Urban and Settlement Planning

B. Arch. III /II

1.0 CHAPTER I- Introduction:

1.1 General Concept of Planning:

Planning is very important in the history of man as whole world is passing through the
age of planning. No activity is sequenced without proper planning. Planning is done as
prethinking and prearranging things before an event takes place so as to achieve good
results in health, convenience, comfort and happiness of all living beings. Planning is the
development of program with ultimate objectives and a schedule of operations to achieve
the desired result. It can also be defined as a process of development and thus
development planning is a cycle of process in itself.

In general, planning can be defined as “to arrange things before hand”.

“To arrange" would require:
(i) designing the activities
(ii) allocating resources
(iii) implementation strategies

"Beforehand" would require:

(i) clear future vision (objectives and goal setting)
(ii) anticipation (fore-casting)
(iii) impact analysis

Planning comprehensively is the making of an orderly sequence of action that will lead to
the achievement of a stated goal or goals. It is a deliberate social activity. The basic
framework for planning is to be- in origin it must be realistic, in scope it must be broadly
inclusive, in outline it must be bold and imaginative and in detail it must be flexible

Planning is allocation of resources; particularly land, in such a manner as to obtain

maximum efficiency, whilst paying much attention to the nature of the built environment
and the welfare of the community. In this way, planning is the art of anticipating change
and arbitrating between the economic, social, political and physical forces that determine
the location, form and effect of urban development.

Planning for human settlements is a very complex discipline; it proposes to combine a

variety of factors social, economic and physical into effective change for the present and
future. Planning is about integrating social, economic, aesthetic and environmental

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concerns to create better living conditions for the people and to create a built
environment, which satisfies the needs and the desires of the citizens, business etc.
Planning is rational equitable allocation of resources within a society to meet the needs
of the current and future users of resources.

Planning at the global level is generally done by international organizations such as UN

and its allied agencies etc. Many large multi-national corporations along with banking
and investment firms with operations spread all over the world also tend to make plans at
the global level. Regional blocks of nations such as EEC, ASEAN, APEC, SAARC etc.
prepare plans covering different counties of the block. Similarly, individual nations
routinely prepare national plans on an annual or five yearly basis. Plans are also
prepared for different regions of a country where coordination is required among many
districts which tend to formulate their own district plans. Accordingly plans are prepared
for metropolitan areas, cities, rural areas, neighborhoods and various sites.

1.2 Need of Planning

 Any settlement act as living organism with origin, growth and decay
 It is dynamic entity, rather than a static
 Forces such as physical, social, economic and administrative influence its form and
structure
 To channel these forces in a planned manner to create the total environment
 Main drive is foreseeing and guiding changes towards better living

1.3 Goals and Objectives of Planning

 To generate a series of activity forward in the physical , social as well as cultural
lifestyle of the society
 To create an proper series of events for future activities specially development
oriented activities
 Learn the mistakes made, eradicate the mistakes of the past and be wiser in the
future.
 Generate a social activity which is future oriented and linked to action.
 Planning procedure is usually directed to determine goals, study and analysis,
preparation of policy and plans, implementation, monitoring and feedback.
 Creating a total environment which is functional, efficient, healthier and aesthetically
satisfying as a setting for human activities
 Promoting the larger interest of the community as a whole
 Serving as policy framework to fulfill the needs and aspirations of the community

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 Effective coordination between physical forces that governs the structure of the
community and the technical means to regulate it
 Formulating long range and short range action program with the view to injecting long
term considerations in short term actions

1.4 Benefits of Planning

Convenience Benefits which comes from:

 The construction of roads
 Provision of Public transport
 Location arrangements of land uses and the intensities of use which determine
distances from home to work, to school, to shops, to parks and to cinemas or
stadium, determine distances among activities related to industries, and which
determine access to service facilities.

Social Equity Benefits:

 Increased fairness in access to necessities of life/ the distribution of the costs and
benefits of the use of land and space
 Increased choice for members of society, such as comes from greater role in
decision making, or from an increase in land supplies relative to demands .

Health and Safety Benefits:

 Traffic danger reduction
 Reduction of environmental hazards, including flooding, landslides, and earthquakes
 Increased effectiveness of sanitation systems and provision of water
 Better light and ventilation through building relationships and plot layout

Efficiency Benefits: Which come from reduction of

 The cost of land development
 Transport costs and energy costs
 Cost of provision of services
 Gaps between needs and the service facilities provided
 Land costs of meeting human needs (efficient use of land resource)

Environmental Benefits:
 Reduction of air and water pollution / reduction of noise
 Protection of aquifers

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 Protection of areas of ecological value

 Provision of public open spaces

Amenity Benefits:
 Attractive and pleasant living environment
 Conservation of culturally important space and building

1.5 Development Planning:

All planning efforts aim to improve the existing physical conditions of a place or region or
the social economic, cultural and religious conditions of a place or region can be
considered development planning. Development planning can be small in scale
beginning from the physical development of a site to the comprehensive development of
a large region or nation.

The three fundamental objectives of development planning are:

 Economic growth
 Social equity
 Environmental quality
All these objectives eventually lead to sustainable development.

Sustainable development
“Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs”

Concept of sustainability

 Strategic planning: It deals with all these aspects at once and tries to integrate
them. It also incorporates the economic, physical and social aspects of planning.

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 Economic Planning: It deals with the public sector investments, growth targets
and fiscal policies.

 Social Planning: It deals with education, health and social welfare.

Physical planning is related to planning for the orderly physical growth of a city or region.
It provides direction for the growth and organizes and coordinates the complex
relationships between the various urban land uses. The plan embodies the aims and
ambitions of the community for their general welfare. The physical plan includes land
uses, circulation patterns, public utility services, along with policies and regulations for
the development of the city or region.

1.6 Planning as Interdisciplinary Subject (Planning as a Teamwork)

The plan making process requires more considerations like physical and social
character of the city or the place. The continuous interaction between public officials,
professional planners and other experts, and the public is necessary on any planning
process. With such wide variety of stakeholders, the plan making process needed
multidisciplinary data and innovative and participatory approach to collect them placing
itself in the centre of interdisciplinary fields of studies related to human settlement. The
plan can be in various forms including: comprehensive plans, neighbourhood plans,
action plans, redevelopment plans, physical development plans, site plans, historic
preservation plans, disaster preparedness plans etc.

In general, planning process consists of the following activities:

1. Identification of problems & issues:
This is the first stage and at this stage, the information is collected to assess problems
and needs of the area. The problems and issues can be identified through;
 Self-Observation
 Meetings – With community, village or town
 Interviews – With others who are involved or concerned such as other
government agencies, non-government organizations, and community groups.

2. Identification of goals & objectives

Once the problems have been identified, the goals and objectives are developed to
alleviate the problems or needs of the area. Goals are usually accompanied by
detailed and specific objectives.

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3. Collection & interpretation of data

The necessary data has been collected to prepare the plans and programs of the area.
The data can be collected through surveys (Complete or sample surveys of the area)
and secondary data (Census, books, magazines or prior survey data).

4. Preparation of alternative plans

There are several ways to achieve goals and objectives. At this stage, various
alternative plans are prepared to achieve the goals and objectives.

5. Evaluation of plans & Programs

Once alternative plans and programs have been prepared, each of the plan has been
evaluated to determine which is the most appropriate for achieving goals and
objectives. During evaluation, the following points should be considered;
 Financial considerations
 Available resources
 Target population
 Social costs
 Environmental impacts
 Intended objective

6. Selection & implementation of plans & programs

Once the plan has been selected, detail plans and programs have been developed to
implement that plan. Then, these plans and programs have been implemented in the
field by using different strategies.

7. Monitoring & evaluation of implemented plan

Any plan should include a time frame and budget for monitoring and evaluation.
Monitoring and evaluation help to improve the existing plans and programs. They also
guide and help to take particular decisions and also help to determine if goals and
objectives are being achieved in the plan.

At different stages of planning, it is essential for the planner to consult or seek assistance
or approval from different experts or concerned agencies. For example:
 Participation of local communities, politicians & administrators during
earlier & later stages.
 Input of professionals – during mid & later phases.
 The planner : During survey and plan formulation

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 The community, social workers & the politicians: During identification

of problems and implementation
 Concerned agencies: During plan formulation and implementation
 Other professionals (experts in various fields): At various stages

 To find constraints & possibilities of the site, following experts are needed,
- Geographers - Engineers
- Geologists - Architects
- Surveyors - Finance advisors
- Cartographers - Business-men
- Hydrologists - Industrialists
- Experts in agriculture forestry etc. - Lawyers etc.

 For collecting and processing of data on social, cultural & economic

environment, following experts are needed:
 Demographers
 Social scientists
 Economists
 Health authorities
 Educationists
 Statisticians etc

1.7 Human Settlement

Area habituated by human beings is called human settlement. These are manifested in the
form of hamlet, village, town, city, metropolis, etc.
Features of Human Settlements:
 unique geographic location with boundaries
 cluster of dwellings arranged in neighborhood & provided with necessary amenities
 changeable over time and context
 a community/ communities (of people) living together, with socio cultural relationships

Human settlement planning = human settlement + planning >> planning of human settlement

Simply, HS Planning is planning of the places of human habitations like Hamlet, village,
town, cities or metropolis. It is about integrating social, economic, and aesthetic
environmental and other concerns to create better living conditions for the people and to
create a built environment which satisfies the needs and desires of the inhabitants, business,
etc.

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HIERARCHY OF SETTLEMENTS

 A dwelling Small
 Hamlet
 Village
 Town
 City
 Mega city
Large

A Dwelling Hamlet Village

Town

City Mega City

Settlements are generally divided mainly into urban and rural settlements. They vary
according to function, size and characteristics.

Urban Settlement
 Urban areas are usually considered as the centre of business, commerce, industry,
and large number of population.
 A urban settlement engages predominantly in secondary and tertiary activities such
as food processing, business and banking.
 Availability of Diverse activities and relatively higher level of physical and social
services
 There are more job opportunities and a greater variety of jobs.
 Urban areas may be cities, towns or metropolis.

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Rural Settlement

 A rural settlement is a community involved predominantly in primary activities such

as farming and mining.
 In general, a rural area is a geographic area that is located outside cities and towns
 Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements
 Lower level or lack of various physical and social services

Slums and Squatter Settlement

Slums
 Highly unhealthy and overcrowded areas
 Advanced state of decay
 Legally or semi-legally constructed
 Housing conditions are below living standard due to overcrowding and poor
infrastructures like proper sanitation, drainage, water supply, garbage management,
solid waste disposal, electricity etc.
 They are socially, demographically, economically and environmentally vulnerable.
 Health related problems are very prone
 Overcrowding, high density, high fertility and mortality
 Large unorganized sectors, low levels of productivity and extreme poverty
 e.g. Jhuggis Jhopadi colonies (Delhi), Bustees (Calcutta), Dharavi (Bombay),
Sukumbasi (Nepal), Ghetto (USA) etc.

Squatter Settlement

 The settlements developed by

encroaching land without any title or
right.
 Mainly residential areas developed
without legal claims and permission.
 Low-income residential areas with very
poor Infrastructures and services.
 They are socially, economically and
environmentally vulnerable.
 Usually in Nepal, they are located on the river banks. E.g. Sukumbasi

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