Tulsa Smart Growth Conference 1996
TULSA: OUR NEXT 100 YEARS
Mayor / AIA Conference on City Design
January 18, 1996
Speaker: Robert Lawton Jones, FAIA
Introduction by Mayor M. Susan Savage
Mayor M. Susan Savage: I have the great pleasure of introducing Bob Jones, or Robert Lawton Jones, as he is designated on the program. Bob is professor emeritus and past director of the University of Oklahoma Urban Design Program. That urban design program through the University of Oklahoma is at the University Center at Tulsa.
I first met Bob after I returned from the City Design Institute for Mayors, and I began to talk to different people about how we could come together as a community and talk about this very, very important issue. Bob agreed at that point to be part of that discussion, and continues to be a very vital and effective voice. I am delighted to introduce and welcome Bob Jones.
Speaker: Robert Lawton Jones, FAIA
Robert Lawton Jones: Thank you, Susan, and good morning again. Tulsa has had a long history of planning and this has helped to provide a vision for the future. But, without the social, economic and political will to make things happen, Tulsa would be just another city on the river.
Much of this planning for growth occurred over 50 years or half a century. Only nine years after New York City adopted the first zoning ordinance in this country and only 14 years after Tulsa's incorporation, a City Planning Commission was established. In the succeeding eight years, a land-use pattern, zoning ordinance, sub-division regulation and street plan were adopted.
Let's look at these first efforts and a few of the highlighted events which followed.
The Tulsa Plan of 1924 was certainly forward looking even if the skyline picture on my first slide is not actually as it appeared in that time. It incorporated the 1923 zoning ordinance based on the pattern of existing land use. Special attention was given to the 25-square-mile area whose center at that time was described as Peoria and Edison. The regional map on this slide shows commercial areas in red, both in the central business district and at the intersection of major arterial streets, with industrial uses in gray, generally following railroads.
Two major parks were shown to the northeast and northwest. Regional infills were throughout, with no apparent effort to establish a sound relationship among living, employment, and recreation.
The transportation plan, which was updated with the Bartholomew study of 1928, indicates a hierarchy of streets. Those in red are streetcar lines serving a large portion of the population. These same street-types were described with dimensions. The lower three sections show the streetcar lines serving commercial, residential and suburban areas. In 1956, the plan for central Tulsa was prepared by Harold Wise with Richard Neutra and Larry Smith, who served as consultants. This conceptual plan called for commercial, which is shown in red and salmon, oriented in the north-south direction and sandwiched between extensive parking facilities to the east and west. Residential areas are in yellow, and public use and parkways are in green. It's possible to identify in this conceptual plan the Civic Center; housing and entertainment is to the east of it, Cathedral Square, or the grouping of downtown churches, are framed within the inner dispersal loop.
TUL Center, or a portion of this plan, is a 12-block area bounded by Second and Sixth streets and Boulder and Cincinnati avenues. It was to be a pedestrian zone with convenient parking at the edges. We see in the upper left the oil mart, which roughly resembles the Williams Center but was designated for specific uses and exhibit facilities serving the petroleum industry. To the east of it is the proposed transit center.
Tulsa's first comprehensive plan was in 1960. Virtually everything shown on this transportation map is in place today. The metro area with its five-mile perimeter had been defined seven years earlier with the creation of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area Planning Commission. Neighborhoods, almost neglected in some of the earlier studies, began to receive considerable attention.
In 1965, over 300 acres of downtown, or about a third of the area within the inner dispersal loop, became part of the Downtown-Northwest Urban Renewal Project. New uses were proposed, and deteriorated properties were acquired. Moving clockwise from the lower left, it is possible to identify what is now Center Plaza, the Doubletree Hotel, the Tulsa Regional Medical Center, state and federal offices and the Williams Center. The community renewal program, the metropolitan data center project, and the action program were generally concurrent with this effort.
The Open Space Plan of 1967 was a pioneering effort. Studies were made of physiology, geology, natural features, soils and water. This resulted in the designation of conservation and recreation areas.
In 1974, the Vision 2000 program recommended three development options or possibilities for urban form. The first projected the strong trend to develop in the southeast direction, the second assumed a more geographically balanced growth of the central city, and the third indicated more cluster development in various urban centers and existing suburbs.
Tulsa's second comprehensive plan was completed in 1975. One hundred eighty square miles of land were involved, and the planning area was divided into 26 planning districts. One of these districts, District 6, is shown here. Strong neighborhood participation in the planning process occurred in all 26 districts. To date, there have been over 400 planned unit developments approved under the comprehensive plan.
Tulsa's nationally recognized floodplain and stormwater management program was enacted in 1977. This detail of the Mingo Creek corridor indicates the recreational possibilities as well as the flood control that was generated by this program.
In 1987, District 1, which is the area within the inner dispersal loop, was updated. This plan emphasized Brady Village, housing, entertainment, and parking. The land-use pattern represents these proposed uses. Possibilities for individual projects are shown in this illustrated plan.
While the Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) had addressed water pollution and solid waste management as early as 1970, this drawing deals with the air quality and successful 1991 Ozone Alert! project.
In 1994, the transportation plan was updated as it periodically is every five years. Intermodule transportation systems are now being considered. Bicycle and pedestrian trails, as of yesterday, are 65 miles in length with 250 miles being proposed in the future.
In the past, our physical planning consistently demonstrated concern with four issues:
1. The relationship of land use or activities
2. Vehicular systems
3. Scale or density of development
4. Growth, particularly at the urban edge.
As we seek to comprehend the whole city and its many parts, we observe Tulsa through two lenses. In professional circles, these aspects are typically separated. City planners supply principles of urban organization at the macro-level. Physical detail is commonly excluded, and the city takes on a two-dimensional character. Nevertheless, the decisions made by planners through the political process have profound consequences.
On the other hand, architects, landscape architects and diverse design professionals work at the micro-level. Their collective effort is best described as incremental, resulting in small-scale changes, which rarely influence the overall quality of the larger urban environment. There is frequently an obsession with the isolated art object or building.
But we must be concerned with both structure and form -- both how Tulsa works and how Tulsa is perceived.
And, this is a matter of total sensory perception. It includes sight, sound, touch, and smell. Quality in this place we build for ourselves requires holistic attention. What we're really talking about here is the "art of relationships." Its purpose is to take all the elements that create our built environment, such as buildings, open space, nature, pedestrianways, vehicular traffic and parking, overhead utilities, signage, street furniture, and historic places, and weave them together in a way that produces an appropriateness -- a special harmony. For the city is a dramatic, environmental event. Urban design builds upon both planning and architecture, but it reaches beyond each. This may be part of our focus today.
If we really don't care about these things, we will simply have to settle for what we get. But, Tulsa is moving in the right direction. As the mayor mentioned, in 1988 steps were taken to protect historic neighborhoods. Two years ago an important landscape ordinance was enacted.
Other cities and regions now are employing urban-design guidelines to establish a framework within which development can occur, both in the private and public sector. Since urban-design issues are most frequently not a part of the comprehensive plans nor specific architectural projects, the guidelines help set a new performance standard for quality. In this sense, they go beyond the implications of land-use zoning but stop short of designing individual situations.
Urban design leads to a better living environment, encourages private development, and provides a method for effectively allocating public resources.
Let's look at some illustrations of ongoing efforts in Portland, Ore.; Fairfield, Calif.; Chicago; Kansas City; and the Connecticut River Valley.
Portland, which makes almost everyone's "Top Ten" and sometimes is regarded as a peer city with Tulsa, even though it is larger, has made some remarkable strides in urban design. This conceptual drawing or framework plan identifies gateways as important entry points into the central business district, public attractions, boulevards, transit systems, important views, pedestrian zones and the opportunity for creating superblocks for new development. Attention is being given to the streetscape with pedestrian amenities and public art. Different guidelines are being developed in different districts in Portland.
In Fairfield, Calif., which is a much smaller community of 100,000, the guidelines deal with landscape medians, parking buffers, and consideration of signage. The photo of the existing condition to the left, and the sketch showing what is possible on the right, offer dramatic contrast. The street section deals not only with moving lanes of traffic but with plant material, lighting, and signage as well.
In Chicago, Ill., urban-design guidelines are being used to control and guide development in the high-density area, in this case along the Chicago River, which connects to Lake Michigan, in the upper right. Building and parking setbacks along the river's edge are established. Lighting, pedestrianways, special routes, and handicapped access are all important elements.
Kansas City is also using urban-design guidelines in both the private and public sector. Here parking is being softened with a green edge. Visual clutter is reduced with the controlled placement of advertising and overhead utilities. Kansas City is focusing on hubs, both downtown and in the suburban areas.
The preservation of nature is a major concern in the Connecticut River Valley. This illustration is an example of the countryside before urbanization. A typical development pattern and existing zoning permits this sort of development to occur. But clustering of uses, even with the same average density of development, can preserve the land.
During the last 6,000 years, there have emerged three aspects which can be described as "design imperatives." Nature, humanity, and technology are the drivers of the built environment.
Today, our task is to develop a community that is in harmony with nature, meets the needs of all people, and uses the appropriate technology to give it form. Change is certain to occur in Tulsa. The trick is to direct positive growth, which produces quality.
As individuals, we often seek short-term satisfaction of our needs, unrestricted freedom, and the maximization of profit. These occupy a large part of our normal day.
On the other hand, community objectives tend to be focused upon long-term objectives, order, and social justice. These are the things upon which future generations depend.
Fresh approaches are needed. It would seem that somehow we must bring individual goals and community objectives into closer harmony.
In the final analysis, it's people who build cities. They support private development, and they provide the revenues for public investment. Each of us, for better or for worse, is concerned with the character of this place. Together, we can make a great difference in Tulsa.