POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES

PLANNING III
ASSIGNMENT NO. 1

ALLAS, FREDERICK M.
BS ARCH 4-3

November 16, 2015

ALLAS, FREDERICK M.

November 16, 2015

2012-00934-MN-0
1.)

Ar. Anthony Yan

Differentiate Urban Design, Urban Planning and Site Planning.

Architects, urban planners and urban designers are allied professionals who collectively

makes the city. They must be credited for the uprising or downfall of great or lost cities. But
to make a better city and make these professions acknowledged and accounted for, we must
define these fine lines and gray areas between these professions and answer the questions
about each area of expertise, who does what and how?
Site planning, urban planning and urban design are closely related practices that for some
are easy as drawing a family tree but for the others are similar codes, that are as hard as
enigma to crack. But just like what Allan Turing and his comrades did, we should be able to
decipher our own enigma for today. Our square one start from knowing what each of these
people stands for, we first define each professions, how and what do they do, and perhaps how
to become one. Second, we list their similarities and differences. Does some of their practice
overlap? What are their arguments? Can skill sets be merged and have a greater amalgamated
of profession?
We start from site planning, site Planning is defined by Kevin Lynch as the art of arranging
structures on the land and shaping the spaces between; an art linked to architecture,
engineering, landscape architecture and city planning. Harvey M. Rubenstein defines it as the
art and science of arranging the uses of portions of land. These uses are designated in detail by
selecting and analyzing sites, forming land use plans, organizing vehicular and pedestrian
circulation, developing visual form and materials concepts, readjusting the existing landforms by
design grading, providing proper drainage, and developing the construction details necessary to
carry out the projects. And as Wikipedia states, Site planning in landscape architecture and
architecture refers to the organizational stage of the landscape design process. It involves the
organization of land use zoning, access, circulation, privacy, security, shelter, land drainage, and
other factors. This is done by arranging the compositional elements of landform, planting, water,
buildings and paving in site plans. Site planning generally begins by assessing a potential site
for development through site analysis. Information about slope, soils, hydrology, vegetation,
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parcel ownership, orientation, etc. are assessed and mapped. By determining areas that are
poor for development (such as floodplain or steep slopes) and better for development, the
planner or architect can assess optimal location and design a structure that works within this
space. Site planning is often done by an architect.
And as what Harvey Rubenstein has said, it involves arranging the uses of portions of a
land. This statement for me draws the line that clearly defines the boundary of site planning
from urban planning and urban design. Think of it as a combination of urban planning and urban
design in a microscopic level, you plan and design just for a specific site or place. And as bad as
it sounds, among our three subjects, site planning might have the tendency to care less about
its neighbouring sites.
Second is Urban planning, American Planning Association states that planning, also called
urban planning or city and regional planning, is a dynamic profession that works to improve the
welfare of people and their communities by creating more convenient, equitable, healthful,
efficient, and attractive places for present and future generations. Planning is done in many
arenas and involves professionals who are planners and those who are professionally certified
by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). Planners work with elected and
appointed officials, such as mayors and planning commissioners, to lead the planning process
with the goal of creating communities of lasting value. Planners help civic leaders, businesses,
and citizens envision new possibilities and solutions to community problems.
Professional planners help create a broad vision for the community. They also research,
design, and develop programs; lead public processes; effect social change; perform technical
analyses; manage; and educate. Some planners focus on just some of these roles, such as
transportation planning, but most will work at many kinds of planning throughout their careers.
Planners are also responsible for the implementation or enforcement of many of the strategies,
often coordinating the work of many groups of people. It is important to recognize that a plan
can take a variety of forms including: policy recommendations, community action plans,
comprehensive plans, neighbourhood plans, regulatory and incentive strategies, or historic
preservation plans. Other examples of plans include: redevelopment plans, smart growth
strategies, economic development strategic plans, site plans, and disaster preparedness plans.
Lastly, urban design. According to urbandesign.org, urban design is the art of creating and
shaping cities and towns, it involves the arrangement and design of buildings, public spaces,

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transport systems, services, and amenities. Urban design is the process of giving form, shape,
and character to groups of buildings, to whole neighbourhoods, and the city.
It is a framework that orders the elements into a network of streets, squares, and blocks.
Urban design blends architecture, landscape architecture, and city planning together to make
urban areas functional and attractive.
Urban design is about making connections between people and places, movement and
urban form, nature and the built fabric. Urban design draws together the many strands of placemaking, environmental stewardship, social equity and economic viability into the creation of
places with distinct beauty and identity.
Urban design is derived from but transcends planning and transportation policy, architectural
design, development economics, engineering and landscape. It draws these and other strands
together creating a vision for an area and then deploying the resources and skills needed to
bring the vision to life.
Urban design involves place-making - the creation of a setting that imparts a sense of place
to an area. This process is achieved by establishing identifiable neighbourhoods, unique
architecture, aesthetically pleasing public places and vistas, identifiable landmarks and focal
points, and a human element established by compatible scales of development and ongoing
public stewardship. Other key elements of place making include: lively commercial centers,
mixed-use development with ground-floor retail uses, human-scale and context-sensitive
design; safe and attractive public areas; image-making; and decorative elements in the public
realm. Urban design practice areas range in scale from small public spaces or streets to
neighbourhoods, city-wide systems, or whole regions.
All three are, and should remain, distinct but complementary disciplines. Site planning differs
from urban planning and urban design in scale and treatment of space. Its scale is primarily that
of the particular site given , its frontage and nearest spaces, as opposed to the larger region of
urban design and urban planning . Designs in site planning compared to urban design generally
compliments only structures and areas within a site or two and give them impressions and
identity .While the designs in urban design transcends onto bigger portions of lands to give
these places collectively, a unified character.

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Urban planning and urban design for me have a greater ambiguity than compared to urban
design versus site planning and urban planning and site planning. Urban design versus urban
planning versus site planning. Urban design differs from planning in scale, orientation, and
treatment of space. Its scale is primarily that of the street, park, or transit stop, as opposed to
the larger region, community, or activity center, which are foremost in planning. Its orientation is
both aesthetic and functional, putting it somewhere between art, whose object is beauty, and
planning, whose object is utility. The treatment of space in urban design is three-dimensional,
with vertical elements as important as horizontal ones. Urban planning, on the other hand, is
customarily a two-dimensional activity, with most plans visually represented in plan view, not
model, section, or elevation. And may have intensive works and importance
Some practices of urban design and urban planning sometimes overlap so others may opt
to have suggestion or maybe proposed law to amalgamate these two professions. But I think it
is really up to the place of practice and should be based on the needs of the situation urban
planners and designers are facing.
Cracking codes to differentiate three allied practices are sure hard to do. Site planning,
urban planning and urban design can be differentiated into four major categories. First scale,
site planning or architecture has a least scope, which is an individual building, urban design is
seen in the spaces between building such as parks, streets and transit stops and urban
planning plans whole neighbourhood, districts and cities. Second the orientation, for architecture
and urban design it is aesthetic and functional while it is predominantly utility for urban planning.
Third is the treatment of space, it is two dimensional for urban planning, three dimensional for
urban design and a combination of both for architecture and site planning. And lastly, time
frame, for architecture and site planning there is no definite timeframe, for urban design it is
mostly short term (less than five years) and it is long term for urban planning (five to twenty
years)
The debate over urban design versus urban planning is a distinction with a difference, even
if one that is often blurred. They are by products of societys needs and should have clear
definition so that skills are allocated into proper practices. Planning and design should not be
seen as rhetorical question between which profession is superior or inferior but instead be
defined as cultural and ethical art forms reified by the science of construction.

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2.)

List down the budget allocation for provinces and municipalities

by the Philippine government.

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