AR8702- URBAN DESIGN

 Ar. Divya.P

UNIT 1

URBANISM IN HISTORY

Forces shaping urbanism

Politics- The influence of politics on the shape of a city is readily visible in grand actions (such
as Haussmann’s boulevards through Paris) but there are many smaller subtle actions that have
just as significant an effect on the form and shape of cities (setback requirements in New York
City). Political influence on a city can originate from high level government planning or from
grass roots community activism.

o Assignment- How has the city been shaped by its politics? Are there large
infrastructure projects that have shaped the city? When were these built and what
sort of government was in place during these major undertakings? In addition to
looking for major infrastructural change also look for areas where no change has
occurred. What does this mean? Is there a typical building form? Is a result of
construction technology or were there political forces at play as well? Look at
zoning and building controls through the years. What impact have these had on
the city?

Economics: A city’s growth often has a strong correlation to the flow of money. Boom times can
lead to unplanned growth; lean times can result in emigration/ shrinking cities.

o Where are the traditional market areas in the city? Are they there or are there
other clues as to their former existence (i.e. street names)? Are there areas of land
unexpectedly built upon? Are there new areas of land that didn’t exist before
(landfill)? How might the economy be responsible for this?
Environment: The natural environment has the potential to impact every element of city building
but we now also have the technology to disregard environmental factors. The environment
includes topography, climate, fertility, vegetation, natural disasters amongst others.

o Rivers, mountains oceans. How have these impacted the city? Have they
restricted or shaped growth in a specific direction? Has climate had an impact on
the cities shape? What vegetation has been retained? If so why? And why there?

Heritage: Cities generally start around a core or nucleus and grow from this point. Research and
identify this initial nucleus. Why was this spot originally chosen as a suitable site for a city?
What was this city’s initial function and has this function changed over the years? Does the
initial site still function as the centre of the city?

o What evidence remains that marks this as the original site of the city? Does it
have characteristics that distinguish it from newer parts of the city? Are there
defined boundaries where a transition from old to new is made?

Circulation: Transport technologies have had one of the most significant impacts on our cities
but this expands beyond the street. Think about modes of transport beyond the automobile.

o Do street widths have a relationship to transport? Think about rear laneways and
their function? Airports have flight paths. How these might impact the city’s
shape?
o Culture: The demographics of a city will have a profound effect on the cities
form. The age of a population, the religion, the ethnicity will all change how a
city is formed and used.
o How might religion shape a city beyond the erection of churches, temples and
mosques? Is the alignment of the streets significant? What about building heights?
Does the size or shape of gathering spaces indicate anything?

Technology: Every new invention has the potential to shape and change our cities in unexpected
ways. Many new technologies we now take for granted but how were things done before they
were around?
 o How have technologies shaped your city? How was that river crossed before the
bridge was invented? Does commerce focus around that crossing point? What are
the limits of brick construction? How and when were these overcome?

Logistics: What does it take to run a city? How efficient are our cities and would they run
smoother if they were shaped differently?

o Where does the cities food come from? How do all these people get to where they
need to be? Where does the energy come from?

Population: The size of a cities population can influence its shape and vice versa. Is your city
being driven by its population size or does the shape of the city restrict it?

o Where does the population reside? Where doesn’t the population reside? What
clues indicate density? What infrastructure exists to accommodate the population?
Gathering spaces? Road widths? Building heights? Are these always clear
indicators or do we have to dig deeper?

Future: Based on the data gathered to date what shape will your city take in the future? What are
the key elements that will dictate this? Is there a way these concerns might be overcome?

Urbanism of River Valley Civilizations

Morphology of pre-industrial European cities

Pre-industrial city is a city, which is not emerged as a result of industrialization but has other
factors contributing to its formation. Pre-industrial cities are the cities that have emerged as a
market places, but not associated with European industrial revolution. Benaras city can be stated
as an example for this type of city. Industrial cities on the other hand are emerged from the
industrialization. Jamshedpur city is one of this kind. These both type of cities are not divided on
the basis of time aspect and may exist simultaneously at the same time.

The foremost difference between pre-industrial city and industrial city is the industrialism. There
is an absence of industrialism in Pre-industrial cities, which means these cities completely
depend on animate sources of energy such as humans, animals and some tools such as wheels,
hammers etc for producing goods. Industrialism does exist in Industrial cities. They depend
on inanimate sources of energy such as machines and electricity for the manufacture of goods. In
industrial cities, hand labour is replaced by machines and these machines are further replaced by
even more advanced machines to increase efficiency and productivity.

Pre-industrial cities lack modern transportation facilities and are very congested in nature. They
may also face sanitation problems. Whereas industrial cities are planned cities equipped with
modern transportation facilities. It is totally man made urban environment and is considered as
unnatural. There exists a regulating authority in industrial cities to regulate the dealings between
buyers and sellers and also to establish markets. In pre-industrial cities, literate elite controls the
masses, who produce handicrafts. Rigid class structure is one of the characteristics of Pre-
industrial cities. There are a sharp divisions between Elites and masses. There is no middle class.
Outcastes, which are considered as less than the lower castes, serves others. In industrial cities,
anonymity prevails. Middle class people are the majority. Communities are replaced by
networks. In pre-industrial cities, large family networks dominate the nuclear families. Children
are considered as subordinates to parents. There are certain family functions assigned to all
members of family. In industrial cities, joint families are replaced by nuclear families. Some
family functions tends to lost relevance. play schools, day care centers and  oldage homes were
started to take up the tasks. Social mobility in pre-industrial cities is minimal. There is no threat
to the position of upper classes. In industrial cities, social mobility and occupational mobility is
more because of availability of vast opportunities. In pre-industrial cities, handicraftsmen
involves in every phase of the manufacture of the good. They even market their own goods.
Whereas in industrial cities, each phase of production is carried out by specialists. Specialization
of work is the important characteristic of these cities. In pre-industrial cities, money isn’t the sole
criteria of the markets. People sell the products in a leisurely manner. There is no fixed price and
standardization for products. On the other hand, in industrial cities, work is clock-
regulated. People work for fixed number of hours and every activity is carried down in a
professional way.