Concept of Cluster/Compact Cities (with Urban and Locality reading)

Urban Form and Locality Reading

Quotes taken for the concept of 'Cluster Cities'

'Generic City' (taken from Evolo Skyscrapers book): Concept of Cluster City

"Since the Earth Summit in Rio  questions about sustainable spatial strategies and urban form  have  become increasingly central to planning policy debates. They also  loom large  in  academic inquiry.  There has been a  deepening and broadening of work in the field."
It is extremely important for planning debates to be centralised around futuristic sustainable designs.

"There is disagreement  between  researchers  about,  for  example,  the  significance  of density,  the validity of the compact city strategy and the appropriate role for new settlements. At  one  extreme there is  dispersal into hamlets and villages, while at the other extreme is  concentration into dominant cities. In between there  are  'dispersed concentrations.'"
An issue which can only be solved through scientific tests or trial and error..

Compact City chapter:

"Their evidence suggests that concentration leads  to lower fuel  consumption than dispersal, and that the average density of an area (where density is  a proxy for degree of concentration)  is  a  key predictor of energy use - at least as significant  as  social  variables  such  as  income  and  car  ownership."
The ideology that cluster/compact cities will allow for more efficient transport.. which may be a solution to the coming peak oil crisis. However the concept that cluster cities will constrain cities to a certain amount of energy is a little absurd. Technological advancements in several types of renewable energy will allow for an adbundance of energy.

"In other words even the poorest households find  they cannot do without a car in  dispersed areas,  while conversely in accessible  inner urban areas some of the  richest households choose not to own a vehicle"
It is plausible that compact cities will be based upon economic class.. which in turn will establish ghettos. This issue will be looked into more below. Quote ironic that the rich do not need the expenses of a car.. but the poor who cannot afford bare expenses do require car expenses to support themselves. Perhaps the location of the classes supports this: The closer you live to the city, the more your house is worth, and therefore the higher your income is. 

"The compact city is seen as  offering the opportunity for creative and dynamic activity,  the  revival  of a rich and diverse cultural life"
The main aim of the compact city idea is to establish closer community culture.. and allow communities to push towards sustainable awareness and movement. I believe closer constricted communities will easily allow this.

"The  enemies of this source of creativity are,  on the one hand undifferentiated suburban sprawl in quasi-rural settings which isolate the individual;  and highly specialized land use policies within cities which create functional enclaves and social ghettos"
This is the main overall issue of cluster cities.. whilst they allow for sustainable methods and closer communities.. they isolate the economic classes significantly more than they are now!

"He  argues that people have been actively choosing the lifestyle of the lower density suburbs in preference to survival in declining urban cores"
Ofcourse people want to continue into urban sprawl but we need to change this perception.. this would have to be accomplished through cluster cities which allow for sprawl, but still close production of all resources necessary to survive, aswell as a layout which puts people's qualities of life's first.

"Why sbould we green the cities? Because man needs beauty: he needs  nature,  trees,  greenery,  birds,  squirrels,  the  changing seasons,  the connection to the soil. Because we need space for leisure,
to recreate mind and soul,  to run,  play, fish,  cycle,  relax and socialize ..."
Organic cities integrated with the natural environment is a must within the near future!

"In such  a  'thinner, greener'  city,  Colin Ward sees the opportunity for more user or resident control, more individual initiative"
Hopefully certain cluster cities will lead the way for improvements for other cluster cities.
A concept which will allow for global flooding and more natural light into the cluster cities is elevating the cities and allowing for indirect light to reflect up from underneath!

Conclusion chapter:
"At  the start of the chapter four key spatial issues were identified:  dispersal versus concentration, high versus low density, segregated versus integrated land use patterns, and nucleated versus linear form."

"The mixed use centres of such townships should be locally accessible by non-motorized modes but also tied into the rest of the city or urban cluster by high quality public transport to avoid the necessity for car use while retaining city-wide  choice."
Ideally you want to replace the car all together.. through systems of renewable run public transport. Trucks will also be unrequired for delivery as all production for the individual city is within the city.. this minimizes unnecessary transport.

"Higher intensity activities should cluster around public transport routes, with net housing densities sufficient to allow energy,  access and community benefits to be realized."
I agree completely with this statement.

"The linear networks  of water and public transport thus give  the frameworks on which diverse urban land uses are hung. Even where a compact city solution is  appropriate it is  yet important both to maintain/enhance green parkways  and to  maximize  public transport accessibility.  This  may  lead  to
compact linear patterns for any necessary greenfield development rather than simple annular expansion"
It is true that urban sprawl has been based upon the access to water. However if designers solved the issue of efficiently transporting clean fresh water (which could be converted from salt water to fresh water along all of the coast).. this would no longer be an issue. Personally there are more efficient ways of transporting water than pipes running all throughout the city and suburbia.. and this will come with further technological advancements!

"In practice it is liable to require a high degree of technical and political commitment and effective  collaboration between diverse agencies if it  is  to succeed."
The overall issue for future design is that there are a significant amount of concepts.. which allows for more debate on each concept instead of actually implementing one before it is too late. Hopefully by the end of this semester project, one of the most efficient concepts will be established..

Possible solution to issue of isolating classes further:
Allow for 'level's of classes. Poor individuals would start at the bottom.. living amongst a space with less natural light and more servicing, clearly this would not be ideal.. but the ideology behind it is that this pushes individuals to work to the top! Ideally within the core of the cluster city needs to be a pubic space with natural environment and open light for all of the classes to connect.

A configuration for the layout of cluster cities is required.. and will be the next development to my project!