|
|
A Lecture By: Philip Bess
APPENDIX
TEN PRINCIPLES OF GOOD URBAN NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN
Cities are cooperative human enterprises and artifacts that exist to promote the best life possible for their citizens, and a fundamental unit of urban design is the neighborhood. The moral, economic, and environmental benefits of traditional urban neighborhoods are greatly influenced by certain formal features. Good neighborhoods exhibit most or all of the following ten characteristics, which may be regarded as guiding principles for good neighborhood design.
- A good neighborhood has a discernible center, usually a public square and / or a main street, typically bordered by civic buildings, shops, and/or residences. A transit stop (usually train and/or bus) should be located in or along this center, connected to other neighborhood centers generally not less than one-half mile nor more than one mile away.
- A good neighborhood has a more or less discernible edge where the neighborhood ends and another neighborhood or a public park or the rural landscape or waterscape begins.
- A good neighborhood is pedestrian friendly, and accommodates not only automobile drivers but also those who choose to walk or who are unable to drive. Most of the residences in the neighborhood are within a five-to-ten minute (one-quarter to one-half mile) walk of the neighborhood center.
- A good neighborhood has a variety of dwelling types. In addition to detached single-family houses, these may also include row-houses, flats, apartment buildings, coach houses, and/or flats-above-stores. The consequence is that the young and the old, singles and families, the poor and the wealthy, can all find places to live. Small ancillary buildings are typically permitted and encouraged within the backyard of each lot. In addition to parking, this small building may be used as one rental unit of housing or as a place to work.
- A good neighborhood has stores and offices located at and/or near its centers, and along the primary streets that connect neighborhood centers. The stores should be sufficiently varied to supply the weekly needs of a household.
- A good neighborhood has an elementary school and parks to which most young children can walk. The walking distance to the school should not be greater than one mile. Small parks and other recreation facilities should be dispersed throughout the neighborhood not less than one quarter mile or greater than one mile apart.
- A good neighborhood has small blocks with a network of through streets. This network would include major and minor streets, commercial and residential streets, arterial and local streets; but is emphatically not a system of feeder roads and dead end cul de sacs. This network provides multiple routes to various city destinations, and helps disperse traffic congestion. Streets within the neighborhood have curbs and sidewalks, are relatively narrow, and are lined with trees. This slows down traffic and creates an environment better suited for pedestrians as well as moving and parked cars.
- A good neighborhood places its buildings close to the street. This creates a strong sense of the neighborhood’s center and streets as places, and of the neighborhood itself as a place.
- A good neighborhood utilizes its streets for parking. Parking lots and garages rarely front the streets, and are typically relegated to the rear of buildings, accessed by lanes and/or alleys.
- A good neighborhood reserves prominent sites for civic buildings and community monuments. Buildings for education, religion, culture, sport, and government are sited either at the end of important streets vistas or fronting neighborhood squares or greens.
*****
OVERVIEW
I) INTRODUCTION
II) CITIES AND THE GOOD LIFE
III) URBAN FORM 101
IV) CHURCH FORM: LITURGY AND THE LOGIC OF ARCHITECTURE
V) NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER / HEAVENLY WITNESS: practical suggestions
|
|
|