INTRODUCTION

What is "Human Settlements"

Vancouver UN Declaration on Human Settlements (1976) defined

human settlements as follows:

the totality of the human community - whether city, town or village -

with all the social, material, organizational, spiritual and cultural

elements that sustain it.

(conference, called Habitat)

Human Settlements

Human Settlements

the spatial dimension

as a framework for Economic and Social Development

the influence of settlement conditions

an objective of development in that places where people can live,

learn and work in conditions of safety, comfort and efficiency

an indicator, the most visible expression of a society's ability to

satisfy some of the fundamental needs of its members

a prerequisite for social and economic development

no social progress for sustainable economic growth can occur

without efficient settlements systems and settlement networks

Human Settlements

Habitat II:

The Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements

was held in April 1996 at Istanbul, Turkey

Popularly called the "City Summit" adopted the Habitat Agenda, a

global action plan to realize sustainable human settlements

The Regional Action Plan and the Habitat Agenda have become the

major guide to improve the quality of life and promote the

sustainable development of human settlements

Human Settlements

What Is Planning?

is a dynamic profession that works to improve the welfare of people

and their communities by creating more convenient, equitable,

healthful, efficient, and attractive places for present and future

generations

enables civic leaders, businesses, and citizens to play a meaningful

role in creating communities that enrich people's lives

helps create communities that offer better choices for where and

how people live

helps communities to envision their future

Human Settlements

What Is Planning?

It helps them to find the right balance of new development and

essential services, environmental protection, and innovative change

is done in many arenas and involves professionals who are

planners and those who are professionally certified

Planners work with elected and appointed officials to lead the

planning process with the goal of creating communities of lasting

value

Planners help civic leaders, businesses, and citizens envision new

possibilities and solutions to community problems

Planners working with community members help communities meet

the challenges of growth and change

Human Settlements

What Skills Do Successful Planners Possess?

In addition to a formal educational background, planners possess a

unique combination of skills that enhance their professional success

Planning is a dynamic and diverse profession, individual skills vary

depending on a planner's role and area of specialization

Successful planners possess a combination of these skills :

Knowledge of urban spatial structure or physical design and the way

in which cities work

Ability to analyze demographic information to discern trends in

population, employment, and health

Knowledge of plan-making and project evaluation

Human Settlements

What Skills Do Successful Planners Possess?

Mastery of techniques for involving a wide range of people in

making decisions

Understanding of local, state, and central government programs and

processes

Understanding of the social and environmental impact of planning

decisions on communities

Ability to work with the public and articulate planning issues to a

wide variety of audiences

Ability to function as a mediator or facilitator when community

interests conflict

Human Settlements

What Skills Do Successful Planners Possess?

Understanding of the legal foundation for land use regulation

Understanding of the interaction among the economy,

transportation, health and human services, and land-use regulation

Ability to solve problems using a balance of technical competence,

creativity, and hard-headed pragmatism

Ability to envision alternatives to the physical and social

environments in which we live

Mastery of geographic information systems and office software

Human Settlements

Human Settlements

Overview

“Development that meets the needs of the present generation

without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet

their own needs”

“Meeting the basic needs of all and extending to all the opportunity

to satisfy their aspirations of a better life”

Human Settlements

Role of Urban Design in Planning Process

The fundamental role is concerned with the relationship of buildings,

and the space between, the public and private realm, not just

aesthetic experience they provide, but with all aspects of human

needs in the external built environment

They also embrace needs for creativity, self-esteem, a sense of

belonging to the place, safety and security, shelter and healthy

environment, issues of recreational spaces, public spaces and

actitivities, community identity and legibility, safe and accessible

streets and spaces, privacy and public contact, healthy and

comfortable environment

Human Settlements

Overview

Adoption to change will be one of the key issues in the „sustainability'

aspects of city of tomorrow

The changing values, attitudes, beliefs and lifestyle balancing the demands

of change in the face of traditional life style, is all about sustainability in

large cities

Sustaining or Survival ?

It implies that a living, functional city that fosters development, aspirations,

provides security for its residents, supports gender equity, and uses stock

of available resources within the limits of regenerative capacity without

crossing the critical environmental thresholds

Human Settlements

Design synthesis in the city

What is worth saving?

Can we create a more human environment?

What are the city‟s assets?

What are the recurring problems?

How can we systematize the urban functions?

How can we reinforce a city‟s urban frame and reorganize its components?

What are the immediate action should we take?

Are our goals mutual goals?

Formula for City Works = Clear Response X Technical

Economic

Humanistic

Goals

Human Settlements

Nature and the City

Cities are globally connected with their diverse and yet interdependent functions

The rich and the powerful, though the main catalyst of environmental change and degradation often get away without bearing any costs

Unprecedented urbanization has awarded the rich through legal sanctions for development

Most megacities in Asia and especially in India have a huge informal sector

Mostly self regulated, unensured and self helping interms of employment and shelter

By year 2010 when nearly half the world‟s population lives in cities, nearly 50 percent of this population will be below the age of 25 years

Human Settlements

Nature and the City

A city is a system

The inherent quality of a system is that the objects that constitute the

system are linked with each other with inputs that get processed and exit as

outputs

A city is a living organism

City dependent on intangiable factors such as collective emotions, memory,

cultural experiences and ethnicity

Most of our cities, especially in the developing countries, do not have this

mechanism of „dynamic equilibrium‟

Human Settlements

Nature and the City

Need to design and implement regulatory mechanism

Achieving a sustainable urban environment means the city resolves the

omnipresent problems, assuring a basic quality of life, administered and

managed with people‟s representatives in a transparent and accountable

system

Impact of pollutants on the biosphere knows no national boundaries and

thus the issue of sustainability clearly underlines the role and importance of

cities as a part of a global network

Human Settlements

City : The large Village

Unlike the cities in the developed world which went through a phase of

'manufacturing-production –service /IT economy cycle‟, the cities of the

developing countries have jumped directly from a predominantly agrarian

economy to technological information economy

The cosmopolitan fabric of our cities is irreparably damaged when

heterogeneous culture of the city instead of becoming it‟s strength, tends to

becoming its weakness

The issue of technology transfer, specially in traditional societies with a

strong cultural identity, needs to be given due importance

Human Settlements

The New culture of Technology

According to the UN report, the ratio of the income of the world‟s richest 20% to that of the poorest 20% has undergone a change as :In 1960 it was 30:1,In 1991 it was 61:1 and in 2000 it was 80:1

Regretfully the high quality of life of the highly advanced industrial countries is indicative of highly wasteful life style

If a child born in the US is the unit of burden on the environment then it equals 2 born in sweden,3 in Italy,13 in Brazil,35 in India,140 in Bangladesh and 280 in Nepal

This thinking translates into the idea of an „Ecological Footprint‟ (EF) of cities and nations. That is the aggregate land area required to provide the resource input to production processes and to absorb the associated waste products

Human Settlements

Checklist in assessing Urban function

Image goals

Social functions

Economic functions

Natural and site functions

Cultural resource

Standards and design for health, safety and security

Citizen reaction

Human Settlements

Checklist in assessing Urban frame

Massing

Landuse

Circulation Infrastructure

Public facilities and services

Human Settlements

Checklist in assessing Urban Quality of life

The Character or image of the total place

The well-being of the individual

The well-being of social constraints

Human Settlements

Conclusions

The global problems are common so are these solutions

To balance the advance of cities into a global network while maintaining it‟s local character

Strategies to guarantee benefits to being needy citizens

( as opposed to benefits obtained by persons by simply being citizens )

Respect and involve all stakeholders (basic rights and freedom )

Not to over depend on government. Use the dynamism of business and civil society

Actions and solutions

Investment in human capital

Reduce social and environmental costs and achieve basic level of security

Human Settlements

Managing the Cities of India

Planning & Management approaches

Functional hierarchy in the human settlement system, through regional

development strategies

Sense of flexibility, innovativeness and responsiveness to urban grown

dynamics

The institutional base?

National Commission on Urbanisation (NCU)

Only 23 states have levels higher than the national average of Urbanisation

A rare phenomenon : Abundance in vast and rich natural resources zones

of the country are with least urbanisation : MP, Bihar, Orissa & WB

„captive towns‟- New towns (more than 100)

Human Settlements

Urban Planning

The Development Plan (Master Plan) – Comprehensive Planning System

T& CP Act of United Kingdom

3rd Five year Plan (1961-66)

Comprehensive Master Plan system

State to establish town planning

Delhi Master Plan (1962)

Model Town and Country Planning act

4th five year Plans

Master Plan – phased development

Combines policies, programmes and detailed proposals

Human Settlements

Urban Planning

NCU

Master Directive Plan (MDP)

Execution Plan (EP)

Action Area Plan

Zonal Plans

Growth Foci Theory - Five tier human settlement system

Growth Pole (National)

Growth centre (Regional)

Growth Point (sub regional)

Service centre (micro-regional)

Central village (local level)