SUBMITTED TO :Ar. Ar.

SUBMITTED by :Vikas Rathore

RADBURN’S PLANNING CRITERIAS :

Elements of The Radburn Idea:Super Block.Specialized Highway system.Complete separation of vehicular

and pedestrian traffic.Park as backbone of the

neighborhood.Turned around houses

INTRODUCTION:Radburn is located within the Borough of Fair Lawn, Bergen County, New Jersey, 12 miles from New York City.

Radburn, a planned community, was started in 1929 by the City Housing Corporation from the plans developed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright.

The concept of the "new town" grew out of the older planned communities in Europe and the work of Ebenezer Howard and Patrick Geddes.

The intent was to build a community which made provisions for the complexities of modern life, while still providing the amenities of open space, community service and economic viability.

The community was intended to be a self-sufficient entity, with residential, commercial and industrial areas each supplementing the needs of others.

It is America's first garden community, serving as a world wide example of the harmonious blending of private space and open area. Radburn provided a prototype for the new towns to meet the requirements for contemporary good living.

The residential areas include every type of housing unit with a wide range of cost.

Radburn means Saddle River in Old EnglishSize of 149 acres, includes 430 single family

homes, 90 row houses, 54 semi-attached houses and a 93 apartment unit, as well as a shopping center, parks and amenities.

One of the most publicized, long-lived and influential models of rational planning

A partially built, planned settlement in northern New Jersey Represents the influence of the English Garden City rational, scientific planning

Represented many of the basic principles of planning theory from 1930s to 1960s

that the maximum radius for walking distance from the home to the community center should be only 1/4 mile (400m).

Shopping areas are situated at intersecting traffic streets on the outside corners rather than at the center of the unit.

The basic layout of the community introduced the "super-block" concept, cul-de-sac (cluster) grouping, interior parklands, and separation of vehicular and pedestrian traffic to promote safety.

Every home was planned with access to park walks.

There are extensive recreation programs planned for the entire community. While the orientation is primarily toward children, there is also a full range of adult activities. Some of the programs are: Tot Lot, Radburn PreSchool, sports, aerobics, amateur dramatics, library, clubroom facilities.

A diagram showing the street network structure of Radburn and its nested hierarchy. Separate pedestrian paths run through the green spaces between the culs-de-sac and through the central green spine (Note: the shaded area was not built)Diagram of the Radburn street pattern showing the cellular structure of the network and the nested road hierarchy

Objectives of Radburn:Decentralized, self-contained settlements, organized to

promote environmental considerations by conserving open space, harnessing the auto and promoting community life; key features:

hierarchical transportation systems cul-de-sacs footpath systems underpasses shopping center ideal size of 30,000 ppl homogeneity large-scale development clustered superblock mixed-use Interior park

Innovations of Radburn Separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic:

This was accomplished by doing away with the traditional grid-iron street pattern and replacing it with an innovation called the superblock.

What is a superblock?The superblock is a large block of land surrounded by

main roads.The houses are grouped around small cul-de-sacs, each

of which has an access road coming from the main roads.

Finally, to further maintain the separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic, a pedestrian underpass and an overpass, linking the superblocks, were provided.

The system was so devised that a pedestrian could start at any given point and proceed on foot to school, stores or church without crossing a street used by automobiles.

EMERGENCE OF RADBURN PLANNING.

Inspired by the garden city idea, the city housing corporation of New York acquired a vacant site in new jersey within commuting distance of New York city for the community of Radburn.

The industrialization of the United States after World War I led to a dramatic growth of the cities during the 1920's.

Population shift led to a severe housing shortage. In answer to the needs of "modern society",

Radburn, the "Town for the Motor Age" was created in 1929.

Planning of radburn The street plan formed a pattern of

rectangular blocks divided into rectangular lots that were usually very narrow to conserve on utility lines and very deep to conserve on streets.

The curvilinear design was then revised to give some resemblance of character to the subdivision to subdue to deadly monotony of parallel streets stretching to infinity.

When parking is desired on each side of the street, the right of way is between 54-64 feet wide, pavement width 36 feet.

It suggests parking on one side only since the traffic lanes should not be less than 10 feet wide.

Cul-de-sac and the loop street

The cul-de-sac, or dead-end street, came into use to eliminate through traffic in a positive manner.

Cul-de-sac terminate in a circular to retain their inherent advantages, they should be short-a maximum length of 450 feet is recommended.

Long cul-de-sacs, induce accelerated traffic speeds and render access for service and fire protection more complicated.

It eliminates the necessity for the turnaround and provides the continuous circulation that is required by some communities to assure no interference with the accessibility of fire protection and other services.

Layout of housing units The houses were oriented

in reverse of the conventional placement on the lot.

Kitchens and garages faced the road, living rooms and bedrooms turned toward the garden.

Pathways provided uninterrupted pedestrian access to a continuous park strip, which led to large common open spaces within the center of the superblock.

The 2900 residents of Radburn share 23 acres of interior parks, which yield 345 square feet / person.

These parks provide small districts for the city.

The Plaza Building is Radburn’s only neighborhood shopping center, and its tall clock tower has been a neighborhood landmark since 1927.

Radburn works as a garden city and a wonderful example of a well designed community because every piece is integrated perfectly into one body.

The parks were secured without additional cost to the residents.

The savings in expenditures for roads and public utilities at Radburn, as contrasted with the normal subdivision, paid for the parks.

The Radburn type of plan requires less area of street to secure the same amount of frontage.

In addition, for direct access to most houses, it used narrower roads of less expensive construction, as well as smaller utility lines.

In fact, the area in streets and length of utilities is 25% less than in the typical American street.

The savings in cost not only paid for 12 - 14% of the total area that went into internal parks, but also covered the cost of grading and landscaping the play spaces and green links connecting the central block commons.

Failure of Radburn planning

The design of Radburn believed that people would actively use the front of the houses facing the greenways. In reality, people come and "leave" from the back of the

houses and the vehicles, not pedestrian access.

More people and children walking and playing in the little driveways and cul-de-sacs than on the actual greenways.

Second, the market has repeatedly shown that homeowners prefer more personal land around their homes to living on tiny lots and sharing a large green space in common.

The Depression pushed the builder, City Housing Corporation, into bankruptcy.

CONCLUSION:

1. Compared to contemporary developments the Radburn plan is more safer, orderly, convenient, spacious and peaceful.

2. Many developers have used one or more aspects of the Radburn plan and its implementation in their own suburbs.

3. Radburn idea is now the suburban model of choice.

4. From a sociological point of view, Radburn not only exemplifies an ideally planned place to live, but it establishes a real mode or plan of living.

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