PLAN261 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Horsecar, Walkability, Urban Design
Document Summary
Traditional downtowns were major places for regional transportation networks, and most functions are close to each other. They have many uses because the proximity of places led to a diverse area (people/activities). There was intense development in traditional central area due to the high value of land. They were organized in a grid system (involved simple surveying, subdividing, selling of land). It led to an organized spatial structure for cities and gave businesses in downtowns the best exposure. There were 6 stages for us downtown evolution; inception (downtowns emerge, intensities increase, and. Us downtowns emerged in the end of the 19th century, and dominated the land until the great depression and ww2. The 20th century saw the redefinition of downtowns. Downtown areas evolved by having new special purpose architecture, cultural values, morphology, and changing modes of transportation. After the 19th century architecture became more function specific (eg: post office with postal code 10001).
