Planning Process: Metropolitan Plan

Image: Example of a Metropolitan area: San- Diego-Tijuana urban agglomeration.

Image obtained from: Smith and Yuan- Planning Theory and Process Presentation (2011)

Urban Metropolitan Regions have become increasingly common, established and expanding in the strive for adequate space in the modern expanded population context. Whilst the metropolitan existence is both predictable and understandable their are a number of major concerns they give rise too. Considering the mass populations that metropolitan house and serve as well as the fact that established metropolitan areas are irrevocable, it's essential that urban planners understand what these concerns are as well as methods in which they can be augmented within their existing framework. The core concerns as well as some potential solutions are documented in 'Planning Metropolitan Regions' (Hack, 2001) and have been summarised by Smith and Yuan (2011): transport systems (particularly road infrastructure subject to the pressure of increased number of cars), rising land cost (especially inner city regions- land prices will decrease towards fringes away from city centres), decreased access to open space (land in demand is being increasing used for infrastructure), increasing pollution of air and water (trend with a long observable history in dense human populations- concentration of people results in concentration of anthropogenic by products that can not be distributed or 'removed' by environmental systems quickly enough to avoid accumulation) and increased moral degeneracy and crime (rates of crime increase in socially disconnected areas-19th century City Beautiful Movement tried to improve this).

Some potential approaches and mechanisms for improving some of the flaws of metropolitan areas and plans include: adapting the employment and shopping centre clusters that have arisen in areas of the metropolis into functioning civic centres, reuse of parking areas around the employment and shopping clusters as new mixed use areas for business and retail to increase connectivity that will result in less car dependence within the cluster, creating housing solutions that fit the new varying demographic patterns of single parents, couple with no children etc., planning to facilitate growing interest in residential area with cultural, shopping and entertainment amenities and services, recognising and promoting difference within the metropolis (remove internal competition notions) and an encompassing regional development plans and strategies that provide pragmatic solutions in making the plans visions into realities.