Factors Considered by the Governments in Town Planning Decision Making - Essay Example

TOWN PLANNING by (Name) The Name of the Class (Course) Professor (Tutor) The Name of the School (University) The City and State where it is located The Date FACTORS CONSIDERED BY THE GOVERNMENTS IN TOWN PLANNING DECISION MAKING. Introduction Urban planning became a key factor in the 20th century. This was after the industrial revolution of the 19th century that saw a rapid growth of industrialist cities. This gave a need for planning to accommodate the growing demographics and to sustain the environment. Urban planning entails decision-making based on political and technical influences. It seeks to organize how land can be utilized while still maintaining and protecting the environment. It also seeks to integrate the infrastructure services without interfering with the water and air supply in the urban areas. With this in mind, the government in a given area is tasked with the responsibility of know how to best plan the cities and towns to make the best use of the available resources. This paper seeks to highlight those factors considered by the governments in town planning decision-making. 1. Disaster management This is often a factor considered by towns near areas susceptible to natural disasters such as earthquake, landslides, floods etc. Questions asked while making decisions in such areas is how best to prevent a disaster from destroying their town. A look at Tokyo for example considered being the world's largest agglomeration rests on an area that is a hot bed for earthquakes. The government having learnt from previous earthquake experiences in Japan took upon itself to plan Tokyo putting in mind how best to prevent the disaster from striking this area (Flüchter, 2003). There has been an upsurge in natural disasters worldwide in the last three decades. Some of them disasters are biological, others are climatological, geophysical, hydrological and meterological. Some of the memorable disasters include Haiti earthquake, the tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and the Indonesian earthquake. Asia in general faces serious hydro-meterological hazards. Due to urbanization, there is need to focus on how disaster management and prevention in urban dwellings can be achieved. As the population grows in one concentrated area, the area becomes prone to disasters. It has been said that local governments should step up their actions in urban planning and risk management to help reduce the danger posed by the growth of numbers in urban areas. Governments have been seen to try deal with planning in urban areas through various was. Demolition of informal settlement has been geared up to reduce the population growth in these areas. Such cases as the Venezuelan eviction saw people moved to better housing some distance out of the urban area. The government should do as much as possible to reduce development in areas at risk of disasters. Strict building policies can be implemented to reduce under designed structures that are not suitable for dwelling. Competent and well-trained personnel should be charged with the mandate of planning. They should use data and maps that are factual in the process to identify hazardous areas (Gencer, 2013.) 2. Settlement As a result of urbanization, there has been spontaneous settlement. Due to expansion, growth of built up areas is high with inadequate facilities for people dwelling in these places. As the cost of living is high, people are faced with a challenge of owning decent houses and high rent prices. In 1976, it was estimated that the number of people living in urban areas consisted a third of the population in the world. This number has increased to half of the world's population and it is estimated that by 2050 the figure will increase to two thirds. With this, the government has had to face a problem of adequate and affordable housing for the dwellers. As a result, spontaneous settlements have become a common feature in most cities. Some of the most outstanding settlements include ngsamong in Thailand, Ibadan in Nigeria, Manus in Brazil and Armuthu in Istanbul. In recent research, spontaneous settlement has been identified as an issue related to political rather than technical issues. It is therefore the work of the government to come up with policies that aid in dealing with such issues (Ekandem, Daudu, Lamidi, Ayegba, Adekunle, 2014). Recent study by McKinsey Global Institute reported that over three hundred and thirty million urban households around the globe live in substandard housing or have to stretch their finances to take care of their housing cost so much so that they forgo their basic needs like food and healthcare. It is reported that in total, urban dwellers around the world have to spend six hundred and fifty billion more per year on housing than they can afford. According to McKinsey’s study, affordability of housing cost means that the consumer does not spend more than thirty percent of their income on housing. The rate of urban migration and income growth will increase the gap of affordable housing to four hundred and forty million or about one point six billion people within a decade. This would mean more families will lack decent affordable housing, people will be less healthy due to the adversities they face, children will perform poorer in school and will drop out earlier, the rate of unemployment will increase, and the financial inclusion will be lower. This will lead to a crisis in society. Governments are turning to methods that can reduce cost of housing to enable their people afford decent shelter. Their efforts are geared towards build houses quick, efficiently, inexpensively and in a scalable fashion. Not forgetting use of methods that can help slash the cost by thirty percent and have the delivery time down by fifty percent (McKinsey Global Institute, 2014). Figure 1.1: ways of achieving affordable housing Source: (McKinsey Global Institute analysis, 2014 3. Water and waste management Governments accommodate water and sewer line networks while planning the towns. That is not enough; there is more to water and waste supply than the connection system. As a result of increased population in urban areas, the government is tasked with the duty of ensuring supply of a resource that is becoming scarce, water. As a result, of drought, flash floods and socials ecological disasters, provision of clean water has become a role that can't be ignored (Leonie, Anthea, Wendy, Timothy, 2009.) Waste management is a need required by every household. Waste management has become a problem in recent times due to slums and pre-urban areas especially in third world countries. It is reported that 50 percent of waste generated in developing countries remains uncollected and as such, the people in these areas face the risk of contracting diseases such as typhoid and cholera (Practical action, 2014.) There is need for governments to look at sustainable water and waste management systems in town planning. Despite the fact that waste management is not a problem in majority of the developed countries, a lot need to be done in planning how waste management can be dealt with in developing towns in third world countries. Several ways can be adopted to deal with waste in towns. Decision support system can be one way that can be adopted to deal with waste at municipal level. It entails coming up with the maximum number of landfills as well as treatment plants then determining how much waste and the type of waste that can be recycled, taken to the treatment plants and that can be taken to the landfills. This method proved to reduce the cost of recycling, maintenance and transport when it was tested in Italy (Paolo, Riccardo, Roberto, 2003.) Other methods include; sewerage systems, use of aerobic wastewater treatment plants, and use of source control systems. The advantage of using source control systems is the prevention of problems at the end points. The source control methods include; use of anaerobic digesters, use of aerobic biofilm plants, storm water infiltration and recycling (Ralf, Matthias, Jörg, 1997). With the challenge of finding new sources of water, there is need for governments to focus on ways of sustaining water supply in urban areas. Need to adopt urban hydrology is on the rise to be able to meet the needs of the dwellers. This will help in availing drink water, irrigation water for agricultural use, and water for the aquifers and so on (Janusz, 1999). Decision support frameworks can be adopted to revolutionize traditional decision making process from a control and command that aimed at achieving results at one point in time to a more dynamic and sustainable way. This will focus on adaptive and integrate management that allows more social learning to allow people be part of the decision making process (Leonie, Anthea, Wendy, Timothy, 2009). 4. Infrastructure Cities and towns are seen as centers for both local and international investment. Growth in infrastructure is associated with growth of urban areas. Communication, roads, and railway networks are essential for economic activities to take place. It is therefore important that as planning takes place, these network areas are demarcated and clearly set for development. Availability of quality infrastructure goes a long way at increasing productivity in urban areas. The urban economy is said to be the bridge between domestic and global economy hence the need to strengthen its gears. Population growth in urban areas such as Mumbai India is as a result of job creations and opportunities that are in these areas. With the congestions in urban areas there is need to plan for newer modes of transport. A research in Indian cities indicate that they not only need new roads, there's need to improve the existing ones. There is further indication of encroachment of existing roads by street vendors, commercial facilities and some of the spots are used as parking. For this reason, the transport system needs to be developed to even encourage developers to see beyond the central business areas (NBM & CW, 2013.) The 21century has seen a rise in communication systems and digital growth. As such, there is need to adopt these systems in infrastructure development to increase speed and efficiency. A good example is how the Korean Republic replaced their old paradigm conventional infrastructure with a new intelligent type referred to as ubiquitous. This system integrates the whole communication systems with the digital networks, the urban infrastructure allowing the citizens to access the infrastructure on their devices at all times, and wherever they are (Lee, Yigitcanlar, Han, Leem, 2008.) With these trends, governments should aim at borrowing a leaf from the Republic of Korea while doing their planning. This will prevent future cost channeled at upgrading systems to make these accommodations. 5. Social amenities and recreational facilities After the day’s work, people look for time to play and rest. The government puts this in mind while planning. There are facilities set aside to offer an opportunity for growth of talent. By creating recreational facilities, a magnetic force is created that attracts teams and cooperate sponsors to such areas. This has also been seen as an opportunity to generate revenue as these areas are used to host events such as the world cup and the Olympic. Sports have turned to a profession like any other. In the United States, downtown areas have been converted to sports facilities to attract teams to the area. These facilities have also helped in reviving the business districts a good example being the sidebar on Louisville (Singer, Tolliver, 2001). Recreational facilities enable people to have fun and be healthier. It is in these areas that people get to interact and therefore allow them be more connected physically and emotionally. With the rise of lifestyle related diseases, people are advised to work out more. Seeing as not everyone can afford the gym, or others find themselves preferring the outdoors, such places allow people to engage in activities that keep them healthy. Research done on recreational experience in Nigeria showed that it is important to consider certain aspects while planning Parks and gardens. Some of these factors include gender, quality of sites selected, the accessibility of the area in relation to frequency of visits made and level of income of people in the area. Such factor enable the government to know facilities needed in the area, the number of people to visit the park each day and types of equipment needed in the area (Joseph, Adeniran, 2014.) Conclusion Urban planning calls for decisive decision making that takes into account not only the economic, but also the social needs of the community involved. It includes aspects such as disaster management, settlement, social amenities and recreational facilities, infrastructure, and water and waste management. It is critical for cities to plan for natural disasters given demographic changes that have resulted in an increase in urban populations, which increases the number of people under risk. In this regard, there needs to be better settlement planning in order to cater for the changing demographics of urbanization. Huge populations in urban areas mean that there has to be planning for water and waste management. As such, plans have to take into account the need to have adequate measures of expansion of water and waste management facilities. Urbanization calls for new and better infrastructure and hence urban decision makers need to plan ahead regarding issues of technology, road, communication that are the lifeblood of modern urban centers. Lastly there is need to plan for social amenities and recreational facilities not only for aesthetic value but also as a source of revenue for the urban area. All of these aspects call for astute decision-making in order for them to be successful. Bibliography Flüchter Winfried, 2003, Tokyo before the next earthquake: agglomeration-related risk town planning and disaster prevention, The Town Planning Review, vol 74, no 2, pp 213-238 Gencer E. A., 2013, the interplay between urban development, vulnerability and risk management, Mediterranean Study, vol 13, no 111, pp 33. Ekandem E., Daudu P., Lamidi R., Ayegba M., Adekunle A., 2014, spontaneous settlements: Roles and challenge to urban planning, Journal of Sustainable Development Studies, vol 6, no 2, pp 361-390. McKinsey Global Institute. (2014). A blueprint for addressing the global affordable housing challenge. MGI, 10. Practical action, 2014, cited Sep. 2015, Retrived from: http://practicalaction.org/urbanwastemanagement Paolo F., Riccardo M., Roberto S., 2003, Solid waste management in urban areas, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, vol 37, no 4, pp 301-328. Ralf O., Matthias G., Jörg L., 1997, sustainable waste and water management in urban areas, Water Science and Technology, vol 35, no 9, pp 122-133. NBM & CW, 2013, Development of urban infrastructure for economic growth Lee S., Yigitcanlar T., Han J., Leem Y., 2008, ubiquitous urban infrastructure: infrastructure planning and development in Korea, lnnovation: management, policy, and practice, vol 10, no 2, pp 282-292. Singer M., Tolliver S., 2001, recreational development, Public Management, vol 83, no 3, A6- A10. Joseph A., Adedeji, Adeniran. J. 2014, Recreational experiences in parks and gardens, Ibadan, Nigeria. Journal of Place Management and Development vol 7, no.1, pp.5-26. Read More