Assignment 4 PDF
Assignment 4 PDF
Assignment 4 PDF
ASSIGNMENT
C.A. Doxiadis
• Greek architect/town planner
• Doxiadis had been offered the empty plains of Potwar Plateau in Northern Pakistan,
neighboring the existing city of Rawalpindi, so as to implement his ekistic theory and
create Islamabad, the first fragment of the city of the future, or otherwise the first
fragment of a universal system of life.
• Islamabad was an idea to create a “City of the Future” with the concept of dynapolis’,
that is, a planned unidirectional linear city as the only solution to cope with the growth
of an explosive urbanization era, relying on strong environmental elements and a
synthesis of town planning and Architectural principles.
The Landscape Pattern and the Highways
• The backbone of the Islamabad Metropolitan Area Master Plan is formed by two
highways, Islamabad Highway and Murree Highway, the alignment of which was
dictated by the natural landscape pattern and the existing man made obstacles.
• Two more highways, by-passing the existing town of Rawalpindi, have been proposed.
• On the basis of the above ideas, a system of four highways becomes the basic step for
the metropolitan area.
Formation of the Metropolitan Area
• The principal system of axes in the metropolitan area of Islamabad defines three
distinctive areas:
• a. the area of Islamabad proper.
• b. the area of Rawalpindi, the center of which is the city of Rawalpindi.
• c. the National Park area which will retain certain agricultural functions for several
years and where sites must be provided for a national sports center, the national
university, national research institute, etc.
Islamabad
The whole metropolitan area is sub-divided into sectors, called Communities Class V,
each for about 20,000-40,000 people and each according to the income group it will
serve. The sub-division of the metropolitan area into sectors resulted from the
adoption of a pattern of principal roads placed 2,200 yards apart in both- directions.
Rawalpindi
The existing town of Rawalpindi was the major man-made obstacle in designing the new
capital. After a thorough study of the possibilities regarding the relation of the new capital to
the existing town of Rawalpindi, it was found advisable to place Islamabad at such a distance
so as to:
a. form an independent settlement for purposes of allowing the design of a physical plan
independent of the existing restrictions imposed by the plan of Rawalpindi town.
b. provide the new capital with services and buildings already existing in Rawalpindi in order
to save the maximum amount of costs.
The National Park
The third part of the metropolitan area is the National Park, situated so as to serve both
Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The National Park has been designed to provide space for:
a. educational and scientific institutes of national importance, such as national university,
atomic energy center, research center, national health center, etc.
b. recreational facilities, both active and passive, such as sports centers, exhibition areas, zoo,
botanical gardens, etc.
c. agricultural areas for cultivating vegetables and fruits required for the two cities.
Organization
• Each sector (Community Class V) of Islamabad is self contained and self-supported with
respect to everyday life. It is sub-divided into three or four smaller Communities (Class
IV) by income groups of occupants. In the center of the sector is the civic center,
containing all types of shopping, business and civic activities. Each Class IV Community
is subdivided into several Communities Class III, which are further subdivided into
Communities Class II.
Hierarchy of Functions
• Adequate space has been provided for buildings serving certain functions at various
levels, in accordance with the number of people served by these buildings. In each
sector or Class V Community there is space for three or four secondary schools, each
for a Class IV Community. There are three or four primary schools per Class III
Community and a kindergarten or children's playground in each Class II Community.
The Landscape and Climate
• The main feature of the landscape near Islamabad is the many ravines that cut the
fields from north to south. The ground continuously undulates in one direction, giving
great variety and challenge for architectural treatment of buildings and green spaces.
This natural landscape has been fully respected when designing the layout of each
sector, and green spaces created by this physical feature have been fully exploited by
locating such functions as schools, gardens, parks, and playgrounds next to them.
Climatic conditions have been also taken into account, with orientations for the
purpose of insulation and taking advantage of the prevailing winds being studied
thoroughly.
Social Planning
• The inhabitants are government servants or supporting population, incomes vary very
considerably. Complete intermixing would cause difficulties in physical planning and
could also create social problems. After a sociological study, the principle adopted was
that gradual integration should be sought, both to help the lower-income people to
mature, and to assure the comfort of the higher income-classes
Pedestrian and Vehicle Traffic
• In the Class V Community, pedestrian and vehicle traffic have been segregated by a
road system where the scales of human and motor-vehicle movements differ.
Pedestrians move within the human community though a spatial hierarchy from small
pedestrian streets towards the larger ones of a Class II Community, then to the center
of a Class III Community, and so on. Spaces and perspectives created along way agree
with the same hierarchical order. This layout is for roads leading to specific targets
aesthetically related and presenting a unity of scale. By the extensive use of cul-de-
sacs at the end of the access roads, motor traffic follows a pattern of roads leading to
individual houses without interfering with the pedestrian-street systems.
Water Supply System
• The water-supply system was designed by Doxiadis Associates. Water is now being
tapped from two springs in Nurpur and Saidpur, but it is planned to dam the Swan
river to bring water to the town by gravity. Water storage tanks, filtration plants, and
similar works have been built, and the distribution system is now under construction.
Sewerage and Drainage
• Sewage and drainage networks, designed by Doxiadis Associates, are being
constructed by the Capital Development Authority. A sewage treatment plant,
designed in collaboration with Dorr-Oliver, is under construction.
Road Construction
• Roads servicing highways and principal roads are also under construction and will carry
all traffic required for proper development of residential and industrial areas. Road
design was done by Doxiadis Associates. Construction is being done departmentally by
the Capital Development Authority Directorate of Works. Bridges and culverts were
designed and are under construction by the Capital Development Authority.