Patterns of Neighbourhood structure in history.docx

7/29/2019 Patterns of Neighbourhood structure in history.docx

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Neighbourhood Planning

Patterns of Neighbourhood structure in history

Submitted by: Amit Pokhrel, M.Sc Urban dsignand conservation, 2nd semester student (MSC06908), Khwopa

Engineering college, libali, Bhaktapur

Submitted to: Department of Urban design and conservationKhwopa engineering college, libali, Bhaktapur


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Patterns of Neighbourhood structure in history

A neighbourhood is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or

rural area. Neighbourhoods are often social communities with considerable face-to-faceinteraction among members. Neighbourhood is generally defined spatially as a specific

geographic area and functionally as a set of social networks. Neighbourhoods, then, are

the spatial units in which face-to-face social interactions occur the personal settings and

situations where residents seek to realise common values, socialise youth, and maintain effective

social control

The historical timeline of Neighbourhood structure begins from the prehistoric to preindustrial

cities to the modern theory of social communities or social Neighbourhood, which has its own

importances in the form of urban spatial structure as well as in the arrangement of landuse in

communities.

Neighbourhood can be defined as the inner city as the spatial, functional, and communicative,

as well as cultural centre of a city. Inner-city neighbourhoods are decisive for the entire urban

quality of a city sometimes complemented by outstanding features of districts that do not

belong to the historical city centre. However, it must be noted that different types of urban

neighbourhood historical city centres, high-end, middle-class neighbourhoods; simple urban

districts from the same period; residential neighbourhoods developed in the 1920s and 1930s;

inner-urban housing stock from the post-war period produce strongly diverging resident

milieus and consequently varyingly efficient integration milieus.

(Figure: Moenjo-daro and cities of 4 civilization)

A sophisticated and technologically advanced urban culture is evident in the Indus ValleyCivilization making them the first urban centres in the region. The quality of municipal town

planning suggests the knowledge of urban planning and efficient municipal governments which

placed a high priority on hygiene, or, alternatively, accessibility to the means of religious ritual.

The history of the world is the history of humanity, beginning with the Paleolithic Era. Distinct

from the history of Planet Earth, world history comprises the study of archeological and written

records, from ancient times on. Ancient recorded history begins with the invention of writing.


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However, the roots of civilization reach back to the period before the invention of

writing. Prehistory begins in the Paleolithic Era, or "Early Stone Age," which is followed by

the Neolithic Era, or New Stone Age, and theAgricultural Revolution in the Fertile Crescent.

The settlement pattern and the built environment structure of the neighbourhood of the

Paleolithic or stone age (5000 BC-

Plesticene ice age) period are in the forms of caves and pitwith rock painting and sculptures within the communities.There is a absence of Neighbourhood

structure in Paleolithic period.

The settlement pattern and the villages of that period when it comes out to be in the next phase of

Neolithic stage (5000-3000 BC), the neighbourhood structure was changed into rural settlements,

clustered or scattered communities, pit dwellings, houses on piles and lakes, long houses with

50-100 clan units forming cluster groups. The different such rural areas and settlement pattern of

a social structure in the form of neighbourhood unit are Jericho, Yangshao village and

stonehenge.Absence ofNeighbourhood structure, though it contains city with settlement.The social structure was changed when people know how to cultivate the grainary items arriving

in the agriculture age (3000-5th C BC) which is also known as Bronze-Iron stage, mostly Bronze

use Age. The settlement form and the built environment of living a life in a social phase was

changed in the form of cities, settled villages, fortifications, fencing and terracing. The living

environment was in the modification in the form of landuse and developments from the historical

point of view. Here is the presence ofNeighbourhood structure. Example: Indus valley and

Sumerian city.

The civilization begins in the form of Iron age whose time period starts from 5th C BC, the

social living structure in the form of neighbourhood was changed in the form of Imperial cities,cosmopolitan cities and colonies. The active territory was formed by the community in the form

of village, town, itinary trade routes (uttarapath, dakshinipath, silk road) and imperial territory.

Some of the examples which form the neighbourhood pattern are Miletus, Rome and pataliputra.

(Figure: Miletus and Rome-Neighbourhood structure)


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The social structure were changed, people started living their private life making houses,

colonies, forming large cities supporting their needs along with the administration started to

focus on developing its territory.

A Medieval period (the time started from 5th C to 17th C)

The social form changes to feudal with social hierarchy depending upon the settlement form andbuilt environment into large cities with population upto 1 million, regional town centres, planned

towns and settlements and low rise compact settlements. Whereas the active territory was

village, towns and itinery trade routes. The living patterns are different from past to till medieval

period.

The village with rural settlement with development patterns changes into a social form which

form a neighbourhood structure from the very begining. The detail structure of housing unit with

the facilities within it specify that there is a neighbourhood structure in the form of requirements

like road, drains, watersupply pipeline and the concept of planning their settlements.

For example: Miletus is one of the most splendid city plans ever made. It shows how it is

possible to develop forms of tremendously dynamic quality as counterpoint to the rigid discipline

of the gridiron plan. The repetitive module of the regular rectangular blocks which constitute the

residential part of the city sets up a rhythm which is the basis for the composition of the public

parts of the city, the temples, the gymnasia, and the stoas facing inward onto the agoras and out

toward the harbours.

(Figure Miletus: old and new)

In medieval period there was a rapid growth of industry and development of infrastructures.

Some of the examples were Xian, Kyoto, Palmananov and elephant caves. The building structure

and form was started from 9th C in China, whereas the Islamic tradition was started from 8th Cin Baghdad and the town environment was started from 11th C in Japan.


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(Figure: Xian, Renniassaince pictures of Medieval)

From the urban design and townscape consideration, Japan in 17th C, the townscape concept was

started and the new era of planning and design longlast till today. Similarly the neighbourhood

structure was first formed in Turkey, Canada, United states and in Europian region and now

there are neighbourhood structure everywhere in the world with the ability to sustain the social

structure to form a safe and secured community.

(Figure Kyoto city from old to new form)

With the passage of time, the Industrial Age begun and the time period was started from 17th C -

20th C where there was a social form of migrant community, nuclear family to have interest

association to fulfill the facilities of the social living people. The settlement form and the built

environment has changed into a new form of living a life in metroplis, sattelite towns, industrial

towns, conurbation, high rise and dense social forms, suburban, sprawl with vechicular ways and

the active territory was changed into neighbourhood with work place and market zone network.Presence of Neighbourhood structure in different cities.

(Figure: London, Palmanov-Italy and Rome; map of 17th C)


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The history plays an important role to have a change in the socities. The beginning of the 20th

century saw the first description of the local community as being a natural agglomeration. In

1915, Park described these groupings as the results of the competition for land use between

various businesses and groups of populations existing without formal organization.

A neighbourhood is often considered to be a living area as well as a place of work and a family

environment. One will find people interacting for utility (grocery stores, medical clinics, schools,

recreational parks, etc.), support or mutual aid (exchanges of services), or for pure socialization

(the need to create bonds between individuals). It is a space we learn to recognize by moving

throughout it while carrying social and economic activities such as visiting friends and shopping.

The built environment and its social organization can become familiar and could contribute to

one's identity. A neighbourhood can thus become a reflection of oneself, one's values, aspirations

and socioeconomic conditions. It can also be freely selected or determined by these samesocioeconomic conditions. In short, a neighbourhood is a place characterized by a specific

collection of spatially based features that can be found at a specific geographic scale.

While defining the Neighbourhood structure, in the present context; there are something we

should know about preindustrial cities. In the words of the urban scholar Lewis Mumford,

Neighbourhoods, in someprimitive, inchoate fashion exist wherever human beings congregate,

in permanent family dwellings; and many of the functions of the city tend to be distributed

naturallythat is, without any theoretical preoccupation or political direction into

neighbourhoods. Most of the earliest cities around the world as excavated by archaeologists

have evidence for the presence of social neighbourhoods. Historical documents shed light on

neighbourhood life in numerous historical preindustrial or non-western cities.


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Neighbourhoods are typically generated by social interaction among people living near one

another. In this sense they are local social units larger than households not directly under the

control of city or state officials. In some preindustrial urban traditions, basic municipal functions

such as protection, social regulation of births and marriages, cleaning and upkeep are handled

informally by neighbourhoods and not by urban governments; this pattern is well documented

for historical Islamic cities. (source: Islamic era, Urban design)

In addition to social neighbourhoods, most ancient and historical cities also had administrative

districts used by officials for taxation, record-keeping, and social control.

Administrative

districts are typically larger than neighbourhoods and their boundaries may cut across

neighbourhood divisions. In some cases, however, administrative districts coincided with

neighbourhoods, leading to a high level of regulation of social life by officials. For example, in

the Tang period Chinese capital city Changan, neighbourhoods were districts and there were

state officials who carefully controlled life and activity at the neighbourhood level.

Neighbourhoods in preindustrial cities often had some degree of social specialisation or

differentiation. Ethnic neighbourhoods were important in many past cities and remain common

in cities today. One factor contributing to neighbourhood distinctiveness and social cohesion in

past cities was the role of rural to urban migration. This was a continual process in preindustrialcities, and migrants tended to move in with relatives and acquaintances from their rural past.

(Figure: curved street, Nardeen, rui de revolli, Paris and Kathmandu)


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In the context of Asia, the neighbourhood structure were defined in another form. In

the mainland of the People's Republic of China, the term is generally used for the

urban administrative division found immediately below the district level, although an

intermediate, subdistrict level exists in some cities. They are also called streets (administrative

terminology may vary from city to city).

Neighbourhoods encompass 2,000 to 10,000 families. Within neighbourhoods, families are

grouped into smaller residential units or quarters of 100 to 600 families and supervised by a

residents' committee; these are subdivided into residents' small groups of fifteen to forty families.

In most urban areas of China; neighbourhood, community, residential community, residential

unit, residential quarters have the same meaning.

In the context of Europe, The term neighbourhood structure has no general official or statistical

purpose in the United Kingdom, but is often used by local boroughs for self-chosen sub-divisions

of their area for the delivery of various services and functions, or is used as an informal term to

refer to a small area within a town or city.


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In Canada and the United States, neighbourhoods are often given official or semi-official status

through neighbourhood associations, neighbourhood watches, or block watches. These may

regulate such matters as lawn care and fence height, and they may provide such services as block

parties, neighbourhood parks, and community security. In some other places the equivalent

organization is the parish, though a parish may have several neighbourhoods within it depending

on the area.

Conclusion

The concept of the neighbourhood is well established as a basic unit for planning our cities.

Further, it is a popular and accepted element of a social and physicalorganization in the minds of

most Architect, Engineer and city designer. Theneighbourhood has become the symbol, through

conscious design of a means topreserve the real or imagined values of an earlierhistory, semi-rural way of life inour increasingly complex and fast moving urban centers.

The modern concept of the neighbourhood and for that matter , many of the more recent version

of the neighbourhood unit or structure derive from the notion that the neighbourhoods will be

composed of aggregations of average families and may be a miscellaneous relative like

containing both the social and physical attributes within neighbourhood stability. Actuallyfamilies of this sort comprise less than half of the families occupying dwelling units in our cities.

In localities where neighbourhoods do not have an official status, questions can arise as to where

one neighbourhood begins and another ends. Many cities use districts and wards as official

divisions of the city, rather than traditional neighbourhood boundaries.


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Bibliography

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www.pasthistory.org

www.unhabitat.org/historicalcities

Wen-Hao Chen, John Myles and Garnett Picot, Why Have Poorer Neighbourhoods

Stagnated economically while the Richerhave Flourished: urban studies

Dr.Ing Longbin Zhu, Senior Technical Advisor, GTZ Urban DevelopmentProgrammer, China. /

Dr. IngReinhard Goethert, Director SIGUS Group, MIT, Boston. on topic HistoricNeighbourhood

http://www.google.com

www.cityform.mit.edu

Forsyth, A.; Jacobson, J. &Thering, K. (2010). Six Assessments of the Same Places:Comparing

Views of Urban Design. Journal of Urban Design,

Larice, M.A., 2006. Great neighborhoods: The livability and morphology of high density

Neighborhoods in urban North America. University of California, Berkeley.

www.nationalgeographicchannel.com

http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/humanism.html

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Patterns of Neighbourhood structure in history.docx