17.4. Economies Of Place And Differentiation

Aus Pattern Language Wiki

In Co-Production and Entitlement Streamlining, it is important to reward locally well-adapted and differentiated projects.


17 4 01 Economies Of Place And Differentiation.jpg


Problem-statement: Our contemporary development system is very good at producing economies of scale and standardization. But it is deficient at producing economies of place and differentiation. In a healthy system, all four are needed in balance.


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Discussion: Economies of scale (very large structures produced more efficiently) and economies of standardization (identical structures produced with automated processes) are crowning achievements of human societies in our time. But they also threaten disaster, by encouraging the runaway production of poorly adapted, undifferentiated “throwaway” structures.


By contrast, living systems maintain a balance between these four economies. They do gain economies from standardized structures, including genetic processes (producing many billions of seeds for example). They also gain economies from creating very large-scale structures, such as the enormous diameter of some trees allowing them to grow very tall. But living systems also gain from economies of place, creating powerful networks of exchange within local ecologies. They also gain from economies of differentiation, allowing better diversification and adaptation to fit changing conditions.


We need the same capacities in our development systems, and in their underlying economic systems. We cannot continue to treat human environments as crude machines made of standardized parts, scaled large to achieve affordable price. It is producing a poorly-differentiated, poorly-adapted environment, and an environment that is increasingly non-resilient and unsustainable.


In practice, of course, this goal is very difficult to achieve. We are “locked in” to our current “operating system for growth,” and we find it very difficult to make changes to its elements that so heavily reward economies of scale and standardization, and penalize economies of place and differentiation. These include existing zoning and building codes; financial instruments and incentives; engineering standards; taxation and property laws; planning and design models; and all the other sub-systems.


We are a little like passengers on a very complex aircraft, who recognize that we must overhaul it in mid-flight. How can we do so without crashing? Luckily, history provides good models of these kinds of economic and technological transitions. They are not overnight changes, but slow, piecemeal reforms, replacing one after another of the elements of the system: zoning codes with Form-Based Code; taxation on improvements with Land Value Capture; rigidly master-planned projects with Design-Build Adaptation; and of course, so many of the other deficient planning models that exist today, replaced with the models found in the research for this book.¹


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Therefore:

Wherever possible, and at whatever scale possible, make changes to your local “operating system for growth” to embrace economies of place and differentiation as well as scale and standardization. Slowly change out the systems that rely too much on the latter: the codes, laws, standards, models and other elements that are taking us on an unsustainable path.


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Use the many economic tools that are proliferating, such as the Community Land Trust and the Speculation Tax. …




¹ A further discussion of this pattern can be found in Mehaffy, M. and Salingaros, N.A. (2017), Design for a Living Planet, pp. 13, 56-58. Portland: Sustasis Press.



Mehaffy, M. et al. (2020). ECONOMIES OF PLACE AND DIFFERENTIATION (pattern). In A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions. The Dalles: Sustasis Press. Available at https://pattern-language.wiki/.../Economies_Of_Place_And_Differentiation



SECTION I:

PATTERNS OF SCALE


1. REGIONAL PATTERNS

Define the large-scale spatial organization…

1.1. POLYCENTRIC REGION

1.2. BLUE-GREEN NETWORK

1.3. MOBILITY CORRIDOR

1.4. 400M THROUGH STREET NETWORK

2. URBAN PATTERNS

Establish essential urban characteristics…

2.1. WALKABLE MULTI-MOBILITY

2.2. LEVEL CITY

2.3. PUBLIC SPACE SYSTEM

2.4. BIOPHILIC URBANISM

3. STREET PATTERNS

Identify and allocate street types…

3.1. URBAN GREENWAY

3.2. MULTI-WAY BOULEVARD

3.3. AVENUE

3.4. SHARED SPACE LANE

4. NEIGHBORHOOD PATTERNS

Define neighborhood-scale elements…

4.1. STREET AS CENTER

4.2. PEDESTRIAN SANCTUARY

4.3. NEIGHBORHOOD SQUARE

4.4. NEIGHBORHOOD PARK

5. SPECIAL USE PATTERNS

Integrate unique urban elements with care…

5.1. SCHOOL CAMPUS

5.2. MARKET CENTER

5.3. INDUSTRIAL AREA

5.4. HOSPITAL

6. PUBLIC SPACE PATTERNS

Establish the character of the crucial public realm…

6.1. PLACE NETWORK

6.2. WALKABLE STREETSCAPE

6.3. MOVABLE SEATING

6.4. CAPILLARY PATHWAY

7. BLOCK AND PLOT PATTERNS

Lay out the detailed structure of property lines…

7.1. SMALL BLOCKS

7.2. PERIMETER BLOCK

7.3. SMALL PLOTS

7.4. MID-BLOCK ALLEY

8. STREETSCAPE PATTERNS

Configure the street as a welcoming place…

8.1. STREET AS ROOM

8.2. TERMINATED VISTA

8.3. STREET TREES

8.4. STREET FURNISHINGS

9. BUILDING PATTERNS

Lay out appropriate urban buildings…

9.1. PERIMETER BUILDING

9.2. ARCADE BUILDING

9.3. COURTYARD BUILDING

9.4. ROW BUILDING

10. BUILDING EDGE PATTERNS

Create interior and exterior connectivity…

10.1. INDOOR-OUTDOOR AMBIGUITY

10.2. CIRCULATION NETWORK

10.3. LAYERED ZONES

10.4. PASSAGEWAY VIEW



SECTION II:

PATTERNS OF MULTIPLE SCALE


11. GEOMETRIC PATTERNS

Build in coherent geometries at all scales…

11.1. LOCAL SYMMETRY

11.2. SMALL GROUPS OF ELEMENTS

11.3. FRACTAL PATTERN

11.4. FRAMING

12. AFFORDANCE PATTERNS

Build in user capacity to shape the environment…

12.1. HANDLES

12.2. CO-PRODUCTION

12.3. FRIENDLY SURFACES

12.4. MALLEABILITY

13. RETROFIT PATTERNS

Revitalize and improve existing urban assets …

13.1. SLUM UPGRADE

13.2. SPRAWL RETROFIT

13.3. URBAN REGENERATION

13.4. URBAN CONSOLIDATION

14. INFORMAL GROWTH PATTERNS

Accommodate “bottom-up” urban growth…

14.1. LAND TENURE

14.2. UTILITIES FIRST

14.3. DATA WITH THE PEOPLE

14.4. INCREMENTAL SELF-BUILD

15. CONSTRUCTION PATTERNS

Use the building process to enrich the result…

15.1. DESIGN-BUILD ADAPTATION

15.2. HUMAN-SCALE DETAIL

15.3. CONSTRUCTION ORNAMENT

15.4. COMPLEX MATERIALS



SECTION III:

PATTERNS OF PROCESS


16. IMPLEMENTATION TOOL PATTERNS

Use tools to achieve successful results…

16.1. FORM-BASED CODE

16.2. ENTITLEMENT STREAMLINING

16.3. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING CENTER

16.4. COMMUNITY MOCKUP

17. PROJECT ECONOMICS PATTERNS

Create flows of money that support urban quality…

17.1. TAX-INCREMENT FINANCING

17.2. LAND VALUE CAPTURE

17.3. EXTERNALITY VALUATION

17.4. ECONOMIES OF PLACE AND DIFFERENTIATION

18. PLACE GOVERNANCE PATTERNS

Processes for making and managing places…

18.1. SUBSIDIARITY

18.2. POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE

18.3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PLACE MANAGEMENT

18.4. INFORMAL STEWARDSHIP

19. AFFORDABILITY PATTERNS

Build in affordability for all incomes…

19.1. INTEGRATED AFFORDABILITY

19.2. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

19.3. MULTI-FAMILY INFILL

19.4. SPECULATION TAX

20. NEW TECHNOLOGY PATTERNS

Integrate new systems without damaging old ones…

20.1. SMART AV SYSTEM

20.2. RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY

20.3. AUGMENTED REALITY DESIGN

20.4. CITIZEN DATA