Unit 1 neighbourhoods: friendship

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Unit 1 NEIGHBORHOODS - FRIENDSHIP

PRE-READING

Activity 1

Guess the meaning of these words in the following the sentences

1. Modern conveniences offer women more free time for their personal life outside home.

2. The people have enjoyed their life more, for the city has been improving all its existing
amenities such as shops, cinemas, libraries,…

3. All the neighbors seem (to be) compatible with each other. They live happily with each
other.

4. Although they lived in the same neighborhood, they hardly (ha‡u nhˆ kho‚ng)
recognized each other on the street.

5. Worries about many things in life affect (ta˘c Òo‰ng) his well-being badly. Can

you guess the meanings of those words? Compare yours with your classmates’.

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Unit 1 neighbourhoods: friendship
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Activity 2

Discuss the questions

1. Look at the picture above. What do you think the picture is about?
2. Are you satisfied with your neighborhood? Why?
3. What are the things a neighborhood should offer?

READING
As you read, think about what planners need to consider when designing neighborhoods.

Part 1

WHAT IS NEIGHBORHOOD?
CAN ONE DESIGN FRIENDSHIP?

Besides an habitable dwelling, city living requires shared conveniences and amenities.
Such are the grocery mart, the drugstore, barber shop, and beauty salon, the book stall,
florist, restaurant, or tavern. Such, too, are the parklets, the meeting and greeting spaces-
sometimes no more than a widened place in a walkway or a bench set out under a tree.
In the urban place of nameless faces, the feeling of compatibility, of recognizing and
being recognized, of belonging and sharing, has much to do with individual and group
well-being. Accepted and applied, this truth can have telling expression in the plan
arrangements of cohesive, convenient, and agreeable residential neighborhoods.
What, then, is neighborhood? Actually, it’s more a feeling than an area or layout. A
neighborhood is simply a place where the people next door, or across the courtyard, or
down the street, feel themselves to be “neighbors” rather than strangers. What, in
planning terms, can be done to strengthen this sense of compatibility?

William H. Whyte, Jr., expresses conclusively that most neighborhood bonds(=ties/ close
relationships) are formed by families living beside or near each other along one or both
sides of a residential street, around a common meeting ground, or along a mutually
travelled path. Friendships tend to form where people meet and recognize each other.
Can one design friendship? Hardly. But certain it is that gathering and meeting places
conducive to acquaintanceship can be created. Such, for example, might be a swatch of
paving under a tree, with benches and a table for chess or checkers. It could be a seat wall
at the entrance of the school or an arbor and bicycle rack at the neighborhood store.
Where tennis, handball is played, a well-played court could bring dull housing area to
exciting life. Even the thought of such places conjures up a feeling of togetherness. They
are the centers of neighborhood interaction.

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Unit 1 neighbourhoods: friendship
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POST-READING

Exercise 1

Match a word in the left column and a definition in the right

∙ Answer the following questions

1. amenities ( paragraph 1) 2. well-being a) a state of being happy, healthy,…

(paragraph 2) 3. layout (paragraph 3 )

b) the way in which the parts of something
are arranged according to a plan

c) facilities of a place that makes life there

easy or pleasant
Exercise 2

1. What is the topic sentence in the first paragraph?

2. What can a sense of being close come from?

3. What should a neighborhood designer or planner bear in mind in creating a satisfying

neighborhood?

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Unit 1 neighbourhoods: friendship
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Part 2
Is there optimum neighborhood size and shape?

Until school busing came along, it was generally agreed that the most desirable plan
diagram was an arrangement of housing clusters centered about an elementary school,
with access by children along traffic free walkways. In such neighborhoods, parents,
children, young adults, and elders are drawn together on a daily basis –especially if the
shopping and service centers are located within or bordering on the same center open
place.
There are now variations in neighborhood size and layout. Schools, recreation areas,
convenience centers, and other amenities are commonly shared with adjacent
neighborhoods. An accepted requisite, however, is that from the start the boundaries and
buffers are to be predetermined and fixed, with either natural limits such as ridges,
ravines, or water ways or traffic ways, or other construction. Each neighborhood is to be
planned as a unified residential entity and kept in balance.

Neighborhood design is becoming at last the means of providing residents with the best
possible living experiences. This includes not only freedom from passing traffic but also
the enjoyment of shared recreation areas and natural surroundings.

POST-READING

Exercise 1

∙ Match a word in the left column and a definition in the right

a) a close group of people, animals, or
1. a cluster (paragraph 6 ) things,… b) near or close

2. buffers (paragraph 7 ) c) areas between two places that reduce

risks.
3. adjacent (paragraph 7)
Exercise 2

∙ Answer the following questions

1. How do you understand the sentence “ It [neighborhood] is more a feeling than an area
or layout”?
2. What exactly can be designed to bring friendship to neighbors? Give examples.
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Unit 1 neighbourhoods: friendship
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3. Is the arrangement of housing clusters centered about an elementary school the only
choice in the present time

LANGUAGE WORK
Activity 1: Vocabulary review

Use one of the words in the reading for these sentences.

1. One of the best ______________ of the town is the library with thousands of valuable
books.

2. The planner and the architect always discuss interesting topics about their professions.
In fact, they are really _______________ with each other.

3. The neighborhood layout may affect residents’ ______________. That is, they may
feel happy or troubled, …

4. Every architect desires (mong muo·n) to be _______________ in their profession.

5. On the monthly __________ , the residents get together for group activities.

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 Unit 1 neighbourhoods: friendship
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Activity 2: Word formation

Look at these examples

Adjective Adverb
Responsible responsibility Compatible compatibility Adaptable
adaptability Stable stability
Livable livability

Pause and think:

Pause and think:
How can an adverb be formed from an adjective ending with “ble”?
How can an adverb be formed from an adjective ending with “ble”?

Choose one of the words for the blank

1. _____________ is one thing that ensures friendship.
2. They have been trying to design a _______________ city where residents can enjoy their
life most.
3. Everyone must be ______________ for the safety and cleanness of the neighborhood. A
sense of _____________ should be taken seriously.
4. A great number of people desire to live in the city because they can make a
________________ here.

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Unit 2 neighbourhoods: planned economies
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Unit 2 NEIGHBORHOOD: PLANNED ECONOMIES

PRE-READING

Activity 1 Guess the meaning of the italic words in the following sentences
1. Because the city has not got good sewers, many streets are often flooded with
water after heavy rain.

2. They are digging the street to install water lines and telephone lines.

3. Sewers, water lines, electric mains( lines) … are called utilities.

4. The boy ran into a cul-de-sac, and he could not find a way out to escape from
the others.

5. Street-front houses in the area are sold at a very high price.

Activity 2 Think ahead

1. What are the disadvantages of street-frontage?

2. What should be done to reduce the high cost of street frontage?

READING
As you read, check whether you have the same opinion as the writer’s.

It may be supposed that any economies to be made in the plan layout of a neighborhood
would somehow reduce livability. Happily, however, except where quality is sacrificed,
significant savings can be made while at the same time improving the neighborhood
character.

STREET FRONTAGE

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Unit 2 neighbourhoods: planned economies
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Homes facing upon a public street must normally bear a high share of the costs of street and
utility installation within the passing right-of-way. These costs include not only those of the
heavier highway-type paving, drainage structures, and lighting but also outsize trunk
sewers, gas mains, and water lines. Ranging more housing units along any given length of
street diminishes the high share of cost per dwelling. This can be accomplished by
off-street court or cluster groupings or by loop streets and cul-de-sacs.

OFF-STREET UTILITIES

By long tradition, utilities-sewers, water, and gas mains, power and telephone lines, and
more recently television cables- have been installed within the street and road rights-of-way
and often under the paving. By all reason the mains belong in off-street utility easements
where connections or repairs do not necessitate the tearing up of the roadway and the
frequent blocking of traffic. Off-street or rear lotline electric and telephone lines are also
highly desirable, since there overhead wires are far less visible, do not require their

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Unit 2 neighbourhoods: planned economies
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subsequent cutting. With planning such easements can also accommodate interconnecting
bicycle paths and lighted neighborhood walkways.

POST-READING
Exercise 1 Answer the following questions

1. What kinds of cost do street-front houses have to bear?

2. Name the activities that can happen on easements?

3. What are utilities mentioned in the text?

4. List some words that refers the disadvantages of installing utilities under the
street paving.

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Unit 2 neighbourhoods: planned economies
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Exercise 2 : Are these statements true or false? Write T for the true statements and F for
false statements. If there is no evidence, write NE.
____ 1. Reducing cost does not bring the best to a neighborhood.

____ 2. Street-front houses have to share a very high cost.

____ 3. To group more houses along a given length of street helps reduce
cost of all kinds.

____ 4. Loop streets, cul-de-sacs, and off-street courts helps reduce the cost
of street frontage.

____ 5. Utilities should be installed under the paving in any cases.

____ 6. Electric and telephone lines affect the planting along

____ streets. 7. Easements are the places where utilities can be

____ installed.

8. Easements in off-street areas can be used for simple and

light activities.

LANGUAGE WORK

Activity 1 Use some of the words in the passage to fill the blanks.

1. The residents complained about the frequent _________________ and

___________________ of the streets of telephone and water supply companies
in order to install lines or mains.

2. Is it good to ______________ all those houses along the loop street?

3. Now a lot of vendors( ngˆÙ¯i ba˘n ha¯ng rong) occupy ( la·n chie·m) the
____________ , which affects traffic badly.

Activity 2 WORD FORMATION

Prefixes can be added to certain words to form new words. The list below
presents some of the most frequently used prefixes.

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Unit 2 neighbourhoods: planned economies
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Trans through
Meaning Example

Prefix From, out from, out of Extend

Ex Between International Prepare
Inter Pre Before, in advance Replan
Re Back, again Subway
Sub Under Transoceanic
Across, beyond,

1. What words in the passage contain prefixes? Can you guess the meaning of
the words?

2. Do you know other prefixes?

3. Fill each blank with one of the words above.

a) The hospital is going to be _____________ the building to admit ( tie·p nha‰n)

more patients.

b) The existing layout of the neighborhood does not offer the residents the comfort and
convenience. In fact, they have decided to __________________ it.

c) Titanic, which was a _______________ ship, was wrecked right on its first on its
first voyage.

d) A ____________ is thought to help public transport very much in this big city.

e) Street cars were a major form of ________________ in the 1900s.

f) All the parts of the city are ______________ . Therefore, if any part does not work
well, the others don’t, either.

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Further reading DIG GS TOW N, NOR FOR K,VIR G INIA
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Further reading

DIGGS TOWN, NORFORK, VIRGINIA

The Diggs town housing project was once a dangerous, decaying, 30-acre island of
impenetrable superblocks where gunshots rang out in the night. Today, thanks to the unique
collaboration between architects and tenants, it has become a genuine neighbourhood, with
lovingly tended yards and flower gardens, safe, well-travelled streets, and a burgeoning
sense of community.

Architects began the redesign by opening up the project to the surrounding neighborhoods
and transforming it into a series of small villages. New streets and paths have given it the
texture of a normal neighborhood in which each unit faces a street and has its own address
and front yard. Picket fences help define private and public areas, and traditional porches
allow tenants to talk with neighbors while keeping an eye on the street. Drug dealers,
finding little privacy in the narrow streets, have gone elsewhere, and crime and violence
have decreased. And now that they are in charge of the space in front of their homes,
residents have begun to care for their properties and take pride in them.

While no one believes that the physical changes in Diggs Town have solved all of its
problems (65 percent of the 4, 000 tenants live below the poverty line), the newly energized
community has been liberated from the stigma attached t public housing. _ Gianni Longo
A Guide to Great American Public Places

DIGGS TOWN TRANSFORMED:

Common areas that had become urban demilitarized zones were revived by re-creating
neighborhood street patterns lined by front porches. Each house now provides an individual
address for residents.

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Unit 3 neighbourhoods
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 NEIGHBORHOODS : COMMON IDEAS.
Look at the picture and describe what you can see from the neighborhood

Neighborhoods mass together to form towns and cities. A single neighborhood isolated in
the landscape is a village. Though the nomenclature varies, there is general agreement
regarding the composition of the neighborhood.
1. THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS A CENTER AND AN EDGE.

The combination of a focus and a limit buildings, such as libraries, meeting

contribute to the social identity of a halls, or churches. Commercial buildings
community. Though both are important, including shops and workplaces are also
the center is necessary. The center is - what does “both” refer to?
usually a public space- a square, a - What are examples of a public space?
green, or an important street intersection. - What does it refer to?
It is located near the center of the
neighborhood unless geography dictates
that it be located elsewhere. _ What are civic buildings?

The center is the location for civic

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Unit 3 neighbourhoods
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state. In urban areas, the neighborhood
associated with the center of a village. edge is often defined by boulevards or
But in the aggregations of parkways, which may be lined by higher
neighborhoods that create towns and density buildings.
cities, commercial buildings are often at _ What are the center of a village? Of a
the edge where, combined with the town?
commercial edges of other _ What does “they” refer to?
neighborhoods, they form a town center.

The edge of neighborhood varies in _ What is the edge of a village and of an

character. In villages, the edge borders urban area like?
the lowest density of housing and is
usually defined by land reserved for _ What is the edge of an urban area
cultivation or conservation in a natural like?

2. THE NEIGHBORHOOD HAS A BALANCED MIX OF ACTIVITIES: SHOPPING, WORK,

SCHOOLING, RECREATION, AND ALL TYPES OF HOUSING.

This arrangement is particularly useful for apartments for the wealthy may occupy the
those- young, old, handicapped, or poor- choice sites.
who can not depend on the automobile for _ Who do planners care about here?
mobility. Why?
The neighborhood provides housing for a
range of incomes. Affordable housing
types include backyard cottages, apartment _ How many kinds of house are talked
above shops, and rowhouses. Houses and about?

3. THE IDEAL SIZE OF A NEIGHBORHOOD IS A QUARTER-MILE FROM CENTER TO EDGE.

This distance is equivalent of a neighborhoods creates a regional

five-minute walk at an easy pace. Within network of villages, towns, and cities
this five-minute radius, residents can that people can get to without relying
walk to the center from anywhere in the solely on cars. Such a system provides
neighborhood to take care of many daily access to major cultural and social
needs or to use public transit. The institutions, a variety of shops, and the
location of a bus or light-rail stop within kind of broad job base that can be
this walking distance substantially supported only by a substantial
increases the likelihood that people will population of many neighborhoods.
use public transit. _ From where to where does it take 5
A cluster or string of transit-oriented minutes here?
 _ What advantages does this radius
offer? Why is transit mentioned here?

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Unit 3 neighbourhoods
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4. NEIGHBORHOOD STREETS ARE DETAILED TO PROVIDE EQUALLY FOR THE

PEDESTRIAN, THE BICYCLE, AND THE AUTOMOBILE.

Neighborhood streets that provide

sidewalks, street trees, and on-street
parking increase pedestrian activity. People Neighborhood streets are laid out to create
are more apt to want to walk or to bicycle ifblocks for building sites and to shorten
the route provide safe, pleasant, shady pedestrian routes. An interconnected
sidewalks and bike lanes. Drivers are more network of streets and small blocks
apt to drive slower in areas with provides multiple driving routes that
pedestrian-filled sidewalks, crosswalks, diffuse traffic and keep local traffic away
and convenient, on-street parking. Streets from long
designed for pedestrians, bicyclists, and range transportation corridors.
drivers also encourage the casual meetings
among neighbors that help form the bonds
of community.
 _ How can planners make neighbors
feel like cycling?

_ Can streets help form the bonds of

community?

What are uses and benefits of

neighborhood
streets?

5. THE NEIGHBOURHOOD GIVES PRIORITY TO THE CREATION OF PUBLIC SPACE AND

TO THE APPROPRIATE LOCATION OF CIVIC BUILDINGS

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Unit 3 neighbourhoods
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Private buildings form an edge that delineates public spaces and the private block
interior. Public places such as formal squares, informal parks, and small
playgrounds provide places for gathering and recreation. Sites that honor
individuals or events are reserved for public buildings such as schools, municipal
buildings, and concert halls. Such sites help support the civic spirit of the
community and provide places where people can gather for educational, social,
cultural, and religious activities.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS

1. How many kinks of neighborhoods are mentioned in the first section? Are they different
in terms of center and limit?
2. Should there be a variety of houses in a neighborhood ?
3. Why does the writer suggest incorporating different activities in a neighborhood ? 4.
According to the text, what is the ideal distance from the center to the edge of a
neighborhood?
5. What transport means should be considered most in a neighborhood ?
 18
Unit 4 grid street syndrome
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Unit 4 GRID STREET SYNDROME.

PRE-READING

Activity 1
Look at the diagrams, and in groups discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of each street lay-out. Have you known all the words on
the picture?
Activity 2 Guess the meanings of the underlined words in the following sentences.

1. In everyday life, we live and work under certain constraints- we can not do
whatever we want or like.

2. Though they pulled down many buildings in the area, they did not do any
harm to the three-hundred-year building. In fact, they left it intact.

3. The city is going to build a new town in that area, so they have demolished all
the slums there. The demolition takes at least three months.

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Unit 4 grid street syndrome
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4. The authority has decided to convert the village into a town as it has
developed strongly in the last decade.

READING

As you read, answer the question whether grid-block living should be changed
completely.

Part 1
grid street layout or to make a change.
Where 5
1 established, the grid blocks are often best
In looking to neighborhood or community left intact and the street improved with
redevelopment, an early consideration is minor modifications. Again, two or more
whether to accept and work within the existing blocks can be combined to form a
constraints and handicaps of an existing replanned “ superblock,” with many
 advantages. In most cases, however, when vehicular traffic for other areas should be
a sizable tract of the community is 10 intercepted and bypassed. Reduction in
scheduled for demolition and rebuilding, street width, and widening of the walk
a new plat and trafficway plan is paving wold allow for street furnishings
required. and planting.
- What are the two things that need
Most things that happened along the consideration in
street had no better place to happen.
Although streetside living is still the way the first sentence? - How do you
for most families, many have found that understand the
things can be 15 word
much better. In terms of day-to-day “established”?
living, safety, traffic flow, the gridblock
layout of neighborhoods just does not
make sense anymore- not since the day of
the horse and buggy. - Is this paragraph about a good thing or bad
thing about gridblock lay out? What is the
evidence?
SUITABILITY

20
When might the grid be more suitable? In
many cases where it exists, and where - List three reasons for not replacing
related building patterns are established, existing grid layout
the cost of short-term conversion to
another street layout would be - What can be done to improve existing
prohibitive. Here improvements and gridstreet living?
modification are in order to relieve the
severity and 25
to lessen the conflicts between moving - What is the function of line 23 to the end of
vehicles and pedestrians. Where possible, the paragraph?

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Unit 4 grid street syndrome
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30 Again, the grid layout of streets may be
well-suited to areas in which the land is FILL EACH BLANK WITH ONE WORD
relatively flat, with few landscape
features to impede the geometric
configuration. If used, the governing
factor would be the size of the transected - When is grid street layout suitable?
squares and rectangles to best
accommodate the projected land uses, to
reduce the number of intersections

COMPREHENSION CHECK
 There are different kinds of ____________ layout: grid, radial, classic, or linear.
Because there have been a lot of changes in _____________ of transport ( e.g. more
cars and motorbicycles), in population, the grid-street layout has become less efficient.
It is widely accepted that in terms ___________ daily living and safety, traffic flow,
the grid-block layout of _____________ does not help people enjoy their life fully .
However, it is impossible to ______________ the grid system to another street pattern
in a short time as (= because) the cost is too ____________ . In places __________
the terrain is ___________ flat and there are special _____________ features, it is
better to make improvements on the _________ grid-block living.

LANGUAGE WORK
Activity 1 Vocabulary
1. A large _________ of the mountainous area will be developed into an
international resort.
2. The local asked the estate agent about the _____________ of the area so that he
can get the details about the building lots.
3. The traffic near the elementary school should be ____________ for the sake of
the children’s safety.
4. A parking lot must be ___________ __________ in the design and
construction of a supermarket , or the traffic congestion will be affected.

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Unit 4 grid street syndrome
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Activity 2 Expressions
a) Whether
 Ex:
∙ It is not clear whether the 200-year-old house will be left intact or it will be
demolished.
∙ The question is whether to convert the layout or to make some changes about it.
∙ They are not sure whether the facilities will create friendship or not.
b) in terms of
∙ In terms of safety, the gridstreet layout is not the choice in modern times. ∙ All
the facilities help so much in terms forming friendship among the neighbors.

Activity 3
What is the similarity in the underlined words?

an existing gridstreet layout.

related building patterns
moving vehicles
transected squares and rectangles
projected land uses

Part 2

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Unit 4 grid street syndrome
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 GRID BLOCK RESIDENTIAL IMPROVEMENT

A Dwellings on grid street blocks turn their fronts to the traffic-laden thoroughfares
and their backs to each other, or to the alleys. There is precious little outdoor living
space, for up to half of such a neighborhood is usurped by paved roadway and parking
areas, buildings take most of the rest. As congestion increases, such neighborhoods
tend to deteriorate. However, there are many possibilities for improving the livability
and even reversing the trend.

BLOCKAGE

B Street interruption can be accomplished by the strategic placement of a building,

park, or plaza on or across the roadway, with a bypass required. Therefore, the former
throughway is reduced to a local distributor street, and a whole new sense of a “ place”
is engendered.

SUPERBLOCKS

C Still concerned with the troublesome grid plan layout of existing streets, the urban
designer must explore the various means of overcoming its drawbacks. One solution
lies in the creation of superblocks. By this approach two or more single grid blocks are
combined to form a larger, campuslike island. The best of the existing buildings or
other features may be preserved and increased or a whole new grouping planned,
complete with parking bays or compounds and open space.

REDESIGN OF THE TRAFFICWAYS

D Trafficways are subject to change. Sometimes, on level terrain, with an existing

grid pattern established, the conversion of two-way streets to one-way routes will
expedite traffic flow and reduce peripheral friction (sˆÔ va chaÔm). Again
through-traffic on local streets may be discouraged and shifted to nearby arterials by
the reduction of speed limits, signalization, redesign, or by imposing blockage.

Decoding skills practice

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Unit 4 grid street syndrome
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Match the words in the left with the definition in the right
 ∙ Houses or buildings
An alley (A)
∙ Lying at the outside or away from the
Dwellings (A) Engendered (B)
central part ∙ Main roads
Expedite(D)
∙ Make easy the action of
Peripheral(D) Thoroughfares(A) To
∙ Taken improperly( kho‚ng hÙÔp lÌ)
deteriorate(A) Usurped(A)
∙ To become worse in quality or condition
∙ A lane between or behind buildings or
rows of buildings.

∙ Caused/ produced/ brought about

COMPREHENSION CHECK

Activity 1
Answer the following questions

1. Why is there so little outdoor living space in grid street layout?

2. Can blockage of a street help improve livability? How?

3. What kinds of blocks should be grouped to form a superblock? What should be

left intact?

4. What is one solution ( gia˚i pha˘p) to traffic problems in an existing established

grid pattern?

Activity 2
Fill each blank with one word based on the content in the text

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Unit 4 grid street syndrome
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The gridstreet __________ of neighborhoods does not bring about much
open_______ , making life in the neighborhoods less enjoyable. However, there are
some ways to improve such living.
 The planners suggest that the sidewalks should be __________ so that trees can be
__________ and lighting can be _______ properly. Moreover, a heavy traffic
______________ should be blocked by placing a ________, or a plaza on it. Another
solution is to __________ two or more blocks to form a _________, which will leave
more open space for residents. In short, although most of the time grid-block layout
does not work well for modern living, planners need to ________________ everything
carefully before converting it.

LANGUAGE WORK
Use one of the words in the texts to fill the blanks in the following sentences 1. One
way to reduce the traffic volume of a busy street is to ______ a building or a plaza
strategically on it.
2. Most of the illegally-built houses in the old city have been _________ , but the
historical buildings must be ____________ .
3. The two-way streets are to be _________ to the one-way streets in order to
reduce __________ .
4. Another way to discourage ___________ on local streets is to impose signs,
signals, street limits,…

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Part 2
 Unit 4: grid-street syndrome
Unit 5: community components

21
Unit 5 community components
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Unit 5
PRE-READING

Activity 1: In your opinion, what components should be considered in community

planning? Look at the picture for some suggestion.

2.
Choose one word that is different from the others. Explain your choice

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Unit 5 community components
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1.1 a) university b) libraries c) colleges d) clinic

1.2 a) theatres b) shops c) plazas d) department stores 1.3 a) boulevards b)
parkways c) parks d) sidewalks
READING
A. LAND USE

Land use planning is simply allocating for each broad community component an area of
suitable size and shape in an appropriate place. Most areas will, of course, fall within the
zone set aside for development. Shapes in this early phase are generalized and grouped in
best relationship to each other and the topography. It is a trial-and-error process brought
to ever greater refinement, until at last there is the best possible fit.

B. CIRCULATION

Concurrently with the allocation of land use areas, their means of interconnection are to
be established. There will be routes of vehicular movement, sometimes on grade,
partially subsurface, or covered; sometimes elevated, sometimes aerial. Frequently their
rights-of way will be so aligned as to coincide with and accommodate storm drainage
flow and sewer and utility mains. Other routes, lesser in scale but important, will be
described for pedestrian walks, bikeways, and mini-vehicles. Where lakes and
waterways are present, boat routing is often incorporated in the circulation plan. The
critical factor is that each route is to be coordinated with all others and with the land use
area plan.

C. RESIDENTIAL USES

Clumping all residential development far off center in a community requires an

inordinate amount of occupant travel. Probably it also puts too many people in one lace.
Rather, housing locations are to be composed in studied relationship to each other, to the
topographical features, to circulation routes, to centers of employment, to the planned
amenities, and within or near, but never astride, the paths of major vehicular trafficways.

D. SCHOOLS

Just as, ideally, the elementary school is central to neighbourhood life and activity, so in
the community are the secondary schools and perhaps a community college or university,
together with their libraries, conference rooms, auditoriums, and athletic fields. With a
concentration of pedestrian movement headed schoolward, it is reasonable that the paths
should be combined with parks or widened as community greenways.

E. SHOPPING

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Unit 5 community components

____________________________________________________________________________________

Complementing the schools as community destinations are the various convenience and
commercial centers. They are therefore to be strategically located to those who come by
automobile along local streets. But also, since commercial centers are supplied by vans or
larger transport vehicles, they need ready connections to and from the regional highway
network.

F. EMPLOYMENT

The better planned communities and all more recent “new towns” have a sizable
employment base. Aside from the normal labour force of clerks and service workers, there
are those employed in the schools, recreation programs, professional and other business
offices, and often in light industrial parks. Seldom are a majority of residents employed
within the community bounds-for opportunities extends far beyond the borders. But for
many the day’s workplace is within a short walking distance of home. There are other
advantages to built
in employment centers, for such workplaces add diversity and vitality to nearby living
areas. Strictly “bedroom” communities are as drowsy as the name implies.

G. RECREATION

Recreation need not be something one must go somewhere to find. At best it is part of the
daily living experience. Although specific types of recreation –such as sports and court
games- may need their own specialized areas. Recreation may also be no more than a walk
or jog down a pleasant path or a visit while minding the kids at a playground. A proper
community abounds with enjoyable things to see and do - a “ fun place in which to live.”

Decoding Skills Practice

Section A

1. What is the object of “allocating”?

2. What is the function of “ set aside for development”
3. Is “brought” in the last sentence a finite verb or past participle?

Section B

1. “Are to be established” may have the same meaning as _____________

a) must be established b) can be established
2. “Sometimes on grade”, “sometimes elevated”, “ sometimes aerial” are
modifiers of ___________________
a) routes b) vehicular movement
3. What is the function of “lesser in scale but important”?

31
Unit 5 community components
____________________________________________________________________________________

Section C
 1. What is the subject and the verb of the first sentence?
2. “Rather” in this context means _________
a) to give better, more correct information. b) to talk about cause-effect 3.
The paragraph is organized in a ___________ pattern.
a) problem-solution b) cause-effect c) description Section D

1. There is a special structure in the first sentence. Can you find it?
2. Is “schoolward” a noun, an adjective or an adverb? Why do you know?

Section E

1. Are schools one of community destination? How do you know?

2. “Since” in this context means ___________
a) when b) from that time on c) because

Section F

1. What is the most general sentence in the section?

2. What are the functions of the other sentences? – To make the general idea
clearer?

Section G

1. Is “ need” used in the first sentence different from “need” used in the second
sentence?
2. What is the verb in the last sentence? Can you guess its meaning?

POST-READING

1. Answer the following questions

a) What does land use planning mean ? Does the early land planning change in time?
b) What is the function of circulation ?
How many kinds of routes should be considered according to the writer ? Name
them. c) What role do high schools or colleges or universities play in a community
life? d) What are the destinations of a community?
How can they be make accessible ?

32
Unit 5 community components
____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Read the following text and fill each bank with one word
 In ______________ to have a comfortable life for a community , urban planners need
to ______________ various facilities for it. The _____________ important are those of
education, circulation and ______________. When it comes to _______________
facilities, either secondary schools or colleges, or universities are built according to the
__________________ and age of the community . schools, along with _____________
centers, are the)__________________ of community life and activity ; therefore, paths
________________ residents travel should ___________safe and _____________ ( so
that they are wide enough) and made into _____________ ( ways with trees).
In addition, it is necessary to create an efficient ______________ system to connect
different ____________ of a community. Generally, routes for _______________ may
be on grade, elevated, or _____________, while routes for pedestrians, bikeways, and
minivehicles must be carefully laid _________ . The place ___________ there are lakes
and _______________- should _______________ boat routing.
Shops , another kind of facility, must be ____________ in a place that are
____________ to people who go on ______________ or by bicycles and cars and to
vans and trucks which _______________ goods for the shops.

LANGUAGE WORK

Refer to pages 73 - 82 for the notes on noun phrase, preposition phrase, gerund phrase,
participle phrase, and infinitive phrase, and then do the activities following.

Activity 1 Identify the head nouns in the following sentences. 1. Concerned

with the troublesome grid plan layout of existing streets, the urban designer must
explore the various means of overcoming its drawbacks, 2. An interconnected
network of streets and small blocks provides multiple driving routes that diffuse
traffic.

33
Unit 5 community components
____________________________________________________________________________________

3. Streets designed for pedestrians, bicyclists, and drivers also encourage the casual
 meetings among neighbours that help form the bonds of community. 4. The
location of a bus or light-rail stop within this walking distance substantially
increases the likelihood that people will use public transport.
5. Homes facing upon a public street must normally bear a high share of the costs
of street and utility installation within the passing right-of-way.

What are possible positions of a noun phrase?

Activity 2 Identify all the phrases you have studied and tell their functions. 1.
Land use planning is allocating for each broad community component an area of
suitable size and shape in an appropriate place.
2. Clumping all residential development far off center in a community requires an
inordinate amount of occupant travel.
3. With a concentration of pedestrian movement headed schoolward, it is
reasonable that the paths should be combined with parks or widened as
community greenways.
4. They are to be strategically located to those who come by mobile along local
streets.
5. Recreation may also be no more than a walk or jog down a pleasant path or a
visit while minding the kids at a playground.
6. A proper community abounds with enjoyable things to see and do - a “ fun place
in which to live.”

34
Unit 5 community components –further reading
____________________________________________________________________________________
Further reading COMMUNITY FACILITIES
A host of community facilities are required in a new town, so that the inhabitants may lead a richer
and fuller life. Plans for a new town should attempt to bring about a new order and more harmony in
a new community. Failure to appreciate this need has tended to create in the new communities such
problems as isolation,” self-selection”, segregation based on age, religion, language, occupation,
income, status and other variables, and the absence of a “sense of belonging”.
EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES

Most new towns seem to have adequate educational and health facilities. However, the provision of
shops, parks, religious and cultural centers, has lagged behind construction of houses, roads, and
water supply and sewerage systems. The standards for provision of these facilities have varied
widely from one country to another. But there is a need to improve the techniques of projecting the
future population of a new town in the various school-going age groups, the anticipated enrolments,
the number of schools required, and the land requirement thereof during the next 20 years. From the
Indian experience, a neighborhood unit should have a population of 3,000 to 4,000, so that they can
be served by one primary and two nursery schools. A secondary school may serve a sector with a
population of about 10,000 comprising (consisting of) two to three neighborhoods.
HEALTH FACILITIES

Hospitals and health clinics should be situated so as to be easily accessible, yet have enough area
for future expansion. In a new town two or three hospital beds per 1,000 population seem to be
adequate. As hospitals and other health facilities serve not only a new town dwellers but also those
in surrounding towns and villages, suitable allowance for this should be made in their design.
Health facilities should be planned so as to be improvable and expandable as and when the new
town grows in population and area. The land requirement of hospitals depends upon the type of
hospital and number of beds provided. In tropical countries of the region, five acres ( 2 hectares ) for
a twenty-bed hospital and 10 acres for a 50-bed hospital may be required. However, for a 100-bed
hospital, 15 acres (6 hectares) seems to be adequate. Sufficient health centers for 15,000 to 20,000
population and a site area of 1.5 to 2.0 acres will be required.

SHOPPING FACILITIES

Trends in shopping and shoppers’ behavior in new towns are different from those in “mature towns
‘. For instance, turnover in shops is higher only for a few days following pay–day; there is also a
marked difference in turnover between the weekends and weekdays. Specialized and costly goods
and consumer services do not find much demand even though the economy may be prospering.
Such features need to be studied carefully before shopping centers are designed.
In new tows in Asian and Far Eastern countries, economic factors will also have to be considered.
Pedestrian movement of shoppers is preferrable to vehicular movement. Temporary shops should
not be allowed and hawkers should be prevented from selling at street corners.

OTHER COMMUNITY FACILITIES

Most of the new towns have not been able to provide adequate cultural facilities, such as
community centers, places of worship, libraries, theaters and clubs, except perhaps cinemas, which
are thriving well. Proper location and good design of post offices, banks, police stations, telephone
kiosks, employment exchanges, nurseries and cemeteries can do much to make a new town
livable. Before designing its community facilities, therefore, it is useful to identify the “catchment
area” from which it will draw most of its inhabitants.

35
Unit 6 City: central-inner-outer
__________________________________________________________________________________________

Unit 6 CENTER CITY- INNER CITY- OUTER CITY

PRE-READING

Activity 1

Guess the meanings of the underlined words.

1) The big generators(= dynamos) such as —a Nhim, Ho¯a BÏnh have supplied a great
volume of electricity for our country.
2) Creating a real friendship among the neighbors through shared facilities is his
utmost concern.
3) The peak hours, which are between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., need a lot of power. 4)
Pleasant environment encourages their best performance in their business. 5) The
favorable weather is worth considering when it comes to planning living space for the
old.

Activity 2 Syntactic analysis

Look at these sentences

John lives in a quiet neighborhood, so does Mary.

Just as a generating plant is designed for utmost efficiency, so, by all reason, must our
urban centers be designed and constantly adjusted to yield peak performance.

Do you think they have the same structure?

Do you remember the structure in the above sentence? What is the use of this structure?

READING

CENTER CITY

The center city of each metropolitan area is its dynamo. It houses its generators of
governmental, financial, and commercial energy. Just as a generating plant is designed for
utmost efficiency, so, too, by all reason must our urban centers be designed and constantly
adjusted to yield peak performance. This implies not only the selection of those elements best
suited for inclusion but also the planning of their most favorable relationships
 36
Unit 6 City: central-inner-outer
__________________________________________________________________________________________

CRITICAL MASS

An understanding of urban dynamics begins and ends with the concept of intensity. The
planners of commercial development are well aware of the term critical mass. Without it, there
can be no hope for success. A favorable critical mass implies an adequate base of potential
clients or customers, which is a function of population area, density, and ease of getting
around. Critical mass implies also a sufficient concentration of goods and services, of building
mass and supporting open space, to provide a strong attractor. It connotes a centralized
aggregation of compatible elements. It bespeaks popularity, activity, nodes of high interest -
and people.

RELATIONSHIPS

Intensity is essential, it alone is not enough. Much depends upon the elements to be associated.
To illustrate the point, one might imagine a compact grouping of a hospital - a consolidated
complex. Formed by itself as an integrated grouping within parklike surrounding, a complex
can bring together in a well-organized assemblage all related elements of health care and
medical treatment. Here at a close hand will be available the best of medical minds, skills, and
equipment. Clearly the quality of treatment, surgery, and nursing care will benefit. The arrival
and processing of patients will be simplified also - as in admittance, record keeping, diagnoses,
and billing. Patient transfer from place to place by ambulance with sirens screaming will no
longer be required. Food storage will be facilitated with automatic freezer and locker rooms.
Food preparation will also be centralized. The immense laundry will be handled far more
efficiently, as will be multitudinous tasks of maintenance and the operation of combined
mechanical systems.
HUMANIZING THE CITY

37
Unit 6 City: central-inner-outer
__________________________________________________________________________________________

The traditional urban centers of many metropolitan regions have fallen upon bad times.
Slashed apart by more crowded trafficways, they have been robbed of their essential
intensity and human interactions. Without confining boundaries, city centers have spread
outward along the feeder arteries, often leaving behind at the core a desolation of vacancies
and obsolescence. Even in the surviving districts of towering banks, office buildings, and
midtown parking structures, there is little of appeal at street level. It is no wonder that given
the choice, investors and clients opt for the outlying shopping plazas, malls and office parks
where the daily experience is much more agreeable.
The question arises, “Can the revitalized center city compete with an outlying shopping
mall?” Many examples give an affirmative answer. The downtown location has a number of
clear advantages. It is centralized. It has a wide circumferential trade area and sphere of
influence. By association, it connotes the highest urbanity and the superlatives of city living.

Choose the best choice for each question

1. The center city ____________________________________________ .

a) is the center of a metropolitan area
b) acts as a dynamo for each metropolitan area
c) is that of politics, finance, commerce…
2. The writer compares a generating plant and the center city because _____________
a) they must both function most efficiently.
b) they must be corrected all the time to work well.
c) they need the design of the best designers.
3. What does the writer mean by the phrase “peak performance”?
a) good production
b) best working
c) interesting
4. One crucial ( very important ) thing for the success of a city center is _____________
a) Its being rich and modern.
b) Its attraction of different resources.
c) the gathering of different groups of people.
5. The relationship mentioned by the author can be specified as _______________
a) the harmonious co-operation between different parts of a center city. b) the
most efficient arrangement of different activities.
c) the dependence of one activity on others.
6. Traditional urban centers have lost its intensity and human interaction because of ____ .
a) bad times they are in
b) being isolated by heavy traffic streets, avenues, …
c) spreading along feeder arteries
 38
Unit 6 City: central-inner-outer
__________________________________________________________________________________________

INNER CITY

If the new center cities are to be compressed within the confining trafficway ring, thus
increasing intensity - but also land values and rentals - where are the workers to live? Where
will the suppliers have their stores? Where will one find the trade schools, repair shops, and
other support facilities? With logic they should be close at hand, within the adjacent inner city.
FUNCTION

The inner city – providing the supporting services and much of the work force for the CBD and
outer city-will be made up of neighborhood groupings and service clusters. The makeup of the
neighborhoods will vary widely in character to reflect the location and the income levels of
residents. There will be those in need of aided and self-help housing. In response to expanded
employment opportunities the inner city will draw an influx of skilled and restrained workers,
office staff, and supervisory personnel. There will be need, too, for design professionals to help
plan and guide the extensive inner city conversion. As the center city attractions are increased
and land values rise, many residents in upper income brackets will also opt for homes and life
in the inner city band.
Here in the inner city – section by section, the rigid grid street pattern will be relaxed into freer
form tracts conforming to the topography. Some will be planned as residential neighborhoods,
others as centers of supply, fabrication or service.
Because of the need for higher densities and more affordable rentals, new inner city housing
will tend toward off-street townhouse clusters and low to mid rise apartments. All are to be
combined into unified neighborhoods with their own convenience shopping and recreation. In
their function the future inner cities will fill much the same role as at present – that of support
for the CBD and the outer city, but the cities will have a far different mien, with traffic-free
neighborhoods, far more efficient centers, and a trafficway system that works.
Here in the inner city it could be hoped that the thriving neighborhoods will hold their cohesive
identity, largely unchanged. In good time other amorphous scatterings will be reformed and
consolidated around their upgraded convenience and community centers and transit stops.

39
Unit 6 City: central-inner-outer
__________________________________________________________________________________________

OUTER CITY

The outer city is that area of the municipality lying between the inner city and the official
city limits. This broad expanse of real estate is commonly subject to the full range of
conflicting uses and abuses. There are homes and estates, golf courses, village shopping
compounds, institutional grounds, streams, and patches of woodland. But intermixed are
such unlikely neighbors as the used car lot, laundromat, animal control shelter, forge,
sanitary fill, and assembly plant. How do they all fit together? Quite obviously, they don’t.
Without the benefit of an overall plan and regulation, the mix has become so impacted and
so fraught with the frictions that it desperately needs sorting out.
In the sorting-out and restructuring process are several promising possibilities. First, here
again is a felicitous opportunities to apply the relatively new and highly effective techniques
of comprehensive planning and urban development. With phrase implementation they can
accomplish seeming miracles. Second, in the aggregation of similar and complementary uses
into unified centers all participants stand to gain. Finally, as the dispersed uses are
reconsolidated in time, the vacated lands can be reassembled by parcel and restored as an
open space frame.

URBA –SUBCENTERS

Urban subcenters, aptly called “urba-centers,” are outlying nodes of various types of activity
such as those of education, research, health care, sports, or manufacturing. In some cases,
 elements of each are of a size or nature to stand alone when dispersed throughout the region.
More often, however, nodes of activity benefit when brought together in a unified grouping –
as when scattered shops or stores are gathered into a well-planned mall. By consolidating

40
Unit 6 City: central-inner-outer
__________________________________________________________________________________________

similar elements, each gains strength from the whole. Together these elements attract more
supporting uses such as housing, suppliers, and recreation to form a balanced synergistic
community. Major urba-centers, planned with highway and transit linkage, are well located
as basic elements of the evolving outer city.
The list of typical urban subcenters might well include the following

As industrial park. On line with the freightway between the cargo airport and central
distribution terminal, a light manufacturing and assembly complex can draw upon the
resources of the whole metropolitan region.

A science / research center . A high-tech research –and – development community can

well be located outside the center city as long as it has direct access and linkage to the
universities, business offices, and other regional nodes.
An educational campus. Depending on the nature of the universities, colleges, and
other institutions of learning to be brought together, they might benefit by the addition
of such other components as a museum or a computer or conference center.
A healthcare complex. Hospitals, clinics, laboratories, nursing homes, and retirement
villages are often grouped to their mutual advantage. The benefit can be even greater if
all are planned concurrently with residential neighborhoods as a complete community.
A sport center. The pull of fans will be increased by combining into one complex the
football/ baseball stadium, soccer field, hockey rink, baseball arena and perhaps even
the race track.

COMPREHENSION CHECK
1. The function of the inner city is ___________________
a) to offer the services for the central business district (CBD)
b) to provide working people
c) Both A and B.
2. The character of a neighborhoods in the inner city depends on _________
a) residents’ characteristics.
b) residents’ living standards
c) residents’ choice of location.
3. One way to reduce rentals in the inner city is ______________ .
a) to introduce clusters of off-street townhouses
b) to create more housing in the neighborhood
c) to make unified neighborhoods with enough facilities.
4. The outer city, which expands a large area of land, ___________________
a) contains elements that can not live together.
b) includes both the pleasant and the annoying.
c) can give people a sense of comfort and peace and quiet.
5. Urban sub-centers _______________
 a) can stand alone throughout the region.
b) should be grouped together to strengthen themselves and also to promote other services
for a strong development.

41
Unit 6 City: central-inner-outer
__________________________________________________________________________________________
c) Both A and B

LANGUAGE WORK

Activity 1

List all important words expressing the center city, inner city, and outer city.

Activity 2
FORM GOES WITH FUNCTION
Each sentence has its function in a paragraph. For example, look at paragraph 1.

Sentence 1 : presenting the function of the center city.

Sentence 2, 3: elaborating ( la¯m roı) the function.
Sentence 4 : inferring from the function.

In the same way, analyze the function of other sentences in the part of “ Critical mass”.

FURTHER READING

THE NEW CITY CENTER

The center city of the future will be stepped and rise here and there to soaring heights. Not row
upon row of aloof monumental towers ranged along through trafficways – but rather integrated
groupings of multistory, multifaceted megastructures interspersed with courts, patios, plazas,
piazzas. It will be light and lively. The new city center will be laced with saunas, exercises
rooms, solariums, flower, book shops with child care facilities.
The new center city’s commercial, governmental, and cultural subcenters will be bounded by
broad-boulevard access portals crossed by aerial and subsurface passageways from point of
concentration to point of concentration. It will be ringed with an open space buffer and traffic
distributor parkway. It will be alive with pedestrians-a true metropolitan center.
 42
Part 3

Unit 6: land use- one basic one basic element in new town development Unit

7: land use planning: the p-c-d approach

Unit 8: traffic

♦ classification of vehicular circulation systems

♦ streets and street adjuncts
♦ greenways, blueways

Unit 9: urban transport and transmission

Unit 10: center city- inner city- outer city

 36
Unit 7A p-c-d approach
____________________________________________________________________________________

Unit 7A LAND USE PLANNING: THE P-C-D APPROACH

PRE-READING

Activity 1 Guess the meaning of the underlined words

1. Everyone wants the two-hundred-year-old house to be preserved in that

condition.

2. Wildlife( Òo‰ng va‰t hoang daı) is well conserved in the natural park so
that they will not face extinction( tuye‰t chu˚ng).

3. They have been trying to develop that area into a modern town.

4. You can not separate( ta˘ch rÙ¯i) this element from the master plan. In fact, it
is an integral part of the whole plan.

Activity 2

1. Are there many natural landscapes in your city or town? What are they?

2. How would you deal with ( gia˚i quye·t) them if you were supposed ( co˘
nhie‰m vuÔ ) to replan your town or city? Would you keep them or
destroy them to create more open air?

3. Which parts of the city do you suggest should be cleared and developed
totally?

READING

While you read, try to find out what the author, as a planner, has suggested.
 A Given any site for a new community, surveying is in order. By aerial or other surveys,
mainly by exploring the property by air, land vehicle, and especially on foot, the
planners will rough out the approximate limits of preservation, conservation, and
potential development (P-C-D).

B The preservation outlines are those including land, wetland, and water areas of high
ecological and landscape value. Of most concern are those outlines comprising an

8
Unit 7A p-c-d approach
____________________________________________________________________________________

integral part of a working natural system such as dunes, tidal estuaries, streams, or water bodies.
Outlined will be areas of especially fertile soil, unique or prime vegetation, a specimen tree, a
handsome grove, or other scenic superlatives. Also are included are significant archeological
finds and historic landmarks. All are to be preserved without disruptive intrusion.

C Around them, as protective shields, are drawn the outline of conservation bands, which,
although not of preservation quality, are special in themselves. These transitional buffers are to
be devoted to such limited uses as trails, bicycle paths, parkways, or perhaps community open
space enframement. It is important that the uses imposed are compatible and require no
extensive alteration of the landscape features.

D Finally, the least sensitive, least productive areas- usually uplands, are outlined as suited to
selective clearing, grading, and development.

E This underlying pattern of preservation, conservation, and development areas is systematic in

itself. Its process of P-C-D land classification is applicable not only in undisturbed natural
terrain but also in highly urbanized districts slated for redevelopment. Where such preservation,
conservation, and development areas do not exist, they may be created or recreated.
 9
Unit 7A p-c-d approach
____________________________________________________________________________________

∙ Reading Strategies Practice

1. Which word or words in this list - dunes, tidal estuaries, streams, or water
 bodies( paragraph B)- do you know? Without looking up your dictionary, can
you guess their meanings? Which context clues(da·u hie‰u ngˆı ca˚nh ) do you
base on?

a) an integral part
b) a natural system
c) a working natural system and the phrase “such as”

2. All the adjectives “fertile” (in fertile soil), “unique or prime” (in unique or
prime vegetation), “specimen”(in a specimen tree), and “scenic” ( in scenic
superlatives)- in paragraph B- have good -positive ( tÌch cˆÔc)-meanings or
bad – negative- meanings? Which context clues(da·u hie‰u ngˆı ca˚nh ) do you
base on?

a) the word “handsome” in the phrase “handsome groves”

b) the punctuation : comma
c) the connector: or
d) a, b and c can be the clues

3 Read this sentence:

Around them, as protective shields, are drawn the outline of conservation

bands, which, although not of preservation quality, are special in themselves

According to the writer, which word conveys a more important value

conservation or preservation? Which clues do you base on?

a) protective shields
b) conservation bands
c) although

Can you guess the meaning or the function of the other new words in the text?

Suggestion

Use this strategy while reading a text instead of looking up

your dictionary all the time.

COMPREHENSION CHECK

10
Unit 7A p-c-d approach
____________________________________________________________________________________
1. What should a planner do first when they are given a site for a new community?

2. What does P-C-D stand for (tˆÙÔng trˆng ) ?

3. What should be preserved and conserved? Are the things preserved more important

than those conserved?

4. What are the most important words in the paragraph A, paragraph D?

LANGUAGE WORK

Do you find anything unusual in the following sentences?

a) Of the most concerns are those outlines comprising an integral part of a

working natural system

b) Outlined will be areas of especially fertile soil, unique or prime

vegetation.

c) Also are included are significant archeological finds and historic

landmarks

d) Around them, as protective shields, are drawn the outline of

conservation bands

What are the subjects in the above sentences?

Note:
The action of reversing the normal position or order of elements in a
sentence is called inversion, which is used in case writers want to
emphasize some idea.
 11
Unit 7B land use-basic element
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Unit 7B LAND USE:

ONE BASIC ELEMENT IN NEW TOWN DEVELOPMENT

PRE-READING

Activity 1 Discuss the following questions in pairs

1. What activities are there in your town or city? Divide them into specific fields
– commercial, industrial, or residential.

2. Do the activities take place in right areas? Why or why not?

Activity 2 Read the introductory paragraph about the elements of a new town.
The elements of a plan for a new town depend to a large extent on its purpose and
functions. However, certain components are common, though their composition may vary
depending upon the physio-graphic, socio-economic and political situation obtaining in
each country. The comprehensive development plan (master plan) of the new town should
synthesize the various elements into a workable order and system for creating a good
physical and human environment.

Find the word in the paragraph which means

a) existing ____________ b) including most of the relevant details ( chi tie·t lie‚n quan)
____________ c) put together all elements to form a whole ____________ d) natural
____________

What are the common components mentioned in the paragraph? You will find the
answer in the following sections of the text
READING

In the first place, you read the part of industrial land use.

12
Unit 7B land use-basic element
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Land use is the basic element of a plan for any urban settlement, existing or new. It is the
land use pattern that establishes a harmonious relationship between places of living,
working, recreation and communication and determines the functional efficiency of a
town. A new town - unlike an established one - has the advantage of ordering its land use
structure in the best possible manner without being encumbered by incompatible and
non-conforming uses. However, suitable space standards need to be evolved for deciding
the type, extent and intensity of land use.

INDUSTRIAL LAND USE

The key to the success of a new town lies in the provision of adequate and gainful
employment opportunities. Areas devoted to industrial land use, therefore, form a
substantial percentage of the developed area. It is not possible to suggest any definite
standards regarding industrial space in a town, as it depends upon the types of industry,
then performance, size, and many other factors. In an industrial new town it may vary
from 25 to 40 per cent of the total developed area. The location and organization of
industrial sites greatly affect the layout of a new town. It is, therefore, necessary to study
in detail the relationship between the industrial area and the residential areas with respect
to the direction of wind. In many industrial new towns in the ECAFE region industrial
subdivisions and grouping of industries have been arbitrary and irrational. Even those
industries which do not cause any nuisance have been located away from the residential
districts, thereby increasing the journey to work. Though such industries could adjoin
residential sectors, buffer zones have been introduced unnecessarily. In some cases,
adequate provision has not been made for supporting industries near the main industry.
The situation, therefore, calls for adherence to performance standards of industrial
zoning; grouping of allied industries to take the fullest advantage of common utilities,
services and facilities; and sitting of ‘safe’ industries not too far from residential districts
but in such a manner as to avoid causing heavy-through traffic.

ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE?

---
 1. To provide opportunities of work is of great importance in a new town.

---

2. Industrial land use should be considered first in a new town

---
3. 25 to 40 per cent of the total developed area is the common standard for industrial land
use.

---
4. Planners should take into consideration the direction of wind when choosing a location for
an industry.

13
Unit 7B land use-basic element
_______________________________________________________________________________________

---
5. Industries were located at the right sites in many new towns in the ECAFE regions.

---

6. All industries are harmful for residents’ living, and should be located far from residential
areas.

---
7. Closely-related industries should be gathered.

---
8. Industries may be responsible for the volume of traffic.

RESIDENTIAL LAND USE

Residential land use normally accounts for nearly 40 to 50 per cent of the developed area in
the case of a new town with its own economic base and about 40 to 60 per cent in the case
of a satellite town.

Residential new towns are generally composed of sociophysical entities, each consisting of
a calculated number of dwellings and the corresponding utility services and facilities. Such
comprehensive entities are repeated to form a hierarchical system comprising residential
“neighborhoods”, “sectors”, and “districts”, with an interrelationship established through
the circulation system and the use of common public utilities and community facilities.

Neighborhood unit

A neighborhood unit is the basic unit of the residential development and the smallest unit of
community organization. As envisaged by Clarence Arthur Perry, the neighborhood unit
must be limited in size; it should have distinct and well-defined physical boundaries; an
elementary school should be the hub of the unit; it should have parks, playgrounds, shops
for day-today requirements, and institutional buildings. The size of a neighborhood unit
may vary in population from 2,000 to 10,000, the ideal optimum being 5000 to 6000. The
size is governed essentially by the number of families required to support an elementary
school situated not above a quarter to half a mile from the farthest dwelling and also the
other neighborhood services and facilities. The concept of neighborhood planning is now
being increasingly criticized and its validity questioned.

Residential sector

Two or more neighborhood units linked by a circulation system and bounded by major
roads form a sector. The sectors contain those services and facilities which are required
frequently but not everyday, such as high schools, larger and more specialized shops, clubs
and cinemas. The size of a sector depends upon climate, standard of living and social
factors. In Islamabad, each sector is 1.33 miles square, bounded by parallel sector-roads
and accommodates 35,000 people. It has its own administration and civic buildings. Each
sector is divided into four sub-sectors, and these are further subdivided into four or six
smaller

14
Unit 7B land use-basic element
_______________________________________________________________________________________

components, each of which is called a ‘basic unit’. The basic unit contains a population of
about 2,000.

Residential district

A group of sectors, linked together by major arteries and common facilities and institutions,
make a ‘residential district’ whose population ranges between 30,000 and 50,000. The
circulation pattern will be such that though through-traffic does not penetrate the district,
the common facilities and institutions are easily accessible.

ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE?

2. Neighborhoods, sectors, and districts are

___ residential entities in a town. 3. Population

determines the size of a neighborhood.

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ 4. The hub of a neighborhood is an

elementary school
5. A sector is formed by at least 2 closely-
___
1. Satellite towns usually take more land linked neighborhoods. 6. Sectors must

for residential use than a new town with its provide every service and facility for
own economic base. residents 7. The size of a sector depends
on the same factor as the size of a
 neighborhood. 8. Major arteries and form sectors into districts.
common facilities and institutions help to

LANGUAGE WORK

Activity 1

Use one of the words in the above text for each of the following sentences

1. There are all kinds of houses in that neighborhood, _____________ from simple
wooden houses, cottages to modern high concrete buildings.

2. This neighborhood is _________________ by a green belt, which brings cool

weather all year round.

15
Unit 7B land use-basic element
_______________________________________________________________________________________

3. The secondary school is the ____________ of the residential sector.

4. This city can __________________ at most five million people.

Activity 2

In this text, there are some words that are synonymous with “ consist”( bao
go‡m). Can you pick them out?

Use one of the words for the blanks.

1. A neighborhood unit is ____________ of different elements such as a certain

number of residents, shared facilities, …

2. Ho Chi Minh City ____________ of nearly twenty districts.

3. That residential sector ____________ three neighborhoods linked by an effective

circulation system.

4. Utilities in the new neighborhood ____________ drains, sewers, water mains,

gas mains, electric lines, etc.

Activity 3 Look at the sentence:

 It is the land use pattern that establishes a harmonious relationship between
places of living, working, recreation and communication.

In the sentence above it is used in a cleft sentence.

We can begin sentences with it is/ was …that / who/ whom if we wish to emphasize
the word or phrase that follows. Sentences are formed in this way are called cleft
sentences because a simple sentence is split up (cleft) into two clauses using it –
construction:

The satisfactory detailed plan was worked out by exhaustive surveys.

( simple sentence, no emphasis)

It is the satisfactory detailed plan that was worked out by exhaustive surveys.

It is by exhaustive surveys that the satisfactory detailed plan was worked out.

Practice: Emphasize the following sentences, using the cleft structure with it. 1.

The edge of neighborhood varies in character.

16
Unit 7B land use-basic element
_______________________________________________________________________________________

2. Public spaces are located near the center of the neighborhood.

3. The neighborhood provides housing for a range of incomes.

4. The combination of a focus and a limit contribute to the social identity of a

community.

5. Such easements can also accommodate interconnecting bicycle paths and lighted
neighborhood walkways,

Activity 4 Look at this sentence

“Each sub-sector is further subdivided into four or six smaller components,

each of which is called a ‘basic unit’”. This sentence can be made two:

♦ Each sub-sector is further subdivided into four or six smaller components and
♦ Each of the components is called a ‘basic unit’.

Which word is used in this case to link the two sentences?

⮚ In the same way, combine these sentences by providing the right relative
pronoun
 1. There are a lot of trees on this street. The tallest of them was planted 100 years
ago.

2. The tourists are looking at the buildings. All of them were made of special
materials.

3. The planners have submitted many projects for the new urban town. The
committee will choose one of them in the near future.

4. The urban planners are taking part in the project. Some of them were trained at
Ho Chi Minh University of Architecture.

⮚ Make some sentences in which relative pronouns( Which/ Whom) are used
in the above way.

**********************************************

FURTHER READING

17
Unit 7B land use-basic element
_______________________________________________________________________________________

COMMERCIAL LAND USE

Commercial land use normally accounts for 4 to 6 per cent of the total developed area of a new
town. The shops and commercial establishments have to be distributed in suitable proportions in
different parts of the town as convenience shops, shops in the neighbourhood centers, shops in the
district centers, shops in sector centers, and lastly, shops in the city center. The wholesale market
should be suitably zoned and located so as to be easily accessible from arterial roads, and must
provide facilities for loading and unloading and truckparking. In the town centers, commercial
blocks may be designed so as to provide for shops on the ground floor, commercial offices and
professional establishments on the next floor and residences above.

Ques tions
1. How many kinds of shops are mentioned? Are they allocated the same land use area?
2. What are worth considering in designing a wholesale market?
3. What purposes do commercial blocks serve?

RECREATION LAND USE

Parks, playgrounds and other open spaces help to create a good environment and enhance the
urban scene. The extent to open spaces required in a new town is 5 to 8 acres per 1,000 persons or
about 8 to 10 per cent of the total developed area. In the tropical countries of the ECAFE region,
which experience long drought periods, it is necessary to adopt moderate spatial standards for
creation areas, on account of scarcity of water and high cost of maintenance. It is also necessary to
distribute recreation areas properly over the new town in a system composed of children’s parks or
‘tot lots’, neighbourhood parks, sector parks, district parks, a central park, playgrounds, sport
pavilion, ect.
It is not enough merely to provide adequate areas for recreation uses but equally important is their
proper distribution, landscape treatment, maintenance and optimum use. Many a new town in the
region has experimented with greenbelts to limit town growth according to plan, with varying degree
of success.

Ques tions
1. What problems do tropical countries of the ECAFE region have to face in terms of recreation
land use? What is the solution to the problem?
2. What else should be considered in addition to land for recreation use?
3. Tell one way to limit town growth according to plan.

18
Unit 8a vehicular circulation systems
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Unit 8 A CLASSIFICATION OF
VEHICULAR CIRCULATION SYSTEMS

PRE-READING

Look at the picture and then answer the questions

1. How many kinds of street are there in the picture?

2. Which streets are often seen in a neighborhood?

3. On which streets can you drive at a high speed?

4. Which street system helps link traffic on local streets and traffic on major streets?

5. Which streets border houses and buildings?

READING

As you read, try to find out how many kinds of street systems there are
according to the writer.

19
Unit 8a vehicular circulation systems
_______________________________________________________________________________________
 Roadway systems are grouped into a number of different classifications for
administrative, planning, and design purposes. Classifications are usually based
on traffic volumes, speed, general design requirements, and maintenance
requirements. In the basic classification system for design work, highways and
streets are typically grouped into the following four categories:

Freeway systems: (including expressways and parkways) these systems allow

rapid and efficient movement of large volumes of through-traffic between and
across urban areas. They have limited access with grade-separated interchanges.

Major arterial systems: these systems allow through-traffic movement between

and across urban areas with direct access to abutting properties. They are subject
to control of entrances, exits, and curb use.

Collector street systems: these systems allow local traffic movement between
major arterial and local streets, with direct access to abutting properties. Traffic
control is usually provided by stop signs on the side streets.

Local street systems: these systems allow local traffic movement and direct
access to abutting properties.

The design of vehicular circulation system involves both aesthetic judgement and
sound engineering practice. A roadway, however, is primarily a transportation
medium. It must be designed and built to facilitate the safe movement of vehicles.
To achieve this goal, the design of a roadway must incorporate the criteria of
strength, safety, and uniformity common to sound engineering practice.

Reading Skills Practice

Find the words in the text that have almost the same meaning as

1. Junctions /intersection

2. Bordering

3. Traffic that goes to a destination( ÒÌch Òe·n) without stopping in a local area.

4. A way in

5. Concerned with beauty

6. Make something easier

20
Unit 8a vehicular circulation systems
_______________________________________________________________________________________
COMPREHENSION CHECK

Are these sentences true or false?

3. Through-traffic movement is
------- ------- allowed in all the street systems.

4. Only freeway systems do not

border properties.
-------
5. Offering safe movement is the main
function of a roadway.
------- -------
6. Vehicles can travel about freely in
arterial and freeway systems.
------- ------- -------
7. Designers of a circulation system
must have a sense of beauty and a
1. There are a few classifications of good knowledge of engineering.
street systems.
8. A sense of beauty, according to the
2. Different purposes in design, writer, is more important than
planning and knowledge of engineering.
administration lead to different
classifications of street systems. .

21

Unit 8B STREETS AND STREET ADJUNCTS

PRE-READING

Discuss the questions

1. Do you still remember how many streets systems are there in the last lesson?

2. List all things you can see along the streets (in case you do not know the words
in English, ask your teacher or your friends or look them up in the dictionary).

3. What must be installed to ensure safety to street users? What is the bad side of
attractive advertisements seen along streets.

4. How can people who live along streets be protected from vehicles.

READING

Read the passage and while reading, try to find out the answers to the questions

A By all logic, the roadways of the futures will be classified and designed as an
interrelated hierarchy. At the top of the list will be interstate freeways and national
parkways. There will follow controlled-access arterials and lesser circulation roads with
parkway characteristics. Then will come the local frontage streets, loop drives, and
cul-de
sacs. And finally, such specialized types as scenic-historic trails, private roads, and
industrial truckways. Each has its own special function and characteristics. All are to be
interconnected.

B Among the most visible elements of our cities and countryside are the bridges,
retaining walls, lighting, signs and structures built into the nation’s roadways.

C As to the street or highway user, clarity of vision and understanding of the signals
and signs are essential to safety. Also to be considered is the quality of the driving
experience and viewing. Billboards distract both from the signage and scenery and by
all reason should have been outlawed long ago. Retaining walls and sound barriers are
best blended into their surroundings. On the other hand, bridges are sculptural in form-
usually handsome in themselves.

36
D As important as that of the driver and riders is the experience of those who live
beside, look to, or must cross the passing street or highway. Safety is a main concern.
Noise, glare, and visual distraction are to be eliminated or reduced if possible. Here the
use of natural ground covers and the preserving or planting of native trees in groves or
drifts can do much to soften the roadway intrusion.
COMPREHENSION CHECK

Exercise 1 Are these sentences true or false?

------- elements-like retaining walls, lighting,
signs, …- as possible.

------- ------- 4. Clear signs and signals are important

for street users.

------- ------- 5. Big billboards always make street

users feel interested in their driving.

------- 6. Retaining walls should surround the

1. All the roadways can stand by streets.
themselves without depending on each
other. 7. Natural elements can be used to
reduce unpleasant things for people
2. Vehicles can go into arterials freely. living beside the passing street.

3. There should be as many visual

Exercise 2 Answer the following questions

1. How many levels of roadways are there according to the author? How are
they arranged?

2. How do you understand the phrase “controlled access arterials”?

3. What can one easily see along roads?

4. What is the most important sentence in paragraph C?

5. Whose experience do planners have to consider in paragraph D ?

37

Unit 8 C GREENWAYS, BLUEWAYS

PRE-READING

Activity 1
Guess the meanings of the underlined words in the following sentences
 1. The girl is happily and slowly climbing the undulating hill, which looks like
waves.

2. Some parts of the street are higher, and others are lower. That is the streets have
unequal gradients.

3. Luckily, they could find out a path that traverses the forest to the river.

4. The countryside is famous for verdant paddy-fields or rice-fields. Activity 2

1. List all natural landscapes you know in English.

2. Are there many natural landscapes in your hometown or home village?

3. What benefits do they bring to the residents?

4. What changes would you like to make in order to enjoy the natural landscapes
more?

READING

As you read, try to find out what greenways and blueways may offer.

The metropolitan regions of tomorrow will be laced with verdant paths. These will thread
through and interconnect the replanned urban centers, neighborhoods, parks, and open
space preserves. They will trace the overlook ridges and follow the valleys and streams.
For those myriad joggers, cyclers, and strollers now seen hugging the edges of trafficways
city living will be more pleasant. Superior greenway systems will provide:

38
1. Safety. They will avoid the crossing of high-speed vehicular trafficways. They will
afford protection from falls, as from a precipice or into deep or swift water. Hazards
such as sharp objects, electrical wiring, or unexpected obstructions will be removed.
Adequate lighting, alarms, and surveillance are to be provided.
2. Convenience. They will be close to where people live and work- providing connection
between neighborhoods, schools, shopping centers, parks, historic sites, outstanding,
natural and scenic features, and the countryside beyond. Continuity and convenience
are always to be kept in mind.

3. Comfort and
pleasure. A meandering alignment, undulating profile, and variable widths add interest
and enjoyment to a pathway. Suitable gradients and good footing contribute their extent
of comfort.

39
4. Alignment. Greenways and blueways which follow the shore or streams, may be routed
through the urban and regional open space frame, its drainageways and floodplains.
They may traverse state and national forest lands, parks, recreation areas, wildlife
preserves, and conservation easements. They may follow abandoned roadbeds through
farmland and forest. They may share highway rights-of-way and multiple-use
transmission corridors which lead to and through city neighborhoods and urban
activity centers.

40
Such inviting ways will serve fleets of enthusiastic cyclers, joggers, and nature lovers for
many years to come.

Decoding and interpretive skills practice

 1. What does these ( line 1) refer to ?

2. Guess the meaning of “ hugging” in line 4.

3. What kind does “precipice” belong to ? ( section 1)

4. Guess the meaning of “hapzards” in section 2.

5. Does “obstructions” have a good or bad meaning? ( section 2)

COMPREHENSION CHECK
ARE THESE SENTENCES TRUE OR FALSE?

1. Greenways will be designed to link all, existing and replanned and

new elements in the metropolitan regions of tomorrow.

2. Verdant paths go ‘hand in hand’ with natural landscapes.

3. Falls, precipice, electrical wiring, which are dangerous to people,

can be avoided by using greenways.

4. Convenience can be offered by a convenient traffic system as well

as verdant paths.

5. Only existing natural landscapes, not human arrangement and

design can interest people.

6. All greenways and blueways should be routed through the urban

and regional open space frame, its drainageways and floodplains.

41
Further reading THE CIRCULATION SYSTEM

INTER-CITY CONNEXIONS

The second basic element of a development plan is the circulation system, comprising roads and
streets, railways lines, ect. There are two respects to the system of transportation in a new town:
inter-city circulation and inter-city movement. The success of a new or expanded small town
situated far from existing cities depends to a great extent on its accessibility and roads and rail
links with other cities whereas that of satellite cities depends on the availability of mass
transportation between it and the parent city

INTRA-CITY CIRCULATION SYSTEM

The intra-city circulation system should provide for efficient, safe and economical transport
between places of working, living and recreation. Its design and construction should, therefore, be
preceded by traffic and transport surveys and studies at local as well as regional levels. The
probable traffic volumes need to be projected by studying the proposed land use pattern, intensity
of development, floor-space and other variables. Based on such surveys, studies and projections
of a network of different types of roads, streets and lanes and their capacity should be worked out.
The width of the traffic lane may be 10 to 13 feet, depending upon the number of lanes may be
increased progressively as the new town grows provided the right-of-way is calculated and space
reserved for such additions. Failure to plan traffic and transportation methodically has resulted in
defective circulation patterns and excessive use of land for roads in many new towns.
The basic principles which should govern the design of the internal circulation system are:
separation of footways from carriageways; exclusion of through-traffic from residential areas; and
channelling of vehicle flow into network of highways, roads, and streets. Good road geometrics,
adequate street-lighting, well-designed roadside arboriculture and attention to aesthetic aspects of
the ‘street-picture’ are other factors to be considered.
A study of circulation systems in the new towns of the region reveals that, in many of them, the
area devoted to roads and streets is 20% or more of the developed areas, whereas a
well-designed network may not require more than to 16%. This has increased the capital as well
as the maintenance cost.
MASS TRANSPORTATION

Experience in industrially advanced countries has shown that with economic development and
improved levels of living the number of private cars increases, aggravating traffic and parking
problems. It is a fallacy to think that they can be solved by constructing express highways, multi
level grade-separators, underground parking lots, ect. The solution lies in going to the root of the
problem. Vehicular traffic differentiation and liberal provision for pedestrians seem to be the
answer to the traffic problems vexing the towns and cities. Automobile traffic should be restricted
to certain areas such as shopping centers and school districts, except in case of emergency.
Mass transportation systems should be emphasized and encouraged in new towns. Pedestrian
precincts and promenades may be introduced in shopping centers. New towns offer excellent
opportunities for introducing new ideas and techniques into traffic and transportation planning.

BICYCLE TRACKS

In some countries in the ECAFE region bicycles seem to be the most common and inexpensive
means of transport, but most of new towns lack bicycle tracks. A network of bicycle tracks and
pedestrian walks passing through open spaces and providing shorter routes between residential
areas and work centers will be convenient for workers, relieve the pressure on the mass-transit
system and, when fitted into landscape. A source of recreation also.

42
Unit 9 URBAN TRANSPORT AND TRANSMISSION
In this lesson you are required to practise your predictive strategies. Read just a part of a
sentence, and guess or predict the coming information.

Since the earliest days of the horse and wagon, all deliveries have been made by way
of the public streets.
Is it good to deliver goods on the public streets? What are the disadvantages? Think all
disadvantages in your mind. Continue to read the next part to check whether the author
has the same opinion.

Whenever a transport struck or delivery van stops to make a delivery, a lane of

traffic is stopped behind it or an alley clogged. To further complicate matters the
utility lines and sewers that serve the city are buried just below the street pavement.
When in need of connection or repair, the excavated street may be closed completely
for days
at a time.

What is the function of the phrase “To further complicate matters” ? Does it mean to
introduce another disadvantage?
In general, what is function of the first paragraph?
What do you think the author will discuss next in the second paragraph? Will he
introduce ways to solve the problems?
Go on to read the second paragraph.

With forethought, utilities can be made accessible for easy inspection and repair by
the provision of a lighted utility tunnel, heated and dry, with a lineal service cartway.
Its roof can form the surfacing of the overhead street or pedestrian plaza.

43
What are the most important words in this paragraph?
What is the tunnel like?
How can the tunnel be used?
Does the picture below help you understand the reading?
A similar but larger tunnel can provide direct building to building distribution of
supplies and freight by vans, motorized carts, and by beltways similar to those in use
by airport terminals.

What can a bigger tunnel bring to use? Can heavier vehicles travel in it?

Utility chases beneath the pedestrian walkways and sewer chases built into tunnel
floor can be made integral parts of transportation-transmission system. Utility lines
and sewers mains are thus made accessible simply by lifting the cover plates – and
the street- level delivery of goods by truck is no longer the choice.
On -street pick up and delivery by van or truck have for too long been a problem for
inner cities. By the construction of a terminal with sublevel truck or rail access and
distribution tunnels, direct transport and transmission can be accomplished with
utmost efficiency.

Look at the picture.

Can you guess the meaning of “chase”?
What does the writer suggest doing in case some utilities need repairing or checking?

Goods for use within the center city are best received and processed by mechanized
sublevel terminals. Building to building distribution and collection can be
accomplished by a network of tunnels, chases, beltways, or pneumatic tubes.

44
 ******************************************************************

Further reading UTINITIES AND SERVICES

Rarely has a new town been able to install the essential urban infrastructure concurrently
with the first group of houses built. In fact, many new towns have had their growth
stunted by inadequacy of essential utilities and services during the early stages. The
solution lies in working out a phased program of development supported by long-term
budgets, construction schedules, ect. The first batch of families should be brought in only
after the primary utilities and essential services have been installed, though on austerity
standards.

Phasing the installation of utilities

People do not move into a new town unless they are assured of at least the minimum
public utilities and municipal services. On the other hand, utilities service can not be
installed much in advance of the arrival of the first inhabitants, as otherwise the
infrastructures will be used extravagantly and also idle capacity entails waste. It is
necessary, therefore, to design utility services so as to be improvable and expandable, as
and when the town grows, within the framework of a phased development plan and a
long-term budget. For instance, water mains, filter beds, sewers, sewage treatment plants,
roads, power installations, ect., can be built to less than the design capacities in the fist
place and augmented in the second and subsequent stages, provided their design is based
on phasing and augmenting techniques.

Water supply

45
Water supply schemes in new towns have suffered to some extent from insufficient co
ordination between the various agencies concerned, especially with regard to the water
resources available and their utilization. The water resources available should be assessed
quantitatively as well as qualitatively on a regional basis, and a unified regional plan
worked out for their development, utilization and conservation.
The capita allowance of water has varied widely from one new town to another,
depending upon the type of town, source of water and hydrological conditions. In the
developing countries a per capita allowance for domestic consumption of 40 to 60 gallons
per day seems to be adequate. In the arid countries of the region, tube-wells are the
common source of water. It is, therefore, essential to prevent contamination of
subterranean sources of water.
Some new towns have adopted the single-pipe system of water supply, others the
dual-pipe system. The dual–pipe system costlier and there is also the likelihood of the
unfiltered water being used for domestic purposes and of contamination by
cross-connextions.

Sewerage and drainage

In many new towns sewerage and drainage schemes have lagged behind water supply
installations. Countries in the ECAFE region with monsoon precipitation face a special
problem in stormwater drainage. The run-off is meager during the long drought periods
and it is difficult to produce self-cleansing and non-silting velocities; whereas during the
monsoon periods the run-off is excessive, necessitating large drains. It is necessary,
therefore, to design a stormwater drainage system suitable for a storm intensity of ½ to 3
inches per hour, depending upon the intensity of rainfall, Advantage should, however, be
taken of natural valleys and streams by canalizing them to reduce the cost.

In the design and lay out of a new town detailed attention should also be given to street
lighting, transmission of electricity location of substations, alignment of cables and so
forth. Precautions should be taken to avoid the frequently digging and cutting of roads and
sidewalks by different departments of the development authority at different times.
Provision of separate easements within road rights-of-way but outside the carriageways
would serve this purpose.

46
Unit 8c greenways, blueways
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Unit 8 C GREENWAYS, BLUEWAYS

PRE-READING

Activity 1
Guess the meanings of the underlined words in the following sentences

1. The girl is happily and slowly climbing the undulating hill, which looks like
waves.

2. Some parts of the street are higher, and others are lower. That is the streets have
unequal gradients.

3. Luckily, they could find out a path that traverses the forest to the river.

4. The countryside is famous for verdant paddy-fields or rice-fields. Activity 2

1. List all natural landscapes you know in English.

2. Are there many natural landscapes in your hometown or home village?

3. What benefits do they bring to the residents?

4. What changes would you like to make in order to enjoy the natural landscapes
more?

READING

As you read, try to find out what greenways and blueways may offer.

In considering continuity as a highly desirable feature of recreational open space, one might
look to the means by which this may be achieved. Foremost is interconnection by the
roadways themselves-especially those of lower speeds, such as the local loop drives and
parkways. These may have supplementary lanes marked for cyclers or pedestrians. If the
right-of-way is of ample width, there may be a separate, undulating walkway reserved for
those on foot exclusively. Circulation drives, if of sufficient right-of-way dimension, offer

24
Unit 8c greenways, blueways
_______________________________________________________________________________________

an ideal opportunity for parklike planting and separated paths for automobiles, bicycles,
and pedestrians.
The metropolitan regions of tomorrow will be laced with verdant paths. These will thread
through and interconnect the replanned urban centers, neighborhoods, parks, and open
space preserves. They will trace the overlook ridges and follow the valleys and streams.
For those myriad joggers, cyclers, and strollers now seen hugging the edges of trafficways
city living will be more pleasant. Superior greenway systems will provide:

1. Safety. They will avoid the crossing of high-speed vehicular trafficways. They will
afford protection from falls, as from a precipice or into deep or swift water. Hazards
such as sharp objects, electrical wiring, or unexpected obstructions will be removed.
Adequate lighting, alarms, and surveillance are to be provided.

2. Convenience. They will be close to where people live and work- providing connection
between neighborhoods, schools, shopping centers, parks, historic sites, outstanding,
natural and scenic features, and the countryside beyond. Continuity and convenience
are always to be kept in mind.

25
Unit 8c greenways, blueways
_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. Comfort and pleasure. A meandering alignment, undulating profile, and variable widths
add interest and enjoyment to a pathway. Suitable gradients and good footing contribute
their extent of comfort.

26
Unit 8c greenways, blueways
_______________________________________________________________________________________

4. Alignment. Greenways and blueways which follow the shore or streams, may be routed
through the urban and regional open space frame, its drainageways and floodplains.
 They may traverse state and national forest lands, parks, recreation areas, wildlife
preserves, and conservation easements. They may follow abandoned roadbeds through
farmland and forest. They may share highway rights-of-way and multiple-use
transmission corridors which lead to and through city neighborhoods and urban activity
centers.

Such inviting ways will serve fleets of enthusiastic cyclers, joggers, and nature lovers for
many years to come.

Decoding and interpretive skills practice

1. What does these ( line 1) refer to ?

2. Guess the meaning of “ hugging” in line 4.

3. What kind does “precipice” belong to ? ( section 1)

4. Guess the meaning of “hapzards” in section 2.

5. Does “obstructions” have a good or bad meaning? ( section 2)

COMPREHENSION CHECK
ARE THESE SENTENCES TRUE OR FALSE?

1. Greenways will be designed to link all, existing and replanned and

new elements in the metropolitan regions of tomorrow.

2. Verdant paths go ‘hand in hand’ with natural landscapes.

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Unit 8c greenways, blueways
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 3. Falls, precipice, electrical wiring, which are dangerous to people,
can be avoided by using greenways.

4. Convenience can be offered by a convenient traffic system as well

as verdant paths.

5. Only existing natural landscapes, not human arrangement and

design can interest people.

6. All greenways and blueways should be routed through the urban

and regional open space frame, its drainageways and floodplains.

Further reading THE CIRCULATION SYSTEM

INTER-CITY CONNEXIONS

The second basic element of a development plan is the circulation system, comprising roads and
streets, railways lines, etc. There are two respects to the system of transportation in a new town:
inter-city circulation and inter-city movement. The success of a new or expanded small town situated
far from existing cities depends to a great extent on its accessibility and roads and rail links with
other cities whereas that of satellite cities depends on the availability of mass transportation
between it and the parent city

INTRA-CITY CIRCULATION SYSTEM

The intra-city circulation system should provide for efficient, safe and economical transport between
places of working, living and recreation. Its design and construction should, therefore, be preceded
by traffic and transport surveys and studies at local as well as regional levels. The probable traffic
volumes need to be projected by studying the proposed land use pattern, intensity of development,
floor-space and other variables. Based on such surveys, studies and projections of a network of
different types of roads, streets and lanes and their capacity should be worked out. The width of the
traffic lane may be 10 to 13 feet, depending upon the number of lanes may be increased
progressively as the new town grows provided the right-of-way is calculated and space reserved for
such additions. Failure to plan traffic and transportation methodically has resulted in defective
circulation patterns and excessive use of land for roads in many new towns.
The basic principles which should govern the design of the internal circulation system are:
separation of footways from carriageways; exclusion of through-traffic from residential areas; and
channelling of vehicle flow into network of highways, roads, and streets. Good road geometrics,
adequate street lighting, well-designed roadside arboriculture and attention to aesthetic aspects of
the ‘street-picture’ are other factors to be considered.
A study of circulation systems in the new towns of the region reveals that, in many of them, the area
devoted to roads and streets is 20% or more of the developed areas, whereas a well-designed

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Unit 8c greenways, blueways
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network may not require more than to 16%. This has increased the capital as well as the
maintenance cost.
MASS TRANSPORTATION

Experience in industrially advanced countries has shown that with economic development and
improved levels of living the number of private cars increases, aggravating traffic and parking
problems. It is a fallacy to think that they can be solved by constructing express highways,
multi-level grade-separators, underground parking lots, ect. The solution lies in going to the root of
the problem. Vehicular traffic differentiation and liberal provision for pedestrians seem to be the
answer to the traffic problems vexing the towns and cities. Automobile traffic should be restricted to
certain areas such as shopping centers and school districts, except in case of emergency. Mass
transportation systems should be emphasized and encouraged in new towns. Pedestrian precincts
and promenades may be introduced in shopping centers. New towns offer excellent opportunities
for introducing new ideas and techniques into traffic and transportation planning.

BICYCLE TRACKS

In some countries in the ECAFE region bicycles seem to be the most common and inexpensive
means of transport, but most of new towns lack bicycle tracks. A network of bicycle tracks and
pedestrian walks passing through open spaces and providing shorter routes between residential
areas and work centers will be convenient for workers, relieve the pressure on the mass-transit
system and, when fitted into landscape, a source of recreation also.

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Unit 9 urban transport and transmission
_______________________________________________________________________________________

Unit 9 URBAN TRANSPORT AND TRANSMISSION

PRE-READING

Look at the picture, and answer the questions following

1. Where were the utilities put?

2. Is it convenient to deliver goods or to repair roads in this case? What are the
advantages and disadvantages?
3. What solutions do you suggest to solve such problems?

READING

In this lesson you are required to practise your predictive strategies. Read just a part of a
sentence, and guess or predict the coming information.
Since the earliest days of the horse and Is it good to deliver goods on the
wagon, all deliveries have been made public streets? What are the
by way of the public streets. disadvantages? Think all
Whenever a transport struck or disadvantages in your mind.
delivery van stops to make a delivery, Continue to read the next part to
a lane of traffic is stopped behind it or check whether the author has the
an alley clogged. To further same opinion.
complicate matters the utility lines What is the function of the phrase
and sewers that serve the city are “To further complicate matters” ?
buried just below the street

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Unit 9 urban transport and transmission
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 pavement. When in need of connection Does it mean to introduce another
or repair, the excavated street may be disadvantage?
closed completely for days at a time. In general, what is function of the
first paragraph?
What do you think the author will
discuss next in the second
paragraph? Will he introduce ways
to solve the problems?
Go on to read the second paragraph.

With forethought, utilities can be

made accessible for easy inspection
and repair by the provision of a What are the most important words
lighted utility tunnel, heated and dry, in this paragraph?
with a lineal service cartway. Its roof What is the tunnel like?
can form the surfacing of the How can the tunnel be used?
overhead street or pedestrian plaza. Does the picture below help you
understand the reading?

A similar but larger tunnel can

provide direct building to building
distribution of supplies and freight by What can a bigger tunnel offer?
vans, motorized carts, and by Can heavier vehicles travel on it?
beltways similar to those in use by
airport terminals.

Utility chases beneath the pedestrian

walkways and sewer chases built into
Look at the picture.
tunnel floor can be made integral Can you guess the meaning of
parts of transportation-transmission “chase”?
system. Utility lines and sewers mains
are thus made accessible simply by What does the writer suggest doing
lifting the cover plates – and the in case some utilities need
street- level delivery of goods by truck repairing or checking?
is no longer the choice.
On -street pick up and delivery by van
or truck have for too long been a
problem for inner cities. By the
construction of a terminal with
sublevel truck or rail access and
distribution tunnels, direct

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Unit 9 urban transport and transmission
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 transport and transmission can be
accomplished with utmost efficiency.

Goods for use within the center city

are best received and processed by
mechanized sublevel terminals.
Building to building distribution and
collection can be accomplished by a
network of tunnels, chases, beltways,
or pneumatic tubes.

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Unit 9 urban transport and transmission
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POST-READING
Exercise 1 Fill in each blank with one word

Obviously, traffic has been _________ badly when goods are delivered on the
streets and when utilities right under the street ___________ are repaired.
One solution to such a problem is to provide for utility ____________ which should
be ______, ____________ and dry. In such tunnels, sewer __________ can be built
into them or _________ chases beneath pedestrian walkways. In case of their
reapairs or connection, one can _____________ the utilities just by opening the
cover _________ .
On the other hand, direct building - to - building distribution is made __________ if
a terminal is constructed with _________ truck and rail access and distribution
tunnels.
In short, ___________ tunnels, when built specially, can enable urban transportation
and transmission to be carried out more easily, conveniently and efficiently.

Exercise 2 Answer the questions about the text

1. List some disadvantages of the current transport and transmission mentioned in

the text.
2. How many kinds of tunnels are suggested in the text? Are they different from
each other?
3. What benefits do sublevel terminals offer?

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Unit 9 urban transport and transmission
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Further reading UTINITIES AND SERVICES

Rarely has a new town been able to install the essential urban infrastructure concurrently
with the first group of houses built. In fact, many new towns have had their growth stunted
by inadequacy of essential utilities and services during the early stages. The solution lies in
working out a phased program of development supported by long-term budgets,
construction schedules, ect. The first batch of families should be brought in only after the
primary utilities and essential services have been installed, though on austerity standards.

Phasing the installation of utilities

People do not move into a new town unless they are assured of at least the minimum public
utilities and municipal services. On the other hand, utilities service can not be installed
much in advance of the arrival of the first inhabitants, as otherwise the infrastructures will
be used extravagantly and also idle capacity entails waste. It is necessary, therefore, to
design utility services so as to be improvable and expandable, as and when the town grows,
within the framework of a phased development plan and a long-term budget. For instance,
water mains, filter beds, sewers, sewage treatment plants, roads, power installations, ect.,
can be built to less than the design capacities in the fist place and augmented in the second
and subsequent stages, provided their design is based on phasing and augmenting
techniques.

Questions
1. Are utilities and services for a new town adequate in the first place?
2. Why are all utilities and services not installed at the same time?

Are these sentences true or false?

------- 1. The essential urban infra-structure and the first houses of a new town
are built at the same time.

------- 2. A new town can not develop naturally and properly because there are
not enough essential utilities and services.

------- 3. The development of utilities and services should be phased at the

beginning.

------ 4. Utilities and services should be built well long before the first inhabitants
move in in order to please and serve them well.

------ 5. It is easy to increase the capacity of utilities and services, which, at the
beginning, is usually less than the design capacity.
Water supply
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Unit 9 urban transport and transmission
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Water supply schemes in new towns have suffered to some extent from insufficient co
ordination between the various agencies concerned, especially with regard to the water
resources available and their utilization. The water resources available should be assessed
quantitatively as well as qualitatively on a regional basis, and a unified regional plan
worked out for their development, utilization and conservation.
The capita allowance of water has varied widely from one new town to another, depending
upon the type of town, source of water and hydrological conditions. In the developing
countries a per capita allowance for domestic consumption of 40 to 60 gallons per day
seems to be adequate. In the arid countries of the region, tube-wells are the common source
of water. It is, therefore, essential to prevent contamination of subterranean sources of
water.
Some new towns have adopted the single-pipe system of water supply, others the dual-pipe
system. The dual–pipe system costlier and there is also the likelihood of the unfiltered
water being used for domestic purposes and of contamination by cross-connextions.

Sewerage and drainage

In many new towns sewerage and drainage schemes have lagged behind water supply
installations. Countries in the ECAFE region with monsoon precipitation face a special
problem in stormwater drainage. The run-off is meager during the long drought periods and
it is difficult to produce self-cleansing and non-silting velocities; whereas during the
monsoon periods the run-off is excessive, necessitating large drains. It is necessary,
therefore, to design a stormwater drainage system suitable for a storm intensity of ½ to 3
inches per hour, depending upon the intensity of rainfall, Advantage should, however, be
taken of natural valleys and streams by canalizing them to reduce the cost.

In the design and lay out of a new town detailed attention should also be given to street
lighting, transmission of electricity location of substations, alignment of cables and so on.
Precautions should be taken to avoid the frequently digging and cutting of roads and
sidewalks by different departments of the development authority at different times.
Provision of separate easements within road rights-of-way but outside the carriageways
would serve this purpose.

Questions

1. Can inhabitants enjoy water supply easily?

2. What is to be done with the water source available?
3. What factors determine capita allowance for each town?
4. Tell one way to get water in this region.
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Further reading Urban design concepts
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Further reading SOME URBAN DESIGN CONCEPTS

As an alternative to the random growth of large cities, all current town-planning theories
point the need to evolve an “ urban unit”, which will have a human scale, satisfy human
needs and give a more meaningful form to the city. Some of these concepts are worth
examining in the context of conditions in Asia and the Far East.
RADBURN IDEA

Clarence Stein highlighted the disadvantages of an urban form based on the grid system
of road and evolved a larger unit to compose the town and designated it “ super block”.
In general, the Radburn idea aims at freeing pedestrians from the hazards of vehicular
traffic, preventing through traffic from penetrating residential areas, returning quiet to
such areas, turning houses around so that they are serviced from the access streets and
the living rooms face green areas, setting the dwellings in the landscape, and locating
public and semi-public buildings and institutions in open spaces. Vehicular circulation in
the residential areas is based on cul-de-sac and loop streets rather than major
thoroughfares.

Questions:
1. What did Clarence Stein think about grid-street living?
2. How do you understand the word “ superblock”?
3. What is the function of “and” in the first sentence?
4. How many clauses are there in the first sentence?
5. Which words in the second sentence have the meanings of “ danger”, “going deep into”?
6. Is it true or false that the Radburn Idea in general focuses on bringing residents such
benefits as safety from traffic, peace and quite, efficiency, services, and landscape
pleasures?

LE CORBUSIER’S MODULOR THEORY AND THE VERDANT CITY

Le Corbusier postulated the theory of the “modulor”, based on the concept that man is the
measure of the world. He conceived the idea of the “verdant city”, the city of sky, space and
trees. His was the relentless effort to regenerate the city as a regulated and planned entity.
He tried to give it a new form, a new structure and a new fitness for its functional purpose
in his concept of the “verdant city”. This was designed to increase the overall density,
decongest the central area and house nearly three million people in a few tall buildings so
that the large area thus released could be devoted to parks, playing fields and walks. For the
expansion of existing cities, Le Corbusier suggested the principle of the “linear city” in
which industries would be located along a highway, a railway and a canal running parallel

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Further reading Urban design concepts
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

to one another and the residential areas would be on the other side , separated by wooded
areas. Such a city would take the maximum advantage of the arteries of transport and at the
same time permit the residential areas to be close to industry.

Questions

1. What is the functional purpose in Le Corbusier’s idea of the “verdant city”?

2. Where do people live in his concept of the verdant city? Why?
3. What did Le Corbusier suggest for the expansion if existing cities?
4. Is it dangerous to live in such a linear city? Why or why not?
5. What is the advantage of such a city?
GEDDESSIAN TRIAD

Patrick Geddes made the most original contribution to the philosophy and practice of
town and country planning in this century: in his interpretation of the city as its people,
the city as a place and the city as an event (the folk-work-place triad); in his correlation
between organism, function and environment; in his thesis of “survey before plan”; and
in his practical approach to urban development through the technique of “ conservative
surgery”.

CITY PRINCIPLE GARDEN

Ebenezer Howard conceived a truly new form of the city, which would take advantage of
the benefits of modern science and technology, without sacrificing any of the social and
cultural qualities of historic city. In his new town, which he called the ‘garden city”, he
“married” the town with the country. He visualized the garden city as a new town, limited
its size ( about 32,000 people), surrounded by a green belt and designed for living and
making a living, the land being held in public trust.

UNIT PLAN

In his “Unit plan “ Ludwig Hilberseimer evolved an urban entity which is simple in form,
logical in structure and retains all the advantages of the contemporary city without any of
its disadvantages. His urban unit is limited in size and compact; industry, trade,
residences, schools, parks and other elements of the town are originally interrelated; the
journey to work can be made on foot. The unit plan has the merit of being capable of
adaptation to suit the site and the microclimatic conditions, and repetition to evolve
urban compositions of varying sizes.

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NOTES ON GRAMMAR
❑ Phrases
⮚ Prepositional phrases
⮚ Noun phrases

❑ Clauses
∙ Non-finite clauses
⮚ Gerundial clauses
⮚ Infinitive clauses
 ⮚ Participial clauses
∙ Finite clauses

⮚ Noun clauses
⮚ Adjective clauses
⮚ Adverbial clauses

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PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
I/ DEFINITION

Traditionally, prepositional phrase is a phrase beginning with (preceded by) a preposition.

Ex: in the preserved zone

according to the drawings
without planning
with them
Pause and think: What follows a preposition?

II/ FUNCTIONS

Prepositional phrases do not have the function of a noun, but they can function as an
adjective or an adverb. That is, they can be used as modifiers.

1. Modifying a noun

The city is, climatologically speaking, a desert of pavement and masonry.

Contours are lines used to accurately represent the rise and fall of the land that
appear on maps and plans.

2. Modifying a verb

They surveyed the site in a most careful manner.

Good landscape architecture combines various elements such as plants, buildings,
and ponds or lakes in an aesthetically pleasing way.

3. Modifying a adjective
 The planners are very careful with the master plan
The young planners are interested in the current trend in landscape rchitecture

4. Modifying a sentence

Beyond doubt, Ho Chi Minh City is still developing at its seam.

To the local surprise, the garden manifests its distinctive beauty to each season.

III/ PRACTICE

Identify the prepositional phrases in units 1- 3 and analyze their functions

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