The Dynamics Of Development of the Urban Settlements.

One Thing Ignored gives Birth to different Problems and Issues 

National populations are being recomposed by urbanization in ways that channel more and more citizens into relatively smaller dense geographic units – cities (Panel on Urban Population Dynamics, 2003). Dynamics of Development of an Urban Settlement are intense and complex. For different persons it may vary according to one’s interest – for some it may be the economic development, for some it may be demographic development, for some it may be a combination of different subjects. This blog writing will try to focus on the various significant dynamism characters of an urban settlement. Dynamics is defined as the forces or properties which stimulate growth, development or change within a system or process.  For planning, developing and growth of an urban settlement, its dynamic of developments has to be studied intensely and wisely providing some hierarchical manner to develop the urban settlements as a self-sustaining systems. If the focus is given in the developments happened in the last couple of decades in the field of architecture and urban planning, the most discussed topic may be found to be as that of sustainable development. The sustainable development is directly related to four significant factors – the efficient relationship of the natural system and the man made systems, the economic factors which regulates the growth and ability to handle and answer the various questions that arises with the various infrastructural developments, the healthy formation of the society which imparts  the urban settlements; its shape and characteristics over a period of time and also relates with the efficient functioning of the urban settlements, the policy making process and the ones which are related in the formulation and implementation of them; political interferences, plays the crucial role in the management and development of the urban settlements. There may be the other inclusions as well into the list, but these have a general impact on all the urbanization process going on across the Globe.

The natural system comprises of a different set of factors – the hydrology, the river system, the green areas and its growth, the environment, geographical conditions and topography to name some. Any human settlement for an efficient and productive environment, the human-nature relationship has to be understood.  For Humans, it may be easy to conceive the changes occurred in its own made system than perceiving the changes experienced by the natural system. The natural system as the economic activities or education advancements is continuously at a dynamic state. This dynamic state can’t be ignored if the efficient sustainable urban settlements of the future have to be planned.

The economic factors of development though well known by a major section of the urban society, but it can’t be planned in isolation with the other significant factors. The irony of the recent developments has been that – most of them emphasizes on the economic development in isolation, which may not be able to resist in for long. The advancements in Science and Technology has boosted up the economic activities like never before and which is a good sign as far as the development and evolution of the race of humanity is concerned, but it can’t be the lone guiding lamp for the process of development The inventions aren’t that generally fails, but human himself generally fails to incorporate them in his way of living. The aspect has to be wisely dealt with in the future developmental processes.

The healthy formation and growth of a society is also of upmost significance as they are the guiding factors that shape the urban settlements in true sense over a period of time. The heterogeneity character of the urban society imparts the characters of a ‘sub-culture’ which further regulates the growth of the settlements. Lewis Mumford described city: a geographic plexus, an economic organization, an institutional process, a theatre of social action, and an aesthetic symbol of collective unity. The urban characters are impacted by the living style of the inhabitants and thus the formation of a healthy and active society can’t be ignored in any sense while carrying out the planning exercise. The city is a melting pot of races, peoples and cultures, and a most favourable breeding ground of new biological and cultural hybrids (Louis Wirth). The significance of the social infrastructure and its relation with the productivity at work of the inhabitants should be underlined.

The political interferences and the policy making process can be said as the head of the urban settlements as the critical policies and regulations are prepared by the persons involved. Although, there is a feed-back process after the formulation of the master plans and other norms and acts, but the transparency and public involvement is a serious issue. Also, the implementation process, especially in the developing world is adversely affected either by the multiplicity of the organizations involved or due to the political will. The political scenario though can’t be changed in an eye’s flick, the awareness of the significance and the role which the participation of the community and the inhabitants can play need to be spread and population awareness schemes need to be launched for the same, especially in the countries of low education level.

These are the four significant dynamics of development in relation with the planning, development, formation and growth of an urban settlement. The dynamism of the urban settlements is intense and complex and can be further studied after reading and understanding the above mentioned significant dynamics of development.

Image from reclaimistanbul

Can Urban Planners be defined as the 'doctors of the urban spaces'? A Doctor is more responsible I guess.

As a human being has his lifetime, cities also takes birth, grows into an adulthood stage and then decays in the end. As the race of humanity has advanced in the field of medical sciences and decreased the mortality rate, the same strategy may be followed for curing up the cities and to increase their lifetime. But the measures so far taken, especially in the developing world (though the rate of population growth is more) and in the developed world as well, the scenario may have been better if we could have taken steps in a more co-ordinated manner. We can only learn from our past, can do some constructive work in the present to build a healthy future.

Louis Wirth related the process of urbanism, industrialism and capitalism: ‘it is particularly important to call attention to the danger of confusing urbanism with industrialism and modern capitalism’. Wirth strongly held the view that the true effect of urbanism will occur only with the evolution of the cities and the cultural interactions of the immigrant people over a period of time. Therefore, the principle for the healthy construction of social structures and society can’t be forbidden as planners designs the urban spaces for the human beings to live in, but it is the society that eventually leads in shaping the cities in accordance with its needs and comfort. Cities are a product of growth rather than of instantaneous creation. Lewis Mumford described city: a geographic plexus, an economic organization, an institutional process, a theatre of social action, and an aesthetic symbol of collective unity.

The Modern and Advanced Human Settlements
Source :- http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds-home/kakusei-city-monster-tournament-open-accepting/g.387667/

The profession of urban planning is young comparatively (related with the advancements as a discipline) and its theories have experienced significant changes over the period of last century in terms of developments, evolution and scale of the subject. Heather Campbell defines planning as the interface of knowledge and action ; ‘as an activity concerned with intervening and taking action to realize better place-based outcomes, one might assume that the better informed such judgements are, the better the resulting outcomes are likely to be.’ The process of urbanization is at a rapid pace which leaves the human race with less time to think (related to the span-time of the various transitions experienced by the race of humanity), research and make necessary and appropriate shifts towards the contemporary urban planning approach. The scenario in terms of technology and advancements is changing every moment and thus a change in the approach generally followed by the urban planners is required to help save the existing urban spaces by reviving them sustainably, as per human living values and human-nature relationship and also to help save the process of urbanization which is yet to be done in the developing countries. Cities have evolved into a more complex space inter-linked by a number of natural systems, disciplines of humanities, social sciences, economics, politics, anthropometrics, environmental science etc., and thus the development and the growth of them has also changed significantly.

Since larger countries like India and China are still on the developing track and there is still very much left as far as the Urbanisation is concerned and countries which sets them as developed will be involved in a more intense and advance developments, hence the usefulness and responsibility of the urban planners will increase substantially and they should be in a position to solve the urban problems successfully. It is a real high time for the fraternity to learn from the failures committed in the past and try to enhance and improve the success story to build the real sustainable cities of the future. The cities have to be stopped taking as physical entities. The job of the urban planner directly influences the lives of the thousands of people and hence the exercise should be done based on the wider aspects of the modern urban settlements. He can be said to be performing a bigger task than being performed by a doctor at his profession or by an engineer advancing towards technology, as the role of the urban planner is to provide a healthy medium for all the professions to flourish. The productivity of the inhabitant is managed by him at large. The responsibility is big and I’m sure the fraternity will grasp it with both hands.

“And, finally, we have to be rather modest. Urban planning is not an exact science. We are all still learning in all parts of the world. Nobody possesses a complete methodology which is "fail proof," so we have to learn, we have to face our own failures, acknowledge them and learn from them, and eventually we would be able to demonstrate that urban planning really adds something to a city and makes a city more efficient. "

ALAIN BERTAUD (former chief urban planner, World Bank)


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