New Trends in Urban Planning. Studies in Housing, Urban Design and Planning

355 Pages·1979·12.91 MB·English

by  Dan Soen (Eds.)

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NEW TRENDS IN
URBAN PLANNING
Studies in Housing, Urban Design and Planning
Papen given at an International Si/mposium at Tel Aviv, December 1977
Editor
DAN SOEN, Ph.D.
Research Professor,
hterdisciplmary Center for Technological Analysis and Forecasting,
Tel Αυΐυ University
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First edition 1979
British Ubrary Cataloguing in Publication Data
New trends In urban planning.
1. City planning — Congresses
I. Soen, Dan
309.2'62 HT166 78-41197
ISBN 0-08-024266-9
In order to make this volume available as economically
and as rapidly as possible the authors typescripts have
been reproduced in their original forms. This method un­
fortunately has its typographical limitations but it is hoped
that they in no way distract the reader.
Printed in Great Britain by Aberdeen University Press
This book is dedicated to the memori; of
Eng. Elhanan PelleSy the founder oflTCC and the
president of its Executive Committee whose vision and
stamina were the moving force behind this conference.
Introduction
In accepting the honour of writing an introduction to this formidable set
of papers I have found it difficult to detach myself from involvement in
their production. As such I was concerned as a member of the initiating
committee, as a participant throughout and in presenting both the opening
paper and the concluding remarks, as a commentator rather than rapporteur.
From this involvement, the question must arise: What is it that we have
in fact collectively given birth to?
The first thought is whether or not the initiating committee have achieved
what they set out to do. They had a reasonably clear, and they thought,
confined objective: to deal with urban planning, to observe trends and
to concentrate on those that were new. And having conveyed this in the
title they are then amplified in the invitation to authors by offering
brief guidelines in saying that the trend could relate to the whole aspect
or experience. But the response to the theme and guidelines revealed
that they were not so confined as we had imagined. As the titles of the
papers show, urban planning has been very widely interpreted; there is
certainly no consensus as to what is a trend; and there is difficulty of
defining what is new about such a trend.
This uncertainty has clearly led to an unevenness in treatment throughout
the conference which will cause some eyebrows to be raised at certain
papers under the heading of the conference title. Simply to take the third
of the questions just raised: Is a trend new when it emerges in the mind
of a particular contributor or can it only be new when it offers fresh
insights on an old well-worn topic, or must the topic itself be new? Is
it new if just emerging in a particular country but is well known elsewhere?
Put this way the conference proceedings were valuable in highlighting the
difficulties of even attempting a topic of the kind enshrined in the title,
certainly in a subject like urban planning with its very wide array of
theory and practice in different countries, in different aspects and in
different kinds of researcher and practitioner. And perhaps this very
diversity makes it impossible to hope for a clear statement on new trends
in relation to a topic practised internationally in such a varied way,
except in a much tighter framework than the one which we set up.
But this certainly did not undermine the value of the contributions
to the audience which was present, and hopefully to the wider audience
1^0 will be reading the book. Just as the topic is varied around the
world so is the level of knowledge, degree of participation, aspect of
Introduction
concern of the individuals who are practising in urban and regional plan­
ning, be it as a researcher, teacher, practitioner, administrator, poli­
tician. In other words, each will take his own message from the book as
to new trends in urban planning without worrying whether the claim to its
being a "new trend" can be justified on professional or academic criteria.
It is from this viewpoint that this particular participant gained much
from the papers.And, he is sure, others will do likewise.
Nathaniel Lichfield
Professor of the Economics of
Environmental Planning
University College London
Introductory Note
Most of the papers presented at this panel are of an abstract theoretical or metho­
dological nature, being concerned with the overall problems facing planners in
their striving at an enhanced quality of life in human settlements. In this brief
review, only some of the ideas brought up by the various authors receive mention,
but it is hoped that such cursory references may whet the reader's appetite for
the full fare.
One paper which is of a more concrete nature is referred to at the end of this re­
view. It deals with specific developments that are taking place in Israel and
elsewhere, but the reported practice may perhaps be found worthy of emulation also
in other countries.
One of the theoretical papers presented at this panel, the one by Prof. Nathaniel
Lichfield, relates to planning aspects of a general nature. Entitled "From Urban
Planning to Settlement Planning", the paper highlights some of the significant
trends in the recent change of focus due to the view that the key word "settlement"
is a better contemporary definition than "urban planning".
In support of this view, the author states that the theory and practice of urban
planning is found to be inadequate for the purpose of remedying deficiencies in
urban areas and steering their growth towards a better future than would emerge
without such planning. As a result, urban planning is under continuous pressure
for change in itself, as evident in various countries. Attempts to plan urban
areas or settlements inevitably raise the problems of the region within which they
function and, consequently, questions relating to national settlement policies of
the country as a whole.
An urban planning system includes a series of features, such as implementation of
plans, participation of the public and education of the manpower needed. It
raises questions of the urban facilities and such functions as, for exanple, the
economy of the urban area in its region, its social framework, the education,
health and welfare of its population, natural environment, etc. The level of plan­
ning is thus raised to that of corporate and community development planning.
As a continuing part of the evolution appears the question of the extent of govern­
ment intervention needed in the society to advance the overall goals.
Given these trends. Prof. Lichfield concludes, can we be confident about practi­
tioners being able to follow them; and what needs to be done to ensure that human
settlement planning can be successful?
In taking up another aspect of planning. Prof. Ernest R. Alexander, in his paper
on the subject of "Policy-Planning-Inplementation: The Missing Link", points out
that policy evolution, plan development and implementation have each been carried
out in isolation. These phases are, in fact, an organic whole, and the author
4 Introductory note
analyses a model of this continuum while referring to sixteen relevant case studies.
The model presented by the author includes foui: stages: stimulus, policy, program
development and implementation. These stages are connected by a network of alter­
native paths, mediated through "links" between one stage and the next, which per­
mit any stage to be by-passed, or the process to come to a premature stop after
any stage. Variations involving feedback loops between stages are also reviewed.
The model is presented as a conceptual framework of the policy-planning-iraplemen-
tation process, focusing on the stimuli for the process and the links between its
stages.
It appears, the author concludes, that the policy or plan/program quality is not
a necessary or sufficient requirement for inplementation, though it may affect ul­
timate success or failure. This negative finding, though tentative, suggests the
importance of analyzing the process as a whole, with special focus on the links.
Another subject of interest to planners is taken up by Dalia Kadury Lichfield in
her paper entitled "Onwards from Urban Design". The author first defines what is
generally understood by urban design in practice and proceeds to discuss the com­
munication gap between architects and planners. The existence of such a gap ex­
plains some of the impediments to the development of urban design that should,
were it not for this gap, be a clear meeting ground between the practitioners of
architecture on the one hand and those of planning on the other hand.
In reviewing next the practice in use of the planning and development briefs, as
currently used, the author offers a critical comment on their aims and short­
comings .
In conclusion of her paper, Mrs. Lichfield amplifies on the element of urban design
in the development brief and shows how the concepts in the development brief put
urban design into a better perspective than the one it currently enjoys. Urban
design, the author considers, can thereby gain a more fully articulated role.
The application of general planning principles, as seen in the particular case of
British experience, is the subject of a paper by Prof. Edgar A. Rose, entitled,
"Monitoring and Review in the Planning Process - Some Practical Problems". The
author finds that the turbulence in the environment, combined with the inertia in
the British political and administrative system, conspire to frustrate any attempt
to make planning objectives clearer and operational, capable of review and revision
through time.
Prof. Rose presents a selective review of approaches and attempts evidenced in the
U.K. to monitor plans, with a view to shedding some light on these aspects and on
the institutional constraints involved. He suggests a number of theoretical ques­
tions that may be understood as tentative ways of reducing problems relating to
review and monitoring functions. These questions are followed by an indication
of some tentative conclusions.
Some of these conclusions are that politicians are now much more concerned with
matters such as the measurement of social response to strategic planning issues.
If the progressive abandonment of the positivistic and comprehensive planning modes
has been largely the result of the discrediting of plans and predictions, as well
as advances in theoretical understanding, it is also worth noting that practical
attempts to simulate the urban system have been abandoned. More modest objectives
are being pursued. Sometimes the pendulum has swung too far and pragmatic or ide­
ological approaches result in intuitive and highly subjective responses. Such
Introductory note 5
attitudes are understandable at a time of minimal demographic and economic growth,
when some of the fundamental rationales which have underpinned national and region­
al planning are being questioned.
The author concludes his paper by saying that the practical problems of monitoring
and review of the planning process in the U.K. remain for the most part unsolved.
The techniques chosen in analysing the planning of a metropolitan area are described
by A. Mazor and A. Krause in their paper on "Application of Non-metric Approaches
in Urban and Metropolitan Planning". The application of nonmetric analysis tech­
niques have constituted, as the authors report, a preliminary stage in the planning
of the inner ring of the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv and its satellite towns.
To achieve better understanding of the urban phenomena in this area, 46 variables
were chosen and analysed with the use of nonmetric techniques. One of the advan­
tages of this method is that the output can be graphically represented by a com­
puter map, and requires relatively short computer running time.
The major findings arrived at were that none of the urban phenomena was found to
be confined to one specific town. The findings have permitted grouping of sub-
zones into homogeneous planning zones. Zones involving similar problems were found
scattered throughout the entire region, dictating again an approach based on simi­
larity of issues rather than on municipal designations.
A particular form of settlement, specific to Israel, but also known elsewhere, is
discussed by Prof. Joseph W. Eaton, David Solomonico and Gavrush Nehuschtan in
their joint paper entitled, "The Rurban Village".
The authors find that more and more of Israel's farm produce and industrial crops
come from small communities that are "rurban" rather than rural. Their work and
social interaction system is a blend of village and city life, to use a concept not
yet part of the standard English dictionary.
In well developed countries, like the United States, rurbanism is spreading. In­
dustrial plants are found widely in rural areas, employing farmers and members of
their families. Prisons, mental hospitals and other services often provide a sup­
plemental economic base to areas that previously had been exclusively agricultural.
Most Israeli farmers find it congenial to adopt a rurban life style. They are of
city origin. TVo Moshavim, studied by the authors are populated by immigrants from
Morocco, who grew up in Casablanca, Marakesh and other major urban centers. Neither
they nor their parents were peasants.
Rurban villages are not suburbs. They are more than bedroom communities for per­
sons employed in nearby towns and cities. They have an autonomous economic, so­
cial and political base. They provide their inhabitants with an opportunity to
live in a closely knit community, without the isolation common to purely rural
areas.
Rurbanism is increasingly dominating the thinking of Israel's rural settlement
planners. The available agricultural land is often too limited to fully utilize
the highly mechanized work capabilities of the population. Water shortages limit
the area that can be irrigated and farmed intensively. Many residents have mar­
ketable non-farm skills or can acquire them, when needed.
The authors have made a field study of two Moshavim planned originally as agricul­
turally based communities. Two decades later they were found to be thoroughly
6 Introductory note
rurbanized. Only a minority, 29% in one and 40% in the other moshav, reported
themselves to be full-time farmers.
Rurban communities provide an alternative to city living. Since the villages
studied acquired a more rurban character, their economy became less dependent on
the shift in the price of commodities. Rurbanization is a challenge to social
welfare oriented planners. It can help counteract the drift to metropolitan areas
from rural areas, with its concomitant side effects in the form of extreme environ­
mental pollution, congestion, crime and anomie which characterizes unplanned human
migrations to the cities in so many parts of the world.
Dr. Yigal Tzamir in his paper entitled, "The Public Space Network as a Planning
Concept", reviews the current literature on urban environment and finds that there
has been a growing interest among planners and designers in the subject of envir­
onmental cognition. This interest has been followed by increased efforts to find
the planning parameter necessary to achieve a higher quality and broader based
level of environmental knowledge.
A difficulty in environmental assimilation on the part of the individual in an ur­
ban complex is - Dr. Tzamir considers - the lack of continuity stemming from
the great mobility of modern man, necessitated by his pattern of economic and
social activities. Human beings, nevertheless, seek structured information in
their environment; they want to clearly understand the entire physical network and,
of course, they tend to use this understanding in their day-to-day activities.
Such understanding is important not only for crystallizing one»s instrumental ori­
entation towards the world, but also plays a central role in building up one's
sentimental orientation.
The public space network which includes roads, footways, open spaces and public
facilities of all kinds in the physical skeleton, constitutes the main functional
content and the symbolic measuring of urban life.
At present, the pattern of urban central places in Israel and in many other coun­
tries is fragmented and incrementally treated, and there is too little care for
spatial human experience, for true urban life. We must - Dr. Tzamir concludes -
direct part of our efforts back to the historical orientation of urban design, and
integrate old motivation with new scientific theory and modem methodologies.