13.a.

Explain the planning concepts and their relevance to Indian planning

practice as per Ebenezer Howard

Sir Ebenezer Howard

Sir Ebenezer Howard the English founder of the garden city movement, is
known for his publication To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, the
description of a utopian city in which people live harmoniously together with
nature.

The publication resulted in the founding of the garden city movement, and the
building of the First Garden City, Letchworth Garden City, commenced in 1903.
The second true Garden City was Welwyn Garden City (1920) and the
movement influenced the development of several model suburbs

Three magnets
Garden city movement aimed at addressing the urban problems plaguing the
industrial city of that time. He had no training in urban planning or design but
excelled in creating places which he called magnets where people would
want to come to reside and work.. Garden City concept was an effective
response for a better quality of life in over crowded and dirty industrial towns
which had deteriorated the environment and posed serious threat to health.

The three magnets are

Town The pull of Town Magnet are the
opportunities for work and high wages,
social opportunities, amusements and well
lit streets. The pull of Country Magnet is
in natural beauty, fresh air, healthfulness
Country It offered natural beauty, low
rents, fresh air, meadow but had low
wages and lack of drainage. Country has
dullness, lack of society, low wages, lack of
amusements and general decay.
Town- Country it was a combination of
both town and countryside with aim of
providing benefits of both. Thus, the
solution was found in a combination of the
advantages of Town and Country the
Town
Garden city movement
The garden city movement is a method of urban planning in which self-
contained communities are surrounded by "greenbelts", containing
proportionate areas of residences, industry, and agriculture. The idea was
initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom

Conceptual layout
Circular city growing in a radial manner or pattern.
Divided into six equal wards, by six main Boulevards that radiated from the
central park/garden. Civic institutions (Town Hall, Library, Hospital, Theatre,
Museum etc. ) are placed around the central garden.
The central park enclosed by a crystal palace acts as an arcade for indoor
shops and winter gardens. The streets for houses are formed by a series of
concentric ringed tree lined avenues.
Distance between each ring vary between 3-5km .
A 420 feet wide , 3 mile long, Grand avenue which run in the center of
concentric rings , houses the schools and churches and acts as a continuous
public park..
Garden cities
Howard organised the Garden City Association in 1899. Two garden cities were
built using Howard's ideas: Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City,
both in the County of Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom. Howard's
The concept was adopted again in England after World War II, when the New
Towns Act caused the development of many new communities based on
Howard's egalitarian ideas.

Letchworth as a garden city

Letchworth was the First Garden City which was formed in 1903, based on the
ideas of Howard. The Letchworth estate lies on a train line and is only 35 miles
from London, making commuting possible.
The Letchworth garden city was to sustain a population of between 30,000 and
35,000 people, and would be laid out as Howard explained in his book. There
would be a central town, agricultural belt, shops, factories, residences, civic
centres and open spaces, this division of land for specific purposes is now
referred to as zoning and is an important practice within town planning.
Land of 3822 acres
Reserved Green belt- 1300 acres
Designed for a maximum of 35000 population
In 30 years developed with 15000 population & 150 shops, industries.

Welwyn
Welwyn was an area of woodlands and open fields before the garden
city was constructed. Welwyn was Howard's second Garden City after
Letchworth.
Welwyn is only 20 miles from London, and captured the charm of the
countryside and managed to stay unspoiled by urbanisation.
Land of 2378 acres
Designed for a maximum of 40000 population
In 15 years developed with 10000 population & 50 shops, industries.
The architecture in Welwyn has been described as pleasant, and the
residential cottages with their wide roads and open spaces make
Welwyn a refreshing picture
After 10 years of existence Welwyn had a population of 10,000, with well-
established residential, industrial and commercial zones. In 1930 the health of
Welwyn inhabitants was considered greater than those living in London.

Components of Garden city movement

Planned Dispersal: The organized outward migration of industries and people
to towns of sufficient size to provide the services, variety of occupations, and
level of culture needed by a balanced cross section of modern society.

Limit of Town size: The growth of towns to be limited, in order that

their inhabitants may live near work, shops, social centers, and each
other and also near open country.
Amenities: The internal texture of towns to be open enough to permit of
houses with private gardens, adequate space for schools and other
functional purposes, and pleasant parks and parkways.
Town and Country Relationship: The town area to be defined and a
large area around it reserved permanently for agriculture; thus enabling
the farm people to be assured of a nearby market and cultural center,
and the town people to have the benefit of a country situation.
Planning Control: Pre planning of the whole town framework,
including the road scheme, and functional zoning; the fixing of
maximum densities; the control of building as to quality and design, but
allowing for individual variety; skillful planting and landscape garden
design.
Neighborhoods: The town to be divided into wards, each to some extent
a developmental and social entity.
13.b. Discuss the planning concepts of Chandigarh by architect Lecorbusier
Chandigarh is India's first planned city, quite distinct from the rest of the
country and considerably better organized.
It is the capital of both Haryana and Punjab, but the city itself is not part
of either state, being a union territory, i.e. administered directly by the
Central government.
Chandigarh is designed by famous French architect, Le Corbusier, known
as for its unique architecture and well planned landscaping.
Its is a modern city housing the capital of two state Punjab and Haryana
and the seats of Union Territory Administration
The city of Chandigarh is planned to human scale.
It puts us in touch with the infinite cosmos and nature. It provides us
with places and buildings for all human activities by which the citizens
can live a full and harmonious life.
Here the radiance of nature and heart are within our reach.
The whole city has been divided into rectangular pattern, called sectors
forming identical looking sector, each sector measures 800m x 1200m
The central plaza in sector17 was designed by Le-corbusier as
pedestrian paradise. No vehicular movement will be permitted in the
plaza.
No personal statues shall be erected in the city or parks of Chandigarh.

Geographical location
It was bound by two seasonal chose, or rivulets, the patiali Rao and the
Sukhna in the northwest and the south east respectively. It extends in
the northeast right up to the foothills of the shivaliks. The region
experiences extremes in the climate. The temperature could rise to 45
degrees in summer and drop to freezing point in winter. The direction of
the prevalent winds is southeast to the northwest in summer and
northwest to the southeast in winter.
Planning concept
The city plan was conceived as post war Garden City wherein vertical
and high rise buildings were ruled out, keeping in view the living habits
of the people.
Le Corbusier conceived the master plan of Chandigarh as analogous to
human body, with a clearly defined
o Head (the Capitol Complex, Sector 1),
o Heart (the City Centre Sector-17),
o Lungs (the leisure valley, innumerable open spaces and sector
greens),
o Intellect (the cultural and educational institutions),
o Circulatory system (the network of roads, the 7Vs)
o Viscera (the Industrial Area).
Chandigarh planning was done in an manner that everything was easily
clear about the routes and sectors 7 vs road system is used
The primary module of citys design is a Sector, a neighborhood unit of
size 800 meters x 1200 meters.
Each SECTOR is a self-sufficient unit having shops, school, health centers
and places of recreations and worship.
The population of a sector varies between 3000 and 20000 depending
upon the sizes of plots and the topography of the area
As the most economical and readily available material for building at
chandigarh was locally made brick.
The flat roof was employed through out in chandigarh housing because
of its usefulness as a sleeping area
70% of the building would be private in all the sectors.
Residential plots ranging in dimensions from 75 sq. Yards to 5000 sq
yards
SECTORS

The neighbourhood itself is surrounded by the fast-traffic road called V3

intersecting at the junctions of the neighbourhood unit called sector
with a dimension of 800 meters by 1200 meters.
The entrance of cars into the sectors of 800 meters by 1200m, which
are exclusively reserved to family life, can take place on four points only;
in the middle of the 1200 m
In the middle of the 800 meters.
All stoppage of circulation shall be prohibited at the four circuses, at the
angles of the Sectors.
The bus stops are provided each time at 200 meters from the circus so
as to serve the four pedestrian entrances into a sector.
Thus, the transit traffic takes place out of the sectors: the sectors being
surrounded by four wall-bound car roads without openings (the v3s).
And this (a novelty in town-planning and decisive) was applied at
Chandigarh: no house (or building) door opens on the thoroughfare of
rapid traffic.
There are 30 sectors in chandigarh,of which 24 are residential
Each sector caters to the daily needs of its inhabitants, which vary from
5,000 to 25,000 and has a green strip oriented longitudinally stretching
centrally along the sector in the direction of the mountains.
The green strip should stay uninterrupted and accommodate schools,
sports fields, walks and recreational facilities for the sector.
Vehicular traffic is completely forbidden in the green strips,

HOUSING

The design of the residences is symmetrical.

Residences in a cluster look similar from the exterior but they have
different planning as per the users requirement.
The advantage of emphasizing on symmetry makes the environment
look balanced and organized
Lower category residential buildings are governed by a mechanism
known as frame control to control their facades.
 This fixes the building line and height and the use of building materials.
Certain standard sizes of doors and windows are specified and all the
gates and boundary walls must conform to standard design.
This particularly applies to houses built on small plots of 250 square
metres or less.

Roads
By creating a hierarchy of roads, Le Corbusier sought to make every place in
the city swiftly and easily accessible and at the same time ensure tranquility
and safety of living spaces.The roads of the city are classified into seven
categories, Known as the system of 7 V s, as below:

V -1 - Fast roads connecting Chandigarh to other towns;

V-2 -arterial roads.
V-3 --Fast vehicular roads;
V -4 -Meandering shopping streets;
V -5 -Sector circulation roads;
V -6 -Access roads to houses;
V -7 -footpaths and cycle tracks
Buses will ply only on V-I, V-2, V-3 and V-4 roads.
A wall shall seal the V-3 roads from the sectors.

Industry
Despite his bias against industry, Le Corbusier was persuaded to set
aside 235 hectares for non-Polluting, light industry on the extreme
southeastern side near the railway line as far away from the Educational
Sector and Capitol as possible.
Of this, 136 hectares were to be developed during the first phase. In the
event of the city expanding southward, Le Corbusier suggested the
creation of an additional industrial area in the southern part of the city
where a second railway station could be established.
Open spaces
Some 800 hectares of green open space are spread over the approximately 114
square kilometers of the Capital Project area. Major open areas include the
Leisure Valley, Sukhna Lake, Rock Garden and many other special gardens. In
addition, the sectors are vertically integrated by green space oriented in the
direction of the mountains.

The capitol complex

The capitol complex the area of the greatest symbolic significance in
chandigarh was the capitol complex , which in its final form was based on the
design of a graet cross axis the most important group of the buildings
constituting the capitol- right, the parliament, left,in the background, the
secretariat in the foreground, the pool of the palace of justice the artificial hills
in the front of the secretariat have not been created and laid out in accordance
with coebusiers conceptions although the scene is harmonius in effect, there
are still missing the buildings that belong here, such as , for instance, the
towers of shadows