20
CIVIC DESIGN NEWS Newspaper of Civic Design and Planning xon 0 Vol. 2, No. 2, June 1959 Editor: Dariush Borbor EDITORIAL , Lt lo PLZEING IIND POLITICS In most societies, whether dictatorial or democratic, both politicians and planners claim that their aim is the improvement of human welfare. Why then, is the world burdened with two separate and often contradictory organ- .0 izations striving to achieve the same ends? The problem does not often lie in what is right or wrong, but in the way that the problem is approached and solved. Both politicians and planners agree, for instance, that land should be put into the best possible use, but they do not agree on either what the --i best use of the land is, or how it should be most reasonably arrived at. In the dictatorial countries the aim of the state and the planners appear- to be the sa; e. Ilthough, theoretically thic would seem an excellent situa- tion, it often fails, because of the unscientific approach to the problem. This is no doubt partly due to the lack of unskilled planners. In a democratic society the problem is quite different. In such socie- ties, it is usual for the people to elect by means of the popular vote a number of persons to take charge and direct their general policies. This in itself has grave disadvantages. It means that a group of untrained persons vote for another group of untrained persons, empowering them to take charge of their activities. It is foolish to believe that a skilled person will always make correct and intelligent decisions, but it is reasonable to assume that a person trained in a particular field has a greater chance of making useful contributions in that field than one with no training - a Doctor is more likely to cure a disease than say, an engineer. although most people agree to leave their health in the hands of specialist physicians, their engines to the engineers and their legal problems to the lawyers: they leave the most fundamental human issue, that of planning, in the hands of quack doctors - the unskilled politicians. CONTENTS TITLE PAGE Planner's Profile 3 Ex Cathedra 5 Operational Research 6 .dint alga 8 Southern Italy Development 13

Editorial: Planning and Politics

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

CIVIC DESIGN NEWS

Newspaper of Civic Design and Planningxon

0

Vol. 2, No. 2, June 1959

Editor:

Dariush Borbor

EDITORIAL , •Lt

• lo

PLZEING IIND POLITICS

In most societies, whether dictatorial or democratic, both politiciansand planners claim that their aim is the improvement of human welfare. Whythen, is the world burdened with two separate and often contradictory organ- .0izations striving to achieve the same ends? The problem does not often liein what is right or wrong, but in the way that the problem is approached andsolved. Both politicians and planners agree, for instance, that land shouldbe put into the best possible use, but they do not agree on either what the --i

best use of the land is, or how it should be most reasonably arrived at.

In the dictatorial countries the aim of the state and the planners appear-to be the sa; e. Ilthough, theoretically thic would seem an excellent situa-tion, it often fails, because of the unscientific approach to the problem.This is no doubt partly due to the lack of unskilled planners.

In a democratic society the problem is quite different. In such socie-ties, it is usual for the people to elect by means of the popular vote anumber of persons to take charge and direct their general policies. Thisin itself has grave disadvantages. It means that a group of untrained personsvote for another group of untrained persons, empowering them to take chargeof their activities. It is foolish to believe that a skilled person willalways make correct and intelligent decisions, but it is reasonable toassume that a person trained in a particular field has a greater chance ofmaking useful contributions in that field than one with no training - aDoctor is more likely to cure a disease than say, an engineer. although mostpeople agree to leave their health in the hands of specialist physicians,their engines to the engineers and their legal problems to the lawyers: theyleave the most fundamental human issue, that of planning, in the hands ofquack doctors - the unskilled politicians.

CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE

Planner's Profile 3

Ex Cathedra 5

Operational Research 6

.dint alga 8

Southern Italy Development 13

Civic Design News

Ls an organized bony, the poli t icians, cf course, have had a muchlonger existance than the nanners, and scientific planning, in fact,apor,Ars to have originated as a sponialized branch of politics. Would itnot be more logical if politics were a branch of planning, such as publicrelations or economics? Planners are trained to treat the requirementsof human beings through a systematized process of survey and study, analy-sis, planning, and execution of the plan. Despite this the results are notalways successful, but the chances of success are greater than a random andwhimsical approach. In our present society, most politicians are laymenwho have had little or no training; they rely mainly on 'experience' whichis a dangerous approach if it is not backed with an analytical mind. Eventhe schools of political science arc toe theoretical to touch the funda-mentals of human needs.

The other serious fault of politics is that it often lacks the genuineaim to solve and rarely takes into account the importance cf long termpolicies. The former point is made oven more evident in internationalissues; problems that could be solved by four children in matters of min-utes are made unduly complicated for political reasons - what betterexample than the recent Foreign ministers' Conference in Geneva.

The Planners' approach to politics, under the present system fallsinto two distinct categories; on the one hand we have those Planners whoisolate themselves from any political prejudices, on the other, there arethose who accept the system as it is and support a definite school ofpolitical thought. Beth of these have their disadvantages and cause frus-tration.

If it is claimed that politicians are not the best people to controlthe affairs of society, to whom could they be trusted? Is it reasonableto suggest that the aim being the same, Planners are better suited to takeover?

— 0 0 0 -

2

PLANNER'S PROFILE

H. _MYLE.7,_ FRIGHT

Henry Myles. Wright was appointed to tae Lover Chiir of Civic Design in1954. He is,one cf the fow profess. ers ol Planning in the Ommonwealth notte have received part of As profesTi.(xod trai ring in the Liverpool Schoolof Architecture, since he is a graduate Cambridge where ho received thedegrees of B. in 1930 and N. L. in 1937.

He went to Cambridge via Fettes College at Edinburgh and Kings Collegeat Newcastle, the city in which he was born. His fatter was an architectpractising in Newcaqtle and Professor Wright had what might be called anarchitectural background. After graduating, he worked in verious privateoffices before being appointed as an Editor of the Architects' Journal in1935. He renamed with the Journal until after the beginning of the warwhen he joined the firm of Alexander Gibb working on the construction ofmunitions factories and hostels for war wo.rker c3. It was during this timeand when ho was editing the Journal that 1 ,0 bocame in Planning and in theof the group of Planners who were instrumental_ in setting up the Ministryof Town and Country Planning, He joined the Research Division of theMinistry in 1943.

At the Ninistry he helped to develop new techniques that were beingevolved to deal witc the char4ng and widening scope of Planning. In par-ticular Professor Wrigh',, was concerned with the replanning of the Centralareas and in the production of the Advisory Handbook on the Redevelopmentof Central Areas pub:iished in 3_947, Daring .1,0 time at the Minist ry" he wasalso preparing his Planner's Note.40o1',.

The emphasis that Professor Wright lays on the Planning of centralareas and comprehensive development has been demonstrated in several ways.From the Ministry of Town and Country Planning he went to work forSir William Holford and Charles Holden on the City of London Plan and laterhe collaborated with Sir William on the Cambridge Development Plan. In allthis work he was able to put into practice much of the planning techniquethat he had helped to develop. This particular experience must also be ofgreat value in the development of the Liverpool University Precinct, forProfessor Wright is consultant to the Unive rsity Development Committee.Apart from this particular ooncorn with central area planning, ProfessorWright designed the New Town of Corby, rear Northampton. This wide exper-ience of Planning ;fa; Pally recognfLse0. Wie.1 ITofessor Wright was invited tobecome a en'bed:' t tn6 Briti c; la Ciarriboan 0 ,Iallc!sfon which vlsited the WestIrLdcs in the summer of:t956 riloosing a site for the Capitolfor the recently formed Federal. Goverment.

His practical planning experience has always been reinforced by con-siderable talents as a w:iter. There can be few arch:Itects and plannerswho can cxprese themselves so clearly and concisely. His articles andreports reflect his abiJ.ity to see a problem in true perspective and todeal with it in its broadest aspects as well as in its smallest details.

Within the Department Professor Wright preaches what he practises.His criticism of students work are based on practical experience, and informulating a policy for the work of the Department he sets objectives whichare within the scope of the staff and students alike. In addition, he setsan example of great concentration on the job of the moment. He produces alarge number of reports and articles. Among his more recent papers is that

3

Civic Design News

entitled Flannino:_Objetiveg If fhicli. he gave at the Annual General Meeting ofthe Town Planning Instil-,te List year and which anticipated his being invitedto become a Member of the Institue

44t the celebration of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Department, itwas demonstrated clearly that the success in the past had depended on a longlino of distinguished professors. Professor Myles Wright continues in thistradition and thus insures that in the future the Department of Civic Designwill develop and extend its influence.

- o 0 o

4

C

3

C v Design News

FY. '"FiELRAI

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonableman attempts to mould the world itself; therefore, all progress dependsfk upon unreasonable men." Shaw uas one of unusually clear perception, andsaw both the necessity and practicability o± idealism; and it was on the30th Lpril that, during a discussion on the Liverpool City DevelopmentPlan by hr. Hough, that this was demonstrated. Considerations of access-ibility, blight, commuting, density and the rest of the planning Alphabetfade into academic theorization unless the questions of one's personalapproach, attitude - philosophy really - are faced, and answered, withhonesty.

For planning is a social service, not for land-use zoning or archi-tectonic composition, but for people. Before the surveying of a singlestreet, or the recording of any applications is begun, an appraisal ofour society and civilization must be made. We must remember that planningimplies that people do not know what is good for them; that their economyseems to be geared to making necessities of luxuries and elaborations ofsimplicities without a reason why. "Informed opinion" must be evaluatedby its echo, not its facade, for even the business world can be trustedon its own preserve of profits when its designs for Liverpool's blitzeddepartment stores exhibit a negation of their reason for existence - anever-rising mass standard of living. If cucumbers and carpets, why notcars? The status quo is the real enemy of capitalism.

No one can "prove" planning is worthwhile, for no one can "prove"living is worthwhile. Jn easy statement, but one that carries theimplication of belief. We are serving the man in the street - Toynbee's"home vulgaris Northcliffii" whose applause is louder when the travestyis greater, and who struggles on various planes of survival againsteconomic homicide and social suicide. It best, we need an altruisticlove of man, or at least a selfish desire for his salvation, to injectspirit into our - or any other - enterprises.

To pander to his baser motives would be practical in the way illus-trated on the 30th It would condemn the planner to a lifetime'sjuggling with a quasi-sacred hierarchy of meaningless numbers. Theintellectually zest-suited may well adopt this course, and pass by on theother side when faced with such a reality that lies beyond the 1947 Act.Ls such, they will doubtless conform to their terms of reference as pro-fessionals, but not as human beings.

J. J. CHLPMLN.

n IMO IMO 0 0 0 -

5

Civic D'esign News

OPERATIONAL RESEARCH

B.H.P. Rivett, Chief Field Investigation Officer,

National Coal Board.

Thursday, March 5th, 1959.

Although it can be argued that the paucity of useful numerical materialhandled by Planners accounts for their reluctance to apply mathematical tech-niques to their art, we must nevertheless confess to our considerableignorance of developments in this field and to our respectable lack ofenthusiasm. Mr. Rivett, a mathematician, gave us a stimulating introductionto Operational Research. Whether or not hl has brought to our attention atool capable of cutting away some of the indeterminants in town and countryplanning will no doubt be debated amongst us. As he explained, Mr. Rivettset out to show general principles, with examples of Case Studies, not to"anticipate applications in planning", but to leave the bridge" to be builtby the Planners themselves.

Pure Research establishes laws regarding the natural order; AppliedResearch puts these laws into the service of man. It remains for OperationalResearch to achieve maximum advantages when two or more sciences arebrought together in a given situation. Thus, this third science, equallybound by the rigours of scientific method, depends upon measurement, col-lection of data, hypothesis and continuous "check back."

Inputs Industrial Situation 21121.211ts SeparateObjectives

Wage Rates-- Productionmen — -7? Units

01Capital

machinesmoney Profits 02

Machanisation materialsetc.

> Dividends 03

Training 7 Accidents 04

The speaker used the above symbol to illustrho his subject.. Anindustrial Activity brings about numerous "objectives," each of which maybe regulated to achieve a most desirable or most efficient combination.Knowing the values ascribable to each of the objectives, each capable ofmeasurement in like units, the operational research worker manipulates theinput factors until the desired objective is reached. A fundamental require-ment is that 01, 02, 03, .... must not in themselves be incompatible (other-wise "frustration results").

kr. Rivett's brief remarks on the history of O. R. included a referenceto Napoleon's appeal for the advice of French scientists when he found hisfleet blockaded by Nelson. Since Lord Nelson mastered that particularsituation we can safely assume that Operational research was then in itsinfancy. O. R. came into large scale use during the Hitler War. Britishscientists were called upon by politicians (clear enough evidence that thecountry's position was desperate) and were engaged in solving operationalproblems. A good example was the determination of the size and constitutionof convoys for the Atlantic crossing.

What was the optimum number of merchant vessels and escorts resultingin minimum losses? It was found that the number of merchant vessels lost

6

Civic Design News

was in proportion to the inverse of the number of escorts. This led tothe use of larger conveys. The st7c, in tu-n, was reconciled with thedesirable flow of goods to England, the time of convoy assembly and thecapacity of British ports to handle incoming vessels. J further factorwas necessarily introduced by the naval and air resources deployableagainst enemy submarines, which had to be allocated for maximum killingeffect compatible with Optimum sayings of merchant vessels and factorsof economy.

Other examples were equally vivid and complex: Design of docks foroil tankers so as to achieve maximum advantages where capital investment,handling capacities, number of berths, waiting times, tidal flows and day-light hours each bore on the problem of economy.

Roadway design; optimum advantagesfor intersection delays, roundabouts, interchanges, street widths.

Distribution of Coal; 28 collieriesproduce 32 classes of coal, which are distributed to 8 washeries, eitherby road or rail. It was shown how a saving of 8% was made by findingthe most economic scheduling for all operations.

Certain cases, such as the last mentioned, are capable of being solvedusing the established algebraic technique, Linear Programming. Whereevents occur in random fashion (such as arrival of ships at port), thesolution is reached by the honte Carlo Nethod. By this method each eventis drawn from a hat to be inserted into the framework of other variablesa whole "picture" of possible operations is thus built up, allowing forfinal selection according to desirable criteria.

Lt first sight it seems doubtful that, except for few and limitedapllications, O. R. can offer little aid to the already harassed planner.The key in this technique lies not in the impressive manipulation of databut in the "moment of tamth," the point at which the research worker isable to enunciate his objectives in unambiguous terms. Further, he workswith measurable quantities either in the form of scientific laws orstatis-tics. The Planner cannot fail to realise how little of his material ismeasurable. Lesthetics, for instance; Human Apirations; and CpatialRequirements themselves. The Planner has as yet, failed to formulate hisobjectives to the satisfaction of many rational critics, (that is, object-ives free of unexplained premises).

It has been argued that more scientific study of human activitieswill provide the laws from which town planning objectives must necessarilyderive. Presumably, operational research (backed by such laws) wouldestablish the best resin cant for many human objectives in a given situa-tion - for example in chapping centres. But it must not he supposed thatsuch extension of scientific techniques will remain untempered by valuejudgments or by the urge to transform the environment into which we areborn. This urge is ingerent in the true Planner. Whether or not it takesthe form of "Social Engineering" (piece-meal, experimental) or"Utopianism" (holistic, ultra visionary) determines to what degreescientific evidence will shape the planning process. Certainly for SocialEngineering, Operation Research offers some promise. It would be worth-while to examine closely its pbtentiality, especially in more confinedaspects of planning, where variables can be reduced to a common unit ofvalue, such as money, energy expended, or equivalent land.

W. T. PERKS.

- o 0 c

7

Civic Design News

( c ontinued)

R. E. N. 1, cOaughan.

We arose at the dawning of the day and breakfasted very simply and thengathered up our chattels because these had to be carried about with us every-where that we went. In my case, these consisted of pyjamas, a razor andtoothbrush, two cameras with lenses, sine camera, tripods and miscellaneousphotographic equipment, all of which I carried over my shoulder or in mydispatch case. friend Dick had a small attache case which contained, inaddition to clothes, our various guide books and maps.

The sun was rising as we set out along the road leading back towardsLntalya and by the time we had reached the point where it branches off to-wards the sea and the ruins of Side, it was quite hot, and our clothes werealready damp with perspiration. We met a Turk riding on a donkey and weanxiously pointed towards the direction in which we believed the ruins layand said, "Side, Side?" He smiled and said "Evet, evet," (yes, yes). Sowe continued on our way, fortified by the hope that at last we were movingin the right direction. Presently we saw a very encouraging sight. Llong Roman aquaduct winding snake-like across the landscape, and about anhour later we came vp against a groat Hellenistic wall pierced by slit win-down and we passed through the gate into the town. This famous site hasbeen recently excavated by the Turkish Historical Institute and a certainamount of skilful restoration has taken place. Nevertheless it conveys theappearance of a lost and forgotten city. The great theatre rises out of asea of vegetation and the plants with which it is covered looked ratherlike water falling back in a receding tide across a submorged rock.

Side is situated upon a small peninsula 2,500 feet long and about900 feet broad. The natee appears to be Lnatalyan and not Greek and itprobably means a pomegranate. This suggests that the settlement may havebeen founded before the Greek migration. It is not in any sense a sitethat could be easily defended, like the neighbouring citadels cf Lpendos,Syllium, rergs and Termessos and it will be remembered that the lattersucceeded in defying even Lloxander the Great. Consequently, its rise toimportance belongs to more settled times such as the Roman period, whenit became an important centre for the slave trade. By the third century itwas declining and the city was divided into two by a wall. The fifth Conturysaw a slight revival and then it sank in flames during the great .drab invasionsof the Seventh and Eighth Centuries, after which its ruins became a refugefor pirates.

From a planning point of view it is very interesting with its longcolonnaded streets which oddly enough have no dominant element on the axisother thqn the gateway to the harbour. The panoramic view from the topseats of the theatre is very impressive indeed. Beyond the city gate canbe seen the luxuriant plain of Lntalya and beyond that again, fold uponfold of the majestic Taurus mountains behind, lies the Mediterranean. Onecan hear the soft wash of the waves on the shingled shore where once wassituated the harbour to which St. Paul came on his missionary journeys. Weexplored the harbour and tried to find the ancient mole. Below the clearwe could see something that might have been a jetty. We took some picturesbut I am afraid it would take a lot of research before it would be possibleto establish its form and significance.

It was getting very hot indeed when we completed our survey and set offagain towards the main road. Rather foolishly we had hoped that we could pick

8

Sea

••

Sea

Sea

- Entrance- Gymnasium

HarboursNympheum

S StoaT Teaplos

Th - Theatre

FLN OF SIDE

*--;1......--' .f....-,./. •-; -:. . ,, „...

, • , .. , ,/\...........

‘i,' 't )-- if 1 ,

i..,

1). -k-`[..11

;I t`"

H/ •

n 1:

" •-•""

Mac, do you know why the camel looksso smug? Well, the Lrabs say it isbecause he alone knows the hundrethname for Lalah.

•••

. • •

The Roman aqueduct at Lspendos

Civic Design News•n••••• n•••••n•

up aleus there that would take us to our next site, ilspendos. Ls nothingappeared we slowly walked back towards Nanvagat. This we reached aboutnoon, tired, hot and very dirty. We made some enquiries regarding thepossibility of travel and as these produced no result we had some lunch.It might be added that it was the only lunch we had for several days. Nobus was available so we climbed up on the back of a lorry with some Turksand in the blazing heat and blinding dust we rattled along the road towardsLspendos, which lay some 35 kilometres along the road back towards Lntalya.The sky was already darkening and we could hear the thunder muttering inthe distant mountains. By the time we reached the Seljuk bridge where onealights for iispendos the sky was dark and it was quite cold, and worse stillit was raining. Nylon shirts were little protection in cold and rainyweather so we shiltered in a Seljuk fort at the end of the bridge and afteran hour's wait we started along the road towards the site of ,,spendos whichwas situated about 4 kilometres along the river bank. The rain came onagain and presently a thunderstorm was upon us. It was becoming much colderand we were fairly wet. We crawled underneath the ledge of a rock andhuddled together watching the fork lightening playing across the sky. Ittook some til-qe for the storm to abate and we earnestly hoped that we wouldbe able to reach the site before darkness fell and that the sun would comeout again and give us a chance to get a few photographs. The storm passedand thanks to a Turk who, kind and courteous as his race, gave us a lift inhis cart. We were soon rumbling along a stony Roman road that led to thesite of the acropolis, and when we reached it it was bathed in the lastlight of the setting sun. It was a wonderful sight. Towering high above usover 100 feet was the groat Roman aquaduct which had carried the water intothe city. It stood out, majestic and inspiring, against a blue sky fleckedwith white clouds. The site of Lspere_os is really magnificent and it raisesthe question so often onels mind aat part did the appreciation oflanr).scape play in the founding of He3lenic and Hellenistic cities. It isdifficult to believe that they were altogether indifferent to the beautyof the landscape. The ancient city was built on the top of two adjacenthills and quite a number of bailclings still remain. The great theatre whichholds 15,000 pceple belongs to the Roman period and is remarkably well-preserved and is still used for classical plays and wrest1Lag displays.

The site is also very much over-grown with scrub, quite a lot of whichis much taller than a man and it was inevitable that sooner cr later Ishould get separated fron my companion. Lbcut half an hoer later, his firstburst of archaeological curoeity satisfied, he set out to find me, shouting,"Mac, Nac, Mac." In less time than takes to say, ho collected abouttwenty Turkish echcol children who went all round the site shouting, "Mac,hac, Mac," and it sounded for all the world like a farmyare, of ducks. Iwas very tired and irritable and I en afraid my sense of humour rather for-sook me, and I told then to "Git!" - a very expressive Turkish word for uGoaway quickly! is

Our reconnaisance survey completed, we had to find somewhere to stayfor the night and the nearest place was Sekik, about 12 kilometres away. Myfriend Dick managed to arrange a lift on the back of a lorry, but I preferredto walk. Darkness had fallen before I reached the village, and as I arrivedfirst I had to wait the arrival of the lorry. Half an hour later it trun-dled into Sekik with my friend high up on the top of its load. Our firsttask was to get a meal and then find somewhere to stay for the night. Weobtained a meal of sorts, but the village was a pretty grim place and weseriously coneidered walking outside the town and sleeping on the hillsidein the rain, if necessa7ey. It was now very cold and as we wore in themalarial belt we thought that this might be very unwise, so we went to theso-called hotel. This was little more than a filthy slam. Our hearts

9

Civic Design News

sank when we were shown a room 4th about sixteen beds touching each other.However, when mine host saw us shako our heads in disgust, we wore offeredanother room which had three beds. There was no light apart from a littlebulb hanging in the hall, but it was pretty obvious that the -place was bothbug and flea-ridden. We went in, closed the door and pushed a chair under-neath the handle, and immediately took evasive action. First we coveredthe bed with D.D.T. and then tucked our flannels into our stockings, pouredD.D.T. down our necks and shook it into our pants, and then sat on the bedand waited for the morning. About one a.m. the door shook violently. Iopened it and in came a Turk who pointed to the other bed. It was obviouswe either had to chase him away or let him stay and we took the more peace-ful course. He smiled gratefully and re-barricaded the door and got intobed. There was another violent attmpt to get into the room a few hourslater, but this time we took no notice. It was a miserable vigil and I anafraid I could not help looking continually at the luminous dial of mywatch to see how much longer it was before the dawn. It was not the firsttime that we had spent a night like this, we had fared a good deal worse ona visit to Bogazkoy on the other side of Ankara. Had we but known it, wehad much worse to face before we finished our Asian journey. We arose atfirst light and went out into the street to find the bus which was due toleave at 6 a.m. There was no hope of obtaining anything to eat, so we tookour places and patiently waited for the bus to start. It was the usual ram-shackle contrivance which wont by the name of a bus and I sat beside an openwindow. Open was the operative word as the day had long since passed whenit could be shut. Ls always a large crowd of Turks gathered and stood gapingat us as if we were visitors from Mars. One of the crowd, a thick-set man ofabout sixty who rather resembled hussolini in appearance, came up to us andstood looking at us. He had two large tins, one under each arm. He took thelid off the first tin - the crowd giggled and moved back about four metres.He took out a viper and loaning into the bus hold it against my forehead. Iam not afraid of snakes, I have always found them very interesting creaturesand I can honestly say I did not flinch. The Turk did not like it. He feltthat I was not taking him seriously, so with a sigh and a shrug of hisshoulders, he put the snake back into his tin. Ho opened the second tin andthe crowd moved back another few metres. I could see down into the tin. Itwas full of writhing scorpions. These are fairly lethal creatures, my Germancolleagues assured me that their bite was usually fatal. Ha took one out andheld it about one inch frog. the end of my nose. I am ashamed to say it, butI moved this time! Not much - but enough to make me feel angry. Up to thispoint I had behaved with considerable Christian forbearance, but now I areafraid it was wearing rather thin and I was fooling very Irish: It was avery dangerous moment for both of us and perhaps it is a good thing that myfriend Dick was a solid and dependable Iln,I;lichman who whispered caution "Becareful Mac. If you go for him the crowd my lynch us." I half rose in myseat and I told him to P ato" Fortunately the driver who was a deeen chapintervened and spoke to him very firmly in Turkish and he went away. I didnot realise it at the time but looking back now, I feel very thankful for ourescane, We wore rrovidentia,lly saved in a very dangerous situation, dangerousbecause at that period inc. Iur l:a were foaling very inuensed about Dypruse

We reachedPerga quite early. The sun had only risen and it waspleasantly fresh and warm. Like Aspendos and Sillyom it is another Acropoliscite and is in fact one of the oldest of the Antalyan cities. It was prob-ably founded by the Greeks from Argolis. It is situated on an importanthighway which stretches across the plain and the settlement was usually oneof the first objectives of invaders reaching the area. We can read the Arrianaccount of Alexander's march and how he occupied Antalya, Side and Lspendosand how he sent a division of his army to occupy the key site of Perga. Thereis an excellent view of the city from the acropolis and the main street and

10

0

Civic Design Now•••••nn-•••nnn.

the market are clearly visible. thanks to the excavations of the French.This city like Lopendos is situated on a river and was a very important portin ancient times. We walked back from Per 'a to the main road and as therewas no hope of a bus we waited for a lorry. Mter an hour or so, we clamberedup with our friends, the Turks. The floor was half rotted away and I doubtif it had any springs. .41e had to hold on tight so that we did not fallthrough under the wheels. Lfter a great deal of jolting, half-blinded andchoking with dust, we reached Lntalya. It was nearly noon and it was blazinghot. We had a meal, bought some fruit and sat down underneath some palmsin the main square. My companion, adaptable to every circumstance, had asiesta while I wrote a few letters. Then above us we heard a cry and werealized it was the voice of the huozzin on the minaret co2.1ihg the faithfulto prayer. However, we were not left in peace very long because the policeagain descended on us and asked for our passports. They were, as always,most courteous and kind and brought us into a cafe to have some tea and tookus to the bus.

It may appear that there are rather a lot of references to heat, coldand dust. So perhaps, I had better add some words of explanation. Theclimate in Turkey is very trying for a north European until he learns howto adapt himself to the very different conditions prevailing there. Ofcourse, it varies throughout the country, at 4nkara it is not unlike ours.In Trezibond it is tropical and my observations now refer to Lntalya andWestern ;Anatolia coastlando where the sites I visited are located. Duringthe daytime especially around noon, it is very hot. During my travelsespecially on my second visit the temperature averaged about 110° and oftenreached 115°- 120°in the shade. This sounds pretty terrifying but in factit is quite bearable and preferable to a temperature of 85 in Sussex whenit is humid with a grey sky. The difficulty is that at night the tmpora-ture falls considerably and sometimes it becomes bitterly cold and it isoften accompanied by high winds swooping down from the mountains. Isuffered from chronic enteritis all through my first journey and all theremedies with which I cured my friends in Italy proved quite unavailing. Itwas not until my second visit to *Asia that I learned hew to deal with enter-itis. My friend Prof. Dr. Dbehringer, President of the Deutsches Lrchaolo-ischen Instituts told me that the secret was to wear a woollen loin c17.oth

under one's clothes and that this was new compulsory for all German workingwith them. He presented me with one and I wore it until I returned toSwitzerland and I did not have enteritis again. I noticed subsequently,that most Turks and Cretans follow this practice. Equipped with thiswoollen loin cloth under ay clothes, and protected by my sombrero, I wasenabled to work or walk in the sun all day, and when the cold winds blew inthe evening, Istill felt warm and took no il.l effects from the changes intemperature. i!',:tire is a problem especially if one is travelling to dis-tant sites involving long walke. It means that luggage must be carriedeverywhcce and, conseqaently, con oily consist of essentials. I foundnylon shirts and flannels or shorts are all right for the daytime but com-pletely inadequate after sunset. The dust on the road is a problem we donot have in England, and it is hard for anyone who has not experienced itin an open car or jeep to conceive how unpleasant it can be. The roads,with a few exceptions, are made up continually by scrapers which smoothout hollows and bumps. This means that there is always a thick layer ofdust on the road, and this is stirred up by mechanised traffic. It isquite imposeible for one jeep to follow immediately behind another withoutbeing enveloped in a small sandstorm. Traffic can be detected moving alargo distance away by the clouds of moving dust. I have been told thatthe duct problem is affecting the health of drivers of open mechanisedvehicles.

Tho sun was still shining when we left the plain, but by the time we

11

t I

' •

The Seljuk Bridge over the River Eurymedon

C

..,:-.17"'" .1

1.7 --' \‘1 PI 11 )1 1 1 '

IL,I•-- - ••-_,.

j \.

"Yvoili i1i raru," - The Grooved..Linaret

Civic Design News

had reached the entrance to the earge, the sky was already dark and for-bidding and it. was not long before the uountains echoed and re-echoed toanother thunder storm, and as we slowly climbed ree the corkscrew road itgrow darker and the faces of the passengers were lit up by the vivid flashesof lightening. It was very cold again and this added to the usual discom-fort of the cramped conditions of a Turkish bus. It was dark when we reachedBurdur and we set out for the station to find what time we could get a trainto Soko in Western Turkey. We were told that one left about 4.30 a.m. andthat meant being in the station by 3 a.m. if we were to be sure of a seatWe had a number of hours to wait so we lay down on one of the seats in thewaiting-room, but not for long. We were soon driven out by voracious insectswhich even D.D.T. could not keep away. We decided that we would walk out ofthe town into the mountains for one hour and as it would take us an hour toget back, that would occupy the time for two hours and perhaps by then wewould be able to got into the train.

It was a wonderful walk and the magic of it still remains in my memory.It was very beautiful in the light of a full moon. First we threaded ourway through the old huddled narrow streets of the medieval town and thenour along a road that wound between groat white cliffs of chalk which rosechasm-like, glittering in the moonlight. Tall and strange trees soaked upabove us into a velvet sky studded with bright stars, and the humid scent ofthe flowers added to the magic, of the semi-tropical night. Along the sideof the read ran the inevitable water charnel and we could hoar the softgurgle of the water. This changed to a roar as we passed a mill where weheard the water falling into the mill race. We kept on walking tirti? about1 n.m. and then started back again for the station. The 'fuck of the Irish'held and wo were allowed to get on the train immediately. It took verylittle time to get comfortable, and as we had a lot of leeway to make upwe soon fell asleep. Lbou 4.30 we wore shaken by the train starting, welifted the blinds and saw the shafts of light from the rising sun floodingthe landscape and picking out the rsountai n crests. laready we could feelthe warmth of its rays. Ny spirit rose, we were now on the way back, wewere moving west again, every kilometre meant we wore that much nearer.tens and that meant home, for the British School is the neareot thing tohome in that far off land. The greater part of our reconnaissance workstill remained to be done, before us lay the many sites we hoped to visit inCarle, Lydia, Mysia, Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly, but, the important thingwas we were moving towards the West and so far we had survived. Lau Deo.

(Copyright x.13. hutr:hinson, St, John's College, Cambridge,also R.E.E. McCaugLan, The University of Liverpool)

Lazio j Lbbru zi

\.0 Roma

• F\Qgia

PugliaCa4ania

Luc

,nzaro

Cala

Pic di C.

lat O.,

44

Sardin 1 a

iari

SOUTHERN ILLY DEVELOPliENT

Paolo Radogna

The Fund for Southern Italy was set up on the 10th Lugust, 1950.It had the status of Luthority and its co-ordination to the activitiesof the State was obtained through a committee of Hinistcrs who woreencharged to work out the general plan of actions. Chairman of the Com-mittee was a ninister Deputy of the Prime llinister and- members were the

Ministers of 4riculture, of Public Works, of Transports, of Labour andNational Insurance, the President of the Board of Trade and the Chancellorof the Exchequer.

The actions had to be of extraorainary nature and the Coi:mitteo of theIlinisters, working out the plan, had to keep the distinction between theactions concerning the Fund for Southern Italy and actions of a normalnature concerning the various Ministers with their normal budgets. TheCommittee of the 1 ,iinisters had also to secure unity in the carrying out of

the plans.fund of 600 million pgunds was allowed for the decade 1950-1960 for

conservation works of the highland watersheds, reclamation irrigation andagricultural improvement in the scheduled areas, development of the clas-sified roads network, carrying out of the great waterpipes, plants forthe transformaticn of the agricultural products and works of touristicinterest.

The territory was made up by Southern Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Elba

and the provinces of Latina and Frosincne.By the law of 25th July, the Fund was increased by another 150 mil-

lion pounds and the period of activity of the Luthority was raised totwelve years (from 1950 up to 1962). The further 150 million poundshad to finance the agricultural reformation which consisted in expro-priation, estate transformation and allocation of land to the assignees.

'3

Civic Design News

Other duties of the Southern Italy Luthcrity are the carrying our ofpublic works in the Province of Naples, the provision of loans and grantsto Local Luthorities for the construction of primary schools, industrialenterprises, the financing of a scheme of new agricultural schools anddemonstration farms, etc.

By the law of 31st July, 1956, the period of activity of Southern Italyauthority was lengthened by a further throe years, from 1962 up to 1965,and another three hundred and sixty pounds were allowed to it. That hasboon done in order to co-ordinate the action of Southern Italy authoritywith the Vanoni scheme, which is the national economic plan.

That extension cf activity will correspond tc the start of a secondphase of actions, the phase of industrialization, in which now agriculturaland industrial enterprises will be promoted in order to bring about anatural working of the Southern Italy economy and to render more productivethe actions of the first phase.

The Southern Italy Luthority in order to fulfil its economic, financialand technical duties is made up by four departments:

Reclamation and agricultural improvementWaterpipes and sewers.Roads and bridges.Industry, tourism, credit and finance.

Other departments are concerned with the administration and matters ofvarious kinds.

As far as the agricultural reformation is concerned, the enactments of12th hay 1950 and 21st October 1950 set up ton reformation Boards, each withjurisdiction it its own territory. The reformation Boards were made respon-sible towards the Ministry of agriculture and Forestry, but were allowed ofa very large autonomy. Tho reformation action was circumscribed to specialareas (not only Southern Italy) where the agricultural economy was based onthe "Latifondo." Latifondo means an estate where the ratios labour to landand capital to land are extremely low; Latifondo has not to be identifiedonly with the agricultural estates of the big landowners in the lowlands,because also a Latifondo of the peasants exists among the highlands of SouthernItaly where the properties are very tiny and are mainly rented by labourers,in such a way to constitute a kind of allotment. The Latifondo is thanhardly productive, is tilled through very backward techniques, is used forgrazing and allows a survival economy to the population.

After 1947, the Lssociaticn for the Industrial Development of SouthernItaly accomplished an economic survey of Southern Italy and a methodicalstudy of the measures to be carried out for its development. It was foundout that the amount of money required by the fulfilment of all the needs wasextremely large and therefore a selection of the objectives was necessary;a second limitation to a large-scale action by the Government was the organi-zational structure of the Public Ldministration. Then the assessment ofthe needs and a list of priorities could be made through the comparison oftheir indeces of depression, which have boon 'evised by the association.

The surface of Italy is as much as 75,000,000 acres and that of SouthernItaly as much as 30,000,000 acres. In Lpril 1950 the Italian populations was47,500,000 persons and the Southern Italy population (incIading the islands)was 17,500,000 persons. The population of Southern Italy and Islands nearlydoubled since 1861, when it was as much as 10,000,00C persons. Over about

14

•n••••••nnnnn....-+

Civic Design News

the same period, from 1861 until 1936, the amount of working population hasremained the same because in 1861 the working population counted 5,600,000persons while in 1936 the working population counted 5,800,000 persons.Indeed, new possibilities of jobs did not come out over seventy years. Thenthe dependents for every working person were 0.75 in 1861, but 1.66 in 1936.In the same time the emigration has been 41 . 0% of the natural growth as anaverage (in Lucania has been 91.0%).

The annual income for inhabitant in 1952 was in Puglia and Lucania(two regions of Southern Italy, fairly representative) as much as forty-sevenpounds and forty-one pounds which correspond to 52 . 0% of the Italian averageincome, while the peak occurred in hilan with 230 . 0% cf the Italian average.The annual saving per inhabitant in 1952 was in Puglia and Lucania as muchas three pounds, which corresponds to 30 . 0% of the Italian average saving,while the peak was of 282 0 0% of the Italian average.

Turning to the Southern Italy Luthority, the territory of its juris-diction is 43% of the whole national surface and the inhabitants are18,000,000 more or less.

The Southern Italy Luthority gives the concession of the works to localLuthorities and their partnerships, to the reclamation and irrigation partner-ships, to the reformation Boards, and other authorities and they, in theirturn, let the contracts of the works. For other works, which are not in con-cession, the Southern Italy Luthority provides directly to enter into agree-ment with the contractors.

For works up to Sixty thousand pounds is the Board of Directors of theLuthority to approve the scheloe. For works over that level, the advice ofThe Ministry of Public Works is needed.

We saw before that the lowland scheduled areas covered a surface of9,200,000 acres. The land to be made irrigable was about 920,000 acres.While the beginning of the reclamation, the yearly gross revenue as anaverage for each acre of the lowland scheduled areas was about two poundsand the labour required was from eight to sixteen working days per yearand per acre, it has been assessed that the reclamation works will bringabout an increase of the gross revenue up from twenty six to thirty threepounds and of the labour up from thirty two to forty eight working days.Therefore two hundred uorking days will be secured to further 350,000agricultural workers.

I will miss the other activities cf the Luthority and instead speak ofa problem which has been cf special importance soon after 1950; the con-struction of new settlements. They have been built partially by the SouthernItaly authority through the reclamation partnerships and mainly by theReformation Boards because the new settlements, besides being an element ofthe reclamation plan, had a special and outstanding function in regard tothe land assignments.

The task of the Reformation Boards consisted in the colonisation ofthe expropriated territories. Colonisation means to supply the necessaryequipments, to transform the land and to populate it with assignee who havebecome peasants.

The creation of homesteads and the settlement of the peasants on theland has been one of the most evident innovations cf the agriculturalreformation; indeed no diffused agricultural population resided before inthe countryside, because of the malaria and the uncertain relation of the

15

Civic Design News-...+11110114.41n.11.*.

labour to the land.

The community centres together with the scattered settlement around themare the solution mainly accepted by all the Reformation Boards. The communitycentres have been designed taking account also cf the future private develop-ment due to the action carried out by the reclamation partnerships.

The services provided are: Primary School, nursery, Shops, Church, PostOffice, Municipality Office, Police Station, Clinic, Pub and Social Hall.Dwellings are supplied tc the staff within the community centre. The Church,the Post Office and the liunicipality Office have a radius of influence ofabout three miles; because the School, Clinic and Shops have a smaller radius,minor centres with these services are provided around the major communitycentre.

The limitations of the agricultural improvements to solve the unemploy-ment are quite apparent now: the agriculture is unable to employ the surplusof population and to yield such revenues to bridge the gap of economicactivities, etc., between Northern Italy and Southern Italy. Rather dis-couraging is the news that in spite of all the efforts made, the productiongap between Northern Italy and Southern Italy widened of the double between1951 and 1955. Lpart from the tendency of Southerners, including Banks, toinvest in the acre profitable North than at home, this disparity can be,explainod by other factors: low living standards in the rural areas, wide-spread illiteracy, lack of skilled workers, insufficiency of ancillaryenterprises to keep industries flourishing. Therefore private capital isstill unwilling to undertake the large-scale investments necessary for thedevelopment of the areas. This paper is only the very unbalanced enunciationof titles of some problems, while many others have been left cut. Theliterature of the Southern Italy is now extremely large and recently thestudios of it have been very numerous. Liter the exoerienco of SouthernItaly authority, some scholars have envisaged the solution in the administra-tive decentralization, self-government, regional planning and a slew actionstarting at the base and turning to all the aspects of the life of thepopulations.

0 0 0

16

lY 51 0 is „.* v rr)

y.

Published by the Society of Civic Design, University of Liverpool,

76 Bedford Street South, Liverpool 7, England. Tel: Royal 874o