COMMUNITY PLANNING

THEORIES & CONCEPTS

WEEK 05
SPATIAL PLANNING THEORIES AND MODEL

Urban structure is the arrangement of land use in urban areas, in other

words, how the land use of a city is set out.
It can also refer to urban spatial structure, which concerns the
arrangement of public and private space in cities and the degree of 
connectivity and accessibility.
Theories of Urban Structure (Sociology, n.d.)
Common assumptions for the different models include:
(1) that the city is growing in population and expanding in economic activities;
(2) a relatively free land market that is responsive to the economic principles
of supply and demand with little in the way of government regulation;
(3) an economic base that is mainly a mix of industrial commercial activities;
(4) private ownership of property;
(5) specialization in land use;
(6) a transportation system that is fairly rapid and efficient, and generally
available in terms of cost to the majority of the population; and
(7) freedom of residential choice, at least for the higher socioeconomic strata.
Concentric Zone Theory (Ernest Burgess) (Sociology, n.d.)

Concentric Zone Model or CCD model was developed by Ernest Burgess between
1925 and 1929 based on the study of Chicago city. In this model, the city grows
outward in concentric rings and has single center (CBD).

Image: The Burgess Urban Land Use Model

(The Geography of Transport System, n.d.)
1 2 3 4 5
Zone 1: Central Business District. Central location is valued most highly
since the old industrial city had but one vital down town center. Central
location minimizes transportation costs to all other locations in the city.
Consequently, land values at the city’s center soar and can only be
afforded by the most resource laden groups – typically, business and
industry.

Zone 2: Zone of Transition. This is located around the CBD on all sides.
It is in the process of shifting from residential to industrial commercial land
uses as the growing CBD spills its various activities into it. It is an area of
intense land speculation and profit taking by property owners. The area’s
increasing blight and deterioration drive out the middle and working class
residents.

Zone 3: Zone of workingmen’s homes/ Zone of Low Cost Homes.

It is a blue collar neighborhood inhabited by stable families. The housing
is neat and tidy and the residents are alert and “on guard” against
incursions of minorities from the zone in transition. Residential invasions
of the poor and ethnic minorities are usually met with resistance.
 Zone 4: Zone of Better Residences. Houses of the middle class and
white collar workers. In turn, the middle class moves further out in
response to the perceived down grading of its neighborhoods by the
newcomers. It relocates to the next adjacent zone.

Zone 5: Commuters’ zone. Characterized by sub-urban and semi-

rural spaces that housed the city’s middle class and upper income
groups.
Later Burgess identified two additional zones in the metropolis – the
agricultural districts and the metropolitan hinterland
DEFINITION OF TERMS:
Hinterland, also called Umland, tributary region, either rural or urban or
both, that is closely linked economically with a nearby town or city.

Agricultural Districts defines an area within a local jurisdiction where 

farming is the preferred economic activity. Districts may be voluntarily
created by landowners who receive benefits, usually in return for not
developing the land for a certain number of years, or they may be
designated in a local land use plan. An agricultural district is not a 
conservation district.
Sector (Homer Hoyt) (Sociology, n.d.)

On the basis of studying 142 American cities, Homer Hoyt (1939) argued
that, contrary to the concentric zone model, the city’s urban geometry is
better described by a sector pattern of land development. The distributions of
rents and the city’s socioeconomic status groups are organized in
homogeneous, pie shaped wedges or sectors that run from the city’s CBD to
the periphery.
The sector model is based on an axial conception of the city. It incorporates
Richard Hurd’s (1924 [1903]) idea that growth and development first take
place along main transportation routes from the city’s center to the
hinterland; these include rail lines, highways, and navigable bodies of water.
 Homer Hoyt – Sector Model

Image: Homer Hoyt Sector Model (Thinglink-Chapman, n.d.)

- Focused on where the social classes in the city lived
- Develops in sectors, not rings
- Wealthy residential areas also expand from the CBD
- Low class residential areas are near industrial districts
- Hoyt modified the concentric zone model to account for major
transportation routes
- According to this model most major cities evolved around the nexus
of several important transport facilities such as railroads, sea ports,
and trolly lines that emanate from city’s center
- Hoyt theorized that cities would tend to grow in wedge-shape
patterns, or sectors, emanating from the CBD and centered on
major transportation routes
In a city with a sector spatial geometry, sectors of industry,
warehousing, and poor quality land tend to be surrounded by sectors of
low income and working class residents. Middle class housing sectors
tend to buffer those of upper status from the sectors of low income,
industry, and noxious activities.

The high status populations command the most desirable sites in the
city. The high rent sectors tend to occupy high ground that is free from
risk of floods and deluxe apartment areas tend to be established
near the business centers in old established residential areas.

Low rent areas and the areas occupied by the poor and marginalized
race and ethnic groups tend to be located on the opposite side of the
city from the high income sector.
Multiple Nuclei (Edward Ullman and Chauncy Harris) (Sociology,
n.d.)

The multiple nuclei model of Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman (1945)
does not view the city as being organized around the CBD. Rather, it
postulates that there are a number of different growth nuclei, each of which
exerts influences on the distribution of people, activities, and land uses. Each
nucleus specializes in markedly different activities, ranging from retailing
through manufacturing, education and health services to residential.

The multiple nuclei model uses four basic principles to explain both the
emergence of separate nuclei and the change in them through time.

(1) Certain activities require specialized facilities located in only one or a few
sections of the metropolis, as seen in the case of manufacturing plants
requiring large blocks of undeveloped land located near rail lines.

(2) Certain like activities profit from adjacent congregation, as seen in the
clustering of retail establishments into malls and shopping centers.
(3) Certain unlike activities are antagonistic or detrimental to each
other, as seen in the case of manufacturing plants and upper class
residential developments.
(4) Certain activities are unable to afford the costs of the most
desirable locations, as seen in the case of low income residential
areas and high land with a much sought after view.

Image: Multiple Nuclei Model (Open Geography

Education, n.d.)
Concentric Zone and Sector Theory (Peter Mann) (Urban Land Use
and its Dynamics, n.d.)

Peter Mann took Hoyt’s and Burgess’ models and combined them in his
model of a typical British City in 1965.

The features of this model are:

The best residential area
(A) is located on the western fringe of the city, upwind and on the opposite
side of town from the industrial sector (D).
The areas of the working class and the main council estates are located close
to the industrial zone. The lower middle class housing (B) borders on each
side of the best residential area
 best
residential
area

Image: Mann’s Model of a Bristish City

(cronodon, n.d.)
Theories of Urban Growth
Central Place Theory (Walter Christaller) (Magnaye, 2013) (Walankikar, n.d.)
The theory was originally published in 1933 by a German geographer Walter
Christaller who studied the settlement patterns in Southern Germany.

Assumptions:
 Christaller assumed that all areas have
- an isotropic (all flat) surface
- an evenly distributed population
- evenly distributed resources
- similar purchasing power of all consumers and consumers will patronize
nearest
- market transportation costs equal in all directions and proportional to
distance
- no excess profits (Perfect competition)
Central Place Theory (Walter Christaller)

Main points:

Central Place is a settlement which provides one or more services for the
population living around it.
There is existence of hierarchy of service activities from “low order” services
found in every center –city, town or village to “high order” services found only in
major centers

 Low Order Goods/Services-simple and basic goods/ services

Examples: Bakeries, Groceries
- Settlements which provide low order services are said to be low order
settlements.

 High Order Goods/ Services-highly specialized goods/ services

Example: Universities, Large shopping malls/ arcades
- Settlements that provide high order services are said to be high order
settlements

Service activity has a threshold population and a market range

Central Place Theory (Walter Christaller)
 Threshold population
minimum population or market needed to bring about the selling of a
particular good/ service

Market Range
distance which consumers are willing to travel to reach the service or
acquire the goods

The larger the size of a central space: The greater the distance it is located
from another central place of the same or larger size

 The greater the number of retail and service functions or activities found in
the central place (increase in high order services-greater degree of
specialization)

 The larger the trade area served by that central space the fewer such
places with smaller central spaces being large in number (many small
villages)
Central Place Theory (Walter Christaller)

Weakness

 Does not consider the temporal aspects in the development of central

spaces
 Ignores variable topography
 Ignores influence of manufacturing industry
 Production of goods and services for other areas not considered; local
specialization
 Did not consider the growth of industrial suburbs
 Did not consider effect upon the size of town of large in migration and
Range and Threshold (Brian Berry and William Garrison) (Magnaye,
2013) (Berry and Garrison, 1958)

Distribution of central places controlled by the concept of “range and

threshold”

Range
Marks out the zone or tributary area around a central place (urban center)
from which persons travel to purchase the good

 Upper Limit
Maximum possible radius of sales.
Beyond the upper limit, the price of the good is too high for it to be sold,
either because of the increase of price with distance or because of the
greater proximity of consumers to an alternative

 Lower Limit
Radius which encloses the minimum numbers of consumers
necessary to provide a sales volume adequate for the good to be supplied
profitably from the central place
Range and Threshold (Brian Berry and William Garrison)

Threshold
Refers to the minimum amount of purchasing power necessary to support the
supply of goods/ services from a central place

 Upper Limit
Degree of competition from other central places supplying the same
product

 Lower Limit
Threshold necessary to permit its function

Weakness:
 Assumes uniform distribution of population
 Consumers to patronize nearest centers from relevant centers
Rank Size Rule/ Rank Size Distribution (George Sipf) (Magnaye, 2013)

Settlements in a given country may be ranked in order of their size. The

population of a given urban area tends to be equal to the population of the
largest city divided by the rank of the population size into which the given
urban area falls, the population of settlements thus being arranged according
to the series 1, 1/2 , 1/3, 1/4 etc.

The 2nd rank city will have 1/2 the population of the 1st. The 3rd rank
city will have 1/3 the population of the 1st and so on.

Weakness:
 In most countries, the largest city is larger than the rule would suggest.
 Does not usually hold in newly settled areas
Usefulness:
 Model for future planning, in the allocation of resources and in
Bid Rent Theory (William Alonzo) (Magnaye, 2013)

Refers to how the price and demand for land changes as the distance from
the CBD increases.

Different land uses will compete with one another for land close to the center
as the more accessible an area, greater concentration of customers thus more
profitable. Land allocation is dictated through competition or bidding process
and rent is a charge of accessibility.
Theories of Spatial Interaction

Gravity Model of Human Interaction (Magnaye, 2013)

This model is an approach to analyze spatial interaction between spatially

separated nodes. Interaction between two centers is directly proportional to
their size and inversely proportional to the distance between them.

Assumptions:
- Large places attract people, ideas and commodities more than smaller
- Places closer together have greater attraction

The relative strength of bond between two places is determined by multiplying

the population of City A by the population of City B and then dividing the
product by the distance between two cities squared.
Theories of Regional Development

Growth Pole and Growth Center (Francois Perroux and

Boudeville) (Sinha, n.d)(The Geography of Transport System, n.d.)

Image: Setting of Growth Pole and Emergence of Secondary Growth Pole (The Geography of
Transport System, n.d)
Theories of Regional Development

The central idea of the growth poles theory is that economic development, or
growth, is not uniform over an entire region, but instead takes place around a
specific pole (or cluster). This pole is often characterized by core (key)
industries around which linked industries develop, mainly through direct and
indirect effects.

At a later stage, the emergence of secondary growth poles is possible.

“Growth does not appear everywhere and all at once, it appears in points
or development poles
with variable intensities, it spreads in points or development poles with
variable intensities, it
spreads along diverse channels and with varying terminal effects to the
whole of the economy”

Growth poles are a “set of expanding industries located in an urban area and
including further development of economic activity throughout its zone of
influence.
Theories of Regional Development
Cumulative Causation (Gunnar Myrdal) (Magnaye, 2013) (Saha, n.d.)

Theory of development with reference to spatial dimension that

emphasized on the multiplier effect- development of new industry in the
inner city encourage the concentration of further industrial activities.

The cumulative causation action has been built upon spread effect and
backwash effects. Economic development results in a circular causation
process leading to rapid development of developed countries while
the weaker countries tend to remain behind and poor.
“poverty is further perpetuated by poverty” (backwash effect >
spread effect) and “affluence is further promoted by affluence”
- economic development results in a circular causation process
whereby the rich are awarded more favors and the efforts of those who
lag behind are thwarted
- in underdeveloped countries a circular & cumulative process, also
known as the “vicious circle of poverty”
- main cause of the economic inequalities has been the strong
backwash effect & the weak spread effects in underdeveloped countries
Theories of Regional Development

Cumulative Causation (Gunnar Myrdal) (Magnaye, 2013) (Saha,

n.d.)

MYRDAL’S BELIEF
Over time, economic forces increase regional inequalities rather
than reduce them
 Core Periphery (John Friedman) (The Geography of Transport
System, n.d)
The conventional core-periphery model of development tries to represent
the emergence of a regional urban system in four major stages and
illustrate the spread effect.
There are two spatial sub-systems involved:
a.) Core-propulsive and can be represented by concepts such as
metropolitan areas, growth poles and growth centers and
b.) Periphery-exists in state of dependence; hinterland or fringe areas

Stage 1 (Pre-industrial). The pre-industrial (agricultural) society, with

localized economies and a small scale settlement structure.
Stage 2 (Transitional). The concentration of the economy in the core city
begins as a result of innovation. Capital accumulation and industrial growth.
Stage 3 (Industrial). Through a process of economic growth and diffusion,
other growth centers emerge. The main reasons for deconcentration are
increasing input costs (mainly labor and land) in the core area.
Stage 4 (Post-industrial). The urban system becomes fully integrated and
spatial inequalities are reduced significantly.
STAGE

STAGE

STAGE

STAGE

Image: Core-Periphery Stages of Development in a Urban System (The Geography of

Transport System, n.d)
• The Core Periphery model shows how economic, political, and cultural
authority is dispersed in core or dominant regions and the surrounding
peripheral and semi-peripheral regions
• To describe the economic development of any region Friedmann
emphasized the importance of core and periphery regions
• It helps to explain why some inner city areas enjoy considerable
prosperity while others display all the signs of urban deprivation and
poverty
• Discussed how the core as well as periphery regions can be developed
such a way where inequalities will be less
• Approaches to development of some defines regions like core regions,
resource frontier and downward transitional area.
Polarization and Trickle Down Effect (Albert Hirschman)
(Coursehero, n.d.)

Hirschman (1958), discusses how polarized development may benefit both

the growing region and the surrounding hinterland.

Hirschman argues that growth in a developed region produces favorable

“trickling-down” effects within a lagging region as the lagging region’s
goods are purchased and labor hired by the developed region.

Growth may also produce unfavorable “polar-ization” effects resulting

from competition and trade barriers erected by the developed region.

Polarization Effect: growth center attract or “drain” regional sources

Trickle-down Effect: diffusion of growth and innovation from the growth
center to the periphery

Definition:
Periphery countries are those that are less developed than the semi-
periphery & core countries. These countries usually receive a
disproportionately small share of global wealth.
List of Periphery Countries
Agricultural Location Theory
(Johann Heinrich von Thunen)
(gcsnc, n.d.)

The Von Thunen model is an

excellent illustration of the balance
between land cost and
transportation costs.
As one gets closer to a city, the price
of land increases. Farmer of isolated
state balance the cost of
transportation, land, and profit and
produce the most cost-effective
product for market.

Image: Illustration of rings of agricultural activity surrounding

the city. (gcsnc, n.d.)
There are four rings of agricultural activity surrounding the city.

First Ring: Dairying and intensive farming occur in the ring closest to the
city. Since vegetables, fruit, milk and other dairy products must get to market
quickly, they would be produced close to the city.

Second Ring: Timber and firewood would be produced for fuel and building
materials in the second zone. Before industrialization (and coal power), wood
was a very important fuel for heating and cooking. Wood is very heavy and
difficult to transport so it is located as close to the city as possible.

Third Ring: The third zone consists of extensive fields crops such as grains
for bread. Since grains last longer than dairy products and are much lighter
than fuel, reducing transport costs, they can be located further from the city.

Fourth Ring: Ranching is located in the final ring surrounding the central city.
Animals can be raised far from the city because they are self transporting.
Animals can walk to the central city for sale or for butchering. Beyond the fourth
ring lies the unoccupied wilderness, which is too great a distance from the
central city for any type of agricultural product.
EMERGING THEORIES
Planned Unit Development (APA, 2007)

- regulations typically merge zoning and subdivision controls, allowing

developers to plan and develop a large area as a single entity, with the design
flexibility to mix land uses, housing types, and densities, and to phase large
developments over a number of years

- also referred as cluster zoning to which ordinary zoning regulations can be

suspended

Eton Centris
Transit Oriented Development (APA, 2007)

- generally defined as development that is located within a 10-minute walk, or

approximately .5 mile, from a light rail, heavy rail, or commuter rail station.
- mix of uses, including housing, retail, office, research, civic, and others,
characterizes TOD projects encourage walkability and create pedestrian-friendly
connections to the surrounding community

Image: Cubao-Araneta Group

(The Araneta Group, n.d.)
Transit Oriented Development (APA, 2007)

TOD projects encourage walkability and create pedestrian-friendly connections to

the surrounding community

Makati interconnected by overhead

walkways, underpass
New Urbanism (Watson, et. al, 2003)

Beginning in 1993, the New Urbanism movement has grown to include urban
designers, architects, planners, environmentalists, economists, landscape
designers, traffic engineers, elected officials, sociologists, developers, and
community activists among others. New Urbanism sees physical design—
regional design, urban design, architecture, landscape design, and
environmental design—as critical to the future of our communities.

New Urbanism is a planning and development approach based on the

principles of how cities and towns had been built for the last several centuries:
walkable blocks and streets, housing and shopping in close proximity, and
accessible public spaces. In other words: New Urbanism focuses on human-
scaled urban design. (CNU, n.d.)
The Charter of the New Urbanism specifically structures its principles at
three telescoping scales: the region, the neighborhood, and the building with
27 principles.

The Charter of the Congress of the New Urbanism (Watson, et. al, 2003)

The Congress for the New Urbanism views disinvestment in central cities, the
spread of placeless sprawl, increasing separation by race and income,
environmental deterioration, loss of agricultural lands and wilderness, and the
erosion of society’s built heritage as one interrelated community-building
challenge.

 We stand for the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within
coherent metropolitan regions, the reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs
into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the
conservation of natural environments, and the preservation of our built
legacy.

 We recognize that physical solutions by themselves will not solve social

and economic problems, but neither can economic vitality, community
stability, and environmental health be sustained without a coherent and
supportive physical framework.
 We advocate the restructuring of public policy and development practices to
support the following principles: neighborhoods should be diverse in use and
population; communities should be designed for the pedestrian and transit as
well as the car; cities and towns should be shaped by physically defined and
universally accessible public spaces and community institutions; urban places
should be framed by architecture and landscape design that celebrate local
history, climate, ecology, and building practice.

 We represent a broad-based citizenry, composed of public and private sector

leaders, community activists, and multidisciplinary professionals. We are
committed to reestablishing the relationship between the art of building and the
making of community, through citizen-based participatory planning and design.

 We dedicate ourselves to reclaiming our homes, blocks, streets, parks,

neighborhoods, districts, towns, cities, regions, and environment.
We assert the following principles to guide public policy, development practice,
urban planning, and design:

THE REGION: METROPOLIS, CITY, AND TOWN (Watson, et. al, 2003)

1. Metropolitan regions are finite places with geographic boundaries derived

from topography, watersheds, coastlines, farmlands, regional parks, and river
basins. The metropolis is made of multiple centers that are cities, towns, and
villages, each with its own identifiable center and edges.
2. The metropolitan region is a fundamental economic unit of the contemporary
world. Governmental cooperation, public policy, physical planning, and economic
strategies must reflect this new reality.
3. The metropolis has a necessary and fragile relationship to its agrarian
hinterland and natural landscapes. The relationship is environmental, economic,
and cultural. Farmland and nature are as important to the metropolis as
the garden is to the house.
4. Development patterns should not blur or eradicate the edges of the
metropolis. Infill development within existing urban areas conserves
environmental resources, economic investment, and social fabric, while
reclaiming marginal and abandoned areas. Metropolitan regions should develop
strategies to encourage such infill development over peripheral expansion.
5. Where appropriate, new development contiguous to urban boundaries
should be organized as neighborhoods and districts, and be integrated with the
existing urban pattern. Noncontiguous development should be organized as
towns and villages with their own urban edges, and planned for a jobs/housing
balance, not as bedroom suburbs.

6. The development and redevelopment of towns and cities should respect

historical patterns, precedents, and boundaries.

7. Cities and towns should bring into proximity a broad spectrum of public and
private uses to support a regional economy that benefits people of all incomes.
Affordable housing should be distributed throughout the region to match job
opportunities and to avoid concentrations of poverty.

8. The physical organization of the region should be supported by a framework

of transportation alternatives. Transit, pedestrian, and bicycle systems should
maximize access and mobility throughout the region while reducing
dependence upon the automobile.

9. Revenues and resources can be shared more cooperatively among the

municipalities and centers within regions to avoid destructive competition for tax
base and to promote rational coordination of transportation, recreation, public
services, housing, and community institutions.
THE NEIGHBORHOOD, THE DISTRICT, AND THE CORRIDOR (Watson,
et. al, 2003)

1. The neighborhood, the district, and the corridor are the essential elements of
development and redevelopment in the metropolis. They form identifiable areas
that encourage citizens to take responsibility for their maintenance and
evolution.

2. Neighborhoods should be compact, pedestrianfriendly, and mixed-use.

Districts generally emphasize a special single use, and should follow the
principles of neighborhood design when possible. Corridors are regional
connectors of neighborhoods and districts; they range from boulevards and rail
lines to rivers and parkways.

3. Many activities of daily living should occur within walking distance, allowing
independence to those who do not drive, especially the elderly and the young.
Interconnected networks of streets should be designed to encourage walking,
reduce the number and length of automobile trips, and conserve energy.

4. Within neighborhoods, a broad range of housing types and price levels can
bring people of diverse ages, races, and incomes into daily interaction,
strengthening the personal and civic bonds essential to an authentic
community.
5. Transit corridors, when properly planned and coordinated, can help organize
metropolitan structure and revitalize urban centers. In contrast, highway corridors
should not displace investment from existing centers.

6. Appropriate building densities and land uses should be within walking distance
of transit stops, permitting public transit to become a viable alternative to the
automobile.

7. Concentrations of civic, institutional, and commercial activity should be

embedded in neighborhoods and districts, not isolated in remote, single-use
complexes. Schools should be sized and located to enable children to walk or
bicycle to them.

8. The economic health and harmonious evolution of neighborhoods, districts, and

corridors can be improved through graphic urban design codes that serve as
predictable guides for change.

9. A range of parks, from tot-lots and village greens to ballfields and community
gardens, should be distributed within neighborhoods. Conservation areas and
open lands should be used to define and connect different neighborhoods and
districts.
THE BLOCK, THE STREET, AND THE BUILDING (Watson, et. al, 2003)

1. A primary task of all urban architecture and landscape design is the physical
definition of streets and public spaces as places of shared use.

2. Individual architectural projects should be seamlessly linked to their

surroundings. This issue transcends style.

3. The revitalization of urban places depends on safety and security. The

design of streets and buildings should reinforce safe environments, but not at
the expense of accessibility and openness.

4. In the contemporary metropolis, development must adequately

accommodate automobiles. It should do so in ways that respect the pedestrian
and the form of public space.

5. Streets and squares should be safe, comfortable, and interesting to the

pedestrian. Properly configured, they encourage walking and enable neighbors
to know each other and protect their communities.
6. Architecture and landscape design should grow from local climate,
topography, history, and building practice.

7. Civic buildings and public gathering places require important sites to

reinforce community identity and the culture of democracy. They deserve
distinctive form, because their role is different from that of other buildings and
places that constitute the fabric of the city.

8. All buildings should provide their inhabitants with a clear sense of location,
weather and time. Natural methods of heating and cooling can be more
resource-efficient than mechanical systems.

9. Preservation and renewal of historic buildings, districts, and landscapes

affirm the continuity and evolution of urban society.
Some Design Application of New Urbanism: Traditional
Neighborhood Development, Transit-oriented Development
and Design for Rural Conservation (Walters and Brown, 2004)

A transit-oriented development (TOD) is a mixed use, walkable neighborhood

located within a quarter mile of a transit stop or station and is designed to
encourage the use of public transit. These developments use a compact,
village-like land use pattern that mixes residential and local-scale retail and
commercial land uses at densities that are typically higher than found in
conventional suburban development.

TODs are similar in some respects to traditional neighborhood developments.

Higher intensity land uses are located near the transit facility, with decreasing
densities as distance from the facility increases. The proper siting of
development pattern in proximity to transit systems is crucial for successful
TOD projects. Commuter rail lines, bus routes, and the County's major arterial
highways are good candidates for considering this design.
Advantages

Transit Oriented Development offers the following benefits:

•Reduces energy use and conserves future energy use by reducing the reliance
on individual automobiles;
•Provides transportation choices for residents;
•Recognizes the direct relationship between land use and transit;
•Provides a greater ridership potential for transit;
•Assists transportation providers in targeting future services and stops;
•Reduces dependence on the automobile, particularly for the non-driving
population;
•Reduces the amount of required new infrastructure, such as sewer, water and
road facilities;
•Reflects early 20th Century town patterns, characteristic of Chester County's
heritage and provides an alternative to conventional "sprawl" development;
•Could be paired with Transferable Development Rights programs to direct
growth out of rural areas and into areas better served by infrastructure;
•Promotes opportunities for public transit services through compact
development; and
•Encourages a sense of community.
Limitations
The following limitations may be associated with Transit Oriented
Development:
•The municipality must be currently served by or have the commitment for
public transit services;
•TODs may require significant revisions to most municipal land use
ordinances;
•Acceptance of a compact, mixed land use pattern may be difficult to
achieve;
•TODs may require public infrastructure such as sewer and water;
•TODs are best implemented with a single, master, coordinated plan; and
• TODs May require inter-municipal cooperation.

Transit Oriented development (TOD) Retrieved from

https://www.chescoplanning.org/MuniCorner/Tools/tod.cfm
Image: Transit-oriented Development
diagram. Developed originally as the
‘Pedestrian Pocket’by Peter Calthorpe
in the late 1980s, the concept of TOD
has become widespread across the
USA. This diagram, along with Figures
3.2 and 3.3 are taken from The
Lexicon of The New Urbanism by
Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company.
(Diagram courtesy of Duany Plater-
Zyberk and Company) (Walters and
Brown, 2004)
Image: A page from the original 1973 version
of the Essex ‘Design Guide for Residential
Areas.’ These drawings illustrate the precept
of using modest buildings to create coherent,
spatially enclosed public space. (Illustration
courtesy of Essex County Council) (Walters
and Brown, 2004)
Matching Demand and Supply of Buildable Land (Serote, 2008)

The estimated available supply of buildable land is matched with the

projected demand following the logical flow as shown in the figure below:
Matching Demand and Supply of Buildable Land (Serote, 2008)
The matching of demand with supply results in either of two scenarios: that
an adequate supply or an excess over requirements exists, or that a deficit
situation obtains.

The surplus scenario poses no immediate problems. When a deficit situation

exists however the following measures to augment supply may be considered
preferably in the same order of priority.

Supply Management Strategies

Infilling – putting to use in-lying vacant or idle lands within the built-up
envelope. Assessing how much
land can be added to the supply by in-filling requires the conduct of a vacant
land survey

Densification – increasing density of buildings per land surface area as

indicated by the floor-area ratio
(FAR), and/or increasing the occupancy rate of existing multi-storey
structures.
Supply Management Strategies

Urban renewal/redevelopment – conversion of slums and blighted areas from

one-storey makeshift dwellings to permanent medium-rise walk-up apartments
easily increases residential density.

*Reclamation – producing new urban land by filling or draining portions of a

lakeshore, seashore, and similar waterfront areas, provided the resulting alternation
of natural ecosystems will not result in serious ecological imbalance, is a supply-
augmentation scheme that needs to be carefully studied before consideration.

*Agricultural land conversion – should be limited to agricultural lands with

relatively low suitability for cultivation to major food or cash crops. These areas are
designated by the BSWM as “conditionally restricted” areas for conversion. Extreme
necessity could justify conversion of moderately suitable agricultural lands
designated as “moderately restricted” areas. Agricultural lands designated as
“highly restricted” however should be considered “no touch” or non-negotiable
areas.

*not advisable, unless in extreme conditions and careful studies had been done
The augmentation process is an iterative one. After the effect of each option is added
to the estimated supply, the new total is matched with the demand. When a deficit
still exists, then the next supply augmentation measure is considered incrementally
until a match is reached.
In the event that a deficit situation still exists after all the augmentation measures are
considered, then a number of demand management strategies can be considered as
well such as:
Demand Management Strategies

Improved rural services – intended to dampen the need or urge of rural

dwellers to move to urban
areas. Vigorous agrarian reform, rural resettlement, rural electrification,
efficient telecommunications are some examples of rural development
interventions that effectively reduce rural to-urban migration. Opening
alternative growth centers – fast-growing barangays could be assisted to
serve as service centers for other barangays within their areas of influence,
thus reducing the pressure on the poblacion
or traditional urban center to expand.
Relocation or resettlement – an effective way of decentralizing urban
populations. The social, economic and psychological costs to the affected
population of this option however, are so high that resettlement is often
regarded as an unattractive alternative.
Smart Growth (Walters and Brown, 2004)

Smart Growth means developing in ways that are environmentally

responsible, economically viable, and well designed. Also, new
developments that are generated and regulated should involve citizens and
stakeholders in an open democratic forum. Some of the most important
points under the headings of General Policies, Planning Strategies, and
Urban Design Concepts are as follow:

General policies
1. Plan collaboratively amongst municipalities within a region.
2. Target public investment to support development in key areas and to
discourage development in others. Extend suburban areas only in locations
where they can be supported by existing public facilities and services, or by
simple and economic extensions of these services.
3. Reinforce the centers of cities, towns and neighborhoods. Locate
regional attractions in city centers wherever possible, not in suburban
locations.
Smart Growth (Walters and Brown, 2004)

4. Make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost effective. Involve

community stakeholders and citizens in the decision-making process.
Require zoning decisions to follow the adopted plan.
5. Provide incentives and remove some legislative barriers to persuade and
enable developers to do the right thing. Make it easy to build smart
developments and harder to build sprawl.
Planning strategies

6. Integrate land use and transportation planning to minimize the number of

trips by car and the distances driven. Provide a range of transportation
choices to mitigate congestion.

7. Create a range of affordable housing opportunities and choices.

8. Preserve open space around and within the community, as working

farmland, areas of natural beauty or areas with fragile environments.

9. Maximize the capacity of existing infrastructure by reusing derelict urban

sites and filling in gaps in the urban fabric. Preserve historic buildings and
neighborhoods and convert older buildings to new uses wherever possible.

10. Foster a distinctive sense of place as a building block of community

development.
Urban design concepts

11. Create compact, walkable neighborhoods with connected streets,

sidewalks and street trees to make walking to work, to school, to the bus stop
or train station, or just walking for pleasure and exercise, safe, convenient
and attractive. Integrate offices and shops, along with community facilities
such as schools, churches, libraries, parks, and playgrounds into
neighborhoods to create places to walk to and reduce vehicle trips. Design
for densities that can support active neighbourhood life.

12. Make public spaces the focus of building orientation and neighborhood
activity. Move large car parks away from streets and screen them with
buildings.

13. Think three-dimensionally! Envision your community in urban design

detail.