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AR-309 ARCHITECTURE AND TOWN PLANNING
CIVIC SURVEYS
BY : AR. RABBIA LIAQUAT
LECTURE # 08

A survey is a method of gathering information using relevant questions from a sample
of people with the aim of understanding populations as a whole. Surveys provide a
critical source of data and insights for everyone engaged in the information economy,
from businesses to media, to government and academics.
There are variety of survey & mapping
techniques to be learned by a civil engineer.
Though; some of these survey and mapping
techniques are already known to a civil engineer
However it is necessary to understand how
different authors explained these techniques,
because the survey & mapping techniques are
always subject to refinement during the course
of development & planning.

let us look at different authors how they perceived the issue of survey & mapping.
DESCRIPTION OF SURVEYS BY JOHN RATCLIFFE:
At first let us discuss what Mr. John RatCliffe, defined about survey preparation &
techniques of analysis in his book “An Introduction to Town & country planning”.
He says that;
“In order understand the society, for which planning is to be done, to identify the
nexus of needs & problems, to have comprehensive understanding of city elements
& their effect upon each other, to formulate policies & choose between them or
adjust them in practice; a town planner must be equipped with variety of tools &
techniques. Because the planning is based upon knowledge; the knowledge depends
upon information & information depends upon survey

Now the survey of many components from the built and natural environment is the main
concern in this respect”. Here the big question is that,
what are those many components for which the survey is required?
According to Mr. RatCliffe; at first we survey about physical characteristics, then utilities,
then population, then employment, then housing, then shopping, then education, then
leisure & recreation, then movement & management, & finally for evaluation.
In this way he defined eleven types of surveys. Now the big question is that, what are the
available sources of information to carry out these surveys?
Ideally the first hand information should be collected by specifically designed survey forms
related to specific problems in a precise time. However due to ever existing constraints of
time & money this is not always possible.

So what do we do in such situation?
In that case the researchers, the student concerned with thesis or project work are
usually compelled to depend on existing sources of information. The existing sources of
information are mostly ,published statistics by the government institutions
There are also other information database such as individual researches & surveys
carried out by some non governmental institutions.
Now the information sources are various, such as each state department & ministry has
the facts & figures.

Then there are different resource centers available such as Urban Resource Center (URC)
in Karachi.
These include United Nations Development Program (UNDP), World Band for
Development, Asian Development Bank & other United Nation institutions
Then there is census of population, housing statistics. The department of trade &
industry will have census of distribution & census of production.

DESCRIPTION OF SURVEYS, BY G.K. HIRASKAR:
Mr. G K Hiraskar defined in his book Town planning that;
“Survey means collection of data & information through site visit & personal
observations.”
” Similarly there is a principle developed by Sir Patrick Geddes (one of the pioneer of
modern town planning) that “always survey before plan”.
The survey leads us to information or knowledge which is used by all planners to prepare a
mind map of the region before drawing a plan of town. The collected data & information
through survey is analyzed & presented in the form maps, charts, tables & models.
However there are certain ground realities which can only be understood through
personal site visit by the planners. This survey of site before planning is also known as
“diagnosis before the treatment”

Types of Survey:
Mr. G. K. Hiraskar also classified surveys in four broad types.
i) Town Or city survey
ii) Regional survey
iii) National survey
iv) Civic survey

Town Surveys:
These surveys are conducted to prepare a base map for the Town planning scheme.
Basically these surveys are of three types; i.e.
i) Physical survey
ii) Social survey
iii) Economic survey
Physical survey: These are conducted in two ways i.e. through land survey and aerial
survey. In physical survey four types of information or data are collected.
i) Natural Features survey i.e. location in respect to existing towns & region, topography
& soil conditions, climatology etc.
ii) Land Use survey i.e. use of land for residential, commercial, or social purposes, public
& semi public spaces, open spaces, transportation networks, agriculture, water
elements, vacant lands & other uses.
iii) Building Conditions survey i.e. buildings are in very good, good, poor, or in bad
condition?
iv) Communications survey i.e. highways, roads and its network & railway junctions and
its network, availability of parking facilities in the city, origin & destination (O&D)
survey, accidents survey; and future trends of traffic surveys etc.

Social survey:
These are of three kinds, i.e.
I) Population
II) Housing
III) Community Facilities
Population: Trends in population growth for last 50 years, present population
characteristics, future population growth by considering survival, urban Migration &
development of new industries. Demographic survey i.e. classification of population &
town density.
Housing: Housing stock, per annum need, current housing conditions, accommodation
density, building height, material use & tenancy status, rented or owned.
Community facilities: Education, health & recreation
Economic survey: Occupational conditions, survey of industries, survey of commerce,
financial position of local authorities, utility services

Regional survey:
The larger scale surveys carried out in different town & villages to obtain general
information about their physical, economic & social conditions is termed as regional
survey. These regional investigations are carried out to develop whole region in a
coherent manner. These include regional transport, highways & regional water supply
system.
National survey:
This survey is conducted at national level which includes different regions. This survey is
conducted to obtain information about, natural resources, potential for locating
industries, fixing railways alignment, hydroelectric works etc.

Civic survey or Socio-Economic survey:
This is local level small scale survey conducted for redevelopment scheme, slum
improvement scheme and master plan development.
The socio-economic survey is the foundation stone of planning structure. Because it is the
detailed house to house survey which helps a town planner to diagnose the core problems &
issues to develop its remedies through planning.
There are eleven types of aspect covered in socio-economic survey.
i) Physical Features:
ii) Communication
iii) Traffic Problems
iv) Open Spaces
v) Industrial Survey
vi) Housing Survey
vii) Population
viii) Health Conditions
ix) Landscape Survey
x) Land-cultivation
xi) Public Services

The socioeconomic survey is the key survey and foundation stone of Town Planning, in
which a Town is divided into union councils or wards & blocks, and then each block
further subdivided into streets and each street has number of houses.
This survey is conducted through a survey Performa or questionnaire. The sample
Performa for socioeconomic survey is as follows:

The phrase urban ecology is composed of two entirely different terms i.e. urban and
ecology. The one way to understand this theme is to look at both the terms individually
and then try to establish a relationship between them.
URBAN ECOLOGY
WHAT IS URBAN?
The term urban means town or a city; whereas; “A city is an agglomerate social organism
containing a population of at least 20,000 (UN definition), in a relative density that
packages a critical population mass necessary for spawning a variety of value systems,
lifestyles, and power constellations.
Cities are particularly receptive to,
and instrumental in, creating
innovation and change. With this
capacity for change is introduced
various kinds of dysfunctional
effects, including cultural,
sociological, economic,
psychological, and spiritual.”

WHAT IS ECOLOGY?
The term ecology means balance in nature; it is the study of ecosystems. Ecology is
derived from the GREEK word "eko" used for household and understanding “logos”
meaning an understanding of the "household of life."
In both history & natural history, ecology is
the study of how organisms depend on one
another and their surroundings.
Ecology is a synthetic & systemic study of an
organism or a species and its surroundings: the
basic unit of study is an ecological system or the
interdependent populations in any place as they
impact the ecosystems which they occupy, use, or
visit.

URBAN + ECOLOGY:
‘Urban Ecology’ is the study of the relationships between organisms, including humans,
and the particular opportunities for, and challenges to, their survival presented by
cities.
‘Urban Ecology’ is the study of biodiversity in areas that are densely populated by
humans.
‘Urban Ecology’ is the subfield of ecology
which deals with the interaction of plants,
animals and humans with each other and
with their environment in urban or urbanizing
settings.

SIGNIFICANCE OF URBAN ECOLOGY:
Urban ecology also involves the study of the effects of urban development patterns
on ecological conditions. Emphasis is also placed on planning communities with
environmentally sustainable methods via design and building materials in order to
promote a healthy and bio diverse urban ecosystem
Interactions between non-living factors, such as sunlight or water, and biological factors,
such as plants and microbes, take place in all environments, including cities. By
concentrating humans and the resources they consume, metropolitan areas alter soil
drainage, water flow, and light availability.
Urban ecologists think of how architecture, such as sidewalks and rooftops, impacts
the way rainwater is received and transported and the way garbage dumps and
sewage plants centralize waste products. Some species of animals have been able to
survive or thrive in a non-natural urban setting.

INSTITUTIONS FOR URBAN ECOLOGY:
The aforementioned description clearly spell out what urban ecology means and how it
is related to urban context?
There are various institutions related to urban ecology that is working at their local
context across the globe. These institutions had developed their own urban models and
projects to deal with their urban ecology.
Furthermore; they also developed different methodologies of work and instruments to
deal with growing problems in their urban ecology.
Internationally there are various institutions who have initiated their own local attempts
for an urban ecology.
Few of them included here for the reference of students to surf these websites and
learn:
Urban Ecology Agency of Barcelona
Baltimore Ecosystem Study
Central Arizona - Phoenix LTER
ARCUE Australian Research Centre for Urban Ecology
Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee, WI
Urban Ecology Research Laboratory at the University of Washington
Urban Ecology Institute (Newton, MA)
Center for Urban Restoration Ecology
BioCity@UniSA research centre

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