URBAN DESIGN International

An increasing number of cities and towns in Europe are facing population decline. In this article we focus on the challenges of this urban shrinkage process from a policy perspective. After a short review of the main causes and consequences of urban shrinkage in Europe, two common public policy responses are identified and evaluated: counteracting shrinkage and accepting shrinkage. Arguing that the latter is the most suitable approach, we recognise that coping with population decline is a complex urban governance process in which citizens inevitably have to play an important role. In shrinking environments, however, people are not always prepared to engage for their community. If policymakers want citizens to care for their community, they must enable them to do so. This may require a rethink of the specific tasks and roles of local government in Europe's shrinking cities and towns.

John Nolen, city planner and landscape architect, is one of a small number of early twentieth century American planners who addressed the widespread effect of the automobile. This paper traces the development of Nolen's approach to new settlement design through an analysis of his proposals for Myers Park (1911) and Venice (1926). The approach to highway configuration is described and analysed with illustrations to show the character of the roads developed. A detailed comparison of the two developments includes the consideration of the designer's approach to: street network; orientation; roadway allocation; street types; design speed; intersection design; parking strategy; walkability. The paper concludes with a review of the original designs and final built form and the character that the areas have today.

This paper investigates the relationship between zoning and “main street.” We define “main street” as a normative ideal: streets composed of blocks that have small, locally owned businesses in walkable contexts. In an urban setting, such main streets would ideally have essential services mixed with amenities, local ownership of businesses, some residences (i.e., apartments over stores), and pedestrian quality. The simultaneous presence of these characteristics has been significantly challenged in recent decades by online shopping, corporate retailing, and auto-oriented urbanism. Little research has sought to understand the role of zoning in this predicament. We use the City of Chicago to analyze how main streets are zoned and whether zoning supports main street qualities. First, we identify the zoning districts and rules that would be best aligned with main street as an ideal. Second, we classify the blocks of Chicago to identify those that might be considered examples of main street. Third, we assess whether these two dimensions—main street-supportive zoning and main street qualities—are, in fact, aligned. Our analysis shows that Chicago’s main street blocks are not zoned in a particularly supportive way. More than two-thirds of the blocks exemplifying main street qualities have zoning designations that potentially compromise their essential characteristics. Specifically, the majority of blocks with main street qualities are zoned for automobile-oriented shopping centers or single-family housing. We argue that zoning should recognize and support main streets in a more specific and concerted way.

Interactive spatial planning requires the development of planning support systems (PSSs) that are specifically tailored to support the exchange of ideas and visions during the planning process. This article presents SimLandScape, a client-server-based PSS designed to combine sketching and geographic information system (GIS) functionality. The PSS is implemented on an interactive digital surface, the MapTable, which makes it easy to use and retains the sketching experience. Using the MapTable, participants work together to explore the environment, exchange ideas about the direction of future development and sketch the first designs of a spatial plan. The close integration of the PSS with GIS allows spatial models to be plugged into the system. These can be used to calculate indicators that offer insights into how well a sketch plan meets predetermined criteria. SimLandScape was developed according to a socio-technical development strategy, which ensured close collaboration between software developers, spatial planners and designers. It was tested and evaluated in three case studies, which demonstrated its applicability, especially during the initial phases of an interactive spatial planning process.

Shared space is becoming an increasingly well-accepted approach to street design, pursuing improvement of street uses on foot without restricting other modes of movement. This approach introduces a degree of uncertainty regarding application of traffic rules by minimising traffic signs and conventional physical demarcations to enable different users to share the road space and negotiate their movement through and across it. Despite existing evidence for reduced traffic accidents and casualties, this type of street design remains an unorthodox approach. This article addresses the key issues of road safety, user comfort and revitalization aspects of the shared space, raised in the last decade with a focus on pedestrian users. Based on analysis of the layout, performance and user perception of six study areas, evidence reveals how these schemes affect safety, comfort, the conventional spatial distribution or hierarchy of users, and public life.

Emergent planning is a practical planning methodology that recognizes the “weak point” of a city through a two-step collaborative process and offers to tackle it by working simultaneously with various stakeholders representing the different sectors of the city. This article investigates the background for emergent planning, which includes planning approaches such as integrated planning, collaborative planning and ‘complexity’ planning. It then describes the implementation of the emergent planning methodology in the city of Auroville, South India, in a collaborative process that lasted over a year and analyzes its outcomes and the possibilities it offers the future of planning.