Planning Tools and Techniques for Urban Heritage

1. Planning Tools and Techniques for Urban Heritage Jeffrey Soule, FAICP American Planning Association

2. What is Urban Fabric and why do we care? • Challenges of Urbanization • Cultural Identity vs. globalization • Scarce resources • Impact on quality of life • Civic view vs. Ego • A philosophy as much as technique

5. Ideological Battle • Many architects promote a “no context” design philosophy • Koolhaas “Tabla Rasa” • Much of the world views planning as architecture • World heritage is a humanistic approach

6. Goals for Urban Planning: • improve quality of life for the most people. • Fairly distribute positive and negative aspects of development. • Cultural and historic preservation • Provide a predictable process for decision making informed by community goals.  • Environmental conservation • Involve a variety of people

7. Planning in America • Comprehensive • Citizen participation • Many approaches • Long term perspective • Enforcement of Plans • Bottom up process • Planners represent public

8. Zoning: Legal Authority and Background 1920s • The Standard State Zoning Enabling Act • The Standard City Planning Enabling Act • State enabling legislation • Prevent law suits due to urbanization • Planning act an afterthought

9. Purpose of regulations • Provide a process to manage growth • Predictability over time • Fairness • Carry out the vision and general plan • Provide for appeals • Shared power • Encourage continuity

10. Zoning is only a piece of the process • Incentives like finance • Advice, education and discussion • Subdivision • Design Guidelines • Historic Preservation Districts/Overlays • Environmental standards • Energy standards

11. City Design Process • Reading the city • Reflect cultural layers • Human perspective • Citizen participation • Urban design is between city plan and architecture • Manage at different levels

12. Elements of Reading Places • Customs • History • Climate • Visual elements • Scale • Architecture • Landscape

14. Importance of a strong management framework • Establish the infrastructure to direct development • Create neighborhoods with distinct character • Establish Design guidelines based on district characteristics

15. Design Guidelines • Strengthen the city’s character • Helps implement the civic vision and plan • Encourage new development that adds value to the city • Establishes a process and criteria for review • Essential for success

16. Annapolis Design Guidelines preserve the city fabric

17. Washington DC

19. Design GuidelinesElements for Success • Clarity of purpose • Legal integrity • Link to City Plan • Third-party review • Weather criticism from architects • Celebrate results with the public • Specific design elements well defined • Mandeville Louisiana case study

20. Heritage area movement • Natural, historic, and cultural resources • Managed as an assemblage through public and private partnerships; • Reflects traditions, customs, beliefs, and folklife that contribute to the story; • Provide outstanding opportunities to conserve natural, cultural, historic, and /or scenic features; • Provide recreational and educational opportunities.

21. Case Examples

22. Nanjing Men Xi Combining preservation with development

23. Inventory • Establish form characteristics • Locate Key new development in cleared industrial area • Tie into overall tourism strategy

24. New Town Design Based on historic urban landscape Incorporates modern design within a local framework Responds to both human and environmental needs Zhenjiang

26. Other tools • Historic Preservation Tax Credits • National Register of Historic Places • Historic Overlay districts

27. 20% rehabilitation tax credit • The building must be used in a trade or business or held for the production of income. • The rehabilitation must be substantial. • The property must be placed in service • The building must be a certified historic structure when placed in service • Qualified rehabilitation expenditures include costs of the work on the historic building, as well as architectural and engineering fees, site survey fees, legal expenses, development fees, and other construction-related costs • http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/tps/tax/index.htm

28. Criteria for “Adverse Impact”Under the National Register • Physical destruction, damage • Alteration not consistent with the Secretary’s guidelines; • Removal of the property from its historic location; • Change of the character of the property’s use or of physical features within the property's setting that contribute to its historic significance; • Introduction of visual, atmospheric or audible elements that diminish the integrity of the property's historic features; • Neglect of a property which causes its deterioration.

29. Incorporate but manage iconoclastic ideologies Establish a community-based plan Develop multiple strategies based on community defined cultural values Link to economic development Create a development framework Implement design guidelines Provide incentives for residents and businesses Examine the lessons from heritage areas Fix weak language in the HUL guidelines Recommendations