TOWN PLANNING

TOWN PLANNING

TOWN PLANNING

Town Planning

“Town planning is the planning and design of all new buildings, roads and parks in order to make them attractive and convenient for people who live there”.

Objects of Town Planning:

The four essential objects of town planning are beauty, convenience, environment and health.

1)          Beauty:The object of beauty is achieved by taking the most possible advantages of the natural conditions surrounding the town and also by giving the architectural finishes to the various components of town. it also include the preservation of trees, natural greenery. architectural control on public as well as semi-public buildings, ancient architectural buildings, temples, churches, mosques, buildings of cultural and historical significance, etc

2)          Convenience:The object of convenience is understood in the form of various economic, social and recreational amenities to be given to the public. These amenities include cheap power and electricity, proper sites for industrial units, transport facilities, adequate power supply, easy disposal of sewage and industrial waste, facilities to commercial units, ets. The recreational amenities include open spaces, parks, town halls, playgrounds, cinema houses, community centers, stadiums, est.

3)          Environment:The object of environment is important in the sense that environment should be moulded in such a way that man can go about his normal activities with the least amount of strain. The complex problems of the modern society such as tiresome travel to work, long hours of work, limited time spent within the community etc. have gradually led toward serious mal-adjustments between the human being and the type of life he had to live .town planning is mainly concerned with bringing about a better relationship between man and his environment.

4)          Health:The object of health is accommodated in town planning scheme by making right use of land for right purpose. By providing parks and playgrounds for the public. By maintaining the pollution at lowest possible degree, etc it is achieved by dividing the land into zones such as residential, commercial etc.

It is however, necessary for the town planner to maintain a proper balance between the four objects mentioned above.

PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING TOWN

PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING TOWN

PRINCIPLES OF PLANNING TOWN

Principle of Town Planning

The subject of town planning demands the knowledge of various professions, especially those of engineering, architecture and surveying. The town should not be design only to satisfy the needs of future generation. But the probable growth and development of the town should be suitably conceived by the town planner and it should be seen that the town does not develop in a haphazard fashion.

Some of the guideline principles of the town planning are as follow:

• Green belt
• Housing
• Public buildings
• Recreation centers
• Road systems
• Transport facilities
• Zoning

• Green belt:The provision of green belt on the periphery of the town results in limitation of its size and hence, final size of the town can well be anticipated.

• Housing:Extreme care should be taken to provide housing accommodation to various categories of the people. It should be observed that there is no development of slum and further, if slums are existing, they are cleared by the provision of some alternative arrangement.

• Public buildings:There should be a well-balanced grouping and distribution of various public buildings throughout the town. The unnecessary concentration of public buildings at the certain spot of the town should be avoided.

• Recreation centers:Depending upon the size of town, enough space should be reserved for the development as recreation centers for the general public.

• Road system:The efficiency of the town is measured by the layout of its road system. A nicely designed road system puts a great impression in the minds of people especially the visitors to the town. The provision of faulty road system in the initial stages of the town formation proves to be too difficult and costly to repair or to re-arrange in future.

• Transport facilities:The town should be provided with suitable transport facilities so that there is minimum loss of time from place of work to the place of residence.

• Zoning:The town should be divided in suitable zones such as commercial zone, industrial zone, residential zone etc. and suitable rules and regulation should be formed for the  development of each zone.

PLANNING OF THE MODERN TOWN

PLANNING OF THE MODERN TOWN

PLANNING OF THE MODERN TOWN

Modern Town Plan

The procedure for preparing the outline plan of the modern town depends on skills, training and imagination of the town planner. A proper combination of function and site would result in the formation of a successful modern town.

The usual features which involve in the plan of modern town are as follow:

• Spaces for residence, commerce and industry
• Communication system
• Parks and playgrounds
• Public utility services
• Neighborhood structures, and
• Public buildings

The spaces to be allotted for various features can be studied from the study of existing towns or they can be suitably judged from the experience of the town planner. In the beginning, the town planner prepares the outline plane accommodating the above features and if necessary, one or more alternatives are also prepared and then, by trial and error a combination giving maximum benefit of site with the faction or functions of town adopted

The impotent points to be remembered in the planning of modern town are as follow:

• The provision of various public utilities should be liberal to meet with future requirements.
• The road system should be well designed after careful considerations and it should be able to develop a good bond between different zones of the town.
• Enough provision should be made in outline plan for parks, playgrounds and recreation centers.
• The industrial area should be properly located and provision of facilities required for the same should be made.
• Extreme care should be taken for the planning of residential area and amenities such as school, local shops etc.
• The public buildings should be located in such a way that favorable impression is developed on the visitors.
• The study of existing railway line will help in finalizing the location of main railway station for the town.
• The natural features of the site should be preserved and maximum advantage should be taken of such features for public enjoyment.

After this the outline plan finalized, the detailed planning of various area of the town is carried out.
The urban planner at present is facing with problems of designing new towns and cities to meet rapidly changing life styles of society.

CIVIC SURVEY

CIVIC SURVEY

CIVIC SURVEY

Civic Survey

The civic or town survey is conducted with special reference to the conditions prevailing in and around the town to be planned. The topics which are usually covered in the civic survey are as follow:

• Communication Amenities:The means of communication such as roads, railways and waterways are studied togather with their inter-relationship. A study of the characteristics of traffic and its density also made.

• Contour:The study of contours of the area helps in deciding the gradients of roads, location of waterworks and sewage plants, etc. the information regarding contour of the area is also utilized in the location of public building which require commanding sites and of airport which required a leveled ground.

• Existing land use and land values:It includes the study of agricultural lands, residential and commercial areas, parks, open spaces, location of airports etc. it also help in deciding the amount of betterment charges and in getting an overall picture of the financial implications or liabilities in planning a town.

• Historical background:It includes the study of general historical development of the town, present policy of administration, physical and social aspects of the area, etc.

• Housing:The characteristics of houses, distribution and reaction of people to houses, etc. are studied

• Industries:The character, distribution, types and special requirements of the local industries are studied.

• It includes the study of the present and future population to be served by the town planning scheme, family structure, density of population, migration tendensies etc.

• Preservation of natural features:The buildings, open spaces and spots of the natural beauty, which are ato be preserved, are considered.

• PublicIt includes the study of buildings to be used by common people.

• Public health:A study is made of the general health of inhabitants, death rate, causes of special diseases etc.

• Public services:A study of public services such as water supply, sewerage, telephone, gas, electricity, etc. is made

• Topography :The topography of the area is studied with refrence to clmatic conditions, location of rivers and streams, etc

ZONING

ZONING

ZONING

zoning

The  zoning is defined as   “the regulation by the law of use of land, buildings and the height and density of buildings is the specific area for the purpose of securing convenience, health, safety and general welfare of community.

Objects of zoningThe objects and purposes of zoning are as follow:

• The town planner gets ample opportunities for designing the future growth and development of town. The zoning serves as main tool to the town planner to achieve his goal.
• The zoning affords proper co-ordination of various public amenities such as transport facilities, water supply, drainage, electric power
• The zoning proves to be an effective instrument in the hands of town planner for making any town planning scheme effective and successful. 

Principles of Town PlanningThe main principles of zoning are as follow:

• Arrangement of zones:The usual pattern of zones is in the form of concentric bands. The central area of the town is followed the sub-central area, the intermediate area and the undeveloped area. The other pattern of zones would be to provide blocks or units for various use in different parts of the town.

• Boundaries:The design of boundaries for different zones should be carefully made. A Street or road usually does not provide a suitable boundary. A railway line or parker an open green space may prove to be satisfactory boundary.

• Existing town:When zoning is to be applied to an existing town, the information regarding to the existing use of land is gathered and as for as possible, the town is dividing into the zones by considering the pre-dominant use in particular areas. However, the existing use of land can only be altered, if there are substantial grounds to justify such alteration.

• Flexibility:The principles of zoning may be rigidly enforced. But at the same time, care should be taken to observe the flexibility in working out the details of zoning. for instance home should be very near to the place of work to reduce time and cost of travel. But at the same time, they should not be too near to be dislike by inhabitants for residence. Similarly, the small shopping centers for day-to-day requirements should be allowed in residential zone.

• New towns:For designing new town of known population, the areas required for residence, industry and business are worked out with the help of suitable methods.

ADVANTAGES OF ZONING

ADVANTAGES OF ZONING

ADVANTAGES OF ZONING

zoning

Following are the advantages of zoning:

• Danger for fire:The zoning results into minimum chances of fire occurrence and consequently the damages due to fire are brought down to the minimum level.

• Future development:If zoning is adopted it results into controlled future development of the town with proper regards to the community welfare as main criteria.

• General amenities:The zoning provides for general amenities such as parks, playgrounds, cinemas, shopping centers, and schools est. In their proper surroundings and it avoid undue wastage of time, money and space.

• Health of community:If zoning is properly done, it results in considerable improvement in the health of the community as a whole. The zoning prevents the invasion of undesirable industries on the residential area. Thus the harmful gases and the odor are prevented from entering or attacking the residential area by force of wind.

• Population distribution:The zoning regulates the density of population and there is no undue concentration of population in any part of the town.

• Public utility services:The zoning permits the economic use of various public utility services such as water supply, drainage lines, telephones, etc.

LOCATION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS

LOCATION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS

LOCATION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS

The town planner should give careful considerations for the location of various public buildings such as town hall, auditorium, municipal buildings, post offices, central public library, university campus, schools, hospitals, etc

Following factors should be examined at the time of site selection for the public buildings:

• Fore ground
• Grouping
• Monumental buildings
• Parking space
• Purpose

•  Fore ground:The site of public building should have sufficient foreground so that a full view may be obtained ant it can be seen to its best advantage. For achieving better results, it is desirable that the observer should be at a distance equal to twice the height of the building. the shape of foreground should rather be oblong

• Grouping:The public buildings whose factions are interrelated should be located very near to each other. If possible, it is desirable to form a grouping of such public buildings on a common site.

• Monumental buildings:A monumental building should, if possible, be located at the summit of a grade in hilly countries so that it can be seen with advantage from avenues approaching it. The sites with a park view or river front or sea front or axis of parkway are also excellent for location of the public buildings.

• Parking space:The sites for certain public buildings such as town hall, hospital etc have an ample and adequate parking space around them.

• Purpose:The site should be of easy access and best suited to the purpose for which the public building is intended.

Some of the illustrations are as follow.

ü  The central library should be readily accessible to the whole or part of the city it serves and should be in a quiet place with ample open space around it.
ü  The educational institutions like university campus which provides residential facilities may be on the outskirts of the city in park like surroundings and on extensive areas sufficient for future development. The schools and other small educational institutions should be located in the residential areas.
ü  The hospitals should be, as far as possible, in the closely inhabited areaso as to be readily accessible for all the people. They should also be free from noise and dust and should have sufficient area for future expansion.
ü  The main post office should, if possible, be near the railway station and within easy walking distance from the business center.
ü  The municipal and govt buildings should be near the main business area of the town. But they should be on the edge and not in the center of this area.
ü  The sanatorium, medical hospitals and other special medical institutions should be located away from the center of the town.
ü  The town hall should be located near the transit facilities

CLASSIFICATION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS

CLASSIFICATION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS

CLASSIFICATION OF PUBLIC BUILDINGS

Public Building

The public buildings can be classified into the following four categories

• Dependant buildings:These are the buildings whose functions are related to each other and therefore they can be grouped together in the form of civic centers, recreational and art centers, public markets etc.

• Independent buildings:These are the buildings which have to stand alone such as monumental buildings etc.

• Institutional buildings:These buildings are in the form of institutions, mostly educational and they include schools, colleges, etc.

• Miscellaneous buildings:These buildings provide services and amenities to the town and they include power houses, pumping stations, sewage disposal plants, etc.

DEVELOPMENT OR MASTER PLAN

DEVELOPMENT OR MASTER PLAN

DEVELOPMENT OR MASTER PLAN

Modern Town Plan

It may be defined as “A general plan for future layout of a city showing both exiting and proposed streets and roads, open spaces, public buildings, etc.

 Objects of development plan

Following are the main objects of preparing a development plan for the town

• It aims at intelligent and economic spending of the public funds for achieving welfare of the inhabitants in respect of amenity, convenience and health.
• It arranges the pattern of a town in such a way so as to satisfy the present requirements without introduction of future improvements by the coming generations.
• It helps in restricting the haphazard and unplanned growth.
• It places various functions which a town has to perform in physical relationship of each other so as to avoid the chances of mutual conflict
• It removes the defects of uncoordinated  physical  growth of  various components of town due to the fact that it considers the entire city area of town as planning and development entity
• It serves as a guide to the planning body for making any recommendations for public improvement.

ROAD JUNCTIONS OR INTERSECTIONS

ROAD JUNCTIONS OR INTERSECTIONS

Written by admin | September 13, 2012 | 0Edit

ROAD JUNCTIONS OR INTERSECTIONS

“The general term junction or intersection describes all roadway situations where two or more roads meet or cross one another at the same or different elevations.
The design and layout of road junctions demand careful considerations from the view pint of traffic management because it is very essential to have safety of vehicular traffic and pedestrians at such places

The factors to be considered while making selection for a particular type of road junction are as follows:

v  Availability of means of traffic control
v  Degree of traffic congestion
v  Funds availablev  Number of intersecting streets or roads
v  Volume and nature of traffic

The basic consideration in the design and operation of intersections must be the capabilities and limitations of the drivers, pedestrians and vehicles using the facility.
The general principles to be observed in the design of road junctions to minimize the risk of accidents are as follows:

• Angle of crossingAs far as possible, the acute angled junction’s should be avoided. The subsidiary roads should be made to meet at right angles to the main roads as far as possible.

• CamberAt junctions, the camber usually allowed is avoided and as far as possible, the whole area of the road junction should be done in one level

• ChannelizingThe road junctions should be properly channelized i.e. the number of conflict of traffic are minimized and lines of flow of traffic are made to cross at right angles or nearly at right angles. A properly channelized road junction permits right actions to do smoothly and makes wrong actions difficult

• Entry speedsThe road junctions should be designed in such a way that high entry speeds are discouraged.

• GradientIt is desirable to avoid change of gradient at the road junctions

• Importance of roadsIf road junction is meant for major roads and local roads, the latter should be carried under or over the former by subways or bridges respectively

• KrebsTo demarcate the boundary between the road and footpath, the kerbs are provided. They should be of suitable and should be made visible at night

• Pedestrians trafficFor road junctions having heavy pedestrian traffic, the hand rails should be provided adjacent to the kerbs with opening at pedestrian crossings.

• SimplicityThe road junction should be made as simple as possible. The rotes for traffic across the junction should be clearly defined and they should be obvious, especially if the driver is a stranger

• VisibilityThere should be ample visibility at the road junction. Each driver approaching the road junction should be capable of clearly seeing the vehicles coming from other directions. In that case only, he will be able to slow down his vehicle at junction, if found necessary.

The arrangements made at important road junctions can be divided into following three categories

• Traffic island
• Roundabouts or rosaries
• Grade separations

Traffic islands:

Junction

The space at a road junction over which traffic is not allowed to move is known as a traffic island
The arrangements at road junctions in the form of islands serve the following five objects:

• The efficiency of traffic handling is increased
• There is segregation of traffic in proper channels as they serve as guide to driver to negotiating the junctions
• The traffic island serves as shelter for pedestrians crossing the roads.
• The vehicles are compelled to move in one direction only and separate strips across the roads are provided for the crossing of pedestrians. Thus the chances of accidents are reduced
• They provide the proper place for the installation of traffic signs and other controlling devices

Traffic island  fig( a) 

Junction

REQUIREMENTS OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

REQUIREMENTS OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

REQUIREMENTS OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

Residential Building

A good residential building satisfies the requirements of its inhabitants in the best possible manner. The requirements of residential building can briefly be summarized as follows

• Height

It is desirable that the height of the building should be in proportion with the width of road or street

• Location

The residential building should be located in such a way theta freedom from nuisances such as dust, noise, smoke and smell is guaranteed. Future the location of the building should be near to means of transport, markets, school, hospitals, etc

• Orientation

The building should be suitably oriented with respect to rain, such and wind.

• Parks

The building should be located neat=r to parks and paly grounds and it should be possible for the children to reach to parks without crossing main roads

• Privacy

The overall design of the building should be such that it affords maximum privacy to it users. It is desirable or provide the feature to privacy in the design of a building even at the sacrifice of some architectural need

• Security

The construction of th building should be such that it affords safety and security against theft and fire. If possible it should contain a strong room for the storage of valuables

• Space

The floor space as well as the total cubical contents of the building should be in proportion with the number of persons likely to use the building. According to one standard the floor area and cubical contents per member should respectively be at least 4.65m2 and8.50m3

• Utility services

The building should be provided with electricity, water and drainage facilities at reasonable costs

• Ventilation

The rooms of the buildings should be fully ventilated. Each room should get enough air and light

CLASSIFICATION OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

CLASSIFICATION OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

CLASSIFICATION OF RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

Residential Buildings

The residential buildings may broadly classified in five categories as follows

• Detached houses
• Semi-detached houses
• Row of houses
• Apartments or flats
• Skyscrapers

The house may consist of a single treatment or a number of treatments. It should be noted that housing parlance, a tenement means a family unit. Each category to residential building will now a briefly described

• Detached houses

It is usually the tendency of any family to have a house surrounding by its own land. This has led to the formation of detached houses. The design of detached house can be made by considering the individual requirements of a family to be accommodated inn that house. Sufficient margined are left on sides, front and rear. It may also include amenities such as private garden, swimming pool etc. a detached house permits the highest form of residence and it is applicable at place where land prices are comparatively low.

• Semi detached houses:

A common boundary wall in the form of structural barrier divided an independent plot into two units. Such a construction helps in securing many advantages of the detached type of houses and in addition, economy may be achieved by sharing expenses of common amenities such as water lines, drainage line, electric cables, etc

• Row of houses

For providing reasonable accommodation to the laborers or workers, a row of houses with minimum requirement such s living rooms, kitchen, may be constructed. It may be singled storied or two storied. It is preformed for the low income group of families

• Apartments or Flats

Due to tendency of migration by village population to cities, there is considerable rise in price of city land and hence it has it has become practically possible even for the higher class of society to have a detached house in a thickly populated city area. This has led to the conception of apartment of flats

An apartment or a flat consists o three to seven storied and each floor of storey may accommodate two or four tenements

• Skyscrapers:

The growing need of land and consequently sudden shooting rise in price of land in big cities further led to the conception of multi storied buildings or as they are popularly known as skyscrapers. As it always happens, the subject of skyscraper is divided in to two school oh thoughts. Some town planner favor the idea of skyscrapers while other do not agree on this point

SLUMS

SLUMS

SLUMS

Slums

The prime characteristic of slums is substandard housing. But a slum is always an area. a single neglected building, even in the worst stage of deterioration, does not make a slum. Thus the areas characterized by sub standard housing conditions with a city are known as the slums.
A scholar  rightly observed that” god made the world man made the town but devil made the slum”

Cause of slums

The formation of slums area in any town is due the various reasons. Following are the main cause s of slums

• Decentralization

When decentralization take place the rich and middle class people move out of the extended portions of the town and thus the poor people are left unattended in the overcrowded central area of the town

• Economic conditions

The unemployment and growth of population may force the affected persons to stay even in unhealthy atmosphere in fact  the most important and universal characteristic of slum is poverty

• Education

If the inhabitant are lacking in education they may be easily dragged into social evil without any attention to improvement of the living condition

• Improper use of land

If the lands fit for residence are used for industries or vice versa the slums are formed

• Industrialization

The slums may be said to be the direct evil result from industrialization which in the early stages never took care of planning houses of labor

• Lack of zoning

If the town is not divided into the suitable zones and development is allowed to take place at random, the slums may be created

• Migrants

The persons migrating from the surrounding areas may occupy, usually illegally, the vacant or empty places in or out the city

• Powers of local authorities

If the local authority is concerned does not possess adequate powers to control the development of town, the slums may be formed

• Repair and maintained

If cheap houses constructed by the land owner for the purpose of collect\ng rents are not properly maintained, then the slums may forms

PAVEMENT

PAVEMENT

PAVEMENT

Road Pavement

A pavement is smooth surface or matalled structure built to carry the traffic load under climate conditions.

Why Needed?               A pavement structure is provided for

• The natural earth surface cannot support the modern heavy wheel loads.
• The natural earth surface cannot provide an adequate smooth wearing surface.

Therefore a constructed pavement distributes the wheel load sufficiently and provides a necessary smooth wearing surface.

ROAD PAVEMENT               Road pavements are generally classified into two types:

• Flexible Pavement     The pavement which have very low flexural strength and are flexible in their structural behavior under the wheel loads are called flexible pavement.

Flexible Pavement

• Rigid Pavement     Rigid pavements are those which process considerable flexural strength in their structure behavior.

Rigid Pavement

Compression between Rigid & Flexible Pavement

Points	Flexible	Rigid
Design precession	Less	More
Life	Less	More
Initial cost	Less	High
Maintenance	High	Less
Stage construction	Feasible	Not feasible
Penetration of water	Less impervious	More impervious
Sub grade	Required strong strata	Do not heavily depend on it
Opening of traffic soon after construction	Soon after	3-4 days after construction
Night visibility	Less	More
Tractive  resistance	More	Less
Glazing effect	More	Less

Design of Flexible Pavement               The following are the four universal recognized factors which must be considered in the design of flexible pavement.

1)     The characteristics of natural soil
2)     The volume and character of traffic that will use the highway
3)     Design speed for vehicle
4)     The climate conditions

Method of Design of Flexible Pavement               Following of two methods for the design of flexible pavement.

• GI MethodGI of a soil is a number which reflects the characteristics of oil. The value of GI varies from 0-20. The sub base thickness is directly proportional to the group index of the soil, thus higher the group index of the soil the larger is the thickness of sub base. The thickness of the base and surface course varies with the volume of daily traffic.

• CBR MethodCBR of a soil or material which varies from 0-100% give an idea about the quality of a material compared to that of an excellent base material for which the CBR is assumed to be 100%. There are many version of CBR method for flexible pavement design. Due importance has been given by certain agencies to account for differences in annual rain fall, position of ground water table, frost action, sub surface drainage condition and traffic.

VARIOUS COMPONENT OF ROAD SURFACE

VARIOUS COMPONENT OF ROAD SURFACE

VARIOUS COMPONENT OF ROAD SURFACE

Component of Road

        The following are the various components of road surface

1.      Sub Grade                 Top of the ground on which the foundation of a road rest is called sub grade. The level of the sub grade is decided by subtracting the total thickness of the pavement from the finished level of road pavement. Strength and durability of road depends on its sub grade.

2.      Sub Base             When the bearing capacity of soil is poor and the intensity of traffic is high an additional layer is provided between soil and sub grade. This additional layer is called sub base.

3.      Base             The foundation of a road is called base. Thickness of base should be more than 30cm. the base coarse receives the impact of traffic through wearing coarse. The load of traffic is transferred to sub base and sub grade through base.

4.      Wearing Coarse             The super structure of road is called wearing course or road surfacing; it should be stable, durable and impervious. The wearing coarse may be laid in 1 or 2 layer according to the total design thickness and each layer should not exceed 10 cm. thickness of road surfacing depends upon type of traffic, intensity of traffic and type of materia