Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021

Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

WEEK 5 LECTURE
SPATIAL PLANNING THEORIES AND MODEL
Theories of Urban Structure (Sociology, n.d.)

Common assumptions for the different models include: (1) that the city is growing in population and expanding in
economic activities; (2) a relatively free land market that is responsive to the economic principles of supply and demand
with little in the way of government regulation; (3) an economic base that is mainly a mix of industrial commercial
activities; (4) private ownership of property; (5) specialization in land use; (6) a transportation system that is fairly rapid
and efficient, and generally available in terms of cost to the majority of the population; and (7) freedom of residential
choice, at least for the higher socioeconomic strata.

Concentric Zone Theory (Ernest Burgess) (Sociology, n.d.)

Concentric Zone Model or CCD model was developed by Ernest Burgess between 1925 and 1929 based on
the study of Chicago city. In this model, the city grows outward in concentric rings and has single center (CBD).

□
Image: The Burgess Urban Land Use Model (The Geography of Transport System, n.d.)

Zone 1: Central Business District. Central location is valued most highly since the old industrial city had
but one vital down town center. Central location minimizes transportation costs to all other locations in
the city. Consequently, land values at the city’s center soar and can only be afforded by the most
resource laden groups – typically, business and industry.
Zone 2: Zone of Transition. This is located around the CBD on all sides. It is in the process of shifting
from residential to industrial commercial land uses as the growing CBD spills its various activities into
it. It is an area of intense land speculation and profit taking by property owners. The area’s increasing
blight and deterioration drive out the middle and working class residents.
Zone 3: Zone of workingmen’s homes/ Zone of Low Cost Homs. It is a blue collar neighborhood
inhabited by stable families. The housing is neat and tidy and the residents are alert and “on guard”
against incursions of minorities from the zone in transition. Residential invasions of the poor and ethnic
minorities are usually met with resistance.
Zone 4: Zone of Better Residences. Houses of the middle class and white collar workers. In turn, the
middle class moves further out in response to the perceived down grading of its neighborhoods by the
newcomers. It relocates to the next adjacent zone.
Zone 5: Commuters’ zone. Characterized by sub-urban and semi-rural spaces that housed the city’s
middle class and upper income groups. Later Burgess identified two additional zones in the metropolis
– the agricultural districts and the metropolitan hinterland
Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Sector (Homer Hoyt) (Sociology, n.d.)

On the basis of studying 142 American cities, Homer Hoyt (1939) argued that, contrary to the concentric zone
model, the city’s urban geometry is better described by a sector pattern of land development. The distributions of
rents and the city’s socioeconomic status groups are organized in homogeneous, pie shaped wedges or sectors
that run from the city’s CBD to the periphery.

The sector model is based on an axial conception of the city. It incorporates Richard Hurd’s (1924 [1903]) idea
that growth and development first take place along main transportation routes from the city’s center to the
hinterland; these include rail lines, highways, and navigable bodies of water.

Image: Homer Hoyt Sector Model (Thinglink-Chapman, n.d.)

In a city with a sector spatial geometry, sectors of industry, warehousing, and poor quality land tend to
be surrounded by sectors of low income and working class residents.
Middle class housing sectors tend to buffer those of upper status from the sectors of low income,
industry, and noxious activities.
The high status populations command the most desirable sites in the city. The high rent sectors tend to
occupy high ground that is free from risk of floods and deluxe apartment areas tend to be established
near the business centers in old established residential areas.
Low rent areas and the areas occupied by the poor and marginalized race and ethnic groups tend to be
located on the opposite side of the city from the high income sector.

Multiple Nuclei (Edward Ullman and Chauncy Harris) (Sociology, n.d.)

The multiple nuclei model of Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman (1945) does not view the city as being
organized around the CBD. Rather, it postulates that there are a number of different growth nuclei, each of which
exerts influences on the distribution of people, activities, and land uses. Each nucleus specializes in markedly
different activities, ranging from retailing through manufacturing, education and health services to residential.

The multiple nuclei model uses four basic principles to explain both the emergence of separate nuclei and the
change in them through time.
(1) Certain activities require specialized facilities located in only one or a few sections of the
as seen in the case of manufacturing plants requiring large blocks of undeveloped land located near rail
metropolis,
lines.
(2) Certain like activities profit from adjacent congregation, as seen in the clustering of retail
establishments into malls and shopping centers.
Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

(3) Certain unlike activities are antagonistic or detrimental to each other, as seen in the case of
manufacturing plants and upper class residential developments.
(4) Certain activities are unable to afford the costs of the most desirable locations, as seen in the case
of low income residential areas and high land with a much sought after view.

Image: Multiple Nuclei Model (Open Geography Education, n.d.)

Concentric Zone and Sector Theory (Peter Mann) (Urban Land Use and its Dynamics, n.d.)
Peter Mann took Hoyt’s and Burgess’ models and combined them in his model of a typical British City in 1965.
The features of this model are:
The best residential area (A) is located on the western fringe of the city, upwind and on the
side of town from the industrial sector (D).
opposite
The areas of the working class and the main council estates are located close to the industrial zone.
The lower middle class housing (B) borders on each side of the best residential area

Image: Mann’s Model of a Bristish City (cronodon, n.d.)

 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Theories of Urban Growth

Central Place Theory (Walter Christaller) (Magnaye, 2013) (Walankikar,
n.d.)The theory was originally published in 1933 by a German geographer Walter Christaller who studied the
settlement patterns in southern Germany.

Assumptions:
Christaller assumed that all areas
have- an isotropic (all flat) surface an
- evenly distributed population
- evenly distributed resources
- similar purchasing power of all consumers and consumers will patronize nearest
- market transportation costs equal in all directions and proportional to distance no
- excess profits (Perfect competition)

Main points:
Central Place is a settlement which provides one or more services for the population
livingaround it.
There is existence of hierarchy of service activities from “low order” services found in every
center –city, town or village to “high order” services found only in major centers
Low Order Goods/Services-simple and basic goods/
services Examples: Bakeries,
Groceries
Settlements which provide low order services are said to be low
ordersettlements.
High Order Goods/ Services-highly specialized goods/ services
Example: Universities, Large shopping malls/
arcades
Settlements that provide high order services are said to be high
ordersettlements
Service activity has a threshold population and a market range
Threshold
populationminimum population or market needed to bring about the selling of
a particular good/ service
Market Range
distance which consumers are willing to travel to reach the service or
the goods
acquire
The larger the size of a central space:
The greater the distance it is located from another central place of the same or
size
larger
The greater the number of retail and service functions or activities found in the
central place (increase in high order services-greater degree of specialization)
The larger the trade area served by that central space
The fewer such places with smaller central spaces being large in number (many small
villages)
Weakness
Does not consider the temporal aspects in the development of central
spaces
Ignores variable
topography
Ignores influence of manufacturing industry
Production of goods and services for other areas not considered; local
specialization
Did not consider the growth of industrial
suburbs
Did not consider effect upon the size of town of large in migration and
labor
Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Range and Threshold (Brian Berry and William Garrison) (Magnaye, 2013) (Berry and Garrison, 1958)
Distribution of central places controlled by the concept of “range and threshold”

Range
Marks out the zone or tributary area around a central place (urban center) from which
persons travel to purchase the good
Upper
Limit Maximum possible radius of
Beyond the upper limit, the price of the good is too high for it to
sales.
be
because
sold, of the
either greater
because ofproximity of consumers
the increase to an
of price with alternative
distance or
Lower Limit
Radius which encloses the minimum numbers of
necessary to provide a sales volume adequate for the good to be
consumers
supplied profitably from the central place
Threshold
Refers to the minimum amount of purchasing power necessary to support the
of goods/ services from a central place
supply
Upper
Limit Degree of competition from other central places supplying the
same product
Lower Limit
Threshold necessary to permit its
Weakness: function
Assumes uniform distribution of
Consumers to patronize nearest centers from relevant
population
centers
Rank Size Rule/ Rank Size Distribution (George Sipf) (Magnaye, 2013)
Settlements in a given country may be ranked in order of their size. The population of a given urban area tends
to be equal to the population of the largest city divided by the rank of the population size into which the given
urban area falls, the population of settlements thus being arranged according to the series 1, 1/2 , 1/3, 1/4 etc.

The 2nd rank city will have 1/2 the population of the 1st. The 3rd rank city will have 1/3 the population of the 1st
and so on.

Formula: 1 n
Pn = P1
nq
where Pn=population of the nth settlement
P1=population of the largest settlement
n=settlement rank
q=exponent which usually approximates unity

Weakness:
In most countries, the largest city is larger than the rule would
suggest.
Does not usually hold in newly settled areas
Usefulness:
Model for future planning, in the allocation of resources and in
administration
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Bid Rent Theory (William Alonzo) (Magnaye, 2013)

Refers to how the price and demand for land changes as the distance from the CBD increases.

Different land uses will compete with one another for land close to the center as the more accessible an area,
greater concentration of customers thus more profitable. Land allocation is dictated through competition or
bidding process and rent is a charge of accessibility.

Image: Illustration of the Bid Rent Curve for different land uses.

Theories of Spatial Interaction

Gravity Model of Human Interaction (Magnaye, 2013)

This model is an approach to analyze spatial interaction between spatially separated nodes. Interaction between
two centers is directly proportional to their size and inversely proportional to the distance between them.

Assumptions
Large places attract people, ideas and commodities more than
smaller Places closer together have greater attraction

The relative strength of bond between two places is determined by multiplying the population of City A by the
population of City B and then dividing the product by the distance between two cities squared.

Formula: Population 1 x Population 2

Distance 2
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Theories of Regional Development

Growth Pole and Growth Center (Francois Perroux and Boudeville) (Sinha, n.d)(The
Geography of Transport System, n.d.)

□
□
□
Image: Setting of Growth Pole and Emergence of Secondary Growth Pole (The Geography of Transport System,
n.d)
The central idea of the growth poles theory is that economic development, or growth, is not uniform over an
entire region, but instead takes place around a specific pole (or cluster). This pole is often characterized by core
(key) industries around which linked industries develop, mainly through direct and indirect effects. At a later
stage, the emergence of secondary growth poles is possible.
“Growth does not appear everywhere and all at once, it appears in points or development
poles
with variable intensities, it spreads in points or development poles with variable intensities, it
spreads along diverse channels and with varying terminal effects to the whole of the economy”
Growth poles are a “set of expanding industries located in an urban area and including further
development of economic activity throughout its zone of influence.”

Cumulative Causation (Gunnar Myrdal) (Magnaye, 2013) (Saha, n.d.)

Theory of development with reference to spatial dimension that emphasized on the multiplier effect-
development of new industry in the inner city encourage the concentration of further industrial activities.

The cumulative causation action has been built upon spread effect and backwash effects. Economic
development results in a circular causation process leading to rapid development of developed countries while
the weaker countries tend to remain behind and poor.
“poverty is further perpetuated by poverty” (backwash effect > spread effect) and
“affluence is further promoted by affluence”

Image: Myrdal Cumulative Causation Concept (Serote, 2004)

Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Core Periphery (John Friedman) (The Geography of Transport System, n.d)

Image: Core-Periphery Stages of Development in a Urban System (The Geography of Transport System, n.d)

The conventional core-periphery model of development tries to represent the emergence of a regional urban
system in four major stages and illustrate the spread effect. There are two spatial subsystems involve: a.) Core-
propulsive and can be represented by concepts such as metropolitan areas, growth poles and growth centers
and b.) Periphery-exists in state of dependedence; hinterland or fringe areas

Stage 1 (Pre-industrial). The pre-industrial (agricultural) society, with localized economies and a small
scale settlement structure.
Stage 2 (Transitional). The concentration of the economy in the core city begins as a result of
innovation. capital accumulation and industrial growth.
Stage 3 (Industrial). Through a process of economic growth and diffusion, other growth centers emerge.
The main reasons for deconcentration are increasing input costs (mainly labor and land) in the
core area.
Stage 4 (Post-industrial). The urban system becomes fully integrated and spatial inequalities are
reduced significantly.

Polarization and Trickle Down Effect (Albert Hirschman) (Coursehero, n.d.)

Hirschman (1958) discusses how polarized development may benefit both the growing region and the
surrounding hinterland.

Hirschman argues that growth in a developed region produces favorable “trickling-down”effects within
a lagging region as the lagging region’s goods are purchased and labor hired by the developed region.
Growth may also produce unfavorable “polar-ization” effects resulting from competition and
tradebarriers erected by the developed region.
Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Agricultural Location Theory (Johann Heinrich von Thunen) (gcsnc, n.d.)

The Von Thunen model is an excellent illustration of the balance between land cost and transportation costs. As
one gets closer to a city, the price of land increases. Farmer of isolated state balance the cost of transportation,
land, and profit and produce the most cost-effective product for market.

□
Image: Illustration of rings of agricultural activity surrounding the city. (gcsnc, n.d.)

There are four rings of agricultural activity surrounding the city.

First Ring: Dairying and intensive farming occur in the ring closest to the city.
Sincevegetables, fruit, milk and other dairy products must get to market quickly, they would be
produced close to the city.

Second Ring: Timber and firewood would be produced for fuel and building materials in
the second zone. Before industrialization (and coal power), wood was a very important fuel
for heating and cooking. Wood is very heavy and difficult to transport so it is located as
close to the city as possible.

Third Ring: The third zone consists of extensive fields crops such as grains for bread. Since
grains last longer than dairy products and are much lighter than fuel, reducing transport
costs, they can be located further from the city.

Fourth Ring: Ranching is located in the final ring surrounding the central city. Animals can be
raised far from the city because they are self-transporting. Animals can walk to the central city
for sale or for butchering. Beyond the fourth ring lies the unoccupied wilderness, which is too
great a distance from the central city for any type of agricultural product.
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

EMERGING THEORIES

Planned Unit Development (APA, 2007)

- regulations typically merge zoning and subdivision controls, allowing developers to plan and develop a large area
as a single entity, with the design flexibility to mix land uses, housing types, and densities, and to phase large
developments over a number of years
- also referred as cluster zoning to which ordinary zoning regulations can be suspended

Image: Eton Centris (PhilippinesListed.com, n.d.)

Transit Oriented Development (APA, 2007)

- generally defined as development that is located within a 10-minute walk, or approximately .5 mile, from a light
rail, heavy rail, or commuter rail station.
- mix of uses, including housing, retail, office,research, civic, and others, characterizes TOD projects
- encourage walkability and create pedestrian-friendly connections to the surrounding community

Image: Cubao-Araneta Group (The Araneta Group, n.d.)

 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

New Urbanism (Watson, et. al, 2003)

Beginning in 1993, the New Urbanism movement has grown to include urban designers, architects, planners,
environmentalists, economists, landscape designers, traffic engineers, elected officials, sociologists, developers, and
community activists among others. New Urbanism sees physical design—regional design, urban design, architecture,
landscape design, and environmental design—as critical to the future of our communities.

New Urbanism is a planning and development approach based on the principles of how cities and towns had been built
for the last several centuries: walkable blocks and streets, housing and shopping in close proximity, and accessible public
spaces. In other words: New Urbanism focuses on human-scaled urban design. (CNU, n.d.)

The Charter of the New Urbanism specifically structures its principles at three telescoping scales: the
region, the neighborhood, and the building with 27 principles.

The Charter of the Congress of the New Urbanism (Watson, et. al, 2003)
The Congress for the New Urbanism views disinvestment in central cities, the spread of placeless sprawl,
increasing separation by race and income, environmental deterioration, loss of agricultural lands and wilderness,
and the erosion of society’s built heritage as one interrelated community-building challenge.

We stand for the restoration of existing urban centers and towns within coherent metropolitan regions, the
reconfiguration of sprawling suburbs into communities of real neighborhoods and diverse districts, the
conservation of natural environments, and the preservation of our built legacy.

We recognize that physical solutions by themselves will not solve social and economic problems, but neither can
economic vitality, community stability, and environmental health be sustained without a coherent and supportive
physical framework.

We advocate the restructuring of public policy and development practices to support the following principles:
neighborhoods should be diverse in use and population; communities should be designed for the pedestrian and
transit as well as the car; cities and towns should be shaped by physically defined and universally accessible
public spaces and community institutions; urban places should be framed by architecture and landscape design
that celebrate local history, climate, ecology, and building practice.

We represent a broad-based citizenry, composed of public and private sector leaders, community activists,
and multidisciplinary professionals. We are committed to reestablishing the relationship between the art of
building and the making of community, through citizen-based participatory planning and design.

We dedicate ourselves to reclaiming our homes, blocks, streets, parks, neighborhoods, districts,
towns, cities, regions, and environment.

We assert the following principles to guide public policy, development practice, urban planning, and design:

THE REGION: METROPOLIS, CITY, AND TOWN (Watson, et. al, 2003)

1. Metropolitan regions are finite places with geographic boundaries derived from topography, watersheds,
coastlines, farmlands, regional parks, and river basins. The metropolis is made of multiple centers that are
cities, towns, and villages, each with its own identifiable center and edges.

2. The metropolitan region is a fundamental economic unit of the contemporary world. Governmental
cooperation, public policy, physical planning, and economic strategies must reflect this new reality.
Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

3. The metropolis has a necessary and fragile relationship to its agrarian hinterland and natural landscapes. The
relationship is environmental, economic, and cultural. Farmland and nature are as important to the metropolis as
the garden is to the house.
4. Development patterns should not blur or eradicate the edges of the metropolis. Infill development within
existing urban areas conserves environmental resources, economic investment, and social fabric, while
reclaiming marginal and abandoned areas. Metropolitan regions should develop strategies to encourage such
infill development over peripheral expansion.

5. Where appropriate, new development contiguous to urban boundaries should be organized as neighborhoods
and districts, and be integrated with the existing urban pattern. Noncontiguous development should be organized
as towns and villages with their own urban edges, and planned for a jobs/housing balance, not as bedroom
suburbs.

6. The development and redevelopment of towns and cities should respect historical patterns,
precedents, and boundaries.

7. Cities and towns should bring into proximity a broad spectrum of public and private uses to support a regional
economy that benefits people of all incomes. Affordable housing should be distributed throughout the region to
match job opportunities and to avoid concentrations of poverty.

8. The physical organization of the region should be supported by a framework of transportation alternatives.
Transit, pedestrian, and bicycle systems should maximize access and mobility throughout the region while
reducing dependence upon the automobile.

9. Revenues and resources can be shared more cooperatively among the municipalities and centers within
regions to avoid destructive competition for tax base and to promote rational coordination of transportation,
recreation, public services, housing, and community institutions.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD, THE DISTRICT, AND THE CORRIDOR (Watson, et. al, 2003)

1. The neighborhood, the district, and the corridor are the essential elements of development and redevelopment
in the metropolis. They form identifiable areas that encourage citizens to take responsibility for their maintenance
and evolution.

2. Neighborhoods should be compact, pedestrianfriendly, and mixed-use. Districts generally emphasize a special
single use, and should follow the principles of neighborhood design when possible. Corridors are regional
connectors of neighborhoods and districts; they range from boulevards and rail lines to rivers and parkways.

3. Many activities of daily living should occur within walking distance, allowing independence to those who do not
drive, especially the elderly and the young. Interconnected networks of streets should be designed to encourage
walking, reduce the number and length of automobile trips, and conserve energy.

4. Within neighborhoods, a broad range of housing types and price levels can bring people of diverse ages,
races, and incomes into daily interaction, strengthening the personal and civic bonds essential to an authentic
community.
Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

5. Transit corridors, when properly planned and coordinated, can help organize metropolitan structure and
revitalize urban centers. In contrast, highway corridors should not displace investment from existing centers.

6. Appropriate building densities and land uses should be within walking distance of transit stops, permitting
public transit to become a viable alternative to the automobile.
7. 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.

8. The 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.

9. A range of parks, from tot-lots and village greens to ballfields and community gardens, should be distributed
within neighborhoods. Conservation areas and open lands should be used to define and connect different
neighborhoods and districts.

THE BLOCK, THE STREET, AND THE BUILDING (Watson, et. al, 2003)

1. A primary task of all urban architecture and landscape design is the physical definition of streets
and public spaces as places of shared use.

2. Individual architectural projects should be seamlessly linked to their surroundings. This issue transcends style.

3. 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.

4. In the contemporary metropolis, development must adequately accommodate automobiles. It should do so in

ways that respect the pedestrian and the form of public space.

5. Streets and squares should be safe, comfortable, and interesting to the pedestrian. Properly configured, they
encourage walking and enable neighbors to know each other and protect their communities.

6. Architecture and landscape design should grow from local climate, topography, history, and building practice.

7. Civic buildings and public gathering places require important sites to reinforce community identity and the
culture of democracy. They deserve distinctive form, because their role is different from that of other
buildings and places that constitute the fabric of the city.

8. 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-efficient than mechanical systems.

9. Preservation and renewal of historic buildings, districts, and landscapes affirm the continuity and
evolution of urban society.
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Some Design Application of New Urbanism: Traditional Neighborhood Development, Transit-oriented Development and
Design for Rural Conservation (Walters and Brown, 2004)

Image: Excerpts from the Regulating Code for Davidson, NC, Walters and Keane, 1995. The three-dimensional
controls for apartment buildings in terms of urban form and building scale and massing. The emphasis here and in all
other aspects of the code is making sure that buildings contribute effectively to making properly defined public spaces –
the streets, squares and parks of the community. (Diagrams courtesy of the Town of Davidson, NC) (Walters and
Brown, 2004)
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Image: Transit-oriented Development diagram. Developed originally as the ‘Pedestrian Pocket’by Peter Calthorpe in the
late 1980s, the concept of TOD has become widespread across the USA. This diagram, along with Figures 3.2 and 3.3
are taken from The Lexicon of The New Urbanism by Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company. (Diagram courtesy of
Duany Plater-Zyberk and Company) (Walters and Brown, 2004)

Image: A page from the original 1973 version of the Essex ‘Design Guide for Residential Areas.’ These drawings illustrate the
precept of using modest buildings to create coherent, spatially enclosed public space. (Illustration courtesy of Essex
County Council) (Walters and Brown, 2004)
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Matching Demand and Supply of Buildable Land (Serote, 2008)

The estimated available supply of buildable land is matched with the projected demand following the logical flow as shown
in the figure below:

Image: Demand Supply Balancing Model

Supply Management Strategies

Infilling – putting to use in-lying vacant or idle lands within the built-up envelope. Assessing how
much
land can be added to the supply by in-filling requires the conduct of a vacant land survey
Densification – increasing density of buildings per land surface area as indicated by the floor-area ratio
(FAR), and/or increasing the occupancy rate of existing multi-storey structures.
Urban renewal/redevelopment – conversion of slums and blighted areas from one-storey makeshift
dwellings to permanent medium-rise walk-up apartments easily increases residential density.
*Reclamation – producing new urban land by filling or draining portions of a lakeshore, seashore,
and similar waterfront areas, provided the resulting alternation of natural ecosystems will not result in
serious ecological imbalance, is a supply-augmentation scheme that needs to be carefully studied
before consideration.
*Agricultural land conversion – should be limited to agricultural lands with relatively low suitability for
cultivation to major food or cash crops. These areas are designated by the BSWM as “conditionally
restricted” areas for conversion. Extreme necessity could justify conversion of moderately suitable
agricultural lands designated as “moderately restricted” areas. Agricultural lands designated as “highly
restricted” however should be considered “no touch” or non-negotiable areas.
*not advisable, unless in extreme conditions and careful studies had been done

Demand Management Strategies

Improved rural services – intended to dampen the need or urge of rural dwellers to move to
areas. Vigorous agrarian reform, rural resettlement, rural electrification, efficient telecommunications are
urban
some examples of rural development interventions that effectively reduce rural to-urban migration.
Opening alternative growth centers – fast-growing barangays could be assisted to serve as service
centers for other barangays within their areas of influence, thus reducing the pressure on the poblacion
or traditional urban center to expand.
Relocation or resettlement – an effective way of decentralizing urban populations. The social,
economic and psychological costs to the affected population of this option however, are so high that
resettlement is often regarded as an unattractive alternative.
 Far Eastern University AUGUST 2021
Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts

Smart Growth (Walters and Brown, 2004)

Smart Growth means developing in ways that are environmentally responsible, economically viable, and well designed.
Also, new developments that are generated and regulated should involve citizens and stakeholders in an open democratic
forum. Some of the most important points under the headings of General Policies, Planning Strategies, and Urban Design
Concepts are as follow:

General policies
1. Plan collaboratively amongst municipalities within a region.

2. Target public investment to support development in key areas and to discourage development in others. Extend
suburban areas only in locations where they can be supported by existing public facilities and services, or by simple and
economic extensions of these services.

3. Reinforce the centers of cities, towns and neighborhoods. Locate regional attractions in city centers wherever possible,
not in suburban locations.

4. Make development decisions predictable, fair, and cost effective. Involve community stakeholders and citizens in the
decision-making process. Require zoning decisions to follow the adopted plan.

5. Provide incentives and remove some legislative barriers to persuade and enable developers to do the right
thing. Make it easy to build smart developments and harder to build sprawl.

Planning strategies

6. Integrate land use and transportation planning to minimize the number of trips by car and the distances
driven. Provide a range of transportation choices to mitigate congestion.

7. Create a range of affordable housing opportunities and choices.

8. Preserve open space around and within the community, as working farmland, areas of natural beauty
or areas with fragile environments.

9. Maximize the capacity of existing infrastructure by reusing derelict urban sites and filling in gaps in the urban fabric.
Preserve historic buildings and neighborhoods and convert older buildings to new uses wherever possible.

10. Foster a distinctive sense of place as a building block of community development.

Urban design concepts

11. Create compact, walkable neighborhoods with connected streets, sidewalks and street trees to make walking to work,
to school, to the bus stop or train station, or just walking for pleasure and exercise, safe, convenient and attractive.
Integrate offices and shops, along with community facilities such as schools, churches, libraries, parks, and playgrounds
into neighborhoods to create places to walk to and reduce vehicle trips. Design for densities that can support active
neighbourhood life.

12. Make public spaces the focus of building orientation and neighborhood activity. Move large car parks
away from streets and screen them with buildings.

13. Think three-dimensionally! Envision your community in urban design detail.