36 TOWN PLANNING AND TOWNSHIPS

S. Premalatha

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Introduction

 

Town planning is a science as well as an art too. The science consists in collecting, correlating and analyzing the facts about a town. The art lies in arranging the components of a town in such a way that the final result is in the form of a beautiful, convenient, economical and efficient unit. Thus, science and art cannot sit apart when a new town is being designed or an existing town is being remodeled.

 

The towns of the modern time have to be designed for problems which were not existing in the ancient times. Such conditions may be enumerated as air pollution, water pollution, telephones, motors, electricity etc. The study of ancient towns helps in solving the complicated problem of town planning even today.

 

OBJECTS OF TOWN PLANNING

 

The four essential objects of any town planning scheme are beauty, convenience, environment and health. The object of beauty is achieved by taking the most possible advantages of the natural conditions surrounding the town and also by giving architectural finishes to the various components of the town. It also includes the preservation of trees, natural greenery, architectural control on public as well as semi-public buildings, ancient architectural buildings, temples, churches, mosques, buildings of cultural and historical significance etc.

 

The object of convenience is understood in the form of various economic, social and recreational amenities to be given to the public. These amenities include cheap power and electricity, proper sites for industrial units, transport facilities, adequate water supply, easy disposal of sewage and industrial wastes and facilities to commercial units. The recreational amenities include open spaces, parks, town halls, playgrounds, cinema theaters, community centres, stadiums etc.

 

The object of environment is important that man can go about his normal activities with the least amount of strain. The complex problems of the modern society such as tiresome travel to work, long hours of work, limited time spent within the community have led towards serious mal-adjustments between the human being and type of life he had to live. This leads to destroy the vitality of urban living and the town planning is mainly concerned with the relation between man and his environment.

 

The object of health is accommodated in a town planning scheme by making right use of land for right purpose such as provision of parks and playgrounds for the public to maintain the low pollution level. It is achieved by dividing the land into zones such as residential, commercial, Industrial to avoid the encroachment of one zone upon the smooth and orderly development of the town in future.

 

Hence it is necessary for the town planner to maintain a balance between the four objects mentioned above.

 

PRINCIPLES OF TOWN PLANNING

 

The subject of town planning demands knowledge of various professions especially those of engineering, architecture and surveying. The town should not be designed only to satisfy the needs of the future generation. It should be seen that the town does not develop in any haphazard fashion. By keeping mind some guiding principles of town planning has been formulated which are

  • Green belt
  • Housing
  • Public buildings
  • Recreation centres
  • Road systems
  • Transport facilities
  • Zoning

Green belt:

 

The provision of a green belt on the periphery of town results in the limitation of its size and hence, the final size of the town can well be anticipated.

 

Housing:

 

Extreme care should be taken to provide housing accommodation to various categories of people. It should be observed that there is no development of slums and existing slums are cleared by the provision of some alternative arrangement.

 

Public buildings:

 

There should be a well-balanced grouping and distribution of various public buildings throughout the town.

 

Recreation centres:

 

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

 

Road systems:

 

The efficiency of any town is measured by the layout of its roads. The provision of a faulty road system in the initial stages of town formation proves to be too difficult and costly to repair or to re-arrange in future.

 

Transport facilities:

 

The town should be provided with suitable transport facilities so that there is minimum loss of time from place of work to the place of residence.

 

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.

 

NECESSITY OF TOWN PLANNING

 

A town which is properly planned affords more comforts and conveniences to the public. The necessity of town planning can very well be appreciated by mentioning the evil situations which a town has to face in the absence of town planning are

  • Defective road system resulting in the formation of narrow streets and lanes
  • Development of slums and squatter settlements
  • Haphazard location of industries
  • Heavy traffic congestion during the working hours of the day
  • Inadequate open spaces for parks and playgrounds resulting in unhealthy living conditions
  • Lack of essential amenities like electricity, water supply and drainage
  • Noisy atmosphere disturbing the peace of city dwellers
  • Uncontrolled development of the town
  • Unhealthy living conditions

 

POWERS REQUIRED TO ENFORCE TOWN PLANNING SCHEMES

 

To implement the proposed town planning schemes, the authorities will require various powers with legal force. They are

  • Power for fixing up the value of the property arbitrarily according to some fixed procedure
  • Power to acquire slums and demolish them with a view to improve the town
  • Power to acquire land
  • Power to compel proper use of lands and buildings
  • Power to finance the city planning projects
  • Power to prevent the fragmentation of land beyond certain limit

 

COST OF TOWN PLANNING

 

The implementation of town planning schemes will require the use of resources of the community and as such, optimum cost of town planning can ideally be worked out by relating cost of planning to the benefits derived from planning. It is possible in specific cases such as expansions to existing towns and planning of new towns to relate costs of benefits by measuring land values.

 

In actual practice, the usual position is that the amount to be spent on planning is decided by the governing bodies or agencies and the town planner is asked to work out the planning schemes within given limitations. The factors included in such limitations may be

  • Amount of money which the community is willing to spend on roads, hospitals, parks etc.
  • Law relating to town planning
  • Present pattern of land use
  • Thus the ideal cost of town planning will be the adaptation of town plan which will maximize land values within the given limitations.

TOWNSHIPS

 

The origin of towns and cities can be broadly divided into two categories, namely, topographical and functional.

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The topographical features contributing to the origin of towns and cities are

  • Conditions favourable for industrial units
  • Hilly areas to achieve the object of defence
  • Plain areas useful for business activities
  • River banks
  • Sea or ocean fronts

The functional aspects are

  • Education
  • Health resorts
  • Political
  • Religious

GROWTH OF TOWNSHIPS

 

The towns grow during passage of time in a number of ways and various forces which contribute to the overall development of a town are transport facilities, installation of industries, expansion of factories, provisions for defense, proximity of agricultural lands, availability of electric power, political importance, etc.

 

It is quite evident that the degree of urbanization increases sharply as industrialization increases.

 

Some of the reasons why people prefer to stay near the urban areas are

  1. Man has been found to stay in groups to facilitate defense against attack from hostile outsiders.
  2. He can develop contacts and friendship with like-minded person having common interest. He also has a high degree of privacy
  3. Urban area provides a reliable water supply or a meeting place for exchange of goods etc.
  4. The need of man for employment and opportunities regarding education, business, recreation etc are found here.

The growth of town, to a large extent, will depend on the economic forces.

 

The economic base theory suggests that if there is an increase in the demand of goods and services exported by the town, the growth of the town takes place.

 

The facilities of transport or communication increase the population. The means of transport are:

 

1.      Aerial ports

2.      Railways

3.      Roadways

4.      Waterways

 

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

 

The growth of town can be studied in two ways:

 

1.      Growth according to origin

2.      Growth according to direction

 

GROWTH ACCORDING TO ORIGIN

 

The growth of towns and cities according to origin can be divided into two categories:

 

1.      Natural growth

2.      Planned growth

 

NATURAL GROWTH

 

Most of the towns in the past have grown in a natural way, that is, the development was not influenced by any future planning. The provisions of various essential amenities such as road systems, parks, playgrounds, schools, industrial units, commercial centres etc are built in an irregular way without any consideration for future expansion of the town. The natural growth of a town may be in the form of four types:

 

1.  Concentric spread

 

It is a natural tendency of the people to stay as near as possible to the town or city and as a result of this tendency, the town develops in the form of concentric rings with nucleus as town. Such a growth leads to traffic congestion, narrow streets, improper houses etc. the idea of concentric spread is based on the fact that similar or functionality related activities will be located in the same distance from the centre of the urban area

  1. Ribbon development

 

It has been observed that because of improvement of road surface and growth of motor traffic, it is natural tendency of the people to stay close to the main road.

 

If ribbon development is allowed without the enforcement of certain rules and regulations, it may lead to

 

  • Increase in cost of various basic utility services
  • Future improvement becomes costly and difficult
  • The houses face heavy traffic associated with noise and pollution
  • The interior portion is left undeveloped which results in wastage of valuable land
  • High chances of traffic accident and delays

 

The engineering measures to discourage ribbon development include expressway facility with completely controlled access, planning the roadside amenities

  1. Satellite growth

This development is due to metropolis and the term satellite is termed to indicate a body under the influence of a more powerful body. The features are:

  • It has its own local government and corporate life
  • It depends on the nearby town for a certain extent
  • It is connected to the parent city by local train, bus etc
  • It is free to decide its economic, social and cultural activities

The main disadvantage of satellite growth is the necessity of the long journey to work. However this has to be accessed by considering the efficiency of different modes of transport.

  1. Scattered growth

The growth of town takes place in a very irregular way. It results in traffic congestion, encroachment of industries on residential areas, slums, lack of parks and various other problems which are difficult to be solved in future

 

PLANNED GROWTH

 

Here the town grows in a pre-determined line as conceived by the town planner. The growth is controlled by rules and regulations. Such an orderly growth avoids clashing of manifold activities. There is rational distribution of various blocks such as residential, industrial, commercial etc.

 

The provision of various amenities such as width of streets, drainage lines, water supply lines, playgrounds etc is made to meet with the future requirements.

 

GROWTH ACCORDING TO DIRECTION

 

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

 

HORIZONTAL GROWTH

 

The town expands and develops horizontally in all directions. This is possible in a place where land is in plenty at nominal cost.

 

The advantages of horizontal growth are:

  • There will be a saving in cost as the buildings will usually have 2 to 3 storeys
  • It does not require a high technical personnel
  • It is possible to make more use of natural light
  • The density of population can be restricted
  • There is economy of floor space as the provision of columns, lifts will not be required

The disadvantages of horizontal growth are:

  • It requires more land use hence it will not be economical when land value is high
  • The foundation cost per unit area will be more
  • There will be absence of group living

VERTICAL GROWTH

 

Here the buildings of the town are designed and developed as multi storeyed flats. It is quite evident that such a growth will be possible where land value is costly.

 

The advantages of vertical growth are:

  • The sense of group living will develop on using common amenities
  • The foundation cost per unit area will be in the reasonable limit
  • For floor above certain height, the natural sceneries can be enjoyed in a better way
  • There is maximum use of the modern construction technique
  • There is saving in land

The disadvantages of vertical growth are:

  • The density of population will be high
  • In case of natural calamities, it will be difficult for the inhabitants of the upper floors to escape safely
  • The failure of lift, pump to raise water will cause great inconvenience

 

SITE SELECTION FOR AN IDEAL TOWN

 

The physical characteristics of site play an important role in determining the position of a proposed town and the important features to be considered are:

  1. Availability of natural advantages
  2. Availability of electric power
  3. Available means of communication
  4. Climatic conditions
  5. Contours of the area
  6. Development of the surrounding area
  7. Drainage of area
  8. Fertility of soi
  9. Frequency of the floods
  10.     Growth of the trees
  11. Nature of the soil
  12. Position of stream and lakes
  13. Water resources etc.

In general, the national and regional development plan would decide the need of a town in a particular area and the purpose which the town has to serve.

 

REQUIREMENTS OF NEW TOWNS

 

The two important facts which are to be carefully examined before deciding the requirement of new towns are Function of the town and Welfare of the people

 

1.      Function of the town

 

The new town is generally formed or developed for a specific purpose or it may be designed as a small multi-purpose town. The purposes for which the town may be designed are commerce, industry, culture, education, defense, health etc. once the function of the new town is known, the size of the population to be accommodated in the town can be worked out and accordingly the requirements of the new town can be framed.

 

 

2.      Welfare of the people

A new town should be developed for the welfare of the people. The welfare of the people is measured by three factors, namely, amenity, convenience and health. The requirements of the new town are framed in such a way that the people of the town will be able to maintain their health together with reasonable amenities and conveniences. The various requirements of a new town are:

  • Amenities such as power, sewer lines, water supply etc
  •  Educational institutions
  • Effective network of the roads
  • Encouragement of planned growth
  • Enough provision for future expansion
  • Parks and playgrounds
  • Proper location of the public buildings
  • Zoning of the town into suitable zones

PLANNING OF THE MODERN TOWN

  • The procedure for preparing an outline plan of a modern town depends on skill, training and imagination of the town planner. It is absolutely necessary to correlate the function or functions of town with the physical characteristics of site.
  • The usual features which are to be embodied in the plan of any modern town are:
  1. Space for residence, commerce and industry
  2. Communication system
  3. Parks and playgrounds
  4. Public utility services
  5. Neighborhood structure and
  6. Public buildings

The important points to be remembered in the planning of modern town are:

  1. The provisions for various public utilities should be liberal to meet with the future requirement
  2. The road system should be well designed after careful consideration and it should be able to develop a good bond between different zones of the town
  3. The industrial area should be properly located and the provision of facilities required for the same should be made
  4. The public building should be located in such a way that favorable impression is developed on the visitors
  5. The study of existing railway line will help in finalizing the location of the main railway station for the town
  6. Enough plan for parks, playgrounds and recreation center to be made
  7. The natural features of the site should be preserved and the maximum advantage should be taken of such features for public enjoyment

    After the outline plan of the town is finalized, the detailed planning of various areas of the town is carried out.

     

    It is understood that the urban population is growing much faster than the world population. The urban planners at present are faced with the problem of designing new towns and cities to meet rapidly changing life styles of society. The various novel ideas regarding the future towns are predicted by the leading architects of the world.

     

CONCLUSION

 

In this module we discussed about principles, necessity and cost of town planning. Later we learnt about the growth of the town, site selection for an ideal town, the requirements of new town and how to plan the modern town.

 

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Web links

 

  • www.tn.gov.in/tcp/forms.htm
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_planning
  • shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/21354/7/chapter-4.pdf
  • www.tifr.res.in/~archaeo/FOP/FOP%20pdf%20of%20ppt/Shinde%20lecture.pdf
  • https://www.scribd.com/doc/86624483/Town-Planning-Concepts
  • www.cseindia.org/userfiles/URDPFI.pdf