Planning our cities

A city keeps changing, so it must be planned as a living system whose needs change, especially with climate change.

An urban planner asks many questions:

• How many people live here? What jobs do they do?
• What transport do they need, and how can it connect so everyone can get around?
• Where should homes, shops, parks, schools, hospitals, libraries and community centres go?
• What makes it safe: safe streets for walkers and cyclists, and fire and police stations close by?

Jaipur answered these questions in 1727. Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II chose Vidyadhar Bhattacharya to plan the new city, because he knew vāstu shāstra and śhilpa shāstra (old Indian rules of building).

Vidyadhar laid the city out on a grid of rectangular blocks, called chowkris, lined up with the cardinal directions (north, south, east, west).

Jaipur had:

• wide streets, open spaces and gardens;
• nine public squares, used for trade and for meeting;
• a 20-foot wall with seven gates, for safety;
• pink sandstone along the main streets, which gave the city one look, and its name: the Pink City.

The design suited the climate:

• good sunlight and fresh air;
• a steady water supply from reservoirs and canals;
• markets with shaded porches for traders and travellers.

Jaipur still works much as it was designed.

Singapore shows modern planning. This small island nation has over 8,000 people per square kilometre, yet people enjoy a high quality of life. In the 1960s it was an overcrowded port.

It uses two plans:

• a Concept Plan that looks 40 years ahead, at how land should be used;
• a Master Plan that is updated every 5 years.

The long plan gives direction; the regular updates keep it realistic.

Singapore's ideas:

• mixed-use areas, where homes, offices, parks and museums are close together;
• mass transport linking trains, buses, cycle paths and walkways;
• homes for senior citizens placed near healthcare and childcare.

The land is fixed, so Singapore builds up: high-rise buildings with rooftop and vertical gardens. The gardens cool the city and give space to plants and wildlife (biodiversity), which earned it the name 'Garden City'.