type of buildings to be constructed, whose layout will affect other services such as
roads, drainage, water and electricity supply.
Some administrative offices have to be frequented by numerous members of the
public seeking to secure permits, to pay taxes etc. Other offices include public works
planning, purchasing, educational organisation, higher law courts, etc. The buildings
should therefore be properly located to allow easy access.
In a way, the town centre determines where residential housing will be conveniently located, as well as work places, some of which will probably be far from the
town centre. If the land is organised into convenient school units, with roads and
paths conveniently placed to collect children, at the different schools, primary and
secondary. From a safety point of view, children commuting to school should not
have to cross major roads unless they can do so safely, and conveniently. Thus,
small land areas separated by a main road may not be suitable for residential
buildings.
Furthermore, optimum school size and maximum walking distances, dictate the
approximate catchment area for a single primary school and probably exert a more
powerful influence on the layout than is the requirement for conveniently sited
shops.
If construction of buildings near each other is indiscriminately allowed, the
results can be
(i) dangerous,
(ii) unhealthy,
(iii) disagreeable, and
(iv) a cause of congested traffic.
Conversely, each individual site owner might feel that any necessary space
should be taken care of the neighbour rather than by himself. As owners of small
dwellings are often unaware of possible resulting bad conditions, the planning
authority should enforce minimum rules about:
(a) setback (if required) from the street,
(b) loading and unloading facilities within the building’s boundary or compound,
(c) distance of the building from other buildings and from the boundary of its plot.
This last criterion may, of course, allow some possibility of building contiguity to
enable continuous development of the street frontage. The distances prescribed will
be affected by different considerations, such as fire prevention, fire-fighting and
ventilation, etc.
Building height (see also Chap. 3) is important for different reasons:
1. it affects density, the number of people visiting the building and the volume of
traffic connected to the building;
2. it influences the lighting (natural and artificial) of other buildings;
3. it influences the structural details, preventing collapse, of other buildings, as well;
4. it affects the fire-fighting problem.
8
1 Introduction to Infrastructure
roads, drainage, water and electricity supply.
Some administrative offices have to be frequented by numerous members of the
public seeking to secure permits, to pay taxes etc. Other offices include public works
planning, purchasing, educational organisation, higher law courts, etc. The buildings
should therefore be properly located to allow easy access.
In a way, the town centre determines where residential housing will be conveniently located, as well as work places, some of which will probably be far from the
town centre. If the land is organised into convenient school units, with roads and
paths conveniently placed to collect children, at the different schools, primary and
secondary. From a safety point of view, children commuting to school should not
have to cross major roads unless they can do so safely, and conveniently. Thus,
small land areas separated by a main road may not be suitable for residential
buildings.
Furthermore, optimum school size and maximum walking distances, dictate the
approximate catchment area for a single primary school and probably exert a more
powerful influence on the layout than is the requirement for conveniently sited
shops.
If construction of buildings near each other is indiscriminately allowed, the
results can be
(i) dangerous,
(ii) unhealthy,
(iii) disagreeable, and
(iv) a cause of congested traffic.
Conversely, each individual site owner might feel that any necessary space
should be taken care of the neighbour rather than by himself. As owners of small
dwellings are often unaware of possible resulting bad conditions, the planning
authority should enforce minimum rules about:
(a) setback (if required) from the street,
(b) loading and unloading facilities within the building’s boundary or compound,
(c) distance of the building from other buildings and from the boundary of its plot.
This last criterion may, of course, allow some possibility of building contiguity to
enable continuous development of the street frontage. The distances prescribed will
be affected by different considerations, such as fire prevention, fire-fighting and
ventilation, etc.
Building height (see also Chap. 3) is important for different reasons:
1. it affects density, the number of people visiting the building and the volume of
traffic connected to the building;
2. it influences the lighting (natural and artificial) of other buildings;
3. it influences the structural details, preventing collapse, of other buildings, as well;
4. it affects the fire-fighting problem.
8
1 Introduction to Infrastructure