Urban Planning

Is Urban Planning when you design subdivisions and stuff in that nature?

I really would like to know if this is urban planning? If it isn't waht is?

Public Comments

1. No, urban planning is planning cities - urban areas. Suburbs and subdivisions are normally not planned in the sense used here - they are laid out although some effort is being done to do overall planning for "new towns" Urban planning is mostly solving problems for existing towns and cities. For example, a part of town may have built up around a very large factory, like the old Ford plant not far from me. There may be poor quality housing or stuff getting old and service businesses, but no grocery or drug stores. If someone wanted to change zoning and install a large trucking depot, that would place a heavy traffic burden on nearby streets. Urban planners with the city would look at the consequences. On the other hand, if someone wanted to turn it into community college that would have different traffic and power and safety needs, while making a sports complex with indoor tennis and basketball needs would be different again. Urban planning looks at safety and police and fire needs, at water usage and sewage requirements, the effects of a skyscraper on its neighbors (shade, traffic). If a bunch of really tacky old buildings are in a given area, would it be best to tear them down (code enforcement) and make the area a park or encourage a business to take it over? Several years ago, some people came up with the idea that Dallas needed housing near downtown and partly because of the people involved and partly because it seemed possible, suburban type ranch houses were built close together and the streets were blocked off so through traffic was limited. This was partly to keep the kids safer. But there were no grocery or drug stores provided nor good urban bus service and it is judged a bad idea now. Since then, suddenly as costs of travel changed and tax credits were given to put a true grocery store and standard drug stores in downtown, there has been a massive building boom of 2-3 story dense and high rise luxury condos and apartments some of which re-use old office and warehouse buildings and while there were about 300 apartments "downtown" for the first 30 years I lived here, there are now more like 3000. Mistakes are still made - a "town center" near American Airlines Center was only half built and thus is not a contained "street" like a village and the shops are high priced and meaningless to the basketball/hockey crowd. Meanwhile, the new quiet extensive light rail system is seeing apartments spring up near each station and the downtown performing arts center is attracting people there. Understanding these choices is urban planning See also "new town movement"