Plan 468
"Mixed Use Development Nodes"
is to develop central nodes of mix used
developments (jobs, housing, schools, retail, medial, leisure,
open spaces, parks).
Mixed-use development is the practice of allowing more
than one type of use in a development area or building or set of buildings.
In
urban planning
zone terms, this is defined as a combination of residential,
commercial, office, institutional, or other land
uses but does not require all land uses.
From an urban
planning perspective, the ideal model for urban living is to
work, live, shop, attend schools, churches, and have
facilities for leisure activities. This
eliminates the need to travel outside of the mixed used
development node to work, go to school, go to a restaurant
or any number of other destinations that now require some
mode of transportation.
An added
importance of
an Mixed Use Development Node it builds community
among the residents living with the "Node."
Another important
consideration is the cost savings in fuel to drive to a
destination any distance from residential use.
History
Throughout most of human history, the majority of human
settlements developed as mixed-use environments. Walking was the
primary way that people and goods were moved about, sometimes
assisted by animals such as horses or cattle. Most people dwelt
in buildings that were places of work as well as domestic life,
and made things or sold things from their own homes. Most
buildings were not divided into discrete functions on a room by
room basis, and most neighborhoods contained a diversity of
uses, even if some districts developed a predominance of certain
uses, such as metalworkers, or textiles or footwear due to the
socio-economic benefits of propinquity.
People lived at very
high densities because the amount of space required for daily
living and movement between different activities was determined
by walkability and the scale of the human body.
This was
particularly true in cities, and the ground floor of buildings
was often devoted to some sort of commercial or productive use,
with living space upstairs.
This historical mixed-used pattern of development declined
during
industrialization in favor of large-scale separation of
manufacturing and residences in single-function buildings. This
period saw massive migrations of people from rural areas to
cities drawn by work in factories and the associated businesses
and bureaucracies that grew up around them.
These influxes of
new workers needed to be accommodated and many new urban
districts arose at this time with domestic housing being their
primary function. Thus began a separating out of land uses that
previously had occurred in the same spaces.
Furthermore, many
factories produced substantial
pollution of various kinds. Distance was required to
minimize adverse impacts from noise, dirt, noxious fumes and
dangerous substances. Even so, at this time, most industrialized
cities were of a size that allowed people to walk between the
different areas of the city.
These factors were important in the push for Euclidian
zoning premised on the compartmentalization of land uses
into like functions and their spatial separation. In Europe,
advocates of the
Garden City Movement were attempting to think through these
issues and propose improved ways to plan cities based on zoning
areas of land so that conflicts between land uses would be
minimized. Modernist architects such as
Le Corbusier advocated radical rethinking of the way cities
were designed based on similar ideas, proposing plans for
Paris
such as the
Plan Voisin,
Ville Contemporaine and
Ville Radieuse that involved demolishing the entire center
of the city and replacing it with towers in a park-like setting,
with industry carefully sited away from other uses.
In the United States, another impetus for Euclidian zoning
was the birth of the skyscraper. Fear of buildings blocking out
the sun led many to call for zoning regulations, particularly in
New York City. Zoning regulations, first put into place in
1916, not only called for limits on building heights, but
eventually called for separations of uses. This was largely
meant to keep people from living next to polluted industrial
areas. This separation, however, was extended to commercial uses
as well, setting the stage for the
suburban style of life that is common in America today. This
type of zoning was widely adopted by municipal zoning codes.
With the advent of mass transit systems, but especially the
private automobile and cheap oil, the ability to create
dispersed, low-density cities where people could live very long
distances from their workplaces, shopping centers and
entertainment districts began in earnest. However, it has been
the post-second World War dominance of the automobile and the
decline in all other modes of urban transportation that has seen
the extremes of these trends come to pass.
Benefits
Throughout the late 20th century, it began to become apparent
to many
urban planners and other professionals mixed-use
development had many benefits and should be promoted again. As
American, British, Canadian and Australian cities
reindustrialized, the need to separate residences from
hazardous factories became less important. Completely separate
zoning created isolated "islands" of each type of development.
In most cases, the
automobile had become a requirement for transportation
between vast fields of residentially zoned housing and the
separate commercial and office strips, creating issues of
Automobile dependency. In 1961,
Jane Jacobs' influential
The Death and Life of Great American Cities argued
a mixture of uses is vital and necessary for a healthy urban
area.
Zoning laws have been revised accordingly and increasingly
attempt to address these problems by using mixed-use zoning. A
mixed use district will most commonly be the "downtown" of a
local community, ideally associated with
public transit nodes in accordance with principles of
Transit-oriented development (TOD)
and
New urbanism. Mixed use guidelines often result in
residential buildings with street front commercial space.
Retailers have the assurance they will always have
customers living right above and around them, while residents
have the benefit of being able to walk a short distance to get
groceries and household items, or see a movie.
