https://littlemissurbanite.

com/2016/07/05/the-enp-board-review-series-part-7-laws-
governing-environmental-planning/

The overall basis is our Constitution. Take note that other laws’ objectives, or the Declaration of
Policy, always refer to the what is best for the State, as is written in the Constitution. Tip: Sometimes
Article numbers come up in the exam.

 The 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines

Then before we go into the institutions and environmental laws, there’s the basis of
environmental planning and practice.

 RA 10587: Environmental Planning Act of 2013 (The old law is PD 1308: Law Regulating the
Environmental Planning Profession in the Philippines)
 Res. No. 01 Series of 1997: Code of Ethics for Environmental Planners in the Philippines
 Then I’ll just put this here because professionals have to know: RA 8981: PRC Modernization Act of
2000

It is helpful to understand how government entities were created so that before going into the laws
that discuss their further activities and what they should be policing, you will have a sound structure
of what their mandates and functions are.

 RA 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991 We understand here the devolution of powers and
functions to the local governments.
 For the housing, shelter and urban development agencies: PD 933: Creating the Human Settlements
Commission, which is now Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB); EO 90: Identifying
government agencies for the National Shelter Program and the creation of HUDCC; PD No.
757: Creating the National Housing Authority and dissolving the existing housing agencies, defining its
powers and functions, providing funds therefor, and for other purposes. Here are the links to trace the
histories of NHA, HLURB, HUDCC, and SHFC.
 EO 192 s 1987: Providing for the reorganization of the Department of Environment, Energy, and
Natural Resources, renaming it as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and for other
purposes
 PD 107: Creating the National Economic Development Authority
 For entities that have to do with waterworks: Amended PD 198 (2010) and other related
issuances: Provincial Water Utilities Act of 1973, Local Water District Law, Local Water Utilities
Administration Law, etc.; RA 6234: An act creating the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage
System and dissolving the National Waterworks and Sewerage Authority; and for other purposes
 RA 4850: Creating the Laguna Lake Development Authority

Housing, shelter, estate development, urban development

 RA 7279: Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 (with IRR and amendment: RA 9397)
 EO 71: Devolving the powers of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board to approve subdivision
plans, to cities and municipalities pursuant to RA 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government
Code of 1991
 EO 72: Providing for the preparation and implementation of the Comprehensive Land Use Plans of
Local Government Units pursuant to the Local Government Code of 1991 and other pertinent laws
 Batas Pambansa 220 (with revised IRR of 2001): An Act Authorizing the Ministry of Human
Settlements to establish and promulgate different levels of standards and technical requirements for
economic and socialized housing projects in urban and rural areas from those provided under
Presidential decrees numbered 957, 1216, 1096, and 1185
 PD 957: Subdivision & Condominium Buyers’ Protective Decree (with IRR)
 RA 4726: The Condominium Act of 1995
 RA 7835: Comprehensive and Integrated Shelter Financing Act of 1994
 RA 9507: Socialized and Low-cost Housing Loan Restructuring Act of 2008
 EO 184 of 1994: Creating socialized housing one-stop processing centers to facilitate the processing
and issuance of permits, clearances, certifications, and licenses appropriate and necessary for the
implementation of socialized housing projects, and directing all government agencies concerned to
support the operations of the said centers
 House Bill 3769 / Senate Bill 2458: Local Housing Boards
 RA 9904: Magna Carta for Homeowners and Homeowners Associations (IRR)

I found that reviewing laws according to development sector was effective for me, so that’s the way
I’ll list them here.

Environmental laws

I’ll group the environmental laws according to land, mineral resources, energy, wildlife, water, air,
and pollution control. These all interlace at some point, but for for organization purposes, let’s study
it as grouped.

Introductory and general laws on the environment

 PD 1151: Philippine Environmental Policy

 PD 1152: Philippine Environmental Code
 RA 9512: National Environmental Awareness and Education Act of 2008

Land Management

1. Commonwealth Act 141: The Public Land Act. Yes, this was enacted in 1936 and is enforced to date.
2. PD 1517: The Urban Land Reform
3. PD 27: Decreeing the emancipation of tenants from the bondage of the soil, transferring to them the
ownership of the land they till and providing the instruments and mechanism therefor
4. PD 1529: Amending and codifying the laws relative to registration of property and for other purposes
5. RA 11023: An Act Authorizing the Issuance of Free Patents to Residential Lands

(I placed all laws on agriculture and agrarian reform later on in this post, under the heading of
economic laws for agriculture.)
 Mineral Resources

1. RA 7942: Philippine Mining Act of 1995 (with DMO 99-34 Clarificatory Guidelines)
2. RA 7076: Peoples’ Small Scale Mining Act
3. PD 1899: Establishing Small Scale Mining as a new Dimension in Mineral Development

Energy

1. RA 9367: Biofuels Act of 2006

2. RA 9513: Renewable Energy Act of 2008

Forestry

1. PD 705: Revised Forestry Code

2. PD 953: Requiring the planting of trees in certain places and penalizing unauthorized cutting,
destruction, damaging, and injuring of certain trees, plants, and vegetation
3. EO 263: Adopting community-based forest management as the national strategy to ensure the
sustainable development of the country’s forestlands resources and providing mechanisms for its
implementation
4. RA 9175: Chainsaw Act of 2002

Wildlife and Biodiversity Conservation and Protected or Critical Areas

1. RA 9147: Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act

2. RA 7611: Strategic Environment Plan for Palawan Act, which created the Palawan Council for
Sustainable Development (PCSD)
3. RA 9072: National Caves and Cave Resources Management and Protection Act
4. RA 7586: National Integrated Protected Areas System Law of 1992 (with IRR, also DENR AO 2008-
26)
5. PD1586: Environmental Impact Assessment
6. DENR DAO 1996-37 Environmental Impact System
7. Proclamation No. 2146: Proclaiming certain areas and types of projects as environmentally critical and
within the scope of environmental impact statement system established under PD 1586

Water Use and Management

1. PD 1067: Water Code of 1976 (with IRR)

2. RA 9275: Clean Water Act of 2004 (with DAO 05-10 and IRR)
3. RA 8041: National Water Crisis Act of 1995

Air Management

1. RA 8749: The Clean Air Act of 1999

2. DENR DAO 2003-51: Revised Vehicle Emission Standards

Waste
1. RA 9003: Ecological Solid Waste Management of 2001 (with IRR)
2. RA 6969: Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990
3. PD 825: Anti-Littering (Garbage Disposal)
4. PD 856: Sanitation Code of 1975 (with IRR)

Climate change adaptation and Disaster risk reduction (CCA-DRR)

1. RA 9729: Climate Change Act of 2009, which created the Climate Change Commission
2. RA 10121: The Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Law of 2010, which created the
NDRRMC
3. I’ll put the Fire Code here because it’s part of DRR. RA 9514: Revised Fire Code of 2008

Social, cultural, and institutional laws

1. RA 8371: Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997, which created the National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP)
2. RA 10066: National Culture Heritage Act of 2010
3. RA 9418: Volunteer Act of 2007
4. RA 9710: Magna Carta of Women of 2009 (IRR)
5. RA 7877: Anti-Sexual Harassment Act of 1995
6. RA 9485: Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007
7. RA 9184 Procurement Law (with IRR as per EO 40 of 2001). Brace yourself for how long and detailed
this law is. Here’s a presentation by the Government Procurement and Policy Board to sum up the law
and present it in the simplest way.

(#s 5 and 6 were referenced during my exam, so best to include them here.)

Economic Laws

Agricultural, agrarian reform, and fishery laws

1. For the series of laws on agrarian tenancy and reform, we have a list: RA 1199: Agricultural Tenancy
Act; RA 3844: Agrarian Reform of 1963 (this link is a direct download); RA 6657 Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law of 1988; RA 7907 Amended Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines; RA
9700 Extension of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
2. RA 8435: Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA), which brought about the delineation
of SAFDZs (strategic agriculture and fisheries development zones) which are very important in land
use
3. RA 8550: Fisheries Code of 1998 (with IRR). This law gives guidance on the privileges of fishing
within municipal waters (as does RA 7160), as well as the FARMCs (fisheries and aquatic resources
management councils)
4. EO 481: Promotion and Development of Organic Agriculture in the Philippines

Commerce and credit, services, and economic zones

1. RA 7916: The Special Economic Zone Act of 1995 (with IRR), which established the Ecozones and
created the PEZA (Philippine Economic Zone Authority) that is attached to the DTI.
2. RA 9593 Tourism Act 2009 (with IRR), which created the TIEZA (Tourism Infrastructure and
Enterprise Zone Authority), and designated the TEZs (Tourism enterprise zones), greenfield tourism
zones, and brownfield tourism zones
3. EO 226: Omnibus Investments Code of 1987, which protects our Philippine enterprises and states our
business rights
4. RA 9520: Revised Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008
5. RA 9510: Credit Information System Act of 2008
6. RA 6977: Magna Carta for Small Enterprises
7. RA 9501: Amendments to Magna Carta for Small Enterprises, which became inclusive of micro-,
small-, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)

Infrastructural laws

1. RA 6541: National Building Code (with IRR of 2004–IRR link is a direct download)
2. RA 6957 and RA 7718 (amendment): Financing, construction, operation, and maintenance of
infrastructure projects by the private sector (with IRR and Joint Venture Guidelines), where guidelines
are given on build-operate-transfer (BOT) and build-and-transfer schemes with the private sector
3. RA 9295: Domestic Shipping Shipbuilding

International Covenants and Commitments

1. UN Declaration of Human Rights

2. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
3. International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
4. Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination
5. Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
6. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
7. Convention on the Rights of the Child
8. International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their
Families
9. Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of Prostitution of
Others
10. UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. I wrote a little bit about our history of climate change
commitments and efforts in another blog post (just scroll down to the part of Philippines and COP21).
11. Lastly, given the much-disputed Philippine Sea / China Sea territory, here’s the UNCLOS or UN
Convention on the Law of the Sea. While we’re at it, here’s RA 9522: Baselines of Philippine
Territorial Sea.

https://ccdreview.blogspot.com/search/label/EnP%20Physical%20Planning
 THE ENP BOARD REVIEW SERIES: PART
6A – URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING
HISTORY AND PRINCIPLES
APRIL 8, 2016BY ENPJEAN

This is the sixth part of the EnP board review series. I’m going to provide a timeline and discussion
on urban and regional planning history.

This lengthy part 6A post is going to cover the subject on history and principles. As much as this is
the most enjoyable part of the review (it is for me, anyway), only a mere portion of this may crop up
in the exam.

Tips

 Cluster the contributions according to their similarities, don’t memorise one by one. It’s what I
already did for this post, so you don’t go back and forth on sudden, familiar terms.
 Repeatedly read through the timeline to appreciate the development of urban planning.
 Names are important, dates are for reference. Works are for deeper appreciation. Principles matter
the most.
 I’m linking the names of the urbanists to the most concise biographies I can find online. Refer to
those for backgrounders, and to this post for their roles in urban and regional planning history.

Let’s start with the Ancients.

~~~
 First off: The Fertile Crescent and Ancient Egypt. These civilisations started the spread of
urbanisation. I will start with Mesopotamia, which dates all the way back to 10,000 BC.

Mesopotamia (presently Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Turkey, and Iran) (10,000 BC – 7th century AD)

 Is the scope of the Tigris-Euphrates river systems. Water was the basis for the earliest urban
development.

The Fertile Crescent was called so because

of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates and their adjoining water bodies.

 A major civilisation was Sumer, and the people created 15 city-states. These cities used water
canals and stones for their boundaries, and had a temple in its centre, dedicated to a patron
god/dess.
The Ziggurat (temple) of Ur (one of the city-states) showed how religion was very important to the
early civilisations. Source: purpleteal.wordpress.com

The ancient city-state of Ur. Observe how agricultural spots are present in the far north of the city,
and that the temple and special houses for leaders, which are the source of power, are protected
inside the walls, surrounded further by a moat. There is only a drawbridge to connect this special area
to the surrounding houses. Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com
 Ancient Egypt (3,000 – 300 BC)

 The power of and respect for religion extended all the way from the earliest of Mesopotamia all
the way to the Egyptian civilisation. Ancient Egyptians worshipped their kings as gods, and once
they died and were buried, lived forever. Thus the monumental temples, mortuaries, and tombs.
 The pyramids were constructed in capital cities, tying the power with the largest settlements. The
city of the dead is called a necropolis.

The temple of Hatsephsut (left) and the Pyramids of Giza (right) are examples of how the ancients
worshipped their buried kings. These grand tombs also exhibited perfect symmetry. Sources:
Wikipedia and cdni.condenast.co.uk

~~~
 Ancient Greece spanned three centuries (8th to 6th centuries BC). It saw the flourishing of
philosophy, art, and science in Classical Greece. Religion and politics directed movements and
development during this time. Ancient Greece is an influence to the Roman Empire and
eventually Western Civilisation.

Hippodamus of Miletus (498-408 BC)

 “Inventor / father of formal city planning”

 Made the Hippodamian Plan or the grid city to maximise winds in the summer and minimise them
in winter. This shows his geometric, arranged style in design
 Also worked on the Piraeus Port and Alexandria

Piraeus grid. Source: museumofthecity.org

The grid pattern was adopted worldwide. Satellite images give us appreciation:
Grids have their pros, such as the ease of mobility and administrative organization, but are also
criticised for lack of identity, and in some cases, lack of liveability. In the book Image of the City,
Kevin Lynch pointed out three observations about the grid of Los Angeles City. To quote:

As the core of a metropolis, central Los Angeles is heavily charged with meaning and activity,
with large and presumably distinctive buildings, and with a basic pattern: its almost regular grid
of streets. Yet a number of factors operate to result in a different, and less sharp, image than that
of Boston. First is the decentralisation of the metropolitan region, whereby the central area is
still by courtesy, “downtown,” but there are several other basic cores to which people are
oriented. The central area has intensive shopping, but it is no longer the best shopping, and
great numbers of citizens never enter the downtown area from one year to the next. Second the
grid pattern itself is an undifferentiated matrix, within which elements cannot always be located
with confidence. Third, the central activities are spatially extended and shifting, a fact
which dilutes their impact.
 Plato (428-347 BC)

 In his Dialogue, Plato established one of the oldest environmental law principles and an economic
idea: The Polluter Pays Principle. It states: “If any one internationally pollutes the water of
another, whether the water of a spring, or collected in reservoirs, either by poisonous substances,
or by digging, or by theft, let the injured party bring the cause before the wardens of the city, and
claim in writing the value of the loss; if the accused be found guilty of injuring the water by
deleterious substances, let him not only pay damages, but purify the stream or the cistern which
contains the water, in such manner as the laws… order the purification to be made by the offender
in each case.”
 This principle is reflected in our Philippine environmental laws. For example, in the
Environmental Code (Presidential Decree 1152), Section 20 discusses clean-up operations with
regard to water pollution:

It shall be the responsibility of the polluter to contain, remove, and clean-up water pollution
incidents at his own expense. In case of his failure to do so, the government agencies concerned
shall undertake containment, removal, and clean-up operations and expenses incurred in said
operations shall be against the persons and/or entities responsible for such pollution.

Aristotle (384-322 BC)

 Aristotle, in his distinction of corrective and distributive justice, provided the foundation for
the concept of intergenerational equity by stating that “Human well-being is realised only partly
by satisfying whatever people’s preferences happen to be at a particular time; it is also necessary
for successive generations to leave behind sufficient resources so that future generations are not
constrained in their preferences.” This is what is referred to as ‘for our children’s children, and
their children.’ (Source: An Introduction to Sustainable Development)
 Intergenerational equity is an approach of the United Nations for sustainable development, climate
justice and solidarity.

~~~
 The Roman Empire (29 BC – 393 AD) excelled in military science and engineering. This is
reflected in their designs and inventions, which were built to ease transport and enhance military
movement and strategies.

The City of Rome, the Imperial City

 The city was a military camp or castra, and had grand walls for protection
 Rectangular and grid-iron street patterns were used
 Source: the-
colosseum.net

 Notable infrastructure: The Forum, the Appian Way (Roman road or via appia), the Basilica,
arches, the Colosseum, and so on. The significance of all these infrastructure is, aside from
reflecting the Roman culture and needs, these were carried on to be used by the next civilisations,
even to the present time.
 More notably, the Romans were heavily dependent on water from the Tiber River, thus the
engineered sewerage, canals, hydraulics, and the Aqueduct.

The Roman Aqueduct. Source: roman aqueducts.info

 Despite the excellence in physical planning, engineering and architecture, the downfall of Rome
came from mostly socio-political reasons. The Vikings destroyed the Aqueduct, which cut the
 city’s lifeline. Religious divisions, absence of military discipline, murder, and citizen unrest also
brought about instability which eventually led to the fall of Rome.

~~~

The Medieval Period or the Middle Ages

Cathedral Cities

 Focal point of radial city growth was the cathedral or any similar monumental structure
 Retained the walled city from Roman practice
 The enclosure of the cities posed problems for growing populations because of the limited
resources, epidemics, and generally unhealthy environment.
Munich, Germany on Google Maps. Notice how growth radiated from the Frauenkirche or Cathedral of
Our Dear Lady (centre). It is also “walled” if you look at the street perimeter.

~~~
The Renaissance Period

Settlement growth during the renaissance is very similar to that of the middle ages, so it was
also radial in pattern.

Commerce was a driving factor of the renaissance period, calling for accessibility and easier
mobility. This led to the development of plans that follow the topography of an area.

Radial growth with fingers in Venice. Take note of how the settlements conform to topography.

The radial pattern that Venice exhibits is the star-shaped urban form. Doesn’t this look familiar–on a
20-million population scale? But this one is a combination of star growth and really bad

sprawling.
 You can
see the “fingers” of the settlements in Santa Rosa, Dasmarinas, and Tanza (south), and in Bulacan,
Rodriguez, and Binagonan (northeast).

Anyway, this star is characteristic of what Leone Battista Alberti (1404-1472) came up with in his
study of architecture. With principles from Plato and Aristotle, he wrote the De Re
Aedificatoria, which contained ten books of planning and design principles.

As I said, the growth of commerce played an important role in the different renaissance cities. Try to
find the similarities in the following maps of Florence, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, and Vienna.
Paris is a hallmark in European planning, so I’m devoting a part to have a closer look at the city.

Georges-Eugène Haussmann (1809-1891)’s work on the renovation of Paris is a distinguishable

accomplishment in planning. In his plan, the Arc de Triomphe became the center of twelve avenues,
radiating outward, connecting to the city. Baron Haussman also assured green spaces by lining the
avenues with trees and by using pocket parks all around the city. To date, this planning design is still
used for the development of other cities, making Paris the best planned city.
 Arc
de Triomphe. Source: travellingandfood.com

~~~
 The City Beautiful Movement (1800s to mid 1900s) emphasised beauty and aesthetics in design.
Think monuments, great and grand buildings, parks, perfect landscapes and lakes, and circular
road systems.

Daniel Hudson Burnham (1846-1912)

 Called the Father of American City Planning

 He designed the World’s Columbian Exposition, together with Frederick Law Olmsted and John
Wellborn Root. The plan for the expo was the first comprehensive planning document in the US.

The World’s Columbian Exposition.

Source: radford.edu

 He gave the famous quote: “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men`s blood and
probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work,
remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are
gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever- growing insistency. Remember that our sons
and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and
your beacon beauty.”
 His plans include Chicago (the greatest feat; was described as “Paris on a Prairie”), San
Francisco, Cleveland, and locally, Manila and Baguio.

Burnham’s plans for Chicago (left), Manila (centre), and Baguio (right). Sources: wikimedia.org and
burnhampi.files.wordpress.com

Canberra, Melbourne, and Washinton DC are cities that reflect the City Beautiful movement. Sources:
edu-geography.com, central equity.com.au, cdn.boulevards.com

Sir Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928)

 Wrote the book Garden Cities of Tomorrow. The book was first printed as “Tomorrow: A
Peaceful Path to Reform” in 1898, and was reprinted as Garden Cities of Tomorrow in 1902.
Howard addressed the population and pollution that came about during the industrial revolution by
creating garden cities.
 The concept of the three magnets, an illustration of the garden city, and the diagram of how the plan
will work. Source: scodpub.wordpress.com

 Howard’s umbrella concept was to create a 5,000-acre central city of 58,000 people with 1,000-
acre garden cities of 30,000 people (each) surrounding it so that anthropogenic activities and
growth would be controlled. (If 1 acre = 0.4 hectares, then the central city would be about 2,000
has. and the garden city would be 400 has. That’s like a city as big as Marikina surrounded by
garden cities as big as UP Diliman. Those would be really dense cities.) These cities had greens
and spaces all over, and would be connected by roads and railways for mobility. The logic behind
it was the three magnets, where he gave value to the relationship between town and country (in
Philippine terms, urban and regional areas).
 The garden city was continued by Howard’s followers, among them Sir Raymond Unwin, who
was the architect-planner for Letchworth, Sir Frederic James Osborn, who championed garden
cities, and Louis de Soissons, who was the architect for Welwyn. Unwin also wrote the
book Nothing Gained by Overcrowding.

Here’s how the garden cities actually look like:

Letchworth, the first Garden City. (Hertfordshire, United Kingdom) Sources: cashewnut.me.uk and
letchworth.com

Welwyn Garden City. Sources: cashwenut.me.uk and medias.photodeck.com

London’s Greenbelt, as shown in Unwin’s plan, and together with other greenbelts in Britain. Sources:
mediaarchitecture.at, theplanner.co.uk, and rtpilondoncalling.wordpress.com / Wikipedia. Here‘s an
interesting article that shows the greenbelt as a social space.
 Read about the garden city movement in detail in another post by the SCOD Public Blog.

Charles Edouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier (1887-1965)

 Created the Radiant City, where he designed very heavily with cubist aesthetics. With the
objective to decongest an entire city, he sought to house 3 million people in 60-storey buildings,
box-type houses, and orderly and rational city blocks. While this plan was modernist or futuristic
and very aesthetic, it was critiqued to be socially disadvantageous and unrealistic for settlements
because there were too many standards that catered to what was only temporary. It also became a
planning paradox in the sense that congestion was being solved by more congestion.
 Le Corbusier also wrote the books Urbanisme and The City of Tomorrow and Its Planning.

Le Ville Radieuse or the Radiant City. Sources: adsttc.com and rosswolfe.wordpress.com

Between Ebenezer Howard’s garden cities and Le Corbusier’s radiant city, the former was favored. It
also paved the way for new towns, where social and community issues were addressed. The
separation of people and cars also came into play, as well as the separation of homes from factories.

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959)

 Champion and proponent of urban decentralisation, and involved communities in his plans
 Designed the Broadacre City, a 1,000-hectare city complete with socio-economic amenities. This
planned city included social services in the forms of schools, trains, and museums, as well as
employment in the forms of markets, offices, nearby farms, and industrial areas. The one big
criticism on this plan was that Wright included a helicopter in it.
 The Quadruple Block Plan (left) and the Broadacre City (right). Sources: mediarchitecture.at and
metropolismag.com

Henry Wright (1878-1936) and Clarence Stein (1882-1975)

 These two go together because of their plan of Radburn, a garden city in New Jersey. Radburn was
designed to separate vehicles from pedestrians. It also used the concept of a superblock and
exhibited cul-de-sacs (meaning dead ends).

Radburn’s gardens and paths. Also, the plan showing the separation of people from cars. Sources:
Wikipedia and flickr.com,

 The superblock was created by Henry Wright. This was a series of homes surrounded by green
pathways.
 The
superblock. The cul-de-sacs (those little circle dead-ends), the garden walkway or “green island” in the
middle, and the thoroughfares are very obvious from this perspective. Source: pinimg.com

 Clarence Stein, on the other hand, initiated plans to produce greenbelt resettlements all over the
US. He wrote the book Toward New Towns for America.

These are the resettlement towns with garden city themes. (Left) Sunnyside Gardens, NJ,
(centre) Chatham Village, Pittsburgh, and (right) Baldwin Hills, LA. Sources: queensnyc.com,
pittsburghartplaces.org, amoeba.com

Clarence Perry (1872-1944)

 Perry made the concept of the neighbourhood unit. Similar to the superblock, it is bounded by
major streets and caters to its community with a church, a school and shops. This concept highly
values open spaces. This unit is very small, at only 200 sqm. up to 2 sqkm.
 The neighbourhood unit. Source: Wikipedia

~~~

The Regional Planning Movement

Sir Patrick Geddes (1954-1932)

 Introduced the notion of region and became the Father of Regional Planning. This came up from
his being a biologist, sociologist, and geographer all at the same time; he dissected the planning
environment by analysing the occupational activities, used observation, and combatted the
gridiron tradition with “conservative surgery” in planning. He came up with the Valley Section,
shown below.
 The Valley
Section. This shows the major occupations per area. Source: spur.org

Yes,
the Valley Section is exactly what we’re using in land use planning today. That’s the ridge-to-reef
transect. Source: HLURB CLUP Guidebook Vol. 1

 Also introduced the term conurbation, which means “an aggregation of continuous network of
urban communities.” Or simply, “A large area consisting of cities that have grown so that there is
very little room between them.” (Merriam Webster) This is what it looks like:
 Tel Aviv’s conurbation. Source: israel.travel

 Geddes emphasized the relationships of people and cities, thus the city-region term.
 He also used the rational planning method of Survey Analysis
 Wrote the book Cities in Evolution

I found an online presentation all about Patrick Geddes, his works, and real life situation of his
works. Here it is:

Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie (1879-1957)

 Created the post-war plans for London, and combatted sprawling by resettlement
 Made the London Country Plan (1944) and the Greater London Plan (1943)
The Abercrombie Plan. Source: thesemaphoreline.wordpress.com

If you zoom in to the legend, this is what’s written:

 Read more about the Abercrombie Plan in another blog by Sam Hind
at thesemaphorline.wordpress.com.

Lewis Mumford (1895-1990)

 A historian-sociologist who studied cities and architecture

 From his 23 books, the most prominent in city planning is The City in History, which pointed out
how technology and nature could be harmonious. This also gave the concept of an organic
city and rationalised how planning has various disciplines.
 Mumford was friends with City Beautiful advocates Frank Lloyd Wright, Clarence Stein, and
Frederic Osborn. Mumford and Wright exchanged transatlantic letters on professional and
personal matters.
 One of Wright’s letters to Mumford.
Source: news.rracution.com

Benton McKaye (1879-1975)

 Originator of the 3,500 km Appalachian Trail in the eastern US

 Was a forester and conservationist, and co-founded the Wilderness Society. He
championed regional conservationism
The Appalachian Trail extends from Georgia to Maine. It is the home to at least 2,000 plant and animal
species. Millions of people take a shot at this hike-only trail. Sources: atc.civicore.com and
daveallenphotography.com

Several of our great urban thinkers were good friends and colleagues. And it was from there that they
created the Regional Planning Association of America, with Clarence Stein as the founder. The
group meticulously assessed the city, shared knowledge and ideas, and rallied political action. The
RPAA lasted ten years (1923-1933).

The RPAA group. From left to right: Clarence Stein, Benton McKaye, Lewis Mumford, Alexander Bing (a
real estate developer), and Henry Wright. Sources: personal.umich.edu, Wikipedia, ak-cahce.legacy.net,
boiseplanning.wordpress.com

The City Functional Movement

 Edward Bassett (1863-1948)

 Urban planner and lawyer who was the Father of American Zoning. He was the first to
use zoning as a means of implementing land use in New York. He wrote books about zoning.
 Also coined the term freeway and parkway

Don Arturo Soria y Mata (1844-1920)

 Made the concept of the Linear City, which has many parallel and specialised functions.

Ciudad Lineal. Source:

Wikipedia

 The linear city gears away from the usual centric urban forms. The lines help control the
expansion of a city.

Linear growth. Source: prezi.com

Here’s a Prezi presentation on Arturio Soria y Mata and his work on the linear city.

Tony Garnier (1869-1948)

 Followed Soria y Mata’s linear city and created the concept of a linear, industrial city. He
envisioned the plan to cater to 35,000 residents, and followed the principles of function,
greeneries, open space, and exposure to the sunlight.
 The industrial city is linked by circular patterns
 He also already used the concept of zoning and labeled spaces into leisure, industry, work, and
transport.

Une Cite Industrielle. Sources: aria.archi.fr and s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com

Thomas Adams (1871-1940)

 As an architect, he worked primarily on low-density residences or garden suburbs

 Founded the British Town Planning Institute, became the Town Planning Advisor to the Local
Government Board, then moved to Canada and yet again became an adviser to the Commission of
Conservation
 Wrote the book Rural Planning and Development
 Pushed for planning legislation by mandate, local plans, zoning, building regulations, and
recognised the responsibility of a licensed or professional planner. (This stems all the way to our
present laws.)

~~~

City Efficient Movement

Constantinos Apostolos Doxiadis (1914-1975)

 Jumping some millennia after ancient Greece, another Greek planner-architect, best known as
Konstantinos, studied the science of human settlements, known to us today as ekistics. This
branch of science is vast and looks into the culture, economies, and society in varying scales, let’s
zone in on the principles most used in the practice of urban design and estate planning.
 Following the Greek grid and the principles of ekistics, this was how Konstantinos designed
Islamabad:
 Source:
skyscrapercity.com

Francis Stuart Chapin (1888-1974)

 As a sociologist and educator, he stressed the importance of quantifying social activities in an

evolving city through statistics.
 He was the first to write the textbooks on urban and regional planning:
 Source: Amazon

Let’s go to a couple of economic and transport concepts, as these had lots to do with this movement.
But to relate that to how the movement is called–city efficient–let’s state the premise that human
activity (employment, settlement, transport, traffic, and mobility) follow land use. Just so we’re all
on the same page, and we know why this suddenly crops up here.

Ira Lowry

 Published A Model of Metropolis, which is a computer model for spatial organization of

anthropogenic activities in a metropolitan area. The model generates an assessment that can be the
basis for urban policy decisions.
 Lowry worked with Robert Garin on a model. This model came up after a series of research on
land use and transportation. Population densities, transport zones, and land use forecast techniques
were already being done.
 The
Lowry Model. Source: Wikipedia

 The model became a tool for urban and regional planning. Simply, it looks at the relationship and
logic to the spatial arrangement of human activities.
 In this model we learn about gravity modelling (in transport planning, trip distribution), which
means, in English, the farther the distance, the more interaction declines. That’s also more
commonly known to us as distance decay.

Other concepts that are part of the “social physics” include agglomeration economies, economic
equilibrium, … But we’ll get to that in the next post.

Let’s continue to the dawn of the automobile and its effects.

~~~

Urban Renewal

William Levitt (1907-1994)

 Father of American Suburbia / The King of Suburbia / The Inventor of the Suburb
 Mass produced houses that were affordable
 Suburbanization was also when people put the car on the pedestal. This created gated subdivisions
that catered to people with cars. As a result, urban sprawl became a disease. (Check out how bad
in this other blog post.)

This is what a
sprawl looks like. Such a terrible waste of space. Eden Prairie, Florida, US. Source: twisted sifter.com

This socio-geographical disease was coupled with pollution, rapid population growth rates, and many
more urban problems, which led to the Urban Renewal Movement.

Catherine Bauer Wurster (1905-1964)

 An advocate of social and public housing. She authored the American Housing Act of 1937 and
was an adviser to five presidents.
 Wrote the book Modern Housing
 She also worked with Lewis Mumford

Robert Moses (1888-1981)

 Known as the Master Builder of New York, because of his plans that had parkways, expressways,
and housing development all over the city
 Moses’ proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway.

 The catch with Moses’ grand masterplans is that they require the destruction of existing
communities and neighbourhoods to be built. This was an irony in doing supposedly public works.
 The urban renewal under Moses was also done through gentrification, which means that renewal
and rebuilding for investments and “improvements” really displaced the poorer residents. This was
a problem of social exclusion, which is, in fact, just a step beyond racism. Social exclusion drove
away the poor, black neighbourhoods, and the “smaller” people of the community.

Robert Moses was one of the most controversial figures in the history of urban planning. I’m leaving
some articles on the matter:

 5 things in NYC we can blame on Robert Moses

 The legacy of Robert Moses
 Tracing the legacy of a controversial master builder

The problem of social exclusion gave rise to Advocacy and Equity Planning, where planners
advocated for and sided with those who were socially excluded.

Paul Davidoff (1930-1984)

 Father of Advocacy Planning. He paved the way to stand against the destructive effects of urban
renewal
 Wrote the famous article Advocacy and Pluralism in Planning

Here is a good read on Advocacy Planning.

Saul David Alinsky (1909-1972)

 Founder of modern community organizing

 Wrote the book Rules for Radicals
 Worked with the poorer communities, and influenced neighbourhood organisations

Sherry Arnstein (d. 1997)

 Social and health worker

 Published an article on the ladder of citizen participation, which gave not only a voice but power
to the citizens. This addressed how citizens were being victimised, and led the way to participatory
planning.

Eight rungs on the ladder of citizen participation. Source: lithgow-schmidt.dk

~~~
 New Urbanism

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006)

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when,
they are created by everybody.”

— Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

 An urban activist who was strong and vocal against urban renewal; she fought for new urbanism
 Wrote the powerful book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, which was an open
attack on urban renewal. In this book she provided insight into the decline of neighbourhoods in
New York, and gave a voice to how planning should be for all people, including thriving slums
and the communities that were thought to be eyesores to a city, and which were scheduled for
destruction to build Robert Moses’ expressways.
 Her book and activism led to the eventual fall of urban renewal towards city diversity, mixed-use,
dense neighborhoods, and vibrant communities.
 Also wrote the book The Economy of Cities

Here’s
a cool graphic novel panel I found portraying the face-off between Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses.
Source: planetizen.com
From the graphic novel Robert Moses: Master Builder of New York City. Source: archdaily.com

Read more about the fight between urban renewal and new urbanism here.

~~~

Environmental Planning

Rachel Louise Carson (1907-1964)

 A marine biologist
 Wrote the powerful book Silent Spring, a haunting compilation and narrative of research about the
detrimental and even lethal effects of pesticides and fertilisers on the living environment. This
book launched a global environmental movement. (It will also scare the hell out of you when
you read it. It changed many aspects of my lifestyle.)

Read more about her life and her writings here. She’s called to be the “best nature writer of the
century.”

Ian McHarg (1920-2001)

 Was called an “architect who valued a site’s natural features” (New York Times)
 Transformed efforts of traditional planning into environmental planning by using the technique
of sieve mapping or overlay, which took into account the varied features of the environment.

Sieve Mapping. Source:

saylordotorg.github.io
 Wrote the book Design with Nature, which triggered responsible planning of landscapes,
respecting natural features
 Laid the foundation for Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

A timeline of GIS history may be found here, as created by GIS Lounge.