Urban Design for Communities

One major barrier to the realisation of centralised living is the common conception of inner cities being associated with high crime rates. It is not necessarily a misconception, but it can be minimised, and it must be remembered that break-ins are very common in suburban areas also, where even close neighbours may not be able to keep an eye on each others’ homes. The best guard against crime is community, and soon as we can find a balance between privacy and getting to know the neighbours, we will find a greater sense of security.

The architect and the town planner cannot build a sense of community into their structures. However, they can pave the way to that sense: there are designs and proposals that foster some attitudes more than others. The stark, monotonous high rises of many of New York’s housing projects, with their narrow corridors, mean entrances and anonymous rows of living boxes, do little to give residents a feeling of self-worth and success, much less magnanimity and sympathy. Surely each door need not be identical, surely the elevators need not be so sombrely decorated? Small details add minimal amounts to overall costs of construction, but it is certainly not over-optimistic to suggest that details contribute to a feeling of pride in the home complex that might prevent a lot of vandalism and actually lead to money saved in repairs and maintenance.

We all have experienced spiritual responses to buildings and landscapes – the key is to identify those places which work positively on the visitor and resident, and to adopt their overall aspects in our planning.

Optimistic designers have already introduced housing projects with built-in playgrounds, youth activity centres, and other communal areas. The idea was to promote a sense of neighbourhood and belonging, but in many cases the communal areas suffer more vandalism than private areas.

Protecting communal areas is a job for security officers and caretakers. However, their jobs can be facilitated by good planning. The more successful housing projects of the world are the smaller ones. They allow for a more close-knit and less impersonal feel, but unfortunately they are not possible in all areas. With high land prices and population densities, the small housing complex is less feasible in larger cities.

A relatively recent idea for cities is mixed zoning. With this idea, skyscrapers will be divided into levels for different purposed. The ground floor will be used for retail and other public areas, while the levels immediately above the ground floor shopping centre will be used to offices. The residential apartments go above the office levels. There, residents should not be irritated by the noise of commercial activity on the ground floor. The main advantage with this zoning system is that resources are used well. Twenty-four hour lighting and security are worth paying for since the building will be used all around the clock. Inner city living is made more convenient for workers and business owners, while avoiding much of the usual noise and other problems of the traditional mixed home and business set ups, because the homes are not so close to the street level. The United Nations Plaza in New York has demonstrated the potential for high quality mixed zone building blocks in the inner city. It seems that with a little extra thought and initial financing, a higher standard of inner city living is feasible with the mixed zoning idea.

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