Urban planners are some of the most important professionals who help in designing towns and cities. A good plan requires comprehensive research and input from different stakeholders, such as citizens, investors, and policymakers. A crucial point to consider at this point is that the plan should also be cost-effective and practical.
From a local government’s viewpoint, landscape and urban planning factors most city-life components, such as buildings, communal space, landscapes, infrastructure, roads, transportation, environnemental and pre-existing land. For an architect, it is crucial to appreciate that urban planning falls into different categories, and a cohesive plan should have most of them. So, keep reading to learn about the main ones and use them to create good plans:
What are the Main Types of Urban Planning?
- Strategic Urban Planning
This category of landscape and urban planning mainly focuses on defining high-level goals and pointing out the targeted areas of growth for a metropolitan region. The impact of this planning is an urban or strategic plan, which is commonly referred to as a core strategy or development plan. With a strategic plan, an expert in architecture might be focused on a number of things, such as the following:
- Creating additional community space.
- Easing transport in the city.
- Encouraging people to move to the city.
- Land Use Planning
Land use planning is mainly about data on policies and the application of different instruments, such as codes, rules, and statutes to influence how land is used. The planning instruments are primarily used to deal with type, location, and the amount of land required for various functions of the city. They are also used to help zone land for different purposes, including the following:
- Municipal.
- Industrial.
- Commercial.
- Residential.
In landscape and urban planning, other stakeholders are also consulted for transparency and ensuring their interests are catered for. When the communication between all stakeholders is done well, planning for various components, such as landscapes, commercial, residential, and transport system, should be smooth.
- Master Planning
This type of planning is used for new development projects, undeveloped land, or buildings. It implies that as opposed to modifying the current structures, you are creating new ones from scratch. The plan envisions a future state for a specific space and looks at what will be required to get that space.
As a professional in architecture, you need to factor in the needed zoning and infrastructure requirement, such as commercial, residential, and transport needs, to ensure the project is viable. In addition, you have to plan for different public facilities, such as parks, schools and ecology. Just like urban planning, you need to consult with different stakeholders, including government agencies. It might also be a great idea to work with a consultant.
- Urban Revitalization
Unlike master planning, which targets and impacts undeveloped areas, urban revitalization aims at improving areas that appear in state of decline. Good examples are parts with failing businesses or rising levels of crime. For urban revitalization plans to be successful, you need to start by thinking about the actual cause of the decline. For example, is the decline caused by poor road infrastructure, pollution, lack of parks, or damage to the ecology?
Community inspections are very crucial in urban revitalization. It might also be necessary to change the land use when seeking to revitalize an urban area. For example, you might need to change the land use from an industrial to residential to get the apartments that you need.
These are only a few of the categories of landscape and urban planning considerations. Others include economic development planning, environmental planning, and infrastructural panning. Always remember that urban planning should involve a lot data analysis of consultations with different stakeholders. More importantly, you need to have the right building and design software for the job.
