Influences on Urban Structure
What does urban form or urban structure comprise/encompass?
Population characteristics
Building density/open space
Perception of the neighbourhood
The Relative Relevance of Factors Affecting Urban Form
Economic linkages --> ancillary, competitive and complementary linkages
Location and migration of certain functions to certain areas to achieve goals such as attract foreign investments --> EPZs (branch plants of predominantly industrial activities)
Green belts to restrict urban sprawl
Emergence and birth of new cities (out of nowhere or a formally rural area)
Putrajaya and Cyberjaya in Malaysia
Planned cities e.g. Singapore --> doesn’t exactly follow the conventional urban models [”pragmatism”]
Milton Keynes (A British New Town heavily planned by the British government to integrate the neighbouring urban precincts to form a conurbation that can accommodate a growing urban population)
Strict grid-like structure instead of the commonly-used radial road structure to reduce congestion
Intentional green landscaping --> 25% parkland
Offer solutions to urban problems like congestion and housing problems
Slum clearance --> removal of slums, inducing a change in urban landscape
Urge for people to take public transport --> changes in hard transport infrastructure --> e.g. building of BRT terminals as in Bogota, flyovers as in Thailand, Mumbai etc.
Easing congestion --> building of ring roads in many British cities [M25]
Preservation and conservation of historical artefacts and buildings
E.g. URA designated the Padang in Singapore to be preserved although it is situated on prime land which will otherwise be more profitable being converted to a retail function
Government vision and projects to achieve hub status (link to globalisation)
Government-led flagship projects for urban regeneration, reimaging and urban renewal
The Shard in Southwark, South of the River Thames
Lea Valley (though the project was co-funded and directed by private enterprises)
Population characteristics
Singapore’s CMIO model [racial quota] in public housing scheme
However, government planning is absent/ plays a minor role in post-modern cities
Los Angeles --> does not conform to any urban model, government planning plays a weak role, a lassez faire kind of urban development
Usually influences the inner city areas
Colonial cities --> relics of colonial-influenced architecture
Colonial city layout and structure
Singapore’s Kampong Glam, Chinatown, Little India and European Town were previously precincts divided by the four major races in Singapore by the British colonial masters
Influences existing transport systems and structures --> e.g. in much of the UK and Europe, the roads are relatively narrow as they used to be roads for pull carts instead of automobiles
However, this factor is heavily dependent of government planning
Over time, historical influence is subdued by or mellows due to government planning and redevelopment of buildings to accommodate new city functions
Albert docks in Liverpool, London --> while facade is preserved, the nature of the activities in the vicinity has changed from industrial to service and tourism
National buildings are usually preserved and protected e.g. the late LKY’s house in Oxley Road preserved after his death
Is an obstacle to functional or landuse zoning in cities
Governments face the dichotomy of maximising space and preserving historical artefacts e.g. Pearl’s Hill in Singapore is a place alive with economic and cultural tensions
The Hutongs in Beijing seen as an obstacle to development of the area, particularly during the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics where Beijing has to portray itself as an economically developed city [hutongs have been associated with slum-like development]
Bid-rent theory --> influences urban zoning to a certain extent
Retail functions found mostly at the core of the city near the PLVI where pedestrian numbers are high, transport routes intersect and agglomeration of many economic functions take place [followed by industry and residential zones]
E.g. Rents in Dhoby Ghaut in SG is $35-60 per square foot compared to in Tampines $12-30 per square foot
Also forms a basis for the difference in building height in/near the city centre vis-à-vis that further away from the city centre --> taller buildings usually found in the city centre due to the need to maximise cost and land
Shanghai tower in Pudong CBD is 632m tall
Taipei 101 in Taipei city is 505m tall
The Petronas tower in KL is 452m tall
The extent of influence/significance of this factor in urban form can be discussed by bringing in limitations/criticisms of the Bid Rent theory:
Assumption that the urban area is an isotropic landscape when in actual fact, is affected by a multitude of factors e.g. physical topography --> presence of steep hills near the city centre
The degree of relevance and influence of this theory on urban form is closely related to its weaknesses
Ignores and neglects the power of the state to plan and structure cities to how and what they see fit
Ignores the role of transport system that could shape urban form --> transportation is regarded as the backbone of urban structure
Disregards the presence of rurban malls [commercial functions] in out of town locations, polynodality --> transport routes do not always have to just intersect at one central point
e.g. Retail not always in the CBD in the UK --> Brent Cross rurban mall (connected by the M1 highway), Bluewater and Lakeside megamalls in the suburbs (connected by the M25 ring road)
UHI --> influences government policies and plans to try to cool down the city
More green spaces, more parks, more plants [e.g. rooftop gardens]
Building material of brighter and more reflective colour to reflect heat back into the atmosphere and prevent urban area fro trapping too much heat
Alignment of streets to take advantage of the breeze/winds that blow almost constantly from a single direction (prevailing wind)
Upper class people settle upwind, where all the grime and smoke from industrial activities will not be carried there
Scenery as a centripetal force
Water-front/ coastal developments attract people, especially middle and upper class
Physical constraints and obstacles as centrifugal forces
Steep hillsides repel people who can afford better housing but
Attract the lower class households --> Favelas in Brazil
Polynodality --> arterial routes branching outwards from the main core and intersect, forming another nodal point --> may form an alternative PLVI
Transport systems also shapes a city
Developed transport infrastructure and the increase in vehicle ownership help people travel further with ease and enhances suburbanisation --> transport as a factor affecting city structure in terms of suburbanisation/decentralisation of city functions
Width, size and number of lanes
Smaller and narrower roads are found in the UK and European cities wherein there is a history of travelling in carts on wheels pulled by horses
Docs usually have wider roads with more lanes which enable them to accommodate more vehicles vs LDCs who often lack funding to expand transport infrastructure, resulting in fewer lanes and a transport system more sluggish than that of DCs
Discrimination and segregation
Residential enclaves according to ethnicity and religion
e.g. High proportion of African American population in the Bronx compared to Manhattan in New York City
Segregation in terms of income level/ class
E.g. the richer population found in Sentosa and Bukit Timah in gated communities while the middle class and working class found in HDB estates in Lim Chu Kang, Pasir Ris and Tampines
Bringing ethnic minorities closer together --> formation of ethnic enclaves in certain parts of the city e.g. Chinatowns, Banglatown in Brick lane, London
Perception of higher crime rates in certain areas due to the settlement of people of certain social group/profile --> white flight to the peripheral areas/away from the central city
