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Urban landscapes in the face of urban planning and growth of cities
According to the FAO, for the first time in history, more than 50% of the world's population already lives in cities and large metropolises. By 2050, this number is expected to rise to 66 percent. Arrived here, we have to begin to reformulate the traditional techniques practiced in urban planning.
Singularities and definition of urban landscape they intermingle with theurban planning that runs along a delicate line of "spatial" coherence that can negatively or positively affect its area of action in front of the users' residence, and, at this point, is where we want to show different examples of projects where landscape, space and urban growth they act disparately.
As background …
Definition of the urban landscape or urban space
The urban landscape concept also identified as urban spaceAlthough there is no single definition, we can channel it as the configuration of built forms that provide civilized and enriching places for the people who inhabit them.
In a broader way and in light of the Jan Gehl experience (a world-renowned urban planner that we already talked about in the article ecological urbanism and urban sustainability) it is possible to define the urban spaces What… "Public spaces in the city and in residential areas can be attractive and easily accessible, thus encouraging people and activities to move from the private to the public environment. On the contrary, public spaces can be designed in such a way that it is difficult to enter them physically and psychologically ” (See more at urban landscapes definition on Wikipedia HERE)
Architecture and urban planning face the challenge of reversing the damages of disproportionate urban growth that is harmful to people. Gehl's ideas are the best advice for designers and architects to innovate with their projects. Sustainability and citizen participation are the axes that should guide any urban planning and architecture project.
Components of the urban landscape
What makes up the urban landscape? … landscape elements urban could be identified by the following key points:
- Tours
- Strategic nodes or points
- Points of reference
- Boundaries and borders
- Sectors or neighborhoods
To get an idea and provide an online work perspective on volume, urban extensions, landscaping and dimensions For both roads and all the elements that make up urban planning, there are two quality tools that are free:
- One is the interactive map of cities that works in 3D and in free
- The second is regarding volumes and dimensions. How to design urban roads with an online application.
Three ideas for a friendlier urban space growth
If we have already identified what is an urban landscape. When we delve into the features and examples of urban spaces we observe that it has multiple lines of action in the urban projects.
In this sense, David Sim is a partner and creative director of the Danish firm Gehl Architects. Currently, he and his team are working with the Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative (ICES) to improve the quality of urban spaces by proposing three simple and inexpensive ideas to guide cities to be friendlier.
To understand a little more we can also delve into which cities we want for tomorrow in this introduction to the Urban Agenda.
Urban spaces and landscapes in the planned city: Analysis of examples
We can identify that developing countries are urbanizing at an impressively fast pace and, usually, with an urbanism that is lacking in logic that poses enormous challenges and in some cases, blunt errors.
Developing cities need guides, knowledge and instruments to define urban planning that will guide the construction of new districts and extensions. So it is necessary to delve into different examples of urban landscapes already executed to get a global idea of the needs.
From the analysis of cities with an urban history and that have evolved in different ways, we can extract many lessons that only time can show us. This wisdom can be useful in guiding future urban development, especially in countries where urban life is not prevalent.
Faced with this dilemma, from Unahitat they have made a report that investigates 10 examples of cities and their urban space planning. The cities under study are those considered in the following map
Urban planning:
For each of the cities, the report provides different data of interest on the urban landscape in a standard format; Urban framework, type of streets, type of blocks, open spaces and facilities. phases and management, regulatory regulations, key points and photographs of the city. We add part of the Barcelona indicators: (Click on the image to enlarge)
To understand a little more about the blocks, we can see an article that deals in part with the urban planning of Barcelona HERE.
Comparison of urban spaces
With the data obtained from the previous point, for each city, we can see the following summary infographic where the urban growth current of and the 10 cities under study.
Examples of urbanism between cities:
Although there is a variation in the general urban parameters (total area, density, number of inhabitants) of the various cities analyzed. The basic block and street units have comparable dimensions that refer to the basic housing units and the human scale.
When the streets and blocks have generous and wide proportions (minimum street width of 18 meters, as in Manhattan, Barcelona or Volver). The minimum width of the block is 60 meters as for example in Manhattan) cities can evolve and obtain higher densities according to convenience.
Of interest an online tool to see the road expansion of cities from HERE to understand how cities grow around the streets.
If the dimensions of streets and blocks are narrower or smaller, there is the possibility of making it difficult to provide buildings of different types and the densification could result in obtaining less livable cities.If the street, the plot and the block, in terms of size, are too large, the city loses its relationship with the human scale and is less economically feasible. (To understand more from how to design street facades and from
Conclusions of urban growth
There are probably many ways to create a city with sustainable urban landscapes, livable, economically viable … etc (See also guides on urban design). But the case studies present some common lessons that have been successfully implemented and worth noting.
The use of the grid apple as a formal and organizational base
The Grid as a basic organizational structure has proven to be valid and useful in the development of large and small cities around the world through all time periods. The main virtue of the grill is its simplicity; the rational organization of the streets in a geometric network simplifies the complex process of construction of the city and allows the urbanization of large areas with a single identity and a coherent image.
An example of a superblock on a grid optimized to be more livable from the citizen's perspective could be:
Applicable to urban planning projects where the urban activities of public spaces for the inhabitants of a neighborhood. It is an example of urban design project that is being practiced in Barcelona.
In situations where thegrowth of an urban landscape, a grid-based plan offers a functional, coherent, readable city and optimizes infrastructure. In addition, when private lands must be acquired by the City Council for the creation of streets, a grid arrangement offers a more egalitarian and less random design that is more accepted by private landowners.
In a urban planning projects, the use of the grid obtains a very clear distinction between public and private space through the generation of two basic urban elements: the street and the block. The urban street, when defined with continuous building facades and alignments, generates civic and economic activity, optimizes infrastructure costs and transportation time.
An apple on a grid is not synonymous with monotony. The variety can be introduced in the later phases, through the hierarchy or with the definition of the smaller scale elements. (In the article «public spaces» we talked about how to take advantage of them from urban panorama)
Implementation of a general plan
Most aspects, spaces or landscapes of the cityFrom the largest to the smallest scale, they are defined by a single designer / team at a given point in time. On the other hand, when a city is defined with a General Plan and a set of regulatory standards, the result is more flexible and can evolve over time, creating a more appropriate urban horizon.
Three key points:
- The General Plan will prevail over time and must be designed with the future in mind, because the city landscape it changes over time.
- The regulations will be defined by a variety of actors and are a representation of the culture of the city and its time. Creating cities with personality is a difficult virtue to obtain but necessary.
- Implement measures and guidelines to avoid economic speculation and visual chaos should not be a necessity before the urbanized landscape.
The use of information with Big Data of cities for its optimization is playing an important role. In addition, we must begin to know how to evaluate urban sustainability that will undoubtedly improve the cities of the future.
Introducing density and mixed use
The reasonable combination of uses will provide different necessary urban activities. They must be intertwined: Residential + Commerce + Business, contributes to the creation of a living local economy.
Breaking the monotony of the grid apple
- A double layer concept can be used. The grid will define the neighborhoods but the blocks will deform in favor of different civic spaces. This model can be very useful and has been used extensively in developing countries, where government intervention in civic and public spaces is scarce. Administration is delegated more to neighborhoods that know their daily needs.
- Introduction of quality public spaces on the grid it can generate variety and provide multiple civic spaces that activate city life.
- The interruption or delimitation of the network with the relevant landscape of the city, and adapting the grid to the existing city creates variety and a unique image of the city.
Example of coherent urban space
Within the great variety of urban examples that we can find around the world and cities, although we should deal with many aspects, we think that some examples for urban spaces of relevance and their design are the so-called "superblocks" that are closely linked to the importance of highlighting the question of … What is the importance of public space for the city? …
The following video deals with the design of urban blocks and its relevance within the urban projects aimed at benefiting society and the urban habitat.
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Article reference report … Planned City Extensions (HERE). Another point of interest is the MIT SENSEable City Lab that provide a lot of new research information and advances with a example of urbanism deserving of applause.
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Reference information, guides and manuals urban landscapes:
- Studies of urban landscapes and urban planning of the city: considerations from a social point of view (HERE)
- Interventions in the urban landscape through infrastructures (HERE)
- Architecture and urban landscape as specific globalization (HERE)
- Landscape: Values and Identities (HERE)
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