Historical Challenges of Urban Planning - Essay Sample

Introduction

Urban planning is a process of developing land use and designing of both land and building environment. According to Shahreen & Voghera (2017), for sustainable urban planning, the process should take into account environmental, economic and social factors. The plan should put into account the social change of the cities in question, any economic factors that may be contributed by the planning or affect the planning and finally the expected environmental changes. Urban planners face different challenges in their operation. Redesigning of existing cities, ecological factors or calamities, socio-political factors like rising in crime, affordable housing and rapid rise in population and expansion of cities are some of the problems/ challenges that the urban planning sector faces. These challenges existed since the medieval and renaissance periods where ancient towns lived. This paper will discuss different challenges of urban planning and how urban planners managed to overcome them.

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When a new city emerges, there is a lot of constructions and infrastructural development in the region. Infrastructural development requires human labor. Human labor lead to an influx of people from rural areas to the urban centers to provide employment for the development undertaking. The rise in migration increases the need for cheap housing and essential commodities in both the ancient and modern cities. Basic needs happen to be a big challenge for urban planners, and at some point, it courses mushrooming of slums in the areas. Therefore the urban planners need to place plans for affordable housing for the low earning population as well as houses for the rich. This challenge has been partially cubed by building staff quotas at the construction sites to provide housing for the site workers.

Ancient cities have had the problem of adequate housing for the growing population. The influx of people in town in search of jobs and better living tend to put pressure to city planners of the required space for residential housing. This was a challenge to the ancient cities that resulted in homelessness. According to hull (1996), there was a need to separate the cities into industrial parks, business parks, institutions, and residential and recreation areas. The division would draw a clear line between the regions to be used as a residential building hence accommodating the population without the mushrooming of slums. The modern city planners have come up with several ways to manage the situation of inadequate housing. The building of skyscrapers made sure there is adequate usage of space. Most of the ancient towns had houses not exceeding five stories. Skyscrapers in cities have helped to provide ample space for people to live hence reducing the challenge on housing. Also, the improvement of transport networks and the introduction of high-speed trains have helped to decongest the cities. People are now able to travel long distances in a few hours hence commuting to and from home. The convenience of travel reduced the need to secure a home within the city, therefore, decreasing the demand for housing.

Most of the ancient cities found themselves at a crisis on how to manage sanitation and water supplies to the cities. According to Leary (2017), the Khmer Empire of ancient Cambodia is an excellent example of a civilization that fell due to the water crisis. Cities like Mesopotamia were located along rivers hence had a good supply of water; in this case, the challenge was sanitation Up to date. Most of the cities in the developing countries struggle to keep their streets clean and provide water to every resident. This challenge has existed for centuries and even leads to the falling of some of the most significant ancient urban civilizations. Currently, planners have managed to reduce this challenge by providing piped water to every single home in the urban centers. They have been able to plan for the taping of water from the catchment areas to the very heart of every city. Big towns have waste management's systems that help in sanitation. Dubai has the most sophisticated waste management system that has made the city stoning. Through the installations of the sewage system and modern waste management's systems, the urban planners can boost to have reduced the problem of sanitation by a considerable margin.

Another challenge faced by urban planners is environmental factors. Environmental changes have been a challenge since ancient times. Climatic changes, ecosystem degradation, and fringe areas pose a great challenge, urban planners. Most of the fringe areas are not planned for hence raising a significant problem on how they should be taken care of. Also as the cities grow to these areas, urban planners are divided between how to manage the existing town and make it self sufficient as well as the fringe areas. Another challenge is the holding capacity of the soils where a city is located and distribution of the soil type through the region. Planners may propose to upgrade a city to skyscrapers. The cost may be high if the soils of the area are porous. The rise in the cost of the building may change the decisions of the planners to other alternatives.

Climatic and terrain of an area pose another challenge to urban planners. If a city is to be located along the coast of a region that is prone to hurricanes, planners have the mandate to make sure all the safety precaution is taken care of. In this case, the choice and cost of infrastructure will be significantly affected. Also, the type of transportation that may be adopted in this area differs from that of an inland city. Also, the planners may be divided between the natures of buildings that can be constructed in the area. The decisions cover both the height of the building and materials used to build them. The region requires the Use of high-end materials. The terrain of an area affects how planners make the cities. It may be challenging for them to propose the construction of a railway network at a town located on the slopes of a hilly region. Terrain, therefore, poses a significant challenge to planners. The topography of an area may affect both the expansion and infrastructure of an urban center.

Urban planning has gone through a transformation. From ancient times that people opted to abandon their native home in case of a challenge to the modern time where technology helps to reduce any difficulties associated with urban planning. Population increase, inadequate housing, climatic changes, and environmental factors are all challenges that planers went through since the ancients times. Urban planning has significantly evolved today. More advanced techniques are used to manage any problem associated with the plan. Technology acts as the central pillar of modern day urban planning. Big cities have adopted high tech instruments in transport infrastructure and building.

References

Dizdaroglu, D., Yigitcanlar, T., & Dawes, L. (n.d.). Planning for Sustainable Urban Futures. Rethinking Sustainable Development. doi:10.4018/9781616920227.ch002

Francesca. (2015, January 09). Urban Development: Issues, Challenges, and ADB's Approach. Retrieved from https://www.adb.org/themes/urban-development/issues

Hall P. 1996. Cities of Tomorrow. Oxford, England: Blackwell

Leary, C. (2017, May 31) 5 ancient civilizations that were destroyed by climate change. Retrieved from https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/climate-weather/blogs/5-ancient-civilizations-were-destroyed-climate-change

Shahreen, F., & Voghera, A. 2017. Urban planning and design methods for sustainable development. Politecnico di torino, Italy.