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Has the pandemic rendered ‘zoning’ obsolete in Ireland?

Although challenging, the pandemic provides us with an opportunity to question how we best plan and design our towns and cities for the future.

The pandemic has forced us to question how we plan and design our towns and cities, its presence demonstrating how technology can dramatically change the way we live and work and how we use space, in no time at all. It has required the widespread adoption of new technologies, perhaps revealing the changing role of offices, retail space and the home more expeditiously than would have otherwise occurred.

Now adopted, it is likely that these new technologies will result in deeper, longer-term trends affecting urban areas. Moreover, considering the speed of technological advances, and their ability to change the function of buildings and spaces, how can we best design urban areas to endure in an ever-changing world?

Irish planning, for the most part, has put a significant focus on zoning and the control of land use. However, whilst this may be appropriate and required in certain locations, considering the rate of present and future change, is trying to control land use a thing of the past?

Has the pandemic rendered zoning obsolete?

Time for a new focus?

The planning of our towns and cities is a complex matter with the need to reconcile a wide variety of competing needs including environmental protection, social justice and economic development. Nonetheless, it plays an important role in prioritising development objectives and providing a level of clarity to all stakeholders.

In recent months, as a result of the pandemic, the planning system demonstrated its ability to make quick, targeted, pragmatic responses to specific issues arising, including the extension of statutory periods. However, having garnered new insights into how our urban areas may function in the future, is now also the time to question if our planning system is properly focused to deliver the places of the future?

Land use: the least resilient element of urban form

Morphologists have shown that settlements could be seen in terms of several key elements, of which Conzen (1960) considered land uses, building structures, plot pattern and street pattern to be the most important. He emphasised the difference in the stability of these elements. Buildings, and particularly the land uses they accommodate, are usually the least resilient elements. Although more enduring, the plot pattern changes over time as inidivual plots are subdivided or amalgamated. The street plan tends to be the most enduring element [1]. 

Indeed, the volatility of land use in urban areas has been highlighted by recent events, supporting Conzen’s theory that land uses are usually the least resilient elements of urban form. In that regard, should the focus of our planning system change to prioritise the development of sustainable and resilient urban forms taking account of context, rather than a rigid use of zoning?

Adaptability 

Placing a greater focus on quality design and urban form could allow for a greater level of flexibility in terms of land use, in turn, emphasising the importance of adaptability. Indeed, the success of environments in the future, and their sustainability, could be dependent on their spatial quality and adaptability rather than a defined mix of uses.

Interestingly, in his 2003 article, Architecture and Sustainability, Sir Norman Foster highlights the importance of adaptability:

“Adaptability is one of the most important tools in sustainable architecture. Working patterns have become much more flexible over the last two decades. Many people now work from home on a laptop computer, connected to their colleagues via e-mail and fax. In response to technological developments, working patterns will no doubt continue to change. We cannot predict the precise nature of these developments, but we can build flexibility into the structure of buildings so that they can continue to be useful as circumstances alter.” [2]

A core facet of the Irish planning and development system is to pursue proper planning and sustainable development. Whilst sustainability may be a theme that is commonly used, perhaps now is a good time to question what it really means, whether it considers adaptability, and if our approach to the planning and design of settlements ensures their resilience in the long-term?

Learning from the past: Georgian architecture

Whether intentional or not, Georgian architecture and town planning is to some level inherently adaptable. Indeed many of the Georgian buildings in our town centres are now used as office and retail space instead of their originally intended residential use. This simple precedent demonstrates how adaptable buildings can ensure the long-term success of places, allowing relatively easy change of use and promoting retrofit rather than complete redevelopment of buildings, thus reducing environmental impact.

Evidently, the apparent focus on architecture and urban morphology in the Georgian era, rather than the control of land uses, has resulted in more sustainable and resilient development. Could a better understanding of this morphology allow us to build more adaptable, and sustainable, buildings and places for the future?

No doubt, this is a difficult and challenging time for all. With unrest set to continue, it is unlikely that clarity will be provided for individuals or businesses in the near future. However, the crisis does provide an opportunity for introspection and to consider how best to develop our towns and cities for the future.

Settlements are more dynamic now than ever before and, as demonstrated by the pandemic, change can be rapid. Although, we cannot dismiss the role of zoning, the pandemic has brought into question its priority as a planning tool and, in the context of unstable land uses, the potential need for a greater focus on quality urban form and adaptability in the pursuit of sustainable development.

Watch this ‘space’!

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8 October 2020

[1] Public Places Urban Spaces – The Dimensions of Urban Design - Carmona, Heath, Oc, Tiesdell (2003)
[2] Architecture and Sustainability, Norman Foster 2003