Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

History & background:

The very first urban planning conference was held in New York 1898 (Industrial revolution era).

During this conference a few very common questions were posed by a British architect.

Is planning about physical design? or

Making life easier for people who live in urban areas?

If we look around us we can see different types of people who are concerned/ associated with the

physical outlook and proper functioning of a city. These are architects, engineers, health officials

and social workers. Looking deeply these three pillars of our society, will later on in our

discussion, will lead towards laying down the foundation of sustainability in term of technical,

institutional, economy, social and environmental aspects. (Keeping in view it’s impact on

different projects in urban Peshawar).

Architect is basically concerned with the urban built environment, proper allocation of space and

implementation of ideas. Engineer change these ideas into reality in terms of strength,

workability and economy. Social sector are concerned with the views and impact from

stakeholders while environmentalist deals with the improvement and protection of natural

environment as a result of growing urban activities.

Urban planning (city planning in America) in its start, focused on the enforcement of zoning. To

many planners city planning was aimed at the segregation of rich, middle and poor class society

or more clear the separation of black population from that of white. An example the first city to

adopt racial zoning was Baltimore in 1910.

The question posed at the start of this discussion by the British architect was not properly

answered till the early 20th century.

How do we intervene?

With the pace of uncontrolled population growth, urbanization at an unprecedented rate, and

volatile climatic changes our urban centers are changing overnight.

The choice lies with the urban planners.

It is impossible to stop population growth or haphazard growth of urban centers. The wise

choice is to manage.

Urban planners are left with three choices to intervene.

1. Do we make wise choices to intervene?

2. Move in the opposite direction and choose the unfortunate path?

Page 1

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

3. Stay in the middle and wait?

Urban centers are changing continuously. Our wise decisions today will shape our future.

Defining Urban Planning:

Urban Planning simply defined as “A process (Input) of guiding the use (architects) and

development of land (engineers) keeping in view the environmental aspects and social well being

(environmentalist & sociologist) with the aim to make a city a better place to live (Output).

Is it that simple? The simple answer is “YES”and “NO”at the same time depending on our will

to change and act.

An Urban center acts like a human body. It is not possible to stop growth rather we have to

properly manage the growth in such a way that every segment of urban centre that can be space,

building or infrastructure function in harmony with other. This is the most complicated and

difficult part to be achieved and that really is proper urban planning. So we lead towards HALL

(2002) definition, “Planning is a general process, the making of an orderly sequence of actions

that will leads to the achievement of stated goal/ goals”.

Urban:

An urban area is simple defined as an area that is characterized by higher population density

and vast human features in comparison to the areas surrounding it.

This definition is restricted to city, towns and conurbations.

In 2009, the number of people living in urban areas (3.42 billion) surpassed the number living in

rural areas (3.41 billion) and since then the world has become more urban than rural. This is the

first time that the majority of the world's population lives in a city (Wikipedia).

Planning:

Towns and cities are to some extent developed naturally but they are the result of centuries of

decision-making by individual owners and developers, and of government intervention. America

& Europe is an example

Of course topography and geography do play a part, but they do not absolutely determine

development. The nature of towns and cities, to a considerable extent, is dependent on who is

going to plan it and how it’s going to be planned”.

An Urban center acts like a human body. It is not possible to stop growth rather we have to

properly manage the growth in such a way that every segment of urban centre that can be space,

building or infrastructure functions in harmony with other. This is the most complicated and

Page 2

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

difficult part to be achieved and that really is proper urban planning. So we lead towards HALL

(2002) definition, “Planning is a general process, the making of an orderly sequence of actions

that will leads to the achievement of stated goal/ goals”.

Planning is the process of thinking and organizing the activities required to achieve a desired

goal or goals.

Orderly sequence of actions:

1. Develop strategy

2. Define priority objectives

3. Identify and quantify inputs

4. Identify and quantify outputs

5. Project and then monitor outcome

6. Calculate and then monitor city wide impact and compare to objectives

Recall examples of Jamrud road and Hayatabad (Apply step 1 to 6).

1. Develop strategy

What to do?

How to do?

How to start?

What are the hurdles?

What are the available resources?

2: Define priority objectives:

The possible available options?

The best option / priority?

3: Identify and quantify inputs:

The available resources.

Time to complete the project.

Capacity needed for the project in term

of planners, technicians, labors etc.

Page 3

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

Step 5: The Outcomes

The changes and benefits brought as a

result of the project?

What are the changes and benefits from

complete development of HAYATABAD?

What can be the changes and benefits from an

effective/ efficient water supply scheme?

Step 6: Overall impact

Indicates signs of achieving the

changes we were expecting from our

project.

After successful completion of Hayatabad

project, what is the overall impact on housing

shortage or rents in urban Peshawar?

The importance of the above mentioned steps of a planning process and maintaining the order or

sequence of these steps is clearly understood whenever we came across a project that appears to

be wastage of time or money. Any step missing in a project will ultimately leads toward the

failure of the project in the long run. To be more honest our local administration are seldom

aware of the importance of step1 (objective), step 5 (outcome) and step 6 (impact and

comparison with step 1) in any mega project. After inauguration of a flyover or a bridge or road

project will reveal the success or failure of a project. Malik Saad Shaheed and Arbab Sikandar

flyover are the examples. During peak hours we can see congestion of roads with almost no

traffic on Malik Saad Shaheed flyover while the opposite is the scenario in the later case. I

personally observed a congestion of traffic on and under Arbab Sikandar flyover. It is evident

that the objective/s of the projects is not achieved (because they were never considered).

Page 4

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

Fig: Traffic congestion at Suray Pull intersection (Malik Saad flyover with no traffic at all)

Defining some basic terminologies:

SUBURB: A separate residential community within commuting distance of a city. An

outlying district of a city.

EXURBS: The ring of prosperous communities beyond the suburbs that are commuter

towns for an urban area

A COMMUTER TOWN is an urban community that is primarily residential, from

which most of the workforce commutes out to earn their livelihood. Nowshera or Pabbi

are the examples for Peshawar city.

The term METROPOLITAN AREA refers to a region consisting of a densely populated

urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure

and housing.

An URBAN AREA is characterized by higher population density and vast human

features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or

conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages

and hamlets.

A CONURBATION is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns and other

urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form

one continuous urban and industrially developed area.

Page 5

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

A HAMLET is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village

though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community.

Urban center:

Urban Center is a large and densely populated urban area; may include several

independent -administrative districts.

Characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to the

areas surrounding it.

Fig: Scattered Urban Centre (Peshawar urban –an example)

Why do we need urban planning? Let’s discuss

1. To guide the process of land use.

2. To safeguard the quality of life in cities.

3. To resolve conflicts between activities and uses.

4. To ensure the proper functioning of the city.

5. To anticipate solutions for direct and indirect impacts from urbanization.

6. To safeguard the community/collective interests.

1- Urban planner is responsible for effective planning in a manner to ensure the proper use

of land use. Any non-conforming use of land will lead to problems and conflict in proper

functioning of urban center. Land reserve for green space in future shall not be subjected

Page 6

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

to commercial use (as is the case in urban Peshawar). Strict regulation and enforcement

methodologies shall exist for the elimination of all manufacturing units in residential

zone. (Case: carpet industries in residential zones, inner Peshawar city).

2- Same standards of living in reference to any ideal situation in urban boundary are basic

right of all citizens. Provision of utilities, infrastructure facilities on one hand is important

but proper maintenance and management of functions for all sectors is the sole priority of

a successful urban planner.

3- All sectors of urban planning (for instance transport, communication, water supply) shall

function without conflict with one another. Town acts as a living organism and all sectors

of town are interrelated. Read: (Sector and cross-sectoral approach please).

4- Communities are constantly changing through development and population growth.

Rather than reacting to these changes, most communities choose to control their own fate

through planning. It is impossible to control population growth and urbanization but an

urban planner shall concentrate on the management of urban growth. Instead of urban

sprawl, an urban planner shall actively engage himself/ herself in managing the growth of

town. Tokyo with 32.8 million population but properly managed is an example of proper

management and effective urban planning.

5- Uncontrolled urbanization leads towards direct and indirect effects on urban

environment. Some of the direct implication can be seen on the environment, agriculture,

infrastructure etc. while the indirect implication can appear in the form of health, stress,

noise, high rents, congestion etc. Urban planning aims at finding the optimal solution and

balance between population growth and infrastructure facilities thus ensuring a smooth

functioning of different sectors with urban boundary.

6- Urban planning aims at improving/ enriching people lives through provision of an

equitable, healthy and more convenient urban environment. It helps communities to live a

better present and envision their future. For instance, most of the public transport in urban

Pakistan is controlled by private sector. To safeguard community collective interests an

urban planner must aim at the provision of an efficient, economical and safe public

transport subsidized and controlled by the government.

Without Urban Planning:

Page 7

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

Residential Sewerage

Transport Land use conflict

"What exactly is urban planning?"

Simply it is the art of turning space into place.

What are the most common specialization/ areas of interest in planning profession?

Urban planning is a multidisciplinary profession and planners at a time are mostly involved in

working across sectors. As discussed earlier, a city in its functioning can be compared to a living

body in which one sector acts in coordination with the other. Thus planner is mostly concerned

Page 8

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

with the smooth functioning of one urban sector with the other without conflicts. The most

common areas of interest in a planning profession are listed below,

1. Urban and regional planning

2. Transport planning

3. Environment/ Natural resource planning

4. Planning management/ Finance

5. Land use planning and code reinforcement

6. Water supply, sanitation and solid waste management

7. Energy efficiency and renewable energy

8. Urban design and housing

Skills/ properties of an urban planner

Good planning requires special skills and perspectives for example

Most people prefer to ignore problems until they become unavoidable. Planners are professional worriers who seek out potential problems so they can be mitigated

Most people look at a problem from a single perspective. Planners are responsible for considering multiple perspectives

Most people prefer simple problems and solutions. Planners learn to appreciate complexity and search for deeper meanings and underlying causes . Planners learn to work with uncertainty and ambiguity.

Most people consider compromise a sign of weakness and failure. Planners are passionate about compromise because it resolves conflicts and often leads to better solutions

Most people prefer to consider one issue at a time. Planners apply integrated analysis, so individual, short-term decisions are consistent with multiple, long-term goals.

Role of an urban planner:

A good urban planner shall be able to

1. Consider: the fact that urban centers due to constant human activities are subjected to a process of change.

Page 9

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

2. Recognize: the complex fabric of urban communities.

3. Concern: working in the present he/she shall be concern about the future needs and requirements in urban environment

Aims/ Objectives of Urban Planning:

The aims and objective of an effective urban planning includes

1. Health: An urban planning aim is to create healthy conditions and environment equally for all urban community. The right use of land and zoning in the form of residential, commercial, institutional and industrial by avoiding conflict across each zone will leads towards a healthy environment. This will, on the other hand, help in facilitating future planning and growth of urban center.

2. Convenience: Public utility service

What is the concern of planning or what a community wants to achieve through planning?

This concern means

A sensible Land use pattern through careful planning and zoning that ensures a ready

access to recreational, cultural, institutional and commercial facilities. It also ensure the

even distribution of these facilities without concentration at a particular location in urban.

(The concentration of all these activities on both sides of Jamrud road gives rise to traffic

congestion and stress on infrastructure facilities).

A Street pattern convenient and safe, design in a pattern, that ensures the flow of traffic

without congestion.

A housing pattern with all basic utilities of living at an affordable price equally available

to both rich and poor. The Scandinavian (Sweden, Denmark and Norway) urban

authorities have made it possible that all citizens indiscriminate of their income level

wants their communities, neighborhoods, villages, cities and towns to be more liveable.

Liveable communities provide residents with opportunities to enjoy a high quality of life

by preserving or improving the quality of their environment, enabling them to live in a

variety of housing options, and by making it possible for them to walk, bike or take

public transportation to go to the places they most frequently need to go every day, such

as work, schools, grocery stores, shopping malls, parks, recreational areas and health

facilities.

Page 10

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

A public transport with integrated  networks of public transit by road, rail and water;

dedicated pedestrian lanes, dedicated bicycle lanes, all of which makes it possible for

residents to go to the places they need or want to go, quickly, conveniently, safely,

comfortably and economically, and without having to drive their private cars at all times.

Unfortunately in our urban road network planning in Pakistan there is no room left for

pedestrian or bicycles.

Principles of Urban Planning:

The foundation of urban planning is laid on certain defined principles. Some of which are

Comprehensive – all significant options are considered before the start of a project and possible outcomes and impacts are also taken into considerations. The project shall be technically sound, economically feasible, socially acceptable, institutionally capable and environmentally safe from design to execution.

Efficient – the process should not waste time or money. Any project not in alignment with its stated objectives and not fulfilling the possible outcome is a complete wastage of time and money. Think about urban Peshawar projects -a flyover- a road or a tube well. You will probably name some projects that are complete wastage of time and money.

Inclusive – Involve people who are directly or indirectly a part of the project or affected by the project. If not included they will become a barrier in the successful execution of the project. Waste buster project in urban Peshawar for changing organic waste to compost is an example.

Informative – All stakeholders (people affected by a decision) must be well informed about the process and possible outcome of the project. Chowk Yadgar project of a green garden design by Nayyar Ali dada because local shopkeepers at the time of execution of the project were concerned about their local customers to be travelling underground.

Integrated – An urban planner short-term decision should support strategic, long-term goals. A new housing scheme being initiated today shall have a positive impact on housing shortage and high rents in the long term.

Logical – An urban planning process shall be logical and follow the steps described earlier. For instance, it shall start from the identification of objectives and possible outcomes of the project at the final step shall again be compared with the objectives. If it fulfills the objectives we shall move towards execution of the project, otherwise we have to modify/ alter the objectives.

Moreover, we shall not move haphazardly in a planning process. One step leads towards the next. In my view, for example, the successful implementation of a mass transit project

Page 11

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

the first step will be the improvement of public transport (shifting from private to public) followed by an effective BRT (Bus Rapid Transport). The success of first two steps will lead towards the success of mass transit in urban.

Transparent – The process of planning shall be transparent and everybody involved or affected by the project understands how the process operates. The transparent planning and execution of a project is a key to success. In all public projects an urban planner in coordination with the execution agencies must ensure that transparency, integrity and accountability are given due consideration and implemented in the project.

Sector approach:

As we described earlier, a city or town functions in the form of a living organism. The smooth

and coordinated function on one sector in relation to the other is indispensable. For instance, a

city government usually includes sector authorities (P.D.A, Municipality etc) that manage

individual sectors such as,

Transport

Water supply, sanitation and solid waste

Land use and regulation

Housing

Good sector management is indispensable but not enough. Do you think why?

The reason is each activity or sector is directly or indirectly influencing each other.

The current scenario in urban Peshawar is alarming. Presently there are seven (7) local

authorities in urban Peshawar which are responsible for each sector including P.D.A, Local

government, Town 3, Town 1, Municipal Corporation, Cantonment board and Town 2.

Each sector/ local authority is responsible for each sector, but most of them can hardly manage

the coordination between functionality, authority and resources. There exists a constant conflict

which results in decisions leading towards short term solution having long term negative

consequences in most cases. In Urban Punjab one sector/ authority is responsible for managing

each sector. A short and simple example is a comparative study of the number of tube wells and

operating staff in urban Peshawar and Punjab.

In broader sense, an urban planners concentrating just on the planning of land use in isolation

from the other sectors, and do not involved in infrastructure planning, will somewhere leads

towards a conflict issue between land use planning and infrastructure utilities planning. During

Page 12

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

our day to day life in Pakistan we came across sector conflicts never realized or addressed in

seriously. Sewer maintenance in conflict with road service life, Traffic congestion due to illegal

taxis, parking or commercial centers are some of the examples of cross sector conflicts never

realized. Sometime I ask a very simple question during my lecture “What is or should have been

the most cost effective and optimal solution for addressing the problem of traffic congestion at

Suray pull? Is it a sector or cross sector conflict problem.

The simple answer that I get most of the time is “Widen the road and construct new fly-over”.

This is an engineering solution or sector approach to the problem. The widening of road without

traffic management of road and construction of flyover without considering the output and long

term impact will sometime lead towards a long term problem.

A number of housing societies in the public and private sectors in urban Peshawar and suburbs

have been approved or fully developed. Hardly 10% of developed plots have residential,

commercial or recreational construction while remaining portion is vacant. Why? The absence of

a long term planning without considering the output and long term impact will sometime leads

towards a long term problem.

The major consequences in the long term will include scarcity of land, loss of useful agricultural

land, loss of resources and time leading towards an unsustainable solution. For example, many

urban planners concentrate just on the planning of land use in isolation from the other sectors,

and they do not get much involved in infrastructure planning.

Cross sector approach:

It is important for a professional to manage his individual sector but in cross sector approach of

urban planning, it is important for a professional (in each sector) to have a deeper understanding

of how his sector of interest interact with other sectors or vice versa.

To make it simple let’s take the above mentioned problem of traffic congestion at Suray pull

intersection near provincial assembly. Traffic congestion or in my opinion traffic conflict at the

point between traffic from and towards high court to Bacha khan Chowk is in conflict with

traffic to and from Khyber road (provincial assembly side). The sector approach (engineering

approach) to address the problem is simple. Widen the road or construct a fly over- from our past

experience has (in most cases) made the solution to the problem more complicated/ complex.

Page 13

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

Malik Saad Shaheed flyover as diverted towards LRH hospital is in no way addressing the traffic

conflict point under Suray pull.

How an urban planner will address the problem. His/ her basic approach will be the institutional,

technical, social, economical and environmental success of the project. In this case again, the

cross-sector approach will be more efficient in the long run. An urban planner will look at the

traffic congestion from multiple perspectives and in addition to identify the indirect impacts of

unplanned residential, commercial and institutional sprawl. For example some of the

Educational institutions on Warsak road

Private medical facilities at Dabgari center

Agglomeration of commercial and institutional activities on Khyber road

The illegal taxis

The unplanned private public transport

Location of four major hospitals on Khyber road and Hayatabad

…and much more to identify as the hidden and underlying causes of congestion

Al attempts to address the traffic congestion problem at Suray pull without identifying the above

mentioned problems will in itself leads to the creation of another problem.

Let us assume another example in urban Peshawar. Now a days we come across a shortage of

housing, and therefore there is an overcrowding of some urban parts (inner city for example),

and this overcrowding in turn creates traffic congestion. This traffic congestion can be addressed

in two ways.

The sector approach would be to widen the streets. The cross-sector approach would be to

identify the real problem for traffic congestion, which is in fact due to an overcrowding of some

urban parts, and therefore the solution to a traffic problem might be to build more housing

instead of widening roads or constructing new flyovers. This is only an example, not all traffic

problems are due to overcrowding.

Let us imagine a city located along a river. The local authority managing the roads plan to avoid

building bridges because bridges are very expensive, and for the same money they can build

many more roads. Looking from sector point of view, this is correct.

However, from the urban planning point of view, the land which is located across the river has a

potentially high value, but this value is close to zero if there are no bridges to get across the river.

As a cross-sector approach an urban planner will try to identify the value of the land across the

Page 14

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

river and find a way to finance the bridges because the cost of the bridges will be very small

compared to the value of the land.

Developing the suburban areas and providing better and efficient infrastructure facilities to

address the problem of high rent and high rent in urban center will be another good example of a

cross sector approach.

CASE STUDIES: Think from an urban planner perspective:

Scenario 1: Mufti Mehmood fly-over close to provincial assembly is designed to address the

traffic congestion/ conflict at Suray pull.

According to your observation as a civil engineer and an urban planner

Page 15

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

The completion of this project will leads towards a permanent solution for traffic

congestion/ conflict at this particular point. Do you agree?

The cost and time required for this project justifies. If your answer is no give reasons?

There should have been a more economical and effective solution. Do you agree?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scenario 2: Solid waste management has never been given due attention despite the

presence of seven authorities in urban Peshawar.

According to your observation as a civil engineer and an urban planner

We need to treat waste as a resource and not as an evil that need to be eliminated. Do

you agree?

The current solid waste management system is not sustainable. Do you agree?

There is a need for a single independent authority to design and implement an effective

solid waste management system in urban Peshawar. Do you agree?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scenario 3: The ground water table in urban Peshawar is dropping at an alarming rate.

Are we maintaining a balance between the current recharge and discharge?

Do we need to introduce water meter in urban Peshawar?

Service stations in urban Peshawar shall be enforced to use recycled water. Do you

agree?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scenario 4: Current traffic congestion in urban Peshawar is a result of underlying causes

that have never been considered.

According to your observation as a civil engineer and an urban planner

Widening of roads and construction of fly-over is not a permanent solution. We need to

manage our roads and traffic. Do you agree?

Black taxis, permit system for public transport and private public transport are some of the

causes of traffic congestion. Do you agree?

Scenario 5: Urban assets need to be properly maintained, rehabilitated and replaced as per

requirements.

According to your observation as a civil engineer and an urban planner

Do we need to develop an effective urban assets management system in urban Peshawar?

Page 16

Introduction to Urban Planning Chapter 1

Pipe network system, drainage system, power transmission system, bridges and roads

need to be categorized on the basis of their condition and performance

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scenario 6: Uncontrolled urbanization leads towards stress on existing infrastructure

facilities in urban jursidiction.

According to your observation as a civil engineer and an urban planner

Is it time to develop new planned cities outside the urban boundary of urban Peshawar?

The already urban decayed centers in urban Peshawar need urban renewal but how?

For urban Peshawar do you suggest a satellite town or a garden city keeping in view the

local conditions?

What the main principles for designing a new city outside the urban boundary of urban

Peshawar?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scenario 7: Sustainability has never been addressed properly during design, execution and

management of Civil engineering projects.

According to your observation as a civil engineer and an urban planner,

What is the concept of sustainability for an engineer?

What are the long term benefits of sustainability?

In which way the five pillars of sustainability (Institution, technical, social, economical

and environment) effect the success or failure of a civil engineering project?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scenario 8: Renewable energy is an essential part of urban planning.

According to your observation as a civil engineer and an urban planner,

What exactly is meant by renewable energy?

What is the scope of renewable energy in effective urban planning?

What has been done so far to address the problem?

Page 17