Coving is a technique of urban planning used in residential subdivisions. The name comes from coves of green spaces interwoven throughout the area among the homes. It is distinguished by non-uniform lot shapes and home positioning. When blended with meandering roads, lot area is enlarged and road area condensed. Coving is used as an alternative to conventional "grid" subdivision layout in order to reduce costs, such as road surfacing, while improving aesthetics, and effectively utilizing the land.
Coving was pioneered by Rick Harrison, a Minneapolis based Neighborhood Planner
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
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Before Coving
This image is from Rick Harrison Site Design Studio 2006 Newsletter
After Coving
This image is from Rick Harrison Site Design Studio 2006 Newsletter
Planning Outline
Project: Finding the best method for designing and planning undulating, hilly areas like Pine Valley in Kamloops.
There are 3 methods to examine:
• Coving
• Conventional or grid method
• Clustering
Method:
To determine and improve upon conventional methods of urban planning for Kamloops.
1. Brief History of each method
2. Where have they been used successfully and not
3. Pros and Cons for each method
4. Overall Physiological Effects
5. Community Interaction
6. Safer
7. Visually Pleasing
8. Restrictions
9. Efficient Use of Land
10. Plan for Future Growth
11. Neighbourhood Identity- Will this be unique?
12. Context: How does the development respond to its surroundings?
13. Connections: How well connected is the new neighbourhood?
14. Inclusivity: How easily can people use and access the development?
15. Variety: How does the development promote a good mix of activities?
16. Efficiency: How does the development make appropriate use of resources, including land?
17. Distinctiveness: How do the proposals create a sense of place?
18. Layout: How does the proposal create people friendly streets and spaces?
19. Public Realm: How safe, secure and enjoyable are the public areas?
20. Adaptability: How will the buildings cope with change?
21. Privacy and Amenity: How does the scheme provide a decent standard of amenity?
22. Parking: How will the parking be secure and attractive?
23. Detailed Design: How well thought through is the building and landscape design?
Special Problem:
Kamloops is expanding. One of the biggest challenges is to effectively and efficiently utilize the land but also make it pleasing and unique.
Also:
What makes coving cool? Why should we look at this type of planning? Just look at up the hill to the area above Hugh Allen Dr. Here we see failure of urban design not only were there several problems with the development of the area i.e. the condemnation of several homes due to the fact insufficient research of the land was done to determine the effect of water run off from the above development on areas further down but also its just plain ugly and not at all unique.
Coving can change this. This blog is an exploration on how this can be done and steps through this process.
There are 3 methods to examine:
• Coving
• Conventional or grid method
• Clustering
Method:
To determine and improve upon conventional methods of urban planning for Kamloops.
1. Brief History of each method
2. Where have they been used successfully and not
3. Pros and Cons for each method
4. Overall Physiological Effects
5. Community Interaction
6. Safer
7. Visually Pleasing
8. Restrictions
9. Efficient Use of Land
10. Plan for Future Growth
11. Neighbourhood Identity- Will this be unique?
12. Context: How does the development respond to its surroundings?
13. Connections: How well connected is the new neighbourhood?
14. Inclusivity: How easily can people use and access the development?
15. Variety: How does the development promote a good mix of activities?
16. Efficiency: How does the development make appropriate use of resources, including land?
17. Distinctiveness: How do the proposals create a sense of place?
18. Layout: How does the proposal create people friendly streets and spaces?
19. Public Realm: How safe, secure and enjoyable are the public areas?
20. Adaptability: How will the buildings cope with change?
21. Privacy and Amenity: How does the scheme provide a decent standard of amenity?
22. Parking: How will the parking be secure and attractive?
23. Detailed Design: How well thought through is the building and landscape design?
Special Problem:
Kamloops is expanding. One of the biggest challenges is to effectively and efficiently utilize the land but also make it pleasing and unique.
Also:
What makes coving cool? Why should we look at this type of planning? Just look at up the hill to the area above Hugh Allen Dr. Here we see failure of urban design not only were there several problems with the development of the area i.e. the condemnation of several homes due to the fact insufficient research of the land was done to determine the effect of water run off from the above development on areas further down but also its just plain ugly and not at all unique.
Coving can change this. This blog is an exploration on how this can be done and steps through this process.
15 comments:
I had no idea what coving was till now L look really interesting. I can see the future of road and land designs heading this way. Here's a website that i thought was nifty :)
http://www.profsurv.com/archive.php?issue=21&article=249
Nicole. must say im a fan of the topic selection, I find coving to be very interested as well. I ran into a small acticle on the net, not sure how much help it will be, but i'll leave that to your judgement.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050710/news_1h10sichel.html
The images are helpful, but a bit small. You could try placing them below your planning outline, or linking to them directly. Remember to post your planning outline.
This looks pretty cool. If you're looking for more examples or case studies, check out resort villages such as sun peaks. It seems that most ski resorts have lots of green spaces between the houses and condos.
Hi Nicole,
This might be interesting to you, I found an article about coving in china. Here is the link:
http://www.iges.or.jp/en/ue/pdf/activity03/BAQ_IGES_Pa.pdf
Hi Nicole,
I found an article that might be interesting to you, it's about coving in Shanghai. Here is the link:
http://www.iges.or.jp/en/ue/pdf/activity03/BAQ_IGES_Pa.pdf
The site is coming along very nicely - well laid out and definitely one of the top issues in land development, with land prices escalating (in Kamloops) and storm water management becoming more prevalent. Like Dale Parkes mentioned, perhaps you can make the images a link to a larger image to see the details better?
Prince George used to be a great example. The city's suburbs were broken up by long strips of forests. Unfortunately, the pine beetle has killed many of these forests, but the remains can be seen. (http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=53.929399,-122.810819&spn=0.008932,0.019956&t=h&z=16)
Hey Nicole, you should check out the lower half of the Benchlands development in Juniper. They went away from the grid system that you are talking about and the neighbourhood looks quite unique. If you would like pictures I could help i live in the area.
Nicole, Thanks for the post! It looks promising!
Wow, big images! they are maybe a little too big, as they are cut off (maybe because of my small screen), but definitely an improvement.
You may also want to check out this link that I have sent to Kevin O. about the pilot LEED rating system for new developments. Does coving play into this, or not?
http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=148
I'm really having a problem with the pictures. Either they are too big or too small. I have tried other templates, saved them to other file extentions...etc. etc. I'll keep trying. Thanks for the input.
Hey Nicole,
As i was doing research for my yurt prject i can accross this reference for a book that looked like it might have some useful info for you. Hope it helps.
P.S.
Your Blog Rocks :)
Hall, Kenneth B. and Gerald A. Porterfield. Community by Design. Columbus, OH: McGraw Hill, 2001. Thelayout of this book highlights key points and utilizes sketches, drawings and photographs to sell new urbanist planning for suburbs and small communities. This book offers an alternative to urban sprawl that creates maximum
livability, cohesiveness, and style.
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