2.4 Urban planning: new and growing cities

• Aardrijkskunde
• Middelbare school
• vmbo t, mavo, havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 2

2.4 Urban planning: new and growing cities

Learning goals

- You know what considerations urban planners should take into account.

- You understand the difficulties urban planners face.

- You can describe two different approaches to urban planning.

Urban Planning

1. Water

2. Work

3. Variety of inhabitants

4. Infrastructure

5. Amenities

6. Law

Urban planning

(sufficient fresh) water	variety of inhabitants	employment	efficient infrastructure	sufficient facilities	law-making
Both residents and businesses must have access to sufficient, clean drinking water.	Different types of residents have different wishes regarding, for example, house prices, space, greenery and facilities.	There should be suitable work (both formal and informal) for all urban migrants.	The roads (water/road/air) must be adapted to the demand for travel in order to prevent traffic jams.	There must be room for a garbage dump, parks, hospitals, schools, culture and sports.	Laws to protect residents or nature must be enforced.

Difficulties in Urban Planning

All the points just mentioned are difficult to get together. Many people work together.

- So many people, so many wishes.

- Safety or speed?

- Expensive or affordable places?

Difficulties in Urban Planning

In cities where a large part of the economy is based on the informal sector and in cities where little tax is paid, the government has few resources: urban planning becomes extra difficult.

Urban planning in practice

Bottom-up

Top-down

In the top-down approach, decisions are made by people "at the top" (for example, the government or large organizations) and imposed from above on the people or areas at the bottom.

Example: The government decides to build a new highway. They plan it, choose the route and start building without much input from the residents.

Characteristic: Little influence from citizens.

In the bottom-up approach, the initiative actually starts with the people themselves, such as residents, local businesses or organisations. They come up with ideas or plans and try to implement them together — often with help from the government.

Example: Residents of a neighbourhood want more greenery. They organise themselves, make a plan together and ask for support from the municipality.

Characteristic: A lot of influence from citizens.

HW GEO
2 u/i 6