and assist the local authority in urban development.

5.      To control development activities according to the plan.

6.      To execute work in connection with supply of water, disposal of sewage.

7.      To enter into contracts and agreements with local authority and organizations.

We have yet to go a long way in this field of town planning. The state Governments as well as the Central Government will have to take serious steps to make the science of town planning more significant and important to public.

1.12       Socio – Economic Aspects of Town Planning

The town planning is desirable if its adoption leads to better utilization of the resources of the community. Hence, for any given size, the best planned town is one where the aggregate land values are at a maximum. Thus, economically, the best town plan will lead to the highest aggregate land values. While adopting the land values condition, the following factors are to be considered for assessing the economic worth of town planning:

1.      Change in quantity of resource

2.      Demand for goods and services

3.      Production techniques

4.      Redistribution of land values

The economic advantages offered by urban way of life are enormous. But at the same time, urban growth is not smooth and there are many difficulties that prevent the town from making maximum contribution to national economy. Some of the economic disadvantage can be mentioned as difficulties in securing housing accommodation, congestion of facilities, etc.

In a similar way, the drawbacks from various disciplines can be enumerated as follows:

1.      The local government is concerned with the expansion of urban area, and its administration, etc.

2.      The medical officer is concerned with the effects of dirt, smoke, etc. on the health of urban dwellers.

3.      The psychologist is concerned with the effects of noise and strain leading to greater insanity and psychological pressure.

4.      The sociologist is concerned with the formation of slums, inadequate recreational facilities, increase in theft and crime, etc.

Reference:

·         Town Planning by Rangwala. Published by Charotar, 24^th edition; 2011.

·   An Introduction to Town and Country Planning by A.J. Brown, H.M. Sherrard and J.H. Shaw. Published by Angus and Robertson Ltd., Sydney, Australia: 1969.