![[BACK]](/cvsweb/icons/back.gif){kind=icon}
Return to history.html CVS log ![[TXT]](/cvsweb/icons/text.gif){kind=icon}
![[DIR]](/cvsweb/icons/dir.gif){kind=icon}
Up to [Micropolis - Activity] / micropolis / manual|
Return to history.html CVS log | Up to [Micropolis - Activity] / micropolis / manual |
1.1 ! root 1: <head><title>History Of Cities And City Planning</title></head><body> ! 2: ! 3: <h1>History Of Cities And City Planning</h1> ! 4: ! 5: <h1>By Cliff Ellis</h1> ! 6: ! 7: <h2>Introduction</h2> ! 8: ! 9: The building of cities has a long and complex history. Although city ! 10: planning as an organized profession has existed for less than a ! 11: century, all cities display various degrees of forethought and ! 12: conscious design in their layout and functioning. <p> ! 13: ! 14: Early humans led a nomadic existence, relying on hunting and gathering ! 15: for sustenance. Between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago, systematic ! 16: cultivation of plants and the domestication of animals allowed for ! 17: more permanent settlements. During the fourth millennium B.C., the ! 18: requirements for the "urban revolution" were finally met: the ! 19: production of a surplus of storable food, a system of writing, a more ! 20: complex social organization, and technological advances such as the ! 21: plough, potter's wheel, loom, and metallurgy. <p> ! 22: ! 23: Cities exist for many reasons, and the diversity of urban forms can be ! 24: traced to the complex functions that cities perform. Cities serve as ! 25: centers of storage, trade, and manufacture. The agricultural surplus ! 26: from the surrounding countryside is processed and distributed in ! 27: cities. Cities also grew up around marketplaces, where goods from ! 28: distant places could be exchanged for local products. Throughout ! 29: history, cities have been founded at the intersections of ! 30: transportation routes, or at points where goods must shift from one ! 31: mode of transportation to another, as at river and ocean ports. <p> ! 32: ! 33: Religious elements have been crucial throughout urban history. Ancient ! 34: peoples had sacred places, often associated with cemeteries or ! 35: shrines, around which cities grew. Ancient cities usually had large ! 36: temple precincts with monumental religious buildings. Many medieval ! 37: cities were built near monasteries and cathedrals. <p> ! 38: ! 39: Cities often provide protection in a precarious world. During attacks, ! 40: the rural populace could flee behind city walls, where defence forces ! 41: assembled to repel the enemy. The wall served this purpose for ! 42: millennia, until the invention of heavy artillery rendered walls ! 43: useless in warfare. With the advent of modern aerial warfare, cities ! 44: have become prime targets for destruction rather than safe havens. ! 45: <p> ! 46: ! 47: Cities serve as centers of government. In particular, the emergence of ! 48: the great nation-states of Europe between 1400 and 1800 led to the ! 49: creation of new capital cities or the investing of existing cities ! 50: with expanded governmental functions. <p> ! 51: ! 52: Washington, D.C., for example, displays the monumental buildings, ! 53: radial street pattern, and large public spaces typical of capital ! 54: cities. <p> ! 55: ! 56: Cities, with their concentration of talent, mixture of peoples, and ! 57: economic surplus, have provided a fertile ground for the evolution of ! 58: human culture: the arts, scientific research, and technical ! 59: innovation. They serve as centers of communication, where new ideas ! 60: and information are spread to the surrounding territory and to foreign ! 61: lands. <p> ! 62: ! 63: <h2>Constraints on City Form</h2> ! 64: ! 65: Cities are physical artifacts inserted into a preexisting natural ! 66: world, and natural constraints must be respected if a settlement is to ! 67: survive and prosper. Cities must conform to the landscape in which ! 68: they are located, although technologies have gradually been developed ! 69: to reorganize the land to suit human purposes. Moderately sloping land ! 70: provides the best urban site, but spectacular effects have been ! 71: achieved on hilly sites such as San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, and ! 72: Athens. <p> ! 73: ! 74: Climate influences city form. For example, streets have been aligned ! 75: to take advantage of cooling breezes, and arcades designed to shield ! 76: pedestrians from sun and rain. The architecture of individual ! 77: buildings often reflects adaptations to temperature, rainfall, snow, ! 78: wind and other climatic characteristics. <p> ! 79: ! 80: Cities must have a healthy water supply, and locations along rivers ! 81: and streams, or near underground watercourses, have always been ! 82: favored. Many large modern cities have outgrown their local water ! 83: supplies and rely upon distant water sources diverted by elaborate ! 84: systems of pipes and canals. <p> ! 85: ! 86: City location and internal structure have been profoundly influenced ! 87: by natural transportation routes. Cities have often been sited near ! 88: natural harbors, on navigable rivers, or along land routes determined ! 89: by regional topography. <p> ! 90: ! 91: Finally, cities have had to survive periodic natural disasters such as ! 92: earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, and floods. The San Francisco ! 93: earthquake of 1906 demonstrated how natural forces can undo decades of ! 94: human labor in a very short time. <p> ! 95: ! 96: <h2>Elements of Urban Structure</h2> ! 97: ! 98: City planners must weave a complex, ever-changing array of elements ! 99: into a working whole: that is the perennial challenge of city ! 100: planning. The physical elements of the city can be divided into three ! 101: categories: networks, buildings, and open spaces. Many alternative ! 102: arrangements of these components have been tried throughout history, ! 103: but no ideal city form has ever been agreed upon. Lively debates about ! 104: the best way to arrange urban anatomies continue to rage, and show no ! 105: signs of abating. <p> ! 106: ! 107: <h3>Networks</h3> ! 108: ! 109: Every modern city contains an amazing array of pathways to carry flows ! 110: of people, goods, water, energy, and information. Transportation ! 111: networks are the largest and most visible of these. Ancient cities ! 112: relied on streets, most of them quite narrow by modern standards, to ! 113: carry foot traffic and carts. The modern city contains a complex ! 114: hierarchy of transportation channels, ranging from ten-lane freeways ! 115: to sidewalks. In the United States, the bulk of trips are carried by ! 116: the private automobile, with mass transit a distant second. American ! 117: cities display the low-density sprawl characteristic of auto-centered ! 118: urban development. In contrast, many European cities have the high ! 119: densities necessary to support rail transit. <p> ! 120: ! 121: Modern cities rely on complex networks of utilities. When cities were ! 122: small, obtaining pure water and disposing of wastes was not a major ! 123: problem, but cities with large populations and high densities require ! 124: expensive public infrastructure. During the nineteenth century, rapid ! 125: urban growth and industrialization caused overcrowding, pollution, and ! 126: disease in urban areas. After the connection between impure water and ! 127: disease was established, American and European cities began to install ! 128: adequate sewer and water systems. Since the late nineteenth century, ! 129: cities have also been laced with wires and conduits carrying ! 130: electricity, gas, and communications signals. <p> ! 131: ! 132: <h3>Buildings</h3> ! 133: ! 134: Buildings are the most visible elements of the city, the features that ! 135: give each city its unique character. Residential structures occupy ! 136: almost half of all urban land, with the building types ranging from ! 137: scattered single-family homes to dense high-rise apartments. ! 138: Commercial buildings are clustered downtown and at various subcenters, ! 139: with skyscrapers packed into the central business district and ! 140: low-rise structures prevailing elsewhere, although tall buildings are ! 141: becoming more common in the suburbs. Industrial buildings come in many ! 142: forms ranging from large factory complexes in industrial districts to ! 143: small workshops. <p> ! 144: ! 145: City planners engage in a constant search for the proper arrangement ! 146: of these different types of land use, paying particular attention to ! 147: the compatibility of different activities, population densities, ! 148: traffic generation, economic efficiency, social relationships, and the ! 149: height and bulk of buildings. <p> ! 150: ! 151: <h3>Open Spaces</h3> ! 152: ! 153: Open space is sometimes treated as a leftover, but it contributes ! 154: greatly to the quality of urban life. "Hard" spaces such as plazas, ! 155: malls, and courtyards provide settings for public activities of all ! 156: kinds. "Soft" spaces such as parks, gardens, lawns, and nature ! 157: preserves provide essential relief from harsh urban conditions and ! 158: serve as space for recreational activities. These "amenities" ! 159: increasingly influence which cities will be perceived as desirable ! 160: places to live. <p> ! 161: ! 162: <h2>Evolution of Urban Form</h2> ! 163: ! 164: The first true urban settlements appeared around 3,000 B.C. in ancient ! 165: Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus Valley. Ancient cities displayed ! 166: both "organic" and "planned" types of urban form. These societies had ! 167: elaborate religious, political, and military hierarchies. Precincts ! 168: devoted to the activities of the elite were often highly planned and ! 169: regular in form. In contrast, residential areas often grew by a slow ! 170: process of accretion, producing complex, irregular patterns that we ! 171: term "organic." Two typical features of the ancient city are the wall ! 172: and the citadel: the wall for defense in regions periodically swept by ! 173: conquering armies, and the citadel -- a large, elevated precinct ! 174: within the city -- devoted to religious and state functions. <p> ! 175: ! 176: Greek cities did not follow a single pattern. Cities growing slowly ! 177: from old villages often had an irregular, organic form, adapting ! 178: gradually to the accidents of topography and history. Colonial cities, ! 179: however, were planned prior to settlement using the grid system. The ! 180: grid is easy to lay out, easy to comprehend, and divides urban land ! 181: into uniform rectangular lots suitable for development. <p> ! 182: ! 183: The Romans engaged in extensive city-building activities as they ! 184: consolidated their empire. Rome itself displayed the informal ! 185: complexity created by centuries of organic growth, although particular ! 186: temple and public districts were highly planned. In contrast, the ! 187: Roman military and colonial towns were laid out in a variation of the ! 188: grid. Many European cities, like London and Paris, sprang from these ! 189: Roman origins. <p> ! 190: ! 191: We usually associate medieval cities with narrow winding streets ! 192: converging on a market square with a cathedral and city hall. Many ! 193: cities of this period display this pattern, the product of thousands ! 194: of incremental additions to the urban fabric. However, new towns ! 195: seeded throughout undeveloped regions of Europe were based upon the ! 196: familiar grid. In either case, large encircling walls were built for ! 197: defense against marauding armies; new walls enclosing more land were ! 198: built as the city expanded and outgrew its former container. <p> ! 199: ! 200: During the Renaissance, architects began to systematically study the ! 201: shaping of urban space, as though the city itself were a piece of ! 202: architecture that could be given an aesthetically pleasing and ! 203: functional order. Many of the great public spaces of Rome and other ! 204: Italian cities date from this era. Parts of old cities were rebuilt to ! 205: create elegant squares, long street vistas, and symmetrical building ! 206: arrangements. Responding to advances in firearms during the fifteenth ! 207: century, new city walls were designed with large earthworks to deflect ! 208: artillery, and star-shaped points to provide defenders with sweeping ! 209: lines of fire. Spanish colonial cities in the New World were built ! 210: according to rules codified in the Laws of the Indies of 1573, ! 211: specifying an orderly grid of streets with a central plaza, defensive ! 212: wall, and uniform building style. <p> ! 213: ! 214: We associate the baroque city with the emergence of great ! 215: nation-states between 1600 and 1750. Ambitious monarchs constructed ! 216: new palaces, courts, and bureaucratic offices. The grand scale was ! 217: sought in urban public spaces: long avenues, radial street networks, ! 218: monumental squares, geometric parks and gardens. Versailles is a clear ! 219: expression of this city-building model; Washington, D.C. is an example ! 220: from the United States. Baroque principles of urban design were used ! 221: by Baron Haussmann in his celebrated restructuring of Paris between ! 222: 1853 and 1870. Haussmann carved broad new thoroughfares through the ! 223: tangled web of old Parisian streets, linking major subcenters of the ! 224: city with one another in a pattern which has served as a model for ! 225: many other modernization plans. <p> ! 226: ! 227: Toward the latter half of the eighteenth century, particularly in ! 228: America, the city as a setting for commerce assumed primacy. The ! 229: buildings of the bourgeoisie expand along with their owners' ! 230: prosperity: banks, office buildings, warehouses, hotels, and small ! 231: factories. New towns founded during this period were conceived as ! 232: commercial enterprises, and the neutral grid was the most effective ! 233: means to divide land up into parcels for sale. The city became a ! 234: checkerboard on which players speculated on shifting land values. No ! 235: longer would religious, political, and cultural imperatives shape ! 236: urban development; rather, the market would be allowed to determine ! 237: the pattern of urban growth. New York, Philadelphia, and Boston around ! 238: 1920 exemplify the commercial city of this era, with their bustling, ! 239: mixed-use waterfront districts. <p> ! 240: ! 241: <h2>Transition to the Industrial City</h2> ! 242: ! 243: Cities have changed more since the Industrial Revolution than in all ! 244: the previous centuries of their existence. New York had a population ! 245: of about 313,000 in 1840 but had reached 4,767,000 in 1910. Chicago ! 246: exploded from 4.000 to 2,185,000 during the same period. Millions of ! 247: rural dwellers no longer needed on farms flocked to the cities, where ! 248: new factories churned out products for the new markets made accessible ! 249: by railroads and steamships. In the United States, millions of ! 250: immigrants from Europe swelled the urban populations. Increasingly, ! 251: urban economies were being woven more rightly into the national and ! 252: international economies. <p> ! 253: ! 254: Technological innovations poured forth, many with profound impacts on ! 255: urban form. Railroad tracks were driven into the heart of the city. ! 256: Internal rail transportation systems greatly expanded the radius of ! 257: urban settlement: horsecars beginning in the 1830s, cable cars in the ! 258: 1870s, and electric trolleys in the 1880s. In the 1880s, the first ! 259: central power plants began providing electrical power to urban areas. ! 260: The rapid communication provided by the telegraph and the telephone ! 261: allowed formerly concentrated urban activities to disperse across a ! 262: wider field. <p> ! 263: ! 264: The industrial city still focused on the city center, which contained ! 265: both the central business district, defined by large office buildings, ! 266: and substantial numbers of factory and warehouse structures. Both ! 267: trolleys and railroad systems converged on the center of the city, ! 268: which boasted the premier entertainment and shopping establishments. ! 269: The working class lived in crowded districts close to the city center, ! 270: near their place of employment. <p> ! 271: ! 272: Early American factories were located outside of major cities along ! 273: rivers which provided water power for machinery. After steam power ! 274: became widely available in the 1930s, factories could be located ! 275: within the city in proximity to port facilities, rail lines, and the ! 276: urban labor force. Large manufacturing zones emerged within the major ! 277: northeastern and midwestern cities such as Pittsburgh, Detroit, and ! 278: Cleveland. But by the late nineteenth century, factory ! 279: decentralization had already begun, as manufacturers sought larger ! 280: parcels of land away from the congestion of the city. Gary, Indiana, ! 281: for example, was founded in 1906 on the southern shore of Lake ! 282: Michigan by the United States Steel Company. <p> ! 283: ! 284: The increasing crowding, pollution, and disease in the central city ! 285: produced a growing desire to escape to a healthier environment in the ! 286: suburbs. The upper classes had always been able to retreat to homes in ! 287: the countryside. Beginning in the 1830s, commuter railroads enabled ! 288: the upper middle class to commute in to the city center. Horsecar ! 289: lines were built in many cities between the 1830s and 1880s, allowing ! 290: the middle class to move out from the central cities into more ! 291: spacious suburbs. Finally, during the 1890s electric trolleys and ! 292: elevated rapid transit lines proliferated, providing cheap urban ! 293: transportation for the majority of the population. <p> ! 294: ! 295: The central business district of the city underwent a radical ! 296: transformation with the development of the skyscraper between 1870 and ! 297: 1900. These tall buildings were not technically feasible until the ! 298: invention of the elevator and steel-frame construction methods. ! 299: Skyscrapers reflect the dynamics of the real estate market; the tall ! 300: building extracts the maximum economic value from a limited parcel of ! 301: land. These office buildings housed the growing numbers of ! 302: white-collar employees in banking, finance, management, and business ! 303: services, all manifestations of the shift from an economy of small ! 304: firms to one of large corporations. <p> ! 305: ! 306: <h3>The Form of the Modern City ! 307: in the Age of the Automobile</h3> ! 308: ! 309: The city of today may be divided into two parts: <p> ! 310: ! 311: <ul> ! 312: ! 313: <li>An inner zone, coextensive with the boundaries of the old industrial city. ! 314: ! 315: <li>Suburban areas, dating from the 1920s, which have been designed for the automobile from the beginning. ! 316: ! 317: </ul> ! 318: ! 319: The central business districts of American cities have become centers ! 320: of information processing, finance, and administration rather than ! 321: manufacturing. White-collar employees in these economic sectors ! 322: commute in from the suburbs on a network of urban freeways built ! 323: during the 1950s and 1960s; this "hub-and-wheel" freeway pattern can ! 324: be observed on many city maps. New bridges have spanned rivers and ! 325: bays, as in New York and San Francisco, linking together formerly ! 326: separate cities into vast urbanized regions. <p> ! 327: ! 328: Waves of demolition and rebuilding have produced "Manhattanized" ! 329: downtowns across the land. During the 1950s and 1960s, urban renewal ! 330: programs cleared away large areas of the old city, releasing the land ! 331: for new office buildings, convention centers, hotels, and sports ! 332: complexes. Building surges have converted the downtowns of American ! 333: cities into forests of tall office buildings. More recently, office ! 334: functions not requiring a downtown location have been moved to huge ! 335: office parks in the suburbs. <p> ! 336: ! 337: Surrounding the central business area lies a large band of old ! 338: mixed-use and residential buildings which hose the urban poor. High ! 339: crime, low income, deteriorating services, inadequate housing, and ! 340: intractable social problems plague these neglected areas of urban ! 341: America. The manufacturing jobs formerly available to inner city ! 342: residents are no longer there, and resources have not been committed ! 343: to replace them. <p> ! 344: ! 345: These inner city areas have been left behind by a massive migration to ! 346: the suburbs, which began in the late nineteenth century but ! 347: accelerated in the 1920s with the spread of the automobile. Freeway ! 348: building after World War II opened up even larger areas of suburban ! 349: land, which were quickly filled by people fleeing central city ! 350: decline. Today, more people live in suburbs than in cities proper. ! 351: Manufacturers have also moved their production facilities to suburban ! 352: locations which have freeway and rail accessibility. <p> ! 353: ! 354: Indeed, we have reached a new stage of urbanization beyond the ! 355: metropolis. Most major cities are no longer focused exclusively on the ! 356: traditional downtown. New subcenters have arisen round the periphery, ! 357: and these subcenters supply most of the daily needs of their adjacent ! 358: populations. The old metropolis has become a multi-centered urban ! 359: region. In turn, many of these urban regions have expanded to the ! 360: point where they have coalesced into vast belts of urbanization -- ! 361: what the geographer Jean Gottman termed "megalopolis." The prime ! 362: example is the eastern seaboard of the United States from Boston to ! 363: Washington. The planner C.A. Doxiadis has speculated that similar vast ! 364: corridors of urbanization will appear throughout the world during the ! 365: next century. Thus far, American planners have not had much success in ! 366: imposing a rational form on this process. However, New Town and ! 367: greenbelt programs in Britain and the Scandinavian countries have, to ! 368: some extent, prevented formless sprawl from engulfing the countryside. ! 369: <p> ! 370: ! 371: <h3>The Economics of Urban Areas</h3> ! 372: ! 373: Since the 1950s, city planners have increasingly paid attention to the ! 374: economics of urban areas. When many American cities experienced fiscal ! 375: crises during the 1970s, urban financial management assumed even ! 376: greater importance. Today, planners routinely assess the economic ! 377: consequences of all major changes in the form of the city. <p> ! 378: ! 379: Several basic concepts underlie urban and regional economic analysis. ! 380: First, cities cannot grow if their residents simply provide services ! 381: for one another. The city must create products which can be sold to an ! 382: external purchaser, bringing in money which can be reinvested in new ! 383: production facilities and raw materials. This "economic base" of ! 384: production for external markets is crucial. Without it, the economic ! 385: engine of the city grinds to a halt. <p> ! 386: ! 387: Once the economic base is established, an elaborate internal market ! 388: can evolve. This market includes the production of goods and services ! 389: for businesses and residents within the city. Obviously, a large part ! 390: of the city's physical plant is devoted to facilities for internal ! 391: transactions: retail stores of all kinds, restaurants, local ! 392: professional services, and so on. <p> ! 393: ! 394: Modern cities are increasingly engaged in competition for economic ! 395: resources such as industrial plants, corporate headquarters, ! 396: high-technology firms, and government facilities. Cities try to lure ! 397: investment with an array of features: low tax rates, improved ! 398: transportation and utility infrastructure, cheap land, and skilled ! 399: labor force. Amenities such as climate, proximity to recreation, ! 400: parks, elegant architecture, and cultural activities influence the ! 401: location decisions of businesses and individuals. Many older cities ! 402: have difficulty surviving in this new economic game. Abandoned by ! 403: traditional industries, they're now trying to create a new economic ! 404: base involving growth sectors such as high technology. <p> ! 405: ! 406: Today, cities no longer compete in mere regional or national markets: ! 407: the market is an international one. Multinational firms close plants ! 408: in Chicago or Detroit and build replacements in Asia or Latin America. ! 409: Foreign products dominate whole sectors of the American consumer goods ! 410: market. Huge sums of money shift around the globe in instantaneous ! 411: electronic transactions. Cities must struggle for survival in a ! 412: volatile environment in which the rules are always changing. This ! 413: makes city planning even more challenging than before. <p> ! 414: ! 415: <h2>Modern City Planning</h2> ! 416: ! 417: Modern city planning can be divided into two distinct but related ! 418: types of planning. visionary city planning proposes radical changes in ! 419: the form of the city, often in conjunction with sweeping changes in ! 420: the social and economic order. Institutionalized city planning is ! 421: lodged within the existing structures of government, and modifies ! 422: urban growth processes in moderate, pragmatic ways. It is constrained ! 423: by the prevailing alignment of political and economic forces within ! 424: the city. <p> ! 425: ! 426: <h3>Visionary or Utopian City Planning</h3> ! 427: ! 428: People have imagined ideal cities for millennia. Plato's Republic was ! 429: an ideal city, although lacking in the spatial detail of later ! 430: schemes. Renaissance architects designed numerous geometric cities, ! 431: and ever since architects have been the chief source of imaginative ! 432: urban proposals. In the twentieth century, Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd ! 433: Wright, Paolo Soleri, and dozens of other architects have designed ! 434: cities on paper. Although few have been realized in pure form, they ! 435: have influenced the layout of many new towns and urban redevelopment ! 436: projects. <p> ! 437: ! 438: In his "Contemporary City for Three Million People" of 1922 and ! 439: "Radiant City" of 1935, Le Corbusier advocated a high-density urban ! 440: alternative, with skyscraper office buildings and mid-rise apartments ! 441: placed within park-like open spaces. Different land uses were located ! 442: in separate districts, forming a rigid geometric pattern with a ! 443: sophisticated system of superhighways and rail transit. <p> ! 444: ! 445: Frank Lloyd Wright envisioned a decentralized low-density city in ! 446: keeping with his distaste for large cities and belief in frontier ! 447: individualism. The Broadacre City plan of 1935 is a large grid of ! 448: arterials spread across the countryside, with most of the internal ! 449: space devoted to single-family homes on large lots. Areas are also ! 450: carefully set aside for small farms, light industry, orchards, ! 451: recreation areas, and other urban facilities. A network of ! 452: superhighways knits the region together, so spatially dispersed ! 453: facilities are actually very close in terms of travel time. In many ! 454: ways, Wright's Broadacre City resembles American suburban and exurban ! 455: developments of the post-WWII period. <p> ! 456: ! 457: Many other utopian plans could be catalogued, but the point is that ! 458: planners and architects have generated a complex array of urban ! 459: patterns from which to draw ideas and inspiration. Most city planners, ! 460: however, do not work on a blank canvas; they can only make incremental ! 461: changes to an urban scene already shaped by a complicated historical ! 462: process. <p> ! 463: ! 464: <h3>Institutionalized City Planning</h3> ! 465: ! 466: The form of the city is determined primarily by thousands of private ! 467: decisions to construct buildings, within a framework of public ! 468: infrastructure and regulations administered by the city, state, and ! 469: federal governments. City planning actions can have enormous impacts ! 470: on land values. From the point of view of land economics, the city is ! 471: an enormous playing field on which thousands of competitors struggle ! 472: to capture value by constructing or trading land and buildings. The ! 473: goal of city planning is to intervene in this game in order to protect ! 474: widely shared public values such as health, safety, environmental ! 475: quality, social equality, and aesthetics. <p> ! 476: ! 477: The roots of American city planning lie in an array of reform efforts ! 478: of the late nineteenth century: the Parks movement, the City Beautiful ! 479: movement, campaigns for housing regulations, the Progressive movement ! 480: for government reform, and efforts to improve public health through ! 481: the provision of sanitary sewers and clean water supplies. The First ! 482: National Conference on City Planning occurred in 1909, the same year ! 483: as Daniel Burnham's famous Plan of Chicago. That date may be used to ! 484: mark the inauguration of the new profession. The early city planners ! 485: actually came from diverse backgrounds such as architecture, landscape ! 486: architecture, engineering, and law, but they shared a common desire to ! 487: produce a more orderly urban pattern. <p> ! 488: ! 489: The zoning of land became, and still is, the most potent instrument ! 490: available to American city planners for controlling urban development. ! 491: Zoning is basically the dividing of the city into discrete areas ! 492: within which only certain land uses and types of buildings can be ! 493: constructed. The rationale is that certain activities of building ! 494: types don't mix well; factories and homes, for example. Illogical ! 495: mixtures create nuisances for the parties involved and lower land ! 496: values. After several decades of gradual development, land-use zoning ! 497: received legal approval from the Supreme Court in 1926. <p> ! 498: ! 499: Zoning isn't the same as planning: it is a legal tool for the ! 500: implementation of plans. Zoning should be closely integrated with a ! 501: Master Plan or Comprehensive Plan that spells out a logical path for ! 502: the city's future in areas such as land use, transportation, parks and ! 503: recreation, environmental quality, and public works construction. In ! 504: the early days of zoning this was often neglected, but this lack of ! 505: coordination between zoning and planning is less common now. <p> ! 506: ! 507: The other important elements of existing city planning are subdivision ! 508: regulations and environmental regulations. Subdivision regulations ! 509: require that land being subdivided for development be provided with ! 510: adequate street, sewers, water, schools, utilities, and various design ! 511: features. The goal is to prevent shabby, deficient developments that ! 512: produce headaches for both their residents and the city. Since the ! 513: late 1960s, environmental regulations have exerted a stronger ! 514: influence on patterns of urban growth by restricting development in ! 515: floodplains, on unstable slopes, on earthquake faults, or near ! 516: sensitive natural areas. Businesses have been forced to reduce smoke ! 517: emissions and the disposal of wastes has been more closely monitored. ! 518: Overall, the pace of environmental degradation has been slowed, but ! 519: certainly not stopped, and a dismaying backlog of environmental ! 520: hazards remains to be cleaned up. City planners have plenty of work to ! 521: do as we move into the twenty-first century. <p> ! 522: ! 523: <h2>Conclusion: Good City Form</h2> ! 524: ! 525: What is the good city? We are unlikely to arrive at an unequivocal ! 526: answer; the diversity of human needs and tastes frustrates all ! 527: attempts to provide recipes or instruction manuals for the building of ! 528: cities. However, we can identify the crucial dimensions of city ! 529: performance, and specify the many ways in which cities can achieve ! 530: success along these dimensions. <p> ! 531: ! 532: A most useful guide in this enterprise is Kevin Lynch's A Theory of ! 533: Good City Form (Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 1981). Lynch offers five ! 534: basic dimensions of city performance: vitality, sense, fit, access, ! 535: and control. To these he adds two "meta-criteria," efficiency and ! 536: justice. <p> ! 537: ! 538: For Lynch, a vital city successfully fulfils the biological needs of ! 539: its inhabitants, and provides a safe environment for their activities. ! 540: A sensible city is organized so that its residents can perceive and ! 541: understand the city's form and function. A city with good fit provides ! 542: the buildings, spaces, and networks required for its residents to ! 543: pursue their projects successfully. An accessible city allows people ! 544: of all ages and background to gain the activities, resources, ! 545: services, and information that they need. A city with good control is ! 546: arranged so that its citizens have a say in the management of the ! 547: spaces in which they work and reside. <p> ! 548: ! 549: Finally, an efficient city achieves the goals listed above at the ! 550: least cost, and balances the achievement of the goals with one ! 551: another. They cannot all be maximized at the same time. And a just ! 552: city distributes benefits among its citizens according to some fair ! 553: standard. Clearly, these two meta-criteria raise difficult issues ! 554: which will continue to spark debates for the foreseeable future. <p> ! 555: ! 556: These criteria tell aspiring city builders where to aim, while ! 557: acknowledging the diverse ways of achieving good city form. Cities are ! 558: endlessly fascinating because each is unique, the product of decades, ! 559: centuries, or even millennia of historical evolution. As we walk ! 560: through city streets, we walk through time, encountering the ! 561: city-building legacy of past generations. Paris, Venice, Rome, New ! 562: York, Chicago, San Francisco -- each has its glories and its failures. ! 563: In theory, we should be able to learn the lessons of history and build ! 564: cities that our descendants will admire and wish to preserve. That ! 565: remains a constant challenge for all those who undertake the task of ! 566: city planning. <p> ! 567: ! 568: <p> ! 569: ! 570: <hr> ! 571: <p> ! 572: <h2>Micropolis, Unix Version.</h2> ! 573: This game was released for the Unix platform ! 574: in or about 1990 and has been modified for inclusion in the One Laptop ! 575: Per Child program. Copyright © 1989 - 2007 Electronic Arts Inc. If ! 576: you need assistance with this program, you may contact: ! 577: <a href="http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Micropolis">http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Micropolis</a> or email <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>. ! 578: </p><p> ! 579: ! 580: This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify ! 581: it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by ! 582: the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at ! 583: your option) any later version. ! 584: </p><p> ! 585: ! 586: This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but ! 587: WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of ! 588: MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU ! 589: General Public License for more details. You should have received a ! 590: copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program. If ! 591: not, see <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/">http://www.gnu.org/licenses/</a>. ! 592: </p><p> ! 593: ! 594: <h3 align="center">ADDITIONAL TERMS per GNU GPL Section 7</h3> ! 595: ! 596: </p><p> ! 597: No trademark or publicity rights are granted. This license does NOT ! 598: give you any right, title or interest in the trademark SimCity or any ! 599: other Electronic Arts trademark. You may not distribute any ! 600: modification of this program using the trademark SimCity or claim any ! 601: affliation or association with Electronic Arts Inc. or its employees. ! 602: </p><p> ! 603: ! 604: Any propagation or conveyance of this program must include this ! 605: copyright notice and these terms. ! 606: </p><p> ! 607: ! 608: If you convey this program (or any modifications of it) and assume ! 609: contractual liability for the program to recipients of it, you agree ! 610: to indemnify Electronic Arts for any liability that those contractual ! 611: assumptions impose on Electronic Arts. ! 612: </p><p> ! 613: ! 614: You may not misrepresent the origins of this program; modified ! 615: versions of the program must be marked as such and not identified as ! 616: the original program. ! 617: </p><p> ! 618: ! 619: This disclaimer supplements the one included in the General Public ! 620: License. <b>TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, THIS ! 621: PROGRAM IS PROVIDED TO YOU "AS IS," WITH ALL FAULTS, WITHOUT WARRANTY ! 622: OF ANY KIND, AND YOUR USE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE ENTIRE RISK OF ! 623: SATISFACTORY QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE RESIDES WITH YOU. ELECTRONIC ARTS ! 624: DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY WARRANTIES, ! 625: INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, ! 626: FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NONINFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY ! 627: RIGHTS, AND WARRANTIES (IF ANY) ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, ! 628: USAGE, OR TRADE PRACTICE. ELECTRONIC ARTS DOES NOT WARRANT AGAINST ! 629: INTERFERENCE WITH YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THE PROGRAM; THAT THE PROGRAM WILL ! 630: MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; THAT OPERATION OF THE PROGRAM WILL BE ! 631: UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT THE PROGRAM WILL BE COMPATIBLE ! 632: WITH THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE OR THAT ANY ERRORS IN THE PROGRAM WILL BE ! 633: CORRECTED. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN ADVICE PROVIDED BY ELECTRONIC ARTS OR ! 634: ANY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY. SOME ! 635: JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF OR LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED ! 636: WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATIONS ON THE APPLICABLE STATUTORY RIGHTS OF A ! 637: CONSUMER, SO SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS MAY ! 638: NOT APPLY TO YOU.</b> ! 639: </p> ! 640: </body>
This archive runs on limited infrastructure. Preserving old code on modern bandwidth. Automated agents are requested to crawl responsibly.