Town Planning & Urban Management

Introduction to Town Planning

Instructor
Syed Arif Hussain
Aims and objectives of town
planning
 Urban Planning is a process of guiding the use and development of
land with the aim of making the city a better place to live and work.
 Particularly important today as more than one-half of the world’s
population now resides in urban places.
 Cities, towns and other urban forms are therefore the sites for most of
mankind’s activities. Yet in most cities and towns, land and access to
basic resources and services are usually scarce and unevenly
distributed.
Aims and objectives of town
planning
 Planning is ‘a general activity…the making of an orderly sequence of
action that will lead to the achievement of a stated goal or goals’ (Hall
2002).
 Involves written statements supplemented as appropriate by statistical
projections, quantified evaluations and diagrams.
 ..may, but need not necessarily, include exact physical blueprints of
objects
 Planning involves an attempt to (re)shape prevailing social and
economic dynamics to achieve particular developmental ends
Aims and objectives of town
planning
 The main objectives of the town planning may be summarized in three
words viz. Health, Convenience, Environment and Beauty
 Health :
 To create and promote healthy conditions and environments and to
make right use of the land for the right purpose.
 Convenience:
 The object of convenience is meant in the form of various needs of the
community such as social, economic, cultural and recreational
amenities etc.
 Beauty:
 To preserve the individuality of the town by developing it on its most
suited natural conditions.
 What do planners do?
 Planners deal with the fact that human
communities are always in the process of changing..
 Planners recognize the complexity of communities.
As with natural environments, human communities
are strengthened by diversity. e.
 Planners share a concern about the future, a belief
that something can be done about bettering our
human-made and natural environment.
Principles of Town Planning
 Green Belt
 The provision of green belt on the periphery of town results in the
limitations of its size and hence the final size of town can be well
anticipated.
 Housing
 Extreme care should be taken to provide housing accommodation to
various categories of people.
 Public Buildings
 There should be a well-balanced grouping and distribution of various
public buildings throughout the town.
 Recreation Centers
 Depending upon the size of town, enough space should be reserved for
the development of recreation centers for the general public
Principles of Town Planning
 Road system
 The efficiency of any town is measured by the layout of its roads. A
nicely designed road system puts a great impression in the minds of
people.
 Transport Facilities
 The town should be provided with suitable transport facilities so that
there is minimum loss of time from place of work to place of residence.
 Zoning
 The town should be divided into suitable zone such as residential,
commercial and industrials zone etc.
Need of Town Planning
 The role of town planning in achieving quality of life has been widely
recognized over the years. The necessity of town planning can very well
be appreciated by mentioning the evils situations, which a typical town
faces in the absence of planning. These are as follows.
 Defective road system resulting in the formation of narrow streets and
lanes
 Development of slums and squatter settlements in the urban areas
 Haphazard and unsafe development of industries.
 Heavy traffic congestion during the peak hour of the day
 Inadequate open spaces, parks and play grounds for the local
community
 Lack of essential utility services such as electricity, water supply and
drainage
 Noisy atmosphere
 Uncontrolled development of towns and urban areas.
 Poor public health due to unhealthy conditions within the urban areas.