Lecture 14 - Design Guidelines for Residential Neighborhoods and Planned Communities
Summary
This video discusses the evolution of residential neighborhood design, contrasting post-WWII mass-produced housing with planned communities. It explores how urban planning and environmental psychology principles are applied in design guidelines, using examples like Irvine, Columbia, and Reston. The discussion delves into concepts of sense of place, community identity, safety through environmental design, and the tension between order and individuality in neighborhoods.
Key Insights
Post-WWII housing boom led to mass-produced, affordable tract housing, which later faced criticism for sprawl and monotony.
Following World War II, there was a significant demand for affordable housing due to returning soldiers starting families and a baby boom. Developers like the Levitt brothers mass-produced houses, leading to communities like Levittown. While profitable and meeting housing needs, these developments were criticized for their uniform appearance and urban sprawl.
Planned communities emerged as a response, incorporating research from urban planning and environmental psychology into design guidelines for better community living.
In reaction to tract housing, the 'new towns', planned communities, and intentional communities movements gained traction in the 1960s. Developers of master-planned communities such as Columbia, Maryland, Reston, Virginia, and Irvine aimed to create more individualized and positive living environments by integrating principles from urban planning and environmental psychology into their design strategies and guidelines.
Environmental psychology provides a framework for design guidelines by focusing on psychological and behavioral processes linking the physical environment to human outcomes.
Environmental psychology offers a unique contribution by focusing on the psychological and behavioral processes that connect the environment to specific behaviors, health outcomes, and perceptions. This perspective is crucial for understanding how design features influence residents' and potential criminals' cognitions, ultimately impacting crime rates and feelings of security, as detailed in theories like 'defensible space'.
Sections
Post-WWII Housing and the Rise of Planned Communities
Mass-produced housing met post-war demand but led to concerns about sprawl and monotony.
After World War II, developers capitalized on the need for affordable housing for returning soldiers and the growing baby boom population. Mass-produced tract housing, exemplified by Levittown, provided homes rapidly but was criticized for its uniformity and contributing to urban sprawl.
Planned communities like New Towns and intentional communities offered alternatives to tract housing.
Initiatives like the New Towns movement and intentional communities, including cohousing, emerged in the 1960s as a counterpoint to mass-produced housing. These sought to create more individualized and distinctive living spaces, moving away from the perceived monotony of tract developments.
Master-planned communities like Irvine, Columbia, and Reston integrated research into their design.
Large-scale master-planned communities were developed with the intention of incorporating findings from urban planning and environmental psychology. Examples include Columbia, Maryland; Reston, Virginia; and Irvine, California, all aiming to foster more positive and effective community environments through thoughtful design.
Irvine's development was influenced by concepts of sense of place and garden cities.
Irvine's design, spearheaded by figures like Ray Watson, drew inspiration from urban planning theories like Kevin Lynch's work on imagability and Ebenezer Howard's 'Garden City' concept. This aimed to create a legible, imageable place with a strong connection to nature.
Planned communities vary in their emphasis, such as Columbia's focus on racial integration and Woodland's on nature preservation.
Different planned communities prioritized distinct goals. Columbia, Maryland, emphasized racial integration and harmonious living. Woodland, Texas, focused on habitat preservation and organic architecture, reflecting diverse planning philosophies.
Environmental Psychology and Design Guidelines
Environmental psychology offers concepts applicable to design guidelines for various spaces.
Concepts from environmental psychology provide a toolbox for developing design guidelines applicable to diverse settings, including classrooms, shopping centers, homes, urban spaces, and residential communities. These principles help inform design decisions that impact user experience and community function.
Arcosanti demonstrates the fusion of ecology and architecture to minimize environmental impact.
Arcosanti, an experimental town in Arizona, exemplifies the principle of fusing ecology with architecture. It aims to minimize the building's footprint on the land through vertical construction and climate control within the structure, emphasizing ecological sustainability.
Reston, Virginia, highlights principles of walkability and human-scale design.
Reston, Virginia, showcases principles for creating human-scale, walkable communities. Its downtown area features ample public space, street trees, and gathering spots like an ice rink, humanizing the urban environment and promoting social interaction.
Irvine's design implementation plan includes road hierarchy, streetscape design, and village creation.
Irvine's urban design implementation plan, developed by Ray Watson and his team, outlines specific goals and policies. Key elements include a road hierarchy (separating freeways from residential streets), detailed streetscape design for legibility, and the creation of distinct villages (e.g., Woodbridge, University Park) to foster identity and choice.
The road hierarchy in Irvine separates traffic volumes, from freeways down to cul-de-sacs.
Irvine features a five-level road hierarchy, starting with freeways, followed by arterials, village collector roads, and finally cul-de-sacs in residential areas. This system is designed to manage traffic flow and enhance safety and quietude within neighborhoods.
Streetscape design in Irvine aims for an 'intimacy gradient' from public to private spaces.
Detailed streetscape principles were established in Irvine to create an intimacy gradient, signaling transitions from public to private areas. This includes textured pavement and landscaping at village entrances to announce a change in environment, enhancing legibility and the feeling of entering a distinct neighborhood.
Irvine's residential villages incorporate collector roads, activity corridors, and human-made lakes.
Residential villages in Irvine, like Woodbridge, are structured around village collector roads and activity corridors that serve as high-density nodes. The inclusion of human-made lakes is a key feature, intended to bring residents into closer contact with nature and provide recreational opportunities.
The University Town Center in Irvine was planned for mixed-use but evolved differently.
The original plan for Irvine's University Town Center envisioned a mixed-use development with residences above retail spaces. While not fully realized as intended, it remains a relatively mixed-use area, integrating housing and shopping facilities, with nearby parks like San Joaquin Park emphasizing nature access.
Irvine emphasizes nature, safety, and order, potentially at the cost of individuality.
Irvine places a strong emphasis on natural elements, safety, security, cleanliness, and order. This focus aligns with community identity but may prioritize it over strong individual expression, contrasting with more organically developed environments or other planned communities.
Irvine's provision of 'third places' and recreational options is considered somewhat limited compared to other communities.
While Irvine offers recreational spaces, farmers' markets, and some 'third places' (like those at UCI), its diversity in these areas might be less than in more organically grown environments or certain other planned communities. Comparisons are often drawn to places like Westwood or Berkeley.
The Irvine Company promotes its master-planned community for its long-term vision and preserved open space.
The Irvine Company's promotional material highlights its strategy of maintaining land ownership, enabling long-term master planning. This approach has preserved significant open space (50,000 acres) and ensured consistency in quality across residential villages, job centers, retail areas, and schools.
Contrasting Communities: Individuality vs. Community
Irvine's planned order contrasts with the individuality found in organically grown environments.
Planned communities like Irvine tend to offer high levels of scenic quality, safety, and low traffic volume due to controlled development. However, they may lack the diversity and spontaneity found in organically grown areas where land uses develop more freely.
Laguna Beach emphasizes individuality and diversity, contrasting with Irvine's orderliness.
Laguna Beach represents a contrast to Irvine, with a stronger emphasis on individuality, diverse lifestyles, and colorful home exteriors due to fewer design restrictions. It embraces a degree of disorderliness, evident in public spaces, and offers cultural diversity through institutions like its art museum.
Ebenezer Howard's Garden Cities aimed for healthful environments with a blend of individuality and community.
Ebenezer Howard's Garden Cities sought to provide wholesome environments balancing individual and family potential within a structured framework. While emphasizing community and order, they were primarily focused on integrating green spaces and nature, prioritizing this over diverse interests or activities.
Columbia, Maryland, prioritizes community cohesion through a repeating village and neighborhood design.
Columbia, Maryland, is designed to foster community cohesion with a standardized village structure. Each village includes arterials, collector roads, neighborhood centers, and parks, creating a predictable and integrated pattern that emphasizes shared community identity and order.
East Bluff (Newport Beach) exhibits cul-de-sac designs that enhance community observation and interaction.
Neighborhoods like East Bluff in Newport Beach utilize cul-de-sac street designs, similar to those in Columbia, Maryland. This layout promotes observation of who enters and leaves, encouraging residents to interact and recognize each other, thereby reinforcing order and community bonds.
Montreal's Habitat 67 focused on community, incorporating some variety in floor plans.
Habitat 67, a housing complex developed for the Montreal World's Fair, primarily emphasized community over individuality. However, the designers attempted to introduce diversity and individuality through variations in apartment floor plans within the broader structured context.
Irvine's development history includes marketing, long-range planning, and village creation.
Irvine's evolution involved extensive marketing, a 100-year long-range plan dictating land use for housing, commercial, retail, and civic purposes. Early development saw vacant land signed with future plans for industrial areas, schools, and senior centers, aiming for an integrated city structure.
Irvine planned for integrated age groups and shared religious spaces.
Irvine's long-range plan included provisions for different age groups, with senior centers and spaces for children and teenagers. It also promoted religious homogeneity by planning shared worship spaces for various denominations, fostering inclusivity in religious life.
Irvine's residential villages were designed with distinct identities and buffered from heavy traffic.
Irvine's residential plan created several distinct villages (e.g., Turtle Rock, Northwood, West Park) with their own identities, buffered by road hierarchies that separated them from high-volume traffic. This design aimed to provide choice and a sense of place for residents.
University Park in Irvine features natural elements and greenbelt areas, aligning with garden city ideals.
University Park is characterized by its abundant park and greenbelt areas, reflecting Ebenezer Howard's garden city principles. Street signs emphasize natural features like willow trees, and materials are natural, contributing to a human scale and connection with the environment.
Irvine incorporates nature and recreation, like Woodbridge's man-made lakes, reminiscent of English countryside ideals.
Irvine integrates ideals from the English countryside, evident in planned communities like Woodbridge. Features such as man-made lakes provide opportunities for boating and fishing, while bike paths and scenic views contribute to a pleasant, nature-focused environment, aligning with the garden city concept.
Irvine's streetscape design follows specific planting plans for legibility and traffic calming.
Detailed streetscape principles are applied in Irvine, including specific planting plans for median strips and roadside trees along arterials like Culver Drive and Barranca. This design enhances legibility, provides buffering for pedestrians, and contributes to traffic calming, creating walkable environments.
Gateway treatments in Irvine mark transitions to private village spaces.
Entrances to Irvine villages, such as West Park, are treated as gateways. These entrances feature visible markers like monumental stone structures, palm trees, and hedges to announce the transition from public arterial roads to more private neighborhood spaces, reinforcing the intimacy gradient.
The Spectrum in Irvine is a prominent 'third place,' though its artificiality is debated.
The Spectrum, a large entertainment and retail complex in Irvine, serves as a major 'third place.' While designed and constructed, it functions as a popular gathering spot for socializing and recreation, though its authenticity as a 'third place' is sometimes questioned due to its planned nature.
Boomers was developed to provide dedicated recreational space for teenagers and children.
Boomers is a recreational facility built to address the need for dedicated spaces for younger residents. It offers activities like batting cages and bumper cars, aiming to provide a safe and engaging place for kids and teenagers, moving them away from loitering in parking lots.
Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)
CPTED theory links crime reduction to environmental design, focusing on motivated offenders and suitable targets.
CPTED theory posits that crime can be reduced by modifying the environment. It operates on the principle that a crime requires a motivated offender and a suitable target, and the environment influences the likelihood of victimization by either enabling or deterring opportunities.
Mixed uses and 'eyes on the street' reduce crime by increasing surveillance.
Environments with mixed uses and high foot traffic ('eyes on the street'), as discussed by Jane Jacobs, naturally increase surveillance. This constant observation deters potential offenders by reducing opportunities for concealed criminal activity and providing natural surveillance.
Cul-de-sacs can reduce crime but may hinder emergency vehicle access.
Cul-de-sac street designs are associated with lower crime rates and stronger neighborhood identification due to increased interaction among residents. However, their complex layout can pose challenges for emergency responders needing to access properties quickly.
Gated communities have mixed effects on crime reduction and security perception.
The effectiveness of gates and boundaries in reducing crime is debated. While intended to enhance security and community identity, high fences can reduce visibility, and research suggests gated communities can sometimes foster a sense of defensiveness and potentially make residents feel less safe.
Landscaping and territorial markers play a significant role in defensible space.
Landscaping and symbolic territorial markers, such as personalized signs or well-maintained yards, are crucial elements of defensible space. Barbara Brown's research indicates these can be as effective as physical barriers in establishing boundaries and signaling occupancy.
Oscar Newman's defensible space theory influences design guidelines for residential communities.
Oscar Newman's theory of defensible space provides a foundation for creating safe residential communities. His work, which emphasizes resident control over environments and surveillance opportunities, has significantly influenced the development of practical design guidelines.
Critiques of defensible space theory include determinism and the need for psychological mediation.
Defensible space theory faces criticism for being too deterministic. Critics argue that design features alone do not guarantee safety; psychological perception by residents and potential offenders, along with mediational processes, are vital factors in determining perceived safety and actual crime rates.
Brown and Altman's theory operationalizes defensible space through environmental features and psychological processes.
Barbara Brown and Herb Altman's work operationalizes defensible space by identifying specific environmental features—symbolic barriers (e.g., welcome mats), actual barriers (e.g., locks), detectability factors (e.g., lights on timers), and physical traces (e.g., uncollected mail). These features influence cognitions and perceptions in both residents and burglars.
Territorial indicators derived from environmental features influence crime risk.
Environmental features act as territorial indicators. Symbolic barriers, actual barriers, detectability cues, and physical traces collectively shape residents' and burglars' perceptions of safety and vulnerability. Environments that appear highly territorial tend to deter burglars.
Burglarized homes often lack identity markers, barriers, and detectability cues.
Research indicates that frequently burglarized homes typically lack symbolic identity markers, actual barriers like fences or shrubs, and clear detectability cues indicating resident presence. Conversely, homes with such features are less likely to be targeted.
Unexpectedly, public street signs can increase perceived vulnerability of an area.
An interesting finding from studies is that the presence of public street signs can make an environment seem more public and, paradoxically, more vulnerable to victimization. This suggests subtle environmental cues can influence crime patterns.
Crystal Cove exemplifies defensible space concepts with symbolic and actual barriers.
The gated community of Crystal Cove demonstrates defensible space principles through prominent stone columns and landscaping (symbolic barriers) and gates with guardhouses (actual barriers). These elements aim to enhance resident security and community identity, though research on gated communities suggests varied psychological effects.
Ask a Question
*Uses 1 Wisdom coin from your coin balance
