Urban Planning in Modern Society - Literature review Example

URBAN DESIGN INTRODUCTION In contemporary society, economies have seen inflow and outflow of capital, labor, materials, goods, and services to and from towns and cities. This is associated with rural to urban migration, urban to rural migration, urban to urban migration and rural to rural migration as community members go about transacting businesses, seeking employment opportunities, and carrying out personal and official tasks (Williams, et al., 2000). Therefore, urban planning in modern society is not an option (Barnett, 1982). Urban planning entails use of proper use of land resources to create adequate space for public use in order to enhance the built, fiscal, and social ecologies within rural and urban communities. Effective urban planning constitutes of adequate, relevant, efficient, and effective urban designs. Urban designs refers to the organizing, assembling and drawing designs for facilities and structures, designating public spaces, mapping the transport systems, services and allocation of facilities that offer social and public amenities (Hardinghaus, 2006). Urban zones are, made useful, effective, efficient, appealing, and favorable by a complete combination and incorporation of the elements of landscaping, urban planning and architecture (Williams, et al., 2000). Urban designing requires extensive consultations among various stakeholders and sectors, which includes the town municipality, the town council, the engineering department, ministry of urban planning, emergency response and rescue sectors, involvement of sectors of environment, local history and the ministry of roads, communication, and transport (Carmona & Tiesdell, 2007). Essential personnel that carry out urban designing are urban designers, urban planners and strategists, landscape architects, and surveyors. This report is a literature review of two journal articles relating to urban design of urban environments. The literature review will summarize the focus of the each document, compare and contrast the key points/positions/aspects of each, and provide discussion of your own opinions supported by theory from other authors. Literature review The report will review two urban design journal articles namely the ‘Linking ecological and built components of urban mosaics: an open cycle of ecological design’ authored by Pickett, S.T.A. and Cadenasso, M.L. for the Journal of Ecology 2008 and ‘Identifying and measuring urban design qualities related to walkability.’ Reid Ewing, Susan Handy, Ross C. Brownson, Otto Clemente, and Emily Winston have written the journal article for the Journal of Physical Activity and Health 2006. The main reason for reviewing Pickett & Cadenasso’s journal article is the critical role urban design plays in ensuring sustenance of ecological balance between community and space (Moughtin & Shirley, 2005). The reason for choosing Ewing, et al is the role the journal article plays in shading more light on how to recognize and measure the nature and quality of urban design. Summary for Pickett & Cadenasso’s journal article The journal article is cited as follows; Pickett, S. and Cadenasso, M. (2008). Linking ecological and built components of urban mosaics: an open cycle of ecological design. Journal of Ecology, 96: 8–12. Doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2007.01310.x. The journal article begins by offering a summary of the entire paper followed by a short descriptive introduction. The author stresses the need for urban design owing to more than half of the world’s population expected to move into urban areas, which the author references to United Nations, 2001 report (Pickett & Cadenasso, 2008). The author explains that majority of plant ecology has been focused on wild lands; some have directed their efforts on detached urban spaces. The author informs on the best way to integrate plant ecology and urban design in order to enhance ecological comprehension and value of life in the expanding settled areas. The author states that through urban designs, assortment of structures in cities, towns, counties, and community neighborhoods are assigned distinct and appropriate structure, character, and forms (Pickett & Cadenasso, 2008). Urban design is a critical urban planning aspect that forms the outline that gives structure and poise to systems of city squares, city streets and avenues and building blocks (Moughtin & Shirley, 2005). The main emphasis in realization of incorporation of plant ecology and urban design by the article is, identifying the urban ecological systems associated with structure that entails buildings, transport and communication systems, urban functions that entail resource allocation and waste disposal and urban dynamics that entails turnover in construction stock and establishment of innovative transport walkways and passageways. The article points out that flora, surfaces and structures replicate human agency (Pickett & Cadenasso, 2008). Plant ecology helps enhance spatial and ecological differentiation in urban zones (Barnett, 1982). The author mentions that this is particularly important in excluding urban zones from natural areas and differentiating between forest plants and settled land plants. The major benefits attributed with assimilating plant ecology and urban design are enhanced knowledge on the structure and function of urban ecosystems, improved ecological role of urban areas and extended gains from plant ecology and urban cover to communities in urban areas (Pickett & Cadenasso, 2008). In addition, the incorporation is beneficial in supplying urban and downstream communities with fresh waters, air and flow of pollution and such incorporation is a suitable ground for ecological tests and urban environmental monitoring. According to Pickett & Cadenasso, effective urban designs are the initial steps to changing the urban mosaic. The article stresses that integrating plant cover with urban designs, which is comprised of architecture, landscape architecture, civil engineering, and urban strategizing, is basis for incorporation of examining and understanding of plants into urban buildings and utilizing urban design projects as environmental study apparatus (Pickett & Cadenasso, 2008). Last but not least, the article offers a synthesis that indicate that integration of plant ecology with urban design enhances and improves the quality of life, health, safety, and enables communities to appreciate urban ecological process. Summary for Ewing, et al journal article The article establishes operational definitions and measurement practice for determining qualities of urban design owing to use of gross qualities such as the community density in urban areas, street connectivity, and accessibility to recreational parks as measures of urban design qualities in previous studies (Ewing, et al., 2006). The author has been able to review literature on the qualities of urban design and thereby, conducting a research study on the issue and merging similar qualities commonly used for urban design to come up with nine distinct qualities of urban design in relation to walkability. They include imageability, visual enclosure, legibility, transparency, coherence, tidiness, legibility, human scale, and complexity (Ewing, et al., 2006). The article comprehensively and candidly expounds on the meaning of the nine qualities and attributes of urban design. In a bid to measure the operational definitions of the qualities of the urban design and classify physical attributes related with the nine qualities, a visual assessment survey was, used. The survey involves selecting a panel consisting of experts in urban design and urban planning, establishment of a library of streetscapes’ video clips, assortment of video clips and ranking the qualities of urban design by the panel (Ewing, et al., 2006). Moreover, measurement of physical attributes of streetscapes by assessing the content of the video clips and conducting inter-rater reliability testing of tangible measurements (Ewing, et al., 2006). In addition, ratings the qualities of the urban design, statistical examination of connections between physical attributes and the ratings given to qualities of the urban design, selecting qualities for operationalization, creation of operational definitions and measurement procedures for qualities of urban design centered on statistical links (Ewing, et al., 2006). According to the article, quantifying the qualities of urban design is essential in helping urban designers and landscape architects to use the resulting measures to trail an enhanced quantitative advance to their occupation (Ewing, et al., 2006). It is helpful in understanding how ecological qualities, patterns and assimilation of specific qualities of urban design impact on community’s insight of streetscapes, thereby, people opting to walk, and such measures can be used to establish measures for qualities of transport systems, public parks and building blocks (Moughtin & Shirley, 2005). The article offers comprehensive field instruments and limitations of the study. The main findings were that the qualities of urban design namely imageability, human scale, enclosure and transparency fulfilled the five operationalization criteria, the complexity and tidiness quality satisfied three operationalization criteria while the qualities of linkage, legibility and coherence fulfilled a single criterion (Ewing, et al., 2006). Merging the qualities of enclosure, transparency, imageability, human scale, tidiness, and complexity resulted in divergence in field measurements and laboratory measurements obtained from the content of the video tape, which was, attributed to the quality of tidiness (Ewing, et al., 2006). This therefore, indicates that the field manual contained in the article can only be used to measure imageability, human scale, enclosure, and transparency. Discussion The Pickett and Cadenasso’s article The Pickett and Cadenasso’s article has in, detail offered a description of what plant ecology encompasses, and the role it plays in creating a sustainable ecosystem. The article emphasizes on the benefits associated with incorporating plant ecology into urban design to ensure effective and efficient flow of air, waste disposal, flow of pollution, and flow of waters essential for urban and downstream communities (Pickett & Cadenasso, 2008). This is particularly so, when integrating use of land resource and land cover variables as discussed by Williams et al. Williams et al indicate that integration of ecology, urban design is required to satisfy the needs of the urban zones and the needs of the ecosystem study. They imply that urban patterns involve varying land use, plant cover, and environmental results and are, impacted by how land resource is, utilized and how the land resource can be adjusted (Williams, et al., 2000). The perception that plant ecology should be, integrated in urban ecosystems as incorporated human systems that allow the human agency to become a section of the ecosystem cycle as discussed in this article is particularly essential. This is so in influencing the direction of urbanization and neighborhood capacities in a bid to minimize negative effects of urbanization on the ecosystem (Williams, et al., 2000). The article however, is limited in highlighting the limitations of the study, which includes focusing on urban zones instead of focusing on the rural areas or a combination of both. Urban design entails creating a link interconnecting space, built environment, place, communities and neighborhoods, nature and the flow of traffic in and out of the urban setting (Barnett, 1982). In addition, urban design enables urban designers and architectures to draw up appealing and identifiable designs that constitutes of viable constructions, ecological conservation, and sustenance, enhancement of social equity and ensuring the urban designs are economically and financially feasible (Carmona & Tiesdell, 2007). This forms the underlying basis for incorporating plant ecology and urban design as suggested by the article. Effective urban designs are possible through consultations and sharing among stakeholders such as engineers, planners, policy makers, architects, ecologists, designers and surveyors among others, creation of community awareness on the need to safely dump wastes and conserve the environment (Hardinghaus, 2006). The article supports this, as it mentions, “Urban design, plant ecology, hydrology, the knowledge of managers and policy makers, and the desires of neighborhood residents are combined to generate a new mosaic of vegetation, buildings and surface covers” (Pickett & Cadenasso, 2008). The article by Ewing, et al Urban design is, characterized by creation of spaces to accommodate movement of goods, services, capital, and people in and out of urban zones. This is a perspective taken by Ewing et al, in emphasizing the need to identify the operational definitions of the qualities of urban designs and measuring the identified qualities of urban designs in relation to walkability. The measures and the qualities identified by the article that includes imageability, visual enclosure, legibility, transparency, coherence, tidiness, legibility, human scale, and complexity are vital in urban policy planning, development and implementation, drawing architectural designs and establishment of economics from which urban design originates and transcends (Ewing, et al., 2006). Through identification and measurement of the qualities of urban design, an urban planner and designer is able to create identifiable settlement areas, create inimitable designs, create aesthetic places within urban areas and align the urban design to the needs, expectations of the people by creating a human element in designing of blocks, streets, trails and green areas (Carmona & Tiesdell, 2007). The article shades light on what future studies should put more emphasis on which includes conducting the measurement study using people who normally use the streets rather than consulting experts. Additionally, using in-field ratings rather than assessment of the contents of the video tapes and focus the field instruments on rural zones in preference for urban zones (Ewing, et al., 2006). According to the article, people choose to walk on streets based on individual quality of urban designs. It is important for urban planners and designers to note that quality of an urban space and quality of an urban place is, defined by the ability of a person to relate and remember the place, the ease in navigation, enclosure, human scale and the ability of a place to have visual richness (Barnett, 1982). Urban design incorporates and takes into account the structure of the buildings, streets, people and the environment to ensure each aspect fits in and link well together, it defines how the land will be, utilized, and it ensures easy navigation in and out of streets and buildings that fosters urban safety and effective drainage systems (Williams, et al., 2000). Moreover, urban designs offer alternative routes within the urban setting, it draws plans that inspire public movements, it structures places and buildings that are able to carry out their intended purposes, and it creates distinction between varying places (Moughtin & Shirley, 2005). Urban designs creates effective and efficient consistency and variance in an urban setting, it designate the element of place and time in relation to the history of the community, values and its heritage (Alberti, 2008). It is important to ensure whether urban designs are, incorporated, with plant ecology or the urban designer identifies and measures the qualities of the urban design, they are able to shape and draw up urban settings that safeguard against insecurity and that ensures people transverse all streets, buildings and locations at ease (Alberti, 2008). People should be able to find their way out if they are unfamiliar places. In designing for an urban area, it is essential to comply with applicable local laws on urban planning, to incorporate all the important aspects of contemporary urban setting that entails easy access to lines of communication, transportation, public recreational parks and centers and social and public amenities (Alberti, 2008). Urban design plays an important role in designating open spaces, communication, and transport infrastructures that facilitate efficient, effective, and adequate response and rescue operations by emergency response agencies (Barnett, 1982). This is, illustrated by having ample room for fire engines to drive in and out of streets and buildings with great ease, thus allowing fire to be contained in the room of origin and minimize fatalities. In addition, urban designs allows for free flow of traffic thus minimizing traffic congestions, overlapping and overuse of available resources that causes insecurity, misuse of resources and minimized safety and pollution for the people and the environment respectively (Alberti, 2008). Conclusion Urban design is a component of urban planning that refers to the organizing, assembling and drawing designs for facilities and structures, designating public spaces, mapping the transport systems, services and allocation of facilities that offer social and public amenities. Urban zones are, made useful, effective, efficient, appealing, and favorable by a complete combination and incorporation of the elements of landscaping, urban planning and architecture. This report is a literature review of two urban design journal articles. They include ‘Linking ecological and built components of urban mosaics: an open cycle of ecological design’ authored by Pickett, S.T.A. and Cadenasso, M.L. and ‘Identifying and measuring urban design qualities related to walkability,’ written by Reid Ewing, Susan Handy, Ross C. Brownson, Otto Clemente and Emily Winston for the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. The two articles depict essential compounds of urban design that are meant to ensure urban sustainability, effectiveness and efficiency that fosters proper use of space over a duration of time and place. Pickett’s article deals with the need for incorporating plant ecology into urban designs while Ewing’s article develops a measurement protocol for identifying and measuring qualities of urban design. References Alberti, M. (2008). Advances in Urban Ecology: Integrating Humans and Ecological Processes in Urban Ecosystems. Sidney: Springer. Barnett, J. (1982). An Introduction to Urban Design. New York: Harper & Row. Carmona, M., & Tiesdell, S. (2007). Urban design reader. London: Architectural Press. Ewing, R., Handy, S., Brownson, R.C., Clemente, O., & Winston, E. (2006). Identifying and measuring urban design qualities related to walkability. Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 3(1), S223-S240 Hardinghaus, M. (2006). Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria in Urban Design: A Problematisation of Spatial Thinking. The Online Journal of the Centre for Education in the Built Environment, 3(2), 9-22 Moughtin, C., & Shirley, P. (2005). Urban design: green dimensions. New York City: Elsevier. Pickett, S., & Cadenasso, M. (2008). Linking ecological and built components of urban mosaics: an open cycle of ecological design. Journal of Ecology, 96: 8–12. Doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2007.01310.x. Williams, K., Jenks, M., & Burton, E. (2000). Achieving sustainable urban form. New Jersey: Taylor & Francis. Read More