What is Urban Planning?
Jul. 28th, 2014 12:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forestofgloryI’m going to start with talking about a few common concepts relevant to planning in the US. This should help you understand the types of problems planners try to solve and some of the tools they use to solve those problems.
Planners are concerned with shaping land use and urban form. That is planners effect what is what is built were, in a variety of direct and indirect ways. Most planners work with local governments, such as cities and counties. Like most of us planners disagree on what the priorities should be. Thing planners might prioritize include sustainability, social justice, and economic growth.
In the US most planning happens at the city level. There are different types of cities, and the specifics vary from state to state. (For example here in California we have two types of cities: General Law and Charter.) Unlike in the UK, it is relatively easy for a community to incorporate and become a city.
Cities control their urban form in variety of ways, one of the most common of these is zoning. (Though Huston, TX somewhat famously does not.) A zoning code divides the city into a series of zones, and limits what can be built in each zone. Common zones are: commercial, residential, industrial, and agricultural. Most cities have multiple iterations of each to these zones. For example a city might have a residential zones form R1 where only single family residential buildings are allowed, up to R4 which allows multi-story apartment buildings. In most US cities single family residential zones are some of the most restrictive, with very few uses allowed.
Here is the zoning map for Des Moines Iowa, where I did my studio project. (Warning: large PDF). If you search for “[your city] zoning map” you will probably come up with similar map. On the map each zone is represented with a different color. Related zones are mostly in the same color family. Zone maps can be complex to read, some of the zones are quite small, colors are often similar and hard to tell apart, and the keys are rarely very detailed. To get a full list of what can and can’t be build in any zone you will have to look at the zoning code. For many US cities this also online – try searching “[your city] municipal code.” Be warned that what you find will be written in legal language and may be hard to understand.
Planners also write plans. These can be broad like comprehensive plan for a whole city, or narrower such as a bike plan or a historic preservation plan. In some jurisdictions such plans are required and legally binding, but in others they are not. The plans I’ve worked with have stated general goals for the community, but have rarely gone into the technicalities of how those goals are to be accomplished.
Transportation also has huge impact on urban form. Cities can encourage or discourage different types of transit with their policies. For example building sidewalks encourages people to walk, by providing them a safe place to do so. Cities can require sidewalks be built, and they also decide who pays for them. In some places land owners are supposed to put in sidewalks on their property and other places the city pays for sidewalks. Because sidewalks are more or less a public good, and the people owning the property don’t get most benefits, sidewalks tend to be more complete and in better repair in communities with the latter rule. Other ways cities impact transportation can include, providing upkeep for infrastructure, for example repaving roads, creating bike lanes and trails, choosing to subsidize local public transit such as buses or light rail, and parking policy. Parking policy can be quite contentious
Because most planning takes place on the level of the city it can be difficult to plan on a regional scale. Cities have hard time coordinating with each other, especially to limit sprawl. Increases in density tend to be unpopular with homeowners, and limits to where new subdivisions can be build tends to be unpopular with developers and land owners who stand to profit. So not only is there a lack governmental bodies with regional authority but there is also a lack political will. Thus regional planning to prevent urban sprawl remains difficult in the US.
Planning is complex and deals with a many interconnected things that must work as a whole. The tools that planners use are include zoning, comprehensive and other types of plans, transportation, especially through funding projects, and parking policy. Looked at in isolated the types of things that planners decide might seem petty, but ultimately small changes can add up and really affect how pleasant, just, and sustainable our communities are.
Planners are concerned with shaping land use and urban form. That is planners effect what is what is built were, in a variety of direct and indirect ways. Most planners work with local governments, such as cities and counties. Like most of us planners disagree on what the priorities should be. Thing planners might prioritize include sustainability, social justice, and economic growth.
In the US most planning happens at the city level. There are different types of cities, and the specifics vary from state to state. (For example here in California we have two types of cities: General Law and Charter.) Unlike in the UK, it is relatively easy for a community to incorporate and become a city.
Cities control their urban form in variety of ways, one of the most common of these is zoning. (Though Huston, TX somewhat famously does not.) A zoning code divides the city into a series of zones, and limits what can be built in each zone. Common zones are: commercial, residential, industrial, and agricultural. Most cities have multiple iterations of each to these zones. For example a city might have a residential zones form R1 where only single family residential buildings are allowed, up to R4 which allows multi-story apartment buildings. In most US cities single family residential zones are some of the most restrictive, with very few uses allowed.
Here is the zoning map for Des Moines Iowa, where I did my studio project. (Warning: large PDF). If you search for “[your city] zoning map” you will probably come up with similar map. On the map each zone is represented with a different color. Related zones are mostly in the same color family. Zone maps can be complex to read, some of the zones are quite small, colors are often similar and hard to tell apart, and the keys are rarely very detailed. To get a full list of what can and can’t be build in any zone you will have to look at the zoning code. For many US cities this also online – try searching “[your city] municipal code.” Be warned that what you find will be written in legal language and may be hard to understand.
Planners also write plans. These can be broad like comprehensive plan for a whole city, or narrower such as a bike plan or a historic preservation plan. In some jurisdictions such plans are required and legally binding, but in others they are not. The plans I’ve worked with have stated general goals for the community, but have rarely gone into the technicalities of how those goals are to be accomplished.
Transportation also has huge impact on urban form. Cities can encourage or discourage different types of transit with their policies. For example building sidewalks encourages people to walk, by providing them a safe place to do so. Cities can require sidewalks be built, and they also decide who pays for them. In some places land owners are supposed to put in sidewalks on their property and other places the city pays for sidewalks. Because sidewalks are more or less a public good, and the people owning the property don’t get most benefits, sidewalks tend to be more complete and in better repair in communities with the latter rule. Other ways cities impact transportation can include, providing upkeep for infrastructure, for example repaving roads, creating bike lanes and trails, choosing to subsidize local public transit such as buses or light rail, and parking policy. Parking policy can be quite contentious
Because most planning takes place on the level of the city it can be difficult to plan on a regional scale. Cities have hard time coordinating with each other, especially to limit sprawl. Increases in density tend to be unpopular with homeowners, and limits to where new subdivisions can be build tends to be unpopular with developers and land owners who stand to profit. So not only is there a lack governmental bodies with regional authority but there is also a lack political will. Thus regional planning to prevent urban sprawl remains difficult in the US.
Planning is complex and deals with a many interconnected things that must work as a whole. The tools that planners use are include zoning, comprehensive and other types of plans, transportation, especially through funding projects, and parking policy. Looked at in isolated the types of things that planners decide might seem petty, but ultimately small changes can add up and really affect how pleasant, just, and sustainable our communities are.
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Date: 2014-07-31 05:24 am (UTC)