Struggling with zoning that thwarts the construction of new hamlets, villages, towns, and cities? Susan Henderson has a bit of place type inspiration from across the pond.
"Planners frequently use the place type framework to identify different issues, challenges, and assets throughout a municipality or a region. While there isn’t a standard used across the profession, it is generally accepted that the broadest range of places includes the hamlet, village, town and city. Historically, we intuitively understood how to build these places without regulation. Commerce and public spaces were located where the majority of residents could access them, and housing was both diverse and compact. This permitted the preservation of the landscape for agriculture and natural systems."
"However, the last decades have seen those clear types evolve into subdivisions, strip centers, malls and office parks. And unfortunately these new development types are virtually the same from region to region and country to country. This is the result of use-based zoning that separates rather than blends compatible uses."
Henderson uses three English examples for inspiration: the village of Castle Combe, the town of Tetbury, and the city of Bath. And points to our auto-centric zoning and subdivision regulations that keep delivering "placeless types" or "car types" or "suburb types," and how we can return to authentic places.
Bath, England; image credit: Susan Henderson
FULL STORY: Why Can’t My Zoning Create a Diversity of Places?
Oregon Passes Exemption to Urban Growth Boundary
Cities have a one-time chance to acquire new land for development in a bid to increase housing supply and affordability.
Where Urban Design Is Headed in 2024
A forecast of likely trends in urban design and architecture.
Savannah: A City of Planning Contrasts
From a human-scales, plaza-anchored grid to suburban sprawl, the oldest planned city in the United States has seen wildly different development patterns.
Orlando Pledges to Improve Walkability
A city report highlights successes and failures in building safer transportation infrastructure and reducing VMT in 2023.
New York Transit Agency Launches Performance Dashboard
The tool increases transparency about the agency’s performance on a variety of metrics.
Washington Tribes Receive Resilience Funding
The 28 grants support projects including relocation efforts as coastal communities face the growing impacts of climate change.
City of Rochester
Boston Harbor Now
City of Bellevue
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Birmingham, Alabama
City of Laramie, Wyoming
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.