Literature Review
Since the end of the Second World War, mixed-use developments have taken the prime concern with regards to the urban planning and real estate development worlds. The area of the mixed land uses has been a vital component and a vision ideal for a number of states which include Congress for the New Urbanism, the Compact City, and Smart Growth. The use of mixed blocks also relates to other improvements in the built environment (Bell, 2008, p.80). With recent researches, it has been found that mixed-use developments have recently become very high on agenda in the academics as a viable field of research. The advantages of this setup streams from various points of view which range from environmental perspectives, proximity of living, access to working offices as well as easier access to amenities (Bell, 2015, p.134). There are also mixes of compatible functions in various scales, which involve and encourage greener modes of transportation which include walking as well as biking.
Since the start of human civilization period, the mixing of land uses has become an important and ubiquitous phenomenon in a number of cities and urban areas. Considering the initial stature, the spaces that were a requirement of the essential functions of the built environment, which included the residential places, shopping centers, and recreational centers were well intermingled since it was considered that walking was the primary means of transportation (DeLisle & Grissom, 2013, p.32). It was therefore deemed fit that the most crucial and essential places be in close proximity to facilitate easier movements from one place to another.
Further, it was regarded that due to the relatively little time that was available between sleeping and walking, it was deemed fit that there be a limitation for the distances people are entitled to travel on a daily basis. Due to this case, there was limited size in the extent of the cities as well as the amount of space that was to be available for each of the necessary functions that were to be undertaken. A greater concentration of people was therefore in places that were served well with proximity to the places of work, residences and shopping centers, including other vital social amenities (Nieuwenhuijsen, 2016, p.167). The era then was facilitated by the unique characteristics in the society then, which included: walking as the basic transportation means; mixed uses both throughout the city as well as within individual on, and the surrounding areas or the countryside, with the city having very high population densities and the countryside exhibiting very low population densities.
The concept of mixed-use development has been recently embraced by a number of sectors which include both public as well as private sectors. In the development of real estate for instance, the involved parties have been regarded as advocating for the scheme intensely (Mangiante, 2015, p.7). One of the critical things that have been considered in the setup of the mixed-use development is space. In this regard, space demanded by the end-users, supplied developers, investors as well as financial institutions and regulated by the planners and policy makers.
Mixed-use resurgence has developed over time because of a number of reasons. Some of these reasons include traffic congestion, the ever-changing consumer demographics as well as deep and sincere longing for the sense of place and community. It is therefore evident that mixed developments have provided the most rational answer to the higher densities living, since it incorporates seating residential, office as well as retail components in a single development. The resultant is reduced need for travelling as people live nearer to their places of work, shops or in areas where they can find recreation with much ease (Zeiger & Hubbart, 2016, p.318). Additionally, people’s proximity to other social amenities, it becomes very easy for the people to rely on public transport networks, which have been seen as hallmark of well-planned cities.
The development approach of mixed-use in urbanism has therefore become very key and practical in the current setup of most cities as well as urban planning (Panagopoulos, 2016, p.140). The new model of the mixed-use development is however different from the historical model and the duration required for the development of the mixed-use differs greatly from the historical one. With the recent considerations, it is evident that the mixed-use is a strategy for the arrangement of the physical space requisite for the functionality of the society. Due to the industrial revolution, there was experienced a fundamental shift in the developmental patterns that brought with it realignment of the structure of the built environment and consequently an erosion of the set common principles which were the structures of urban forms. The causal factors for the developments were industrialization, urbanization, advances in the transportation sector, ordinances in zoning, as well as the rise of the affluent middle class of people (Mangiante, 2015, p.7). The causal factors for the development of the mixed-use plan are therefore the main elements for the development of the plan or initiative.
Industrialization: the fate of this was three implications imparted for the built environments. The implications include development of large factories to replace the small artisan shops due to the economies of scale; incorporation of the live/work dwellings to cater for the increased population streaming from the rural setup to the urban areas; and finally, the rise of the industrial capitalism as well as the growth of bureaucracies necessitating office setup. The three components set the pace for the adoption of the plan (Gocalves, et al., 2015, p.13).
Urbanization; the result of this was an increase in the population of the urban centers which caused some pressure to the existing resources hence the adoption of mixed-use plan was deemed fit as very necessary to ensuring the incorporation of the wide majority into the urban centers.
Transportation; due to the expenses accrued in due to the transportation in the cites, as well as some difficulties in transportation such as heavy traffic in peak-hour, the requisite way to cub the phenomenon was encouraging walking or biking, which can be comfortably be integrated into the city setup through the development of mixed-use plans (I.D, 2016, p.45).
Zoning; became a vital component of urban planning due to increased cases of pollution levels, concerns for public health and safety hazards. Due to this, clear regulations therefore allowed the adoption of the scheme to aid in the bid to escape the danger posed.
Affluence; as a result of both urbanization and industrialization, the problems accrued in the transportation department or technology, and the governmental policies caused the development of the schemes to aid in the adoption and development of the scheme.
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