NEW TOWN RESEARCH Comparing a variety of New Towns around the globe in order to identify commonalities between New Towns, and elements that are particular to Kiryat Gat. Metrics marked with an asterisk (*) are based of the sample areas for each New Town. NOTE PREPARED FOR: THE CITY OF KIRYAT GAT, ISRAEL PREPARED BY: DATE: GRADUATE STUDENTS OF: MIT DEPARTMENT OF URBAN STUDIES & PLANNING TAU LABORATORY FOR CONTEMPORARY URBAN DESIGN UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF: PROF. TALI HATUKA, TEL-AVIV UNIVERSITY PROF. ERAN BEN-JOSEPH, MIT APRIL 4, 2012
Comparing a variety of New Towns around the globe in order to identify commonalities between New Towns, and elements that are particular to Kiryat Gat.
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NEW TOWN RESEARCHComparing a variety of New Towns around the globe in order to identify commonalities between New Towns, and elements that are particular to Kiryat Gat.
Metrics marked with an asterisk (*) are based of the sample areas for each New Town.
NOTE
PREPARED FOR: THE CITY OF KIRYAT GAT, ISRAEL
PREPARED BY:
DATE:
GRADUATE STUDENTS OF:MIT DEPARTMENT OF URBAN STUDIES & PLANNINGTAU LABORATORY FOR CONTEMPORARY URBAN DESIGN
UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF: PROF. TALI HATUKA, TEL-AVIV UNIVERSITY PROF. ERAN BEN-JOSEPH, MIT
APRIL 4, 2012
dwelling densitydwelling coveragepopulation densityroad density
Like Kiryat Gat, Columbia MD was planned as a complete “New Town”, intended to serve not only housing and physical purposes, but also social purposes. It was developed by James Rouse, with the intention of building a community comprised of small walkable villages and which avoided typical suburban leap-frog style development. Each “village” had a center, with shopping, schools, recreation, and community buildings. The town also has an extensive bike / walking paths through the villages and connecting them. The town opened in 1967 and now has a population of almost 100,000. That population has grown steadily since 1980. Between 1970 and 1980 the population jumped from 8,800 people to 52,500, similar to the sudden creation and growth of Kiryat Gat. Also similar to Kiryat Gat, in recent years there has been more development of single family detached homes on larger lots. Again similar to Kiryat Gat, there are several significant racial groups: whites only make up 66% of the population. Additionally the town is about 22% African American and 7% Asian. I would be curious to see the geographical distribution of these groups. Last in demographics, the median income for a household is about $95,000 per year, well above the national average. The community has been successful, however, but whether for physical planning reasons or otherwise I do not know (proximity to DC, desirability of the area, successful schools?) The town has won several awards for being the “Best Place to Live” - #4 in 2006 by Money Magazine, #8 in 2008, and #2 in 2010.
In many ways, Ciudad Guayana is similar to Kiryat Gat. The city was intended to be the central hub for its region, also allowing the national population to disseminate from the capital city. It also was built on either side of major transportation pathway (in this case, a river) which also separated the industrial from the residential. However, rapid growth proved to be a major problem. Since its founding in 1961, the population has more than quadrupled, which has presented major problems with regards to infrastructure, social services, and employment. The lessons here are that growth is not inherently positive; growth can be particularly problematic for a new town that was never designed to accommodate it. If Kiryat Gat wishes to expand, building new housing is not enough - it must also provide for new employers, expanded education, more social services, better transportation, and everything else that a well-functioning city requires.
NEW TOWN LESSONS LEARNEDCOLUMBIA, MD CIUDAD GUAYANA
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The ideologically-driven Mid-Century town planning of districts such as Halle-Neustadt efficiently produced housing for growing populations during industrialization. However, these town types have proven difficult to maintain as industrial jobs have declined, revealing the ultimately ineffectiveness of monofunctional urban zones. The investment required to rehabilitate aging tower blocks is not available for shrinking cities like Halle-Neustadt. Simultaneously, New Towns such as Halle-Neustadt present interesting and potentially relevant solutions for today’s urban needs. Halle-Neustadt was designed with a priority on regional access. The town was seen as a node in a larger network and local transit was sited at the center of the development. This type of planning offers car-free lifestyles while simultaneously giving access to other nearby towns and central cities. Additionally, the urban design of the housing blocks in Halle-Neustadt included small retail and some cultural amenities. While this has not proven attractive to a range of ages, the elderly seem to find most of their needs met in these walkable communities. Halle-Neustadt has a large and active elderly population.
Kiryat Gat does not have the same level of homogeneity in built form that is present in Halle-Neustadt, which relieves some of the central issues in the German New Town’s planning. However, Kiryat Gat has the opportunity to learn from some of the positive aspects of the planning of Halle-Neustadt. The emphasis on centrally-located and accessible public transit, walkability of local neighborhoods and planning for all ages are three key lessons that Kiryat Gat can learn from the Halle-Neustadt case.
AKADEMGORODOKReflections on New Towns in Israel and across the globe, including how each compares to the conditions in Kiryat Gat, Israel.
Gandhinagar was developed as the capital of the Gujarat state after it was split from Mumbai state in 1960. The city was designed on the neighborhood unit model and is divided into 30 sectors, each on a block of 1 km by ¾ km, and each with its own school, commercial center, health clinic, etc. Circulation within sectors was designed entirely for bicycle and pedestrian traffic, with distributor roads forming the external grid pattern.
Perhaps most interesting in relation to Kiryat Gat is the struggle to establish Gandhinagar as an independent and dominant city, rather than a subsidiary of the nearby sprawling city of Ahmedabad. To establish and maintain this separate identity for the new city a Periphery Control Act was enacted on the surrounding agricultural area barring any new development other than farmhouses. Nevertheless, in recent times development pressures have succeeded in pushing for new development along the highway to Ahmedabad, rather than to the northeast as originally planned. InfoCity, a “complete city” styled technology park was established along the southern boundary of Gandhinagar, sponsored by the Gujarat government. There are also currently plans underway to establish a mass transit link between Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad.
NEW TOWN LESSONS LEARNEDGANDHINAGAR
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The ideologically-driven Mid-Century town planning of districts such as Halle-Neustadt efficiently produced housing for growing populations during industrialization. However, these town types have proven difficult to maintain as industrial jobs have declined, revealing the ultimately ineffectiveness of monofunctional urban zones. The investment required to rehabilitate aging tower blocks is not available for shrinking cities like Halle-Neustadt. Simultaneously, New Towns such as Halle-Neustadt present interesting and potentially relevant solutions for today’s urban needs. Halle-Neustadt was designed with a priority on regional access. The town was seen as a node in a larger network and local transit was sited at the center of the development. This type of planning offers car-free lifestyles while simultaneously giving access to other nearby towns and central cities. Additionally, the urban design of the housing blocks in Halle-Neustadt included small retail and some cultural amenities. While this has not proven attractive to a range of ages, the elderly seem to find most of their needs met in these walkable communities. Halle-Neustadt has a large and active elderly population.
Kiryat Gat does not have the same level of homogeneity in built form that is present in Halle-Neustadt, which relieves some of the central issues in the German New Town’s planning. However, Kiryat Gat has the opportunity to learn from some of the positive aspects of the planning of Halle-Neustadt. The emphasis on centrally-located and accessible public transit, walkability of local neighborhoods and planning for all ages are three key lessons that Kiryat Gat can learn from the Halle-Neustadt case.
HALLE-NEUSTADT
Don Mills demonstrates, as is often the case, that a place—regardless of it being and oft-stigmatized New Town or it being designed by a 20-something from the 50s-era GSD—does quite well as long as the people who live there are relatively well off. Despite this caveat, Don Mills excels in several planned ways: it has a network of green paths and spaces that meshes well with the pattern of housing, there is a diversity of housing types (slab buildings, single family houses, etc.), a saturation of well-distributed schools, and centrally planned commercial and civic space, which all seem to work on above average standing to comparably designed New Towns. On the other hand, the city has an excess of overly-large roads and, despite accessibility to public transit, is largely car-dependent. Finally, while it was intended as a community of its own accord, it is also largely dependent on economic activity and urban amenities from Toronto, to which it was annexed.
While certain meta-level facets of the city render it difficult to compare to Kiryat Gat (chiefly the standing of the city as a well-off suburb of a major city), there are smaller-scale similarities that might map neatly onto a plan of how one might proceed in Kiryat Gat. The organization of building typologies and their urban pattern, as well as the system of parks and schools, seem to be of a similar scale that might work in Kiryat Gat. Finally, the design intentions of Don Mills—a mash-up of Garden City and Bauhaus ideals—seems to be a positive frame of reference that does not adhere too closely or blindly to its precedents, but benefits from the positive outcomes of each design methodology.
DON MILLS, ON
Dimona was established in 1955 in Ramat Hanegev, as a city of immigrants. The city lies along a main highway connecting it to Be’er Sheva metropolitan. Since 2005 the city is linked to the train rail system. The city is the only Jewish settlement in the area, at a radius of tens of kilometers, therefore functions as the main settlement for the factories of the region including the Nuclear Research Center. The city serves as a place of residence for many of the factory workers, and also for hotels on the Dead Sea. The urban structure is based on a Main Street, linked to a main highway, and sided to the historic civic center . Like most of the new cities established in Israel; the fifties and sixties are identified with public housing and the eighties and nineties are identified with “Build Your Own Home” neighborhoods. Both types of hosing ignore the desert harsh climate. In recent years, there was hardly any new urban development or construction of new neighborhoods, similar to the situation in Kiryat Gat. Both cities share the same physical, social and economical characteristics and in many ways face the same barriers.
DIMONA
Mapping and analysis of Queenstown revealed that figure ground diagrams can be misleading with respect to density, as many large residential towers situated as “towers in a park” have fairly small footprints with respect to the area around them. The “towers in a park” paradigm functions with commercial at its periphery and is primarily services by major arterial roads that are connected to the apartment towers by smaller roads. Mass Rapid Transit trains run on an elevated pattern along one of the major arteries, connecting Queenstown to the main city. Queenstown is close to the main city of Singapore and benefits from its proximity to the rest of Singapore more than Kiryat Gat benefits from proximity to Tel Aviv. Queenstown, like Kiryat Gat developed a reputation for an aging population, but recent new housing development targeted towards younger people has helped rejuvenate the neighborhood.
The city is located in the inner ring of Dan metropolitan at the North Uno Valley on the coastal plane. At the national level, it is linked to the heart of the Tel Aviv metropolis through 3 main highways. The city’s urban structure is based on Main Street, linked to a main highway sided to the city’s historic civic center. Apart from the trade spaces, the centers include the city hall, municipal and governmental services as well as offices, all around the civic square. Next to it operates the city’s cultural center. Like most of the new cities established in Israel the fifties and sixties are identified with public housing and the eighties and nineties are identified with “Build Your Own Home” neighborhoods. Yet, new neighborhoods containing high-density construction were devolved in the late nineties attracting young families. The neighborhoods were designed in isolation from the historic city which sufferers from a negative image and to this day there is a physical and social disconnection between the new neighborhood and the rest of the city. Two industrial areas that operated in the city changed their faces in the eighties: Most of the factories closed so office and commerce building were formed. The increase of land value has made Or Yehuda a popular destination among young families, seeking to live in the metropolitan center. Moreover, the Industrial areas has transformed to sub-metropolitan centers of employment, commerce and leisure. Or Yehuda’s location in the center of the metropolis and the great range of possibilities contained in it in different aspects makes the city a highly attractive destination today. As for Kiryat Gat, the city enjoy’s great business and employment potential that is not yet fulfilled nor has a direct influence on the cities social and physical fabric.
Comparing Sabaudia to other New Town examples, this is a city that is designed to look more organically grown, in spite of having been built up in only 253 days, and this pattern is close to Kiryat Gat in the sense that there is not homogeneity in the development, but Kiryat Gat development is clearly incremental. The goal of the city was to support the deurbanization of the Italian cities, namely close by Rome. Similar to the development of Kryat Gat, the development of the Pontine Marshes, where Sabaudia is built on reclaimed land, was part of a pattern of internal colonialization. The difference is that it was a demonstration of power by the fascist dictatorship, whereas Kiryat Gat was part of the larger efforts of the establishment of a new country. Both cities share the similarity of being distant from urban centers that hold more amenities for the young adult demographic, and are therefore composed primarily of seniors and youth. Ultimately, Sabaudia has been repurposed over time as a vacation destination rather than the agricultural base it was built up to be.
NEW TOWN LESSONS LEARNEDQUEENSTOWNOR YEHUDA SABAUDIA
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Milton Keynes is one of England’s most successful New Towns. Located equidistant between London, Cambridge and Birmingham, it was developed in the 1960’s to alleviate a housing shortage in London and create a new urban center in Southeast England. Its close proximity to London, its central business district with commercial and cultural amenities, and its series of biking trails and linear parks connecting the neighborhoods makes it a desirable place for higher income English to live. Kiryat Gat benefits from having similar features, including being located only 45 minutes from Tel Aviv via public transit access, having a strong downtown core and an elaborate park network. Kiryat Gat should look to capitalize on these assets when developing for the future.
MILTON KEYNES
Yokneam was established as a city of immigrants in 1950 on the western fringes of the Izrael Valley, on mount Carmel slopes. The city is the largest Jewish settlement in the area. At the national level, it is linked to the Haifa metropolitan. Like Kiryat Gat, the proximity to highway 6 has raised its status in recent years, thanks to its high accessibility. The city is based on two main streets linked to a main highway; One is located in the historic civic center, and the other next to one of two new centers. Apart from the trade spaces, the historic center includes the city hall, municipal and government services, as well as leisure and cultural facilities. Like most of the new cities established in Israel; the fifties and sixties are identified with public housing and the eighties and nineties are identified with “Build Your Own Home” neighborhoods. Yet In the last decade, with the opening of Highway 6, new neighborhoods characterized by private housing were established. The industrial area has changed it the eighties: most traditional factories were closed and were converted mainly to high-tech areas of employment. The relative proximity (15 km) to the Krayot and to several army camps also provides employment solution. A opposed to kiryat Gat, Yokneam managed in recent years to increase the range of selection in housing, employment and commerce for its residents and commuters alike, attracting strong populations and business enterprises.
NEW TOWN LESSONS LEARNEDYOKNEAM
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In 1963, Japan’s federal government decided to build a science city in Tsukuba, 56 km northeast of Tokyo. Today, a densely populated 27 km2 Research and Education District comprises the city’s spine, and it is surrounded by a less compact 257 km2 Suburban District. Tsukuba houses over 30% of the nation’sresearch institutions and facilities as well as a growing population in a country that, overall, is losing population. However, the city was not always an appealing place to live; initially, those who could afford to often made the long commute from Tokyo rather than live in a town lacking cultural amenities. In addition to developing itself as a research center, the city needed to provide an enticing lifestyle for the scientists and students who would define its identity. Now Tsukuba offers a 48 km pedestrian and bicycling network in the Research and Education District; an extensive park system; a city core with a variety of shopping and entertainment options; and, since 2005, an express train that reaches Tokyo in 45 minutes. Tsukuba’s mixed-use development, leisure activities, connectivity within and outside the city, and professional community present a future that Kiryat Gat might aspire to as it considers how to expand and how to better serve its citizens.
TSUKUBA
NAME COUNTRY DATE BUILT POPULATION(TARGET)
POPULATION(TODAY)
AGE DISTRIBUTION(TODAY)
SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS GEOGRAPHICREGION
LOCATION IN COUNTRY
TOPOGRAPHY CLIMATE
KIRYAT GAT ISRAEL 1954 60,000 47,621 30.6 4 / 10 DESERT BORDER SOUTH FLAT DESERT BORDER
AKADEMGORODOK RUSSIA 1957 50,000 100,000 - - FOREST SOUTH FLAT HUMID CONTINENTAL
COLUMBIA, MD USA 1967 100,000 96,900 35.5 MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME $93,801, MEDIAN PER CAPITA: $45,135
COASTAL MID-ATLANTIC MOSTLY FLAT TEMPERATE
CIUDAD GUAYANA VENEZUELA 1961 250,000 1,050,283 20.5 3 FROM 10 RIVER PORT SOUTHEAST VARIED TROPICAL
DIMONA ISRAEL 1955 - - 31.7 4 / 10 DESERT SOUTH FLAT -
DON MILLS, ON CANADA 1953 45,000 25,435 44.7 8 LAKES REGION TORONTO SUBURB RIVERS & RAVINES HUMID CONTINENTAL
GANDHINAGAR INDIA 1970 150,000 195,985 11% UNDER 6 80% LITERACY RIVER BANK WEST CENTRAL FLAT MONSOON
HALLE-NEUSTADT GERMANY 1967 90,000 45,157 SKEWED ELDERLY 3 OUT OF 10; 17,000 UNEMPLOYED (2008, HALLE) NORTH GERMAN PLAIN
STATE OF SAXONY-ANHALT (EAST)
FLAT TEMPERATE SEASONAL
MILTON KEYNES ENGLAND 1967 250,000 185,000 2 35 HIGH INCOME (47% ABOVE NATIONAL AVERAGE) LOWLANDS SOUTHEAST ENGLAND 4
FLAT TEMPERATE, SIMILAR TO THE REST OF ENGLAND
OR YEHUDA ISRAEL 1949 - 34,664 31.1 5 / 10 COASTAL CENTER HILLY MEDITERRANEAN
QUEENSTOWN SINGAPORE 1952 157,000 98,502 SKEWED ELDERLY, BUT INCREAS-INGLY YOUNG
MIXED TROPICAL ISLAND SOUTHWEST OF SINGAPORE ISLAND
MOSTLY FLAT TROPICAL RAINFOREST
SABAUDIA ITALY 1934 40,000 19,664 49.5 MEDIUM SOUTH-CENTRAL COASTAL/MARSHLANDS
FLAT MEDITERRANEAN
TSUKUBA JAPAN 1963 220,000 1 216,175 3 MIXED PLATEAU CENTRAL, 56 KM NORTHEAST OF TOKYO
MOSTLY FLAT TEMPERATE
YOKNEAM ISRAEL 1950 - 19,412 - 6 / 10 COASTAL NORTH FLAT MEDITERRANEAN
1. 100,000 IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION DISTRICT, 120,000 IN SURROUNDING SUBURBAN DISTRIC.2. AS OF 2001
3. RESEARCH AND EDUCATION DISTRICT 78,000, SURROUNDING SUBURBAN DISTRICT 131,000 (2008; 216,175 TOTAL (2011).
4. EQUIDISTANT BETWEEN LONDON, BIRMINGHAM AND CAMBRIDGE
GEOGRAPHIESNEW TOWN
NEW TOWN METRICS
NOTES 1 / 3
NAME AREA WHEN BUILT (KM2)
AREA TODAY (KM2)
REGIONAL FUNCTION
USE DESIGN MODEL INDUSTRIAL ZONE
HOUSING TYPES NUMBER OF DWELLINGS
NUMBER OF SCHOOLS
COMMERCE DEMOGRAPHICS
KIRYAT GAT 7.5 16.302 URBAN CENTER RESIDENTIAL / INDUSTRIAL (HI-TECH & TRADITIONAL) / COMMERCE
GARDEN CITY SEPARATE MIXED 14,821 26 URBAN CENTER & SHOP-PING MALL
-
AKADEMGORODOK - 12 SOVIET-ERA RESEARCH CENTRE OF SIBERIA 2
GARDEN CITY SEPARATE MIXED 5,739 6 URBAN CENTER & SHOPPING MALL
MIXED ETHNIC
1. 27 FOR RESEARCH AND EDUCATION DISTRICT; 257 FOR SURROUNDING SUBURBAN DISTRICT2. RECENTLY MORPHED INTO A HIGH-TECH HUB.3. SPLIT FROM MUMBAI STATE IN 1960.4. ORIGINALLY MEANT TO RELIEVE HOUSING CONGESTION
IN LONDON.5. INTENDED TO HAVE ENOUGH JOBS FOR RESIDENTS6. INCLUDING THERMAL POWER STATION); HIGHER EDUCATION; HINDU TEMPLE (AKSHARDHAM7. ABUTS SOME INDUSTRIAL PARKS AND A MAJOR PORT
8. DESIGNED TO NOT ONLY ELIMINATE INCONVENIENCES OF SUBDIVISION DESIGN, BUT ALSO ELIMINATE RACIAL, RELIGIOUS, AND CLASS SEGREGATION9. 7300 FOREIGN NATIONALS (2005)
NOTES
NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTERISTICSPLANNING / DESIGN
NEW TOWN METRICS
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NAME DWELLING DENSITY (UNITS / KM2)
DWELLING COVERAGE (FAR / KM2)
POPULATION DENSITY (KM2)
ROAD DENSITY (KM / KM2)
URBAN TRANSIT REGIONAL TRAIN SERVICE
PEDESTRIAN NETWORK
BIKE NETWORK
KIRYAT GAT 909 0.4 2,921 12.78 BUS, TAXI YES, ONE STATION YES YES
AKADEMGORODOK - - 8,333 10 BUS, TAXI YES YES YES INTEL OPENED AN AKADEMGORODOK OFFICE IN 2004; A LOCAL IT FIRM IS PRODUCING A WEB PORTAL FOR OPRAH WINFREY
COLUMBIA, MD 494.3 - 5,657 CAR, AMTRAK (9 MI) NEARBY YES YES IN 2006, MONEY MAGAZINE RANKED COLUMBIA #4 OUT OF THE 100 “BEST PLACES TO LIVE” IN THE UNITED STATES.
CIUDAD GUAYANA 1,600 0.47 7,400 105 PERRERA, BUS, TAXI UNDER CONSTRUCTION
YES YES PLANNED BY THE JOINT CENTER FOR URBAN STUDIES OF MIT AND HARVARD. NOT WITHOUT CONTROVERSY - SEE LISA PEATTIE'S “THE VIEW FROM THE BARRIO”
DIMONA - - 1,090 - BUS, TAXI YES, ONE STATION YES NO
DON MILLS, ON 1,314 0.44 3,046 8 BUS, TAXIS, HIGHWAY YES, ONE STATION YES YES DESIGNED BY A MID-20'S GSD STUDENT
GANDHINAGAR - - 4,000-5,500 14.6 2 BUS YES, ONE STATION SEPARATED IN RESIDENTIAL
SEPARATED IN RESIDENTIAL
SOUGHT TO MIX CLASSES OF PUBLIC HOUSING TO AVOID THE CRITICISM, GROUPED BY CATEGORY AROUND CENTRAL OPEN SPACE TO AVOID SOCIAL CONFLICT
MILTON KEYNES 1,144 0.29 2,079 20 BUS YES, FIVE STATIONS YES YES FREE WIFI THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CITY
OR YEHUDA - - 6,743 - BUS, TAXI NO NO NO
QUEENSTOWN 5,152 3.72 14,768 4.75 BUS, MRT, TAXI YES, ONE STATION YES NO ALMOST ALL HOUSING IS PUBLIC
SABAUDIA 70.5 0.63* 136 12* BUS, TAXI NO YES NO MASSIVE LAND RECLAMATION PROJECT BY MUSSOLINI TO DEMONSTRATE THE “POWER” OF THE FASCISM; WELL-RESERVED EXAMPLES OF FASCIST ARCHITECTURE
TSUKUBA 273 (FOR BOTH DIS-TRICTS COMBINED)
0.62* 3,399 1 9.55* BUS YES, FOUR STATIONS
YES YES HELIPORT; SISTER CITY OF CAMBRIDGE, MA
YOKNEAM - - 2,627 - BUS, TAXI NO - NO
1. 2,889 IN RESEARCH AND EDUCATION DISTRICT, 510 IN SURROUNDING SUBURBAN DISTRICT2. NEIGHBORHOOD INCLUDES NON-VEHICULAR