jon lang- communities, neighbourhoods and streets_2477_8427

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Neighbourhoods, Streetsand Communities

Jon Lang

MUDD Program, UNSW3 rd July 2008



Community?Th ere are a number of definitions:

Th e people living in an area� An interacting populations of individuals in a common location

� A group of people wit h a common

interest.Webster¶s New Encyclopedic Dictionary (1993): 199



Streets and CommunitiesTh e primary role of streets is to give accessstreets also act as

edges or t h ey can act

as seams for everyday life and communityformation.

Th e urban design issue:

Wh en do we give primacy to traffic flows andwh en to t h e street as a seam ± as a set of be h aviour settings?



Communities?� Socio-Psyc h ological

- Formal Organization

- Communal Organization� P h ysical- Precincts- Neig h bour h oods

- Face-blocks- Buildings



Organizational Types:Formal Organizations

Th ey are h eld toget h er by contractTh ey can be designed

C ommunal OrganizationsTh ey are h eld toget h er by socialnormsTh ey cannot be designed; t h ey growfrom t h e grassroots



Types of socio-physicalcommunities

Th e total territorial community

-- th e c resive communityTh e community of limited-liability

andTh e administered communityTh e designed community



A total community?Collection of t

he aut

hor P

hotograp

hby Carolina Calderon

A pol, A h medabad



An administered community

GSFC Towns h ip Vadodara (Baroda), IndiaB. V.Dos h i and t h e Vastu S h ilpa Foundation, urban designers and arc h itects



Wenxinyuan, Hankou

Source: Bray (2006)

Design principles:

� walled and gated

� a h ierarc h y of formal organizations

- block

- street

- building.

Is it a d esigne d c ommunity or ana d ministere d c ommunity ?



A designed community:A cohousing example

T rudeslund, DenmarkVankustein, arc h itects



The search for µcommunity¶through urban designDesign Ideas:

Th e standard model for decomposing a cityinto its partsTh e neig h bour h ood unit updatedTh e vertical neig h bour h ood

Th e role of streets in all t h ese examples?



The generic urban decomposition modelSource: Hester (1975)

A specific case: Columbia, Maryland, USARouse Corporation Property Developers.



The neigbourhood unit

Design Principles:� A well-bounded area (good contour)� Communal facilities at t h e core� ¼ mile (400 metres) walking

distance from t h e perip h ery to t h ecore

� S h opping and apartment buildings at

th e intersections wit h neig h bouringunits

Clarence PerrySource: Regional Plan of New York, 1929



The Radburn (New Jersey, US A) planSource: Gallion and Eisner, 1975

Clarence Stein and Henry Wrig h t designers (Late 1920s)

Th e plan as built A cul--de-sac



Radburn

An underpass A walkway from t h e back of h ouses to t h e central park



The first generation British new townsSource: Runcorn Development Corporation (1967)

Runcorn, England (1970s )



A pedestrian pocket proposalSource: Kelbaug h (1989) Collection of t h e aut h or

The generic idea An example



New Urbanism and neighbourhood designA neig h bour h ood s h ould h ave:� A discernible centre� Buildings in t h e centre built to t h e property line� Dwellings wit h in a 5minute walk from t h e centre� A variety of dwelling types� S h ops and offices at t h e perip h ery� An elementary sc h ool wit h in walking distance of h ouses� A playground wit h in 1/8 mile (200metres)� A connected network of streets

andA formal self-governing organization

Source: Andres Duany and Elizabet h Plater Zyberk Arc h itects, Inc.



The neighbourhood unit updated, 1994

Duany and Platter Zyberk, arc h itects

Design Principles

� ¼ mile walking distance

� 160 acres bounded by boulevards� s h ops + bus stop at t h e centre

� sc h ool s h ared wit h adjacent areas

� mixed use main street

� offices etc + parking on boulevards



The image of the main street

Source: Jackson (2006)

Proposal for Fullerton, California 2006100 h omes, 300,000 sq feet (27871sq metres) commercial space



Example: Playa Vista, Los Angeles

Source: Katz (1994): 186



US Patent 6688052- Neighborhood housing arrangement

(2004 )

Source http://drflandershometown.com/HT%20PICTURES%20P AGE%2001.htm



The Rationalist Response:A vertical neighbourhood

Th e Unité d¶ h abitation, Marseilles, France

Le Corbusier, arch

itect

Source: Richards (1962 )



A district of vertical neighbourhoods

Buildings set in open space



The modern version?



The street as seamWh y bot h er?



Streets as nested sets of be h aviour settings

Remember suc h observations as t h ese are culture-bound!



A University-Town Community

A Neo-T

raditionalist approach

Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium



Traffic and face-block neighbourhoods

Th e h igh er t h e traffic volume t h e less t h e communication across streets



Stage in life cycle and mobility

Source: Mich

ael South

worth



Ch ildren ± t h e true neig h bour h ood people?

Question: W h at do we do wit h observationssuc h as t h is one?

Source: Th e Smit h sons



A study of children¶s play areas

Source: Randolp h Hester, N eighborhoo d Spa c e



Th e w oonerf or µsh ared street¶

Source: Sout h wort h and Ben Josep h , 1996



The cul-de-sacNo longer a viable option? T oo old-fas h ioned?

It¶s a favoured play space for c h ildren



Recognizing the limitations of planning and design

Creating opportunities for t h e formationof community

(i.e., communities of limited liability)



What can we do today?In creating a sense of community in a

neigbour h ood or in a building:� Design a central node� Create a boundary� Create an image of similarity of buildings� Create formal organizations� Create opportunities/catalysts for social

meeting.Th

e most one can expect to ach

ieve is acommunity of limite d liability but also one ric h in informal learning opportunities for c h ildren.



A community of µlimited liability¶Collection of t h e aut h or

Millennium Village, Greenwic h , London, England, UKRalp h Erskine, Urban Designer and Arc h itect



A community of scholars?

A designed community

Th e National Center for t h e Humanities, Nort h Carolina, USAHartman Cox, Arc h itects



ConclusionRemember:� We can design formal organizations� We cannot design communal ones� We can create opportunities

(affor d an c es ) for t h e development of communal organizations

But:� Most depends on t h e people involved

and t h eir aspirations



The quality of streets is fundamental in thequality of communitiesTh ey can be seams for everyday lifeTh ey are multi-purpose spacesTh ey establis h th e c h aracter of anydevelopment

Remember:� streets are t h ree dimensional not just

th e roadbed; t h ey are enclosed bybuildings

µA street wants to be a room¶Louis I Ka h n



Th e c h aracter of streets s h apes t h e c h aracter of neig h bour h oodsP h otograp h s by Jesus Lara Source: Croc (2005)

Main Street, Moapa Valley, Nevada and an alternative



Thank youJon Lang

jon lang- communities, neighbourhoods and streets_2477_8427

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