TOWN-PLANNING IDEALS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21099, 5 February 1932, Page 10

TOWN-PLANNING IDEALS

MODERN ZONING PRACTICE.

BENEFITS TO COMMUNITY. i SAFEGUARDS FOR THE FUTURE. The principles and practice of formed the subject of an address delivered by Mr. J. W. Mawson, director of townplanning, in the Auckland University College, last evening, under the auspices of the Auckland branch of the New Zealand Town-Planning Institute. There was a large attendauco of the public. Mr. Mawson eaid zoning was a method of assisting in a more intelligent and effective planning and development of cities. It implied a more harmonious and orderly arrangement of such functions of city life as industry, commerce, residence and recreation, and regulated population and building densities so as to maintain at all times a proper balance. A large part of the present financial ills of the country resulted from the haphazard policy pursued in the past in the design and construction of streets and public utilities, without any preciseknowledge of the load they would bo called upon to carry during the period of the loans out of which they were instructed. Many millions of pounds of local body debt still outstanding were in respect of works which no longer existed or were redundant or obsolete. " I do not say this as a reproach to our municipal authorities, for it is fftily in recent years that the social and economic aspects of town-planning have been thoroughly understood," Mr. Mawson added. "In the light of our present knowledge, however, there can be little', if any, excuse for a continuance of practices which we now know to bo unsound. It is illogical that while a, number of utilities and services are planned and administered on a metropolitan or regional basis, the separate urban and rural authorities have been allowed to retain full discretion regarding the nature of land utilisation and population density in their separate districts, although it must be oibvious that the economic conduct of these utilities is absolutely dependent on the use of the land in the districts served."

The importance of planning cities so that tho density of population could be regulated was emphasised by the speaker. He said tho population in the business areas of New York was so great that the streets did not allow sufficient access for the people employed in the large buildings. It was estimated that if all the workers left the buildings at. tho same time they would be packed four-deep in the surrounding streets. Such congestion h/d to be avoided by making the size of buildings conform to the amount of open space giving access to them. After speaking at some length on the details of zoning, Mr. Mawson said ono of the greatest advantages of tho practice was that it secured efficiency and economy in local body administration. It also stabilised property values, defining the future purposes of land, and thus eliminating speculation. In addition, a modern zoning scheme would safeguard public health, and would promote the amenities of residential districts by preventing the intrusion of incompatible operations and preserving an open type of development.