planning & urban design principles for non-planners

Planning & Urban Design

Principles for Non-Planners

Based on “The Charter of the New Urbanism”

Ben Zellers, AICP, CNU-A

The New Urbanism

• Look towards successful past design to

inform new development patterns.

Cars

Live

Here

People

Live

Here

The New Urbanism

• Look towards successful past design to

inform new development patterns.

The New Urbanism

• Look towards successful past design to

inform new development patterns.

The Transect

From http://www.transect.org

The Transect

From http://www.transect.org

The Charter of The New Urbanism

• http://www.cnu.org/charter

• 27 planning, design, and development

principles broken down in to 3 categories:

– The region: Metropolis, city, and town

– The neighborhood, the district, and the

corridor

– The block, the street, and the building

The Region

• Development patterns should not blur or

eradicate the edges of the metropolis.

The Region

• Direct investment to smart growth priority

areas.

The Region

• Most codes outlaw construction of compact,

diverse, walkable cities and villages.

• Make good design legal.

– Too many downtowns are illegal.

– Requiring over provision of parking.

– Zoning doesn’t match pre-existing lot/site

conditions.

– Minimum lot size too big.

– Jumping through hoops for mixed-use

development.

The Region

• Reject road planning and projections that

ignore induced traffic.

• Induced traffic = new road capacity

absorbed by drivers who previously

avoided congested roads.

• “Trying to cure traffic congestion by adding

more capacity is like trying to cure obesity

by loosening a belt.”

The Region

• Beltline in Madison/Monona

“Old” Beltline: 4 lanes; 45 mph speed limit; many curb cuts; stoplights

“New” Beltline – opened in 1988: 6 lanes; 55 mph speed limit;

freeway; free-flow interchange with I-39/90

35,000

45,000

55,000

65,000

75,000

85,000

95,000

105,000

115,000

125,000

1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010

The Region

1988: 6-lane

bypass opens

Data from WisDOT; CARPC

54,685

69,850

111,000

78,890

1984:

EIS

44,700 54,500

27%

41%

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• Plan in increments of complete

neighborhoods.

• Neighborhoods should be compact,

pedestrian-friendly, and mixed-use.

• Many activities of daily living should occur

within walking distance to allow

independence for those who do not drive,

especially the elderly and young.

• Retain & protect major natural features; have

a variety of public places.

The five-

minute

walk

Park

The five-

minute

walk

School

Wetlands

& Park

Park

Preserve

School

Senior

Housing

Grocery,

Bank,

Etc.

View

Preserved

for Public

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• An interconnected network of streets with

small block sizes should be designed to

encourage walking, reduce the number

and length of automobile trips, and

conserve energy.

450’

(~2/25 mi)

4,140’

(~3/4 mi)

7 miles!

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

From http://www.charlotteobserver.com

Annualized per-

capita life cycle costs

From http://www.charlotteobserver.com

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• Have a broad range of housing types and

price levels in a neighborhood.

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• 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.

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• The downtown

Post

Office

City

Hall

Library

Senior

Center

Fire

Dept.

EMS

Church

Church

Brewery

Housing

Housing

Hotel Office RetailBank

Farmer’s

Market

(summer)

Village

Village

High

School

1.4 miles

1.7 miles

No

sidewalks

or trails . . .

Pupil Transportation

Budget: $633,000

1969: 41 percent

of children either

walked or biked to

school

2001: 13 percent

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• 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.

• Consider form-based zoning, especially for

mixed-use areas like downtowns.

• Better to show people

what you do want than

tell them what you don’t

want.

Neighborhood, District, Corridor

• Sidewalks are not the only ingredient for

making a place walkable. Pedestrian

routes must be: – Useful – aspects of daily life located close at hand.

– Interesting – sidewalk lined with unique buildings

– Comfortable – buildings create “outdoor living

rooms”

– Safe – peds have a fighting chance against autos.

From: The Walkable City, by Jeff Speck

Block, Street, Building

• Design complete streets: streets are for

pedestrians, bicyclists, and autos.

• Streets should be safe for all modes of

transport.

– Autos travel at the speed the street is designed

for, not at the posted speed limit.

– Pedestrian fatalities at speeds of 36-45 mph are

22 TIMES HIGHER than when cars are at

≤20mph.

3280 Feet 315 Feet

Block, Street, and Building

• Georgia pedestrian charged with vehicular

homicide in the death of her 4-year old son

because they were j-walking when hit by a

drunk driver who left the scene.

• Crossed street at bus stop instead of

walking 2/3 mi to cross at a crosswalk.

• Could have done more prison time than

the driver.

Block, Street, and Building

• Development must adequately

accommodate automobiles; it should do so

in ways that respect the pedestrian and

the form of public space.

• Streets and squares should be safe,

comfortable, and interesting to the

pedestrian.

• NO SIDEWALKS, no parks, no schools, no

mix of uses . . .

Kudos on the

sidewalks and

crosswalks, but . . .

School

NO!

On street parking: essential for businesses.

Well-managed street parking can generate tens

of thousands of retail sales per stall; ideal to

manage parking to maintain 15% stall vacancy.

Block, Street, Building

• Preservation and renewal of historic

buildings, districts, and landscapes affirm

the continuity and evolution of urban

society.

• Or: do everything you can to preserve your

historic buildings – that’s what makes your

community unique.

Downtown block area: 1.7 acres

Assessed value: $3.87 million

Value per acre: $2.3 million

Big box parcel area: 5.8 acres

Assessed value: $2.1 million

Value per acre: $362,000

More than 6 times as

valuable per acre!

Newer!

Even when compared

to a brand new big box

store with freeway

access in a bigger city,

the downtown block at

right is more than 2x

as valuable per acre.

Block, Street, Building

• A primary task of all urban architecture

and landscape design is the physical

definition of streets and public spaces as

places of shared use.

• 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.

Block, Street, Building

• Architecture and landscape design should

grow from local climate, topography,

history, and building practice.

• 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-efficent than mechanical

systems.

(before)

Raingarden

terrace

Pervious

pavers

LED Streetlights

Terrace

trees

Benches &

trash

receptacles

Bike

racks

Building sun

shades; many

windows facing

street

(after)

• Surface

parking

• Very little

greenspace

• Green roof

• Solar panels

• Increased

greenspace

Block, Street, Building

• Don’t be afraid to require good design.

Block, Street, Building

• Fire safety vs. life safety.

– Fire departments love wide streets – they feel

it allows them to handle fires better.

– Wide streets cause speeding, no matter the

posted speed limit.

– Speeding causes more severe driver and

pedestrian injuries and increases fatalities

from crashes.

• Best to have narrower streets that

connect.

Block, Street, Building

• Allow alleys. Alleys:

– Prevent garages from dominating the

streetscape.

– Reduce pedestrian/bike conflicts with cars by

reducing driveways/curb cuts.

– Allow for narrower lots.

– Provide a place for transformers, meters,

communications boxes, trash pickup, etc.

Conclusion

• Good design should be, at a minimum,

allowed; hopefully encouraged; ideally

required.

• Many zoning practices from the 1950s and

60s, which remain in place today, mandate

bad design.

• Bad zoning and other bad government

regulations have led to many of the problems

communities are facing today.

Conclusion

• Market has responded to government

regulations and provided vast tracts of

isolated large-lot single-family homes; it’s

time to make “traditional” neighbor-hoods

legal again and give people a choice in where

they can live.

• Good urban design and sound planning is a

matter of public health.

Recommended Reading . . .

1. Suburban Nation, by Andres Duany,

Elisabeth Plater-Zyberk, and Jeff Speck

2. The Death and Life of Great American

Cities, by Jane Jacobs

Questions?Ben Zellers, AICP, CNU-A

Vierbicher

999 Fourier Drive, #201

Madison, WI 53717

bzel@vierbicher.com

(608) 821-3967