Book Review Urban and Regional Planning by Peter Hall

CHAPTER ONE

The chapter one aims to distinguish and settle the ambiguity between the general and concise meanings of the word ‘planning! "or me he was in his most ob#ecti$e approach within this chapter!

"irst% Hall ga$e the most common meaning of planning which in$ol$es  both the first two of these elements& planning is concerned with deliberately achie$ing some ob#ecti$e% and it proceeds by assembling actions into some orderly se'uence! One dictionary definition% in fact% refers to what planning does( the other% to how planning does it! He points out that most people only understand the general meaning of planning which is based on the idea of the plan as a physical representation or design!

)econd% he e*panded the meaning of planning in relation to its application to urban and regional setting! He said that urban and regional planning is spatial planning which refers to planning with a spatial% or geographical% component% in which the general ob#ecti$e is to pro$ide for a spatial structure of acti$ities +or of land uses, which in some way is better than the pattern that would e*ist without planning!

Third% he tal-ed about the history and the de$elopment of planning as an acti$ity! Planning de$eloped into a science of decision.ma-ing% which was inspired and has foundations from concepts in philosophy and politics( it harnessed the thin-ing of a number of social sciences% such as economics% sociology and psychology! /t has led to a more e$ol$ed meaning which is not only based from the old idea of planning as production of blueprints for the future desired state of the area% but also the new idea of planning as a continuous series of controls o$er the de$elopment of the area% aided by de$ices which see- to model or simulate the process of de$elopment so that this control can be applied!

0astly% he cited the ob#ecti$es in planning! He starts with planning as the solutions to the need to organi1ed small towns to a now much more fle*ible% wor-ing with much greater information! And it is more rational 2 at least potentially so! /t co$ers almost the whole of human e*perience! The ideal urban and regional planner would ha$e to be a good economist% sociologist% geographer and social psychologist in his or her own right% as well as ha$ing se$eral

other necessary physical.scientific s-ills% such as a good understanding of ci$il engineering and of cybernetics statistician% systems analyst and educationalist!

Ne$ertheless% he said that the alternati$e system has created many new problems and pitfalls of its own! "or e*ample% the de$elopment of computeri1ation does not ma-e planning easier% in the sense that it somehow becomes more automatic!

 CHAPTER T3O

Chapter two formally starts the recorded history and origins of urban growth! 4odern urban and regional planning has arisen in response to specific social and economic problems% which in turn were triggered off by the /ndustrial Re$olution at the end of the eighteenth century!

The 5reece and Eli1abethan 0ondon was stated as the origins of some early planning problems! The rumbling horses of the chariot in 5reece was the first recorded noise pollution and the burning of sea coal in the fourteenth century 0ondon was the first recorded air pollution! He stated that these problems brought the need for a proper planning regulations to bring the community in order! )o as an effect many cities in both the ancient and the medie$al world were planned% at least in the sense that their e*istence and their location were laid down consciously by some ruler or some group of merchants( and among this group% a large proportion e$en had formal ground plans with a strong element of geometric regularity!

He then relates the early town planning to its more modern face especially before the industrial re$olution% the baro'ue era in the se$enteenth and eighteenth centuries! He made them distinct but related to one another! /ndustrialism made a great impact% which for me was the main idea of the second chapter! There were many critical points in the time of industrialism% such as proper sanitary and water supply! To combat the problems the )elect Committee on the Health of Towns +6789, and the Royal Commission on the )tate of 0arge Towns +67882:, produced the two ma#or ;lue ;oo-s% or official reports which established a single authority in which proponents of urban planning would be regulated!

The start of modern transportation such as trams% horse buses up until electric trams and trains brought both positi$e and negati$e effects into the layout of the cities! nited )tates after the war! Peter Hall e*pressed his thoughts on how the >nited )tates planned their cities! Europeans and Americans differ somewhat in their definition of planning! They sees the planning of >nited )tates as a contradiction in terms! FThe >nited )tates is seen as a land where the phenomenally rapid settlementprocess has been accompanied by unprecedented destruction of irreplaceable natural resources( where e*treme affluence marches hand in hand with large.scale poc-ets of po$erty% often close by( where urban areas sprawl unregulated into fine open country% lea$ing a trail of ugliness and economic inefficiency! "iercely critical as it may be% this is the stereotype which many European professional planners% and many intelligent European citi1ens% hold!G 2pg! 67@ )ince the >nited )tates is a larger continent than Europe% it possesses a $ast and comple* system of planning agencies and of planning measures! E$en though it is a region that is $ery de$eloped% it still ha$e economic de$elopment problems on po$erty! Although the definition of po$erty in >nited )tates differ in the rest of the world% as po$erty in >nited )tates

may mean a middle class li$ing style at other countries% it is still a problem that needs to be addressed for them to ha$e a 'uality life! These economic problems were strategi1ed and wor-ed to be sol$ed! They focus on different issues li-e po$erty and unemployment! As a large region% >nited )tates cities were $ery far away from each other! And by being far% it adds to the problem of connectedness within these cities! /nstead of relying on e$ery cities resources% >nited )tates planned to ma-e each city independent! The application of the smart growth helped the >nited )tates utili1e their lands more! As the smart growth follows a proper 1oning where houses will be a fewer miles to wor- and has an ad#acent public transport a$ailable! CHAPTER N/NE Chapter @ mainly focused on the planning process stages of e$olution! The planning process may ha$e e$ol$ed from master plan or blueprint era to )ystems planning and participati$e2conflict planning but planning is still planning! The principles are still there and it only become more systematic as time goes on! The master plan or blueprint era shows how planning is done still without proper  #ustifications and ob#ecti$es of their wor-! /t is more on details in terms of land.use patterns% whereas the systematic planning in$ol$es a series of study and e$aluations in which planning considerations and strategies will be based! The introduction of cybernetics in the planning process helped planning to be more sophisticated! Rather than dealing with a completely new sub#ect matter% cyberneticsis essentially a new way of organi1ing e*isting -nowledge about a $ery wide range of phenomena! /t is composed of different systems that compliments each other! /t can be compared to ha$ing a thorough in$estigation on a matter and pro$iding a realistic approach to a solution!