Blueprint – Vision for future Cities

1. The Region Types of Centers
Regional Center
Uses serve the region;
proximity to regional roads.
Campus development.
Gateway opportunity.
Urban Center
Major center for commerce,
employment, and housing.
Located at the convergence
of regional infrastruture.
Building blocks of a healthy region are its neighbor-
hoods and centers connected by a range of corri- Town Center
dors.
Neighborhoods grouped to-
gether. Variety of uses large
enough to serve several
neighborhoods.
Civic uses make these plac-
es focal point of community
activity (e.g.: rail station)
Neighborhood Center
Transportation Natural corridors
corridors (rail, Metro, (watersheds and Mixed-uses serve everyday
LRT, BRT, and roads). ecological habitats). shopping, service, or enter-
tainment needs. Compact
and pedestrian friendly.
Neighborhoods are walkable, di-
verse, and connected.
Daily activities including variety
of parks and transit options are
within 5 minutes walk. Diverse
land use and housing types
support a range of activities
and income ranges. Network of
streets designed to encourage
walking, reduce the number and
length of car trips, and conserve
energy.
Complete and connected network of streets, transit, and trails link the
centers and neighborhoods. Several neighborhoods come together to be-
come a community. Critical open spaces in the community and region are
preserved in a coherent manner by encouraging compact development pat-
terns and providing a continuous network of watersheds, habitats, open
spaces, and wetlands.
ra Rangwala Associates
Kaizer Rangwala & AK Munaim

2. Neighborhood
Proposed traditional neighborhood: Puts most
daily needs within a short walk.
The 5 minute walk
The vacant &
underutilized infill
sites within the region
offer the greatest
Opportunity Site Within the Region. The exist-
ing sprawling buildings (shown in red)
are individual and isolated objects, and
opportunity for
the space between them are unformed.
When buildings are primarily tall there
is inadequate ground coverage and the
directing new growth.
intentional shaping of exterior space is
not feasible.
Sprawl: There is no pedestrian orientation,
and no defined edge or center.
Low-rise
residential
Regional
trail
Mid-rise
mixed-use
High-rise
mixed-use
Proposed neighborhood on a typical opportunity site.
The neighborhood more than doubles the density found Transit
in the existing sprawl development pattern on this
boulevard
site.
ra Rangwala Associates
Kaizer Rangwala & AK Munaim

3. The Block & Street
Pedestrian paths & mid-block
Transit boulevard Residential street 10’
Private
5’
Lscp
10’
Paseo
5’
Lscp
10’
Private
10’
Setback
4’
SW
8’
Parking
12’
Travel
12’
Travel
8’
Parking
6’
SW
10’
Setback crossing Yard
20’
Yard
50’ Existing r.o.w.
ra Rangwala Associates
Kaizer Rangwala & AK Munaim

4. The Building
Louvers over
windows
for shade
Fully operable windows that can
Apartment building in Mumbai. slide in either direction, allowing
People buy apartments as off- user customization.
the-shelf products with very
limited opportunity to cus- Row houses in Sidhpur, Gujarat. Each house Example of customization based on the
tomize the space to individual has a central court and the floor to ceiling proportions found in the Sidhpur row house
preferences. Over time, the openings in the facade offer a variety of window openings.
residents customize the open- permutations for personal comfort. The
ings to suit their needs. bottom panel allows cool breeze and views
when the person is sitting on the floor. The
central panel has louvers for shade and
privacy. The top panel (transome) allows
light into the deeper areas of the rooms.
Inability to open windows
makes the building
dependent on the energy hog
thermostat.
Traditional Courts Conventional Towers Contextual Green Tower
Buildings should provide shallow floor plates and operable windows to allow natural light and
ventillation. Sky parks and landscaping adds visual cues of scale for residents in a tall build-
ing. Sky parks also act as social spaces addressing alienation.
Mazgaon village in the heart Traditional mid-rise buildings line up to create a continuous street wall. In contrast, contem-
of Mumbai. Scale, massing, porary buildings sit as freestanding objects in a plaza or parking lot. A preferred configura-
proportion, quality of public tion is where tall buildings are placed on a contextual base that preserves the street wall
and private open spaces are all with publicly accessible activity at the street level. Above the base, the tower can be indi-
designed for people. vidual creative expressions of design. Image by Steve Price, Urban Advantage.
ra Rangwala Associates
Kaizer Rangwala & AK Munaim