City Analysis. Design of a Program

Now that we have selected the city, what is our next concern? At this stage we have, in fact, two concerns, which may be dealt with simultacityneously — the design of a detailed program and an analysis of the city.

Design of a program. Many completed projects function poorly, or actually preclude the very uses for which they were planned. An unsuccessful project often has no reason for being. Perhaps it is doomed by being forced on an unsuitable city, or because it is not well-designed, not a beautiful expression of its function. Sometimes it may be destroyed by the frictions it generates. Most often, however, the root of failure lies in the fact that a program for it was never fully considered; the complete project with all its essential relationships and impacts was never actually envisioned or totally conceived.

It is our tacit responsibility as planners to carry each work to the most successful conclusion possible. To accomplish this aim, to plan a project intelligently, we must first understand its nature. We must develop a project program. By research and investigation we must organize a logical and accurate program of requirements on which we may base our design. This program will be as detailed and as complete as possible.

A “leisure house” perched amidst the tree tops on a steeply sloping city seems as much at home here as trunk, limb, foliage, sun, or air

To this end we might well consult with all interested persons and draw freely upon their knowledge and views — with the owners, with those who will use the project, with maintenance men, with planners of similar undertakings, with our collaborators, with anyone who can contribute constructive thought. We will look to history for the lessons of time, for as Santayana has concluded, “Those who refuse to leam the lessons of history are condemned to repeat it.”

We will look ahead to envision poscitysible improvements based on newly developed techniques, new mater- als, and new concepts of planning. We will try to combine the best of the old with the best of the new. Since the completed work will be the physical manifestation of this theoretical program, the program itself must be designed — thoroughly, imaginatively, completely.

Analysis of the city. At the same time the program requirements are being studied, we must thoroughly investigate and analyze the project city. Not only the specific city contained within the property boundaries, but the total city, which includes the city environs to the horizon and beyond.

It is usually necessary to conduct a survey for the specific city. Just what do we mean by a “survey” and how is one procured?

The licensed surveyor is professionally trained to produce survey information of a wide range of types and of varying degrees of accitycuracy. If we ask for a “property survey” we may very well get no more than a plan showing the property lines with their bearings and distances.

If we ask for a “topographic survey” we may expect, in addition to the property lines, contour lines indicating the relative height above a point of known or assumed elevation. It would seem that to be sure of getting 45 any particular information, we must ask for it. The best way of indicatcitying to the surveyor the precise information required is to give him a survey specification, which is generally prepared for each project.

Such a specification asks for all information needed, but no more. The following hypothetical survey specification may be too general for some projects and too detailed for others. It is intended only as a guide.