Purpose of the City Plan
Any master plan includes an analytical unit and the project proposal. Each of them, in turn, includes graphics presented in the form of maps (diagrams) and a text part. General plans of cities and settlements in different countries are different from the name, composition, functions and legal status. Reconstruction, construction and development of territories of a number of major cities conducted without any document was unified planning and zoning.
Crafting of the City Plan to Achieve its Goals
Urban planning is carried out in order to make the best possible management of the social, economic, environmental and spatial development of cities in the interests of the people inhabiting them. Urban planning refers to preparation of the system, and decision-making, insurance of a targeted, planned and regulated socio-economic development of the city and implementation of town-planning activity in it.
Analyzing the given diagram of Chicago city, we can get the information about the number of people in a certain square area, density of buildings, arrangement of green areas, length of the streets and the availability of transport infrastructure in general. On the given Chicago City Plan colors are used for representation of population distribution (person per acre). Different color lines are used to show traffic roads for each type of transport correspondingly. With the use of green color, green city zones are marked. As it can be seen, Chicago city development history started not from the creation of city plan at first, but with further development of the historically created city. Also, it is obvious that those zones of the city which are with the biggest population density are made as complex buildings. The structure of the city center includes functional entities of scientific and industrial activity, health, excluding hospitals, clinics and other institutions that require placement in some areas.
Citywide center is regarded as a spatial system, which, in addition to the central core and surrounding the central zone, includes interconnected with it the largest centers of planning regions, zones or other structural and planning elements. Characteristics of complex building and its compliance with modern requirements and justifications necessary volumes of residential and socio-residential construction and overhaul characterized by analyzing the state of development of the city or district according to the physical and moral deterioration of buildings, their total area, number of floors and the level of engineering equipment.
Planning and distribution of the population density
Also it can be seen that in the most populated areas comprehensive development was investigated. Comprehensive development is the best way to development of the territory.
Comprehensive development involves the creation of a "mini-city", where in addition to residential houses; objects of social and engineering infrastructure are located, such as kindergartens, schools, shops, sports facilities, the improved yard area with the objects of landscape architecture, equipped with children's playgrounds and so on. In addition, the architectural appearance of the buildings and facilities complex building area is studied at the same time, of course, has a positive impact on the visual appeal and the specific characteristics of new housing.
According to various estimates, complex building reduces self cost of housing but, as a rule, this difference is spent on social infrastructure, the construction of which the developer takes over. Given the shortage of high-quality low-cost housing, integrated development allows you to create an offer that is available for the price.
Large apartment complexes offer its residents a high level of living comfort, installation of the latest equipment, and the use of modern standards and technologies, In addition, the integrated developments of the territory’s sufficiently large areas are allocated to the recreation area, planting and landscaping, and thanks to this, become the most popular on the market.
The major structural elements of city planning should include areas for placement of objects and institutions of cultural and consumer services. Designated concentrations are formed as community centers of various levels.
The number, composition, placement of community centers in the city plan are made taking into account its size, functional and planning structure, historical features of formation of the city plan, landscape and natural features, as well as the city's role in the settlement system. Citywide center must be regarded as a spatial system, which, in addition to the central core and surrounding the central zone, includes interconnected with it the largest centers of planning regions, zones or other structural and planning elements. Depending on the size of the organization and planning of the city center, it is necessary to create within a system of interconnected public spaces with the release of the main squares, streets, pedestrian streets and zones.
The most important architectural and planning in relation to mono-functional complexes (centers) are formed by important institutions and related buildings and structures. Specialized centers, created on the basis of sporting, recreational and wellness, therapeutic, educational and scientific, industrial and other facilities and sites that do not require large areas, can be formed in any planning area (zone) of the city.
The solution of a number of problems urbanity is based on the model of settlement residents. Traditionally, such models are population density map. Geographic information systems significantly extend the capabilities of a detailed study of the density of the population of the largest city, providing new tools for this purpose.
White Lies of the City Plan
As used in urban planning the traditional approach to the assessment of the population density is characterized by the fact that the degree of concentration of population is calculated quarterly or, in accordance with the existing regulatory urban development base - for big planirovochnaja units - residential areas (80 -. 250 ha) and neighborhoods (10 - 60 ha.). In real terms the largest city planning unit may contain one type of residential area development - from development to high-rise buildings of the manor type. In addition, a planning unit may be different types of residential development. Finally, in these areas there may be a mixed functional use of the territory. Therefore, resettlement models built with this approach are very generalized, and in some cases significantly distort the real picture (Monmonier, 1990).
Residential development
According to the given scheme, Chicago development may be considered as those, which unites several types of residential development. Residential development is designed and implemented in a variety of climatic conditions and urban development, and this is reflected in its spatial organization, on the choice of types of houses and compositional techniques. There are several main types of buildings, which differ in character and spaces formed on the image plane. They are found in the design practice for a variety of residential areas: from the big city to the village.
Perimeter building is made up of extensive residential buildings of any type: multisector, corridor, gallery, blocked. It is characterized by the formation of yard space in a group of houses, completely closed or partially disclosed. Minimum size of the yard is set taking into account gaps between the houses, standing opposite each other. However, the perimeter buildings can cover a significant portion size.
Lowercase construction has emerged as an alternative to the city's old quarter and has long been considered a symbol of modern urban planning, the principles of which were set out, in particular, in the Athens Charter. In Soviet times, cities received a mass distribution from the 20s, which is still used. Abroad was characterized mainly to the 70-ies. Lowercase buildings unlike perimeter open for aeration area is riddled with greenery. However, due to the fact that residential buildings are located mainly end to the highways and streets of protection areas from traffic noise is insufficient. The massive use of horizontal development was also one of the reasons for the loss of the individual image of cities, streets loss as the architectural and planning elements, the monotony of spaces and areas of overspending. Currently lowercase noticeably compacted construction is transformed into a closed planning education.
"Net" buildings are assembled on different geometric grid patterns (rectangular, triangular, polygonal). For its formation multi-family houses with one to four floors blocked, sectioned, corridor, gallery, or mixed types are used. Courtyards are recreation for group apartments. This is perfect for fulfilling the small vacant lots and replacement of dilapidated buildings in the areas of reconstruction using home-"insert." Buildings of being selectively allowing fuller appearance save valuable urban environment and architectural and historical heritage.
With the development of areas with steep gradients, preference is often given to the building of terraced houses, which allows the use of the territory belonging to the category of inconvenient. One of the modern forms of conducting housing are multi-functional complexes. They are based on the integration of housing with various agencies and are used as the reconstruction of the central areas and in the periphery of the city.
In the professional vocabulary of architects a prominent place is also occupied by such a thing as "low-rise buildings of higher density." Usually this term is associated with the building, which is no higher than two or three floors, giving the density of housing (ie. E. The number of m2 of the total area of 1 hectares), is usually achieved by using a five-six-story buildings.
Low-rise buildings of higher density have sufficient maneuverability of urban planning, create a welcoming and diverse environment which is a good complement to the high-rise homes. They fit well into the reconstructed areas. Because of these qualities, they have become common in many countries, both in large cities and in small towns. With them come the hopes to return to the new residential areas of the human scale, the architectural diversity and intensive land use.
All of these forms of residential development up a number of major morphological types found in the structure of cities, towns and villages. Often they are used in combination with each other, thus enhancing the aesthetic level of the living environment.
One of the essential characteristics of the residential development is its floors. The number of floors is regulated not only by housing density and building silhouette. The height of the building is determined by the size of the yard spaces, conditions of visual perception of the environment, the nature of shading of adjacent territories, and more. The modern international practice is dominated by the orientation of the construction of residential buildings of up to three or four floors. Such housing in most countries is considered to be the most comfortable. The predecessor of the modern-traditional perimeter building a city block, is determined by the planning structure of historical cities.
Presence of green spaces
The system of green spaces of the city is interrelated, even distribution of urban spaces, defined by the current system further development, providing connection to the countryside plantations. In the XIX century, the idea of a city park as an island "pristine" nature in the urban environment raised. The development of this concept formulated objectives of landscape design artificial reproduction of natural landforms, water and typical plant communities. However, growth in parks attendance discovered the limited resistance of the landscape, reproducing natural, to recreational loads (it is known that the natural landscapes of different types have varying from 0.5 up to 20 people / hectare "critical level" loads at which begins the destruction of landscapes.
Therefore, in modern conditions the basic principle of the formation of green spaces is to achieve a "stable relationships between the major components of the landscape, which should be expressed and connection with nature " (Environmental Health Coalition, n.d.). Under this condition, "natural" appearance is of secondary importance. The similarity of the designed landscape with nature or, on the contrary, with artificiality is determined by various external, including the subjective factors (Environmental Health Coalition, n.d.).
The natural look of the landscape gardening is created, as a rule, for areas that are large enough in size. In this case, the elements of the park composition, which are attached to the natural form, are masked due to the environment, provided the insulation of the park landscape of the building, creating the illusion of a natural environment. Characteristically, a large area is not sufficient measure to increase the stability of the landscape. So in most compositions of such elements natural interpretation of the forms with artificial appearance are used.
Functional typology of objects of reconstruction within the city are vast gardening areas: urban parks of various sizes and purposes, small gardens and parks, sites of public buildings and complexes, houses adjoining residential areas, areas of industrial enterprises, green connection of the city - the boulevards, streets and embankments.
Functional zoning of the complex Green Zone (the development area, the city, the Green Zone) should be carried out with the release of: green areas of common use; green areas and limited use of green areas for special purposes.
Success of the City Plan
Summing up all above mentioned the following conclusion can be made:
The plan of the city is more relay to rectangular type of city planning, but the oldest roads differ from the latest by their view and trajectory.
The city plan is successful in its purpose. The image fully describes information about population distribution and roads ways, but there is no detailed information about what types of transport is used on these roads. In my opinion, it is important, because in such a way information about working zones may be obtained.
In general, the city plan does persuade. The scheme of the city looks rather harmonic and well planned.
If I could change something in order to improve the city plan, I would change the number of green zones. There are not enough green zones even for better ecological environment for citizens.
Works Cited
LBPlanning. General Plan. (n.d.). LBPlanning.info. Web. 20 Feb. 2016.
Monmonier, Mark. How to lie with maps. Second Edition. 1990. The University of Chicago Press. Chicago and London.
Environmental Health Coalition. Green Zones. (n.d.). Environmentalhealth.org.Web. 20 Feb. 2016.
