The Concept of Urban Planning Problems In The Society

The basic concern of city-town planning is the internal form, structure, function and appearance of urban areas.

Physical aspects such as buildings, roads, land use, etc., play an important role in urban planning, at the same time social, economic and technological forces should also be considered while planning so that a healthy environment is created in the city/town.

Apart from this problem, some factors also complicate the task of planning as follows:

   Urban Sprawl

Urban Sprawl refers to the migration of a population from populated towns and cities to low density residential development over more and more rural land which resulting in:

Increase in Public Expenditure: They can actually play a part in the increases of public costs, because these changes in infrastructures and building must actually be paid for by someone- and it is usually the tax payers.

Increased Traffic: Populations will begin to use their cars more often, which means that there is more traffic on the roads.

Environmental Issues: When you think about going out to develop these lands you will have to worry about the wildlife that lives in these lands.  You will be displacing them, and it can really cause a ripple in the environment.

 Individual Control or Small Parcels of Land

Private ownership of small parcels of urban land sometimes interferes with the effective control of the space pattern of the city like the following:

If a private owner enjoys unrestricted right to use his/her land as he wishes, he may build a shop or a factory in the residential area, thus decreasing the value of the nearby residences.

If in a continuous residential area where two houses walls are shared, the problem arises in such areas when one house owner is willing to renovate the house and another is not in case of deterioration. They may develop conflict, which may turn out to be a problem in the future.

If a private builder wants to undertake a project developing or reconstructing the building on the same land, he/she may face two problems, one is he/she may have to pay more money to the existing house owner and the second is he/she has to face the problems created by a neighbor. Both of such events are detrimental for the urban development.

 

  Unique Environmental Site

Every city/town occupies a unique environmental site, hills, valleys, rivers, waterfronts, or any other physical features make one city/town look different from another as following:

Different sections of the city have unequal value as building sites as the underlying soil and rock formations affect the soundness of the foundations, characteristics of subsoil drainage, etc. All these make differences in the cost of underground construction. At the same time, rough terrain has different advantages and disadvantages for different kinds of buildings.

Topography affects the routes of transportation. If a heavy rail line has to be constructed, it needs a level route, but if the city/town does not possess this feature, then transportation is affected.

Breaks in transportation like from waterway to land-way or from roadway to railway prove advantageous for certain manufacturing and commercial activities.

Some parts of the city provide better amenities than others. The amenities can be in the form of better view and access to market.

     Housing Affordability

Affordable housing is housing deemed affordable to those with a median household income. Housing choice is a response to an extremely complex set of economic, social, and psychological impulses as follows:

Housing expenditures:

 Housing affordability can be measured by the changing relationships between house prices and rents, and between house prices and incomes. There has been an increase among policy makers in affordable housing as the price of housing has increased dramatically creating a crisis in affordable housing.

Economy: 

Lack of affordable housing places a particular burden on local economies. As well, individual consumers are faced with mortgage arrears and excessive debt and therefore cut back on consumption. A combination of high housing costs and high debt levels contributes to a reduction in savings.

Transportation: 

Lack of affordable housing can make low-cost labor more scarce, and increase demands on transportation systems (as workers travel longer distances between jobs and affordable housing).