‘Surveying was a kind of writing on the land’: The economics of land division as town planning

Lai, Lwc; Davies, Stephen

doi:10.1177/1473095220912791

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 77 publications

(89 reference statements)

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“…Despite their abandonment during the motor age, street grids have been reappraised in recent decades. Grids lend themselves to navigation and legibility (Lynch, 1960;Sadalla & Montello, 1989); the organization of symbolic, important, and memorable places (Kostof, 1991;Lynch, 1984); platting and extension (Ellickson, 2013;Grant, 2001;Lai & Davies, 2020); efficient transportation (Institute of Transportation Engineers, 2010); comfort and wind mitigation (Kenworthy, 1985); and adaptability to technological change (Jackson, 1985). In conjunction with supportive streetscaping, density, and land use mix, the grid's interconnectedness supports route choice, access, and the human dynamics of social mixing, activity, and encounter (Alexander, 1965;Forsyth & Southworth, 2008;Groth, 1981;Guo, 2009;Jacobs, 1995;Moudon & Untermann, 1991;Zhu et al, 2020).…”

Section: Street Network Design: Values and Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Off the Grid… and Back Again? The Recent Evolution of American Street Network Planning and Design

Boeing

2020

SSRN Journal

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Problem, research strategy, and findings: In this morphological study I identify and measure recent nationwide trends in American street network design. Historically, orthogonal street grids provided the interconnectivity and density that researchers identify as important factors for reducing vehicular travel and emissions and increasing road safety and physical activity. During the 20th century, griddedness declined in planning practice along with declines in urban form compactness, density, and connectivity as urbanization sprawled around automobile dependence. But less is known about comprehensive empirical trends across U.S. neighborhoods, especially in recent years. Here I use public and open data to examine tract-level street networks across the entire United States. I develop theoretical and measurement frameworks for a quality of street networks defined here as griddedness. I measure how griddedness, orientation order, straightness, 4-way intersections, and intersection density declined from 1940 through the 1990s, while dead-ends and block lengths increased. However, since 2000, these trends have rebounded, shifting back toward historical design patterns. Despite this rebound, when controlling for topography and built environment factors, all decades after 1939 are associated with lower griddedness than pre-1940 decades. Higher griddedness is associated with less car ownership-which itself has a well-established relationship with vehicle kilometers traveled and greenhouse gas emissions-while controlling for density, home and household size, income, jobs proximity, street network grain, and local topography.Takeaway for practice: Interconnected grid-like street networks offer practitioners an important tool for curbing car dependence and emissions. Once established, street patterns determine urban spatial structure for centuries, so proactive planning is essential.

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Section: Street Network Design: Values and Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Off the Grid… and Back Again? The Recent Evolution of American Street Network Planning and Design

Boeing

2020

SSRN Journal

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“…Accounting for locality complements empowering residents to co-create living spaces with urban planners through developing workable and pragmatic practices, which feeds into how new forms of spatial planning have been identified (Haughton et al, 2009). Localised approaches can be delivered through land use plans (e.g., subdivision plans) which favour ownership and influences urban forms (Lai and Davies 2020); they can also be implemented through micro-scale approaches allowing flexibility in the use of space, specifically towards informal practices.…”

Section: Promoting a People-centric And Localised Approach To Planningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Planning for Sustainable Urban Livelihoods in Africa

Andres¹,

Denoon-Stevens²,

Bryson³

et al. 2022

The Routledge Handbook on Livelihoods in the Global South

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This chapter explores the role, success and failures of spatial planning in shaping African cities and its influence on livelihoods. To date, planning in Africa has largely failed to address the needs and livelihoods of the poor and struggled to address wider issues such as spatial and economic inclusion, health inequalities, future pandemics, and climate change. Planning for sustainable livelihoods across Africa must consider the distinction between universal or more generic approaches to planning and the experience of particular places and people, specifically, accounting for the needs and practices of informal entrepreneurs. This chapter first explores how the legacy of colonial planning has impacted the segregation of spaces and hence of livelihoods, particularly those of the poorer communities. It then discusses the barriers faced by planning to address the informal nature of the livelihoods of lower-income communities. Finally, it sketches out the challenges that need to be overcome and how planning for sustainable livelihoods should thus be tackled in Africa in the future.

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“…Responsibility and inclusivity highlight the importance of accounting for locality and the empowerment of residents to co-create living spaces with urban planners through developing workable and pragmatic practices. As it stands, the most powerful tool planners have in SSA is the subdivision plan, as it confers ownership and influences urban forms (Lai and Davies 2020), at least outside informal settlements. Minimalist approaches to settlement-making (Dewar et al, 1995) are also considered important including not over-designing schemes and allowing for more flexibility for spontaneous settlement-making activities (ibid).…”

Section: Responsible Inclusive Planning and Healthy Citiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redefining city governance: towards rapid-response open planning

Granger

Charlton

2021

Town Planning Review

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‘Surveying was a kind of writing on the land’: The economics of land division as town planning

Cited by 10 publications

References 77 publications

Off the Grid… and Back Again? The Recent Evolution of American Street Network Planning and Design

Off the Grid… and Back Again? The Recent Evolution of American Street Network Planning and Design

Planning for Sustainable Urban Livelihoods in Africa

Redefining city governance: towards rapid-response open planning

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