A town center should be designed functionally and artistically to be a meeting ground for all sections of the community and its neighborhood units.

1. Planning of Town Center

2. Defining the Town Center
• Town centre is the part of the town in which the central services of higher
order which that particular type of town can support are found
• The town centre is the central district of a city, usually typified by a
concentration of retail and commercial buildings
• The CBD or Central Business District is focal point of a city. It is the
commercial, office, retail, and cultural center of the city and usually is the
center point for transportation networks.
• Town centers are symbolic to settlements as a whole and often contain
the best examples of architecture, main landmark buildings, statues and
public spaces associated with a place.
• Public buildings including town halls, museums and libraries are often
found in town centers.

3. Defining the Town Center
• The CBD developed as the market square in ancient cities. On market
days, farmers, merchants and consumers would gather in the center of the
city to exchange, buy, and sell goods. This ancient market is the forerunner
to the CBD.
• Land values are high because of high accessibility, therefore land use is at
its most intense in order to offset rent costs. In consequence, in many
countries development is upwards rather than sideways.
• Within the CBD, specialist areas, such as a jewelry or garment-making
quarter, may arise in order to benefit from external economies.
• Vertical land-use zoning is also common, so that retail outlets may be on
the ground floor, with commercial users above them and residential users
higher up.

4. Requirements of a Town Center
• Geographical centrality
• Accessibility for vehicles and pedestrians
• Ample parking spaces
• High measure of compactness
• Comfortable, safe, attractive, accessible and
durable, are key elements which can improve
the health, vitality and economic potential of
a town centre.

5. Objectives of Planning a Town Center
• Enhancing consumer choice by making provision for a range of shopping, leisure
and local services.
• Supporting efficient, competitive and innovative retail, leisure, tourism and other
sectors, with improving productivity.
• Creating additional employment opportunities and an improved physical
environment to deliver more sustainable patterns of development, ensuring that
locations are fully exploited through high-density and mixed-use development
• Protect and enhancing the architectural and historic heritage of the community
• Providing a sense of place and a focus for the community and for civic activity
• Ensuring that town centers should provide an attractive, accessible and safe
environment for businesses, shoppers and residents.

6. Characteristics of Town Center
• It contains main public buildings such as libraries, main
religious centers, stations and town halls.
• It contains specialist shops and branches of major department
stores, hotels and restaurants.
• It contains social amenities such as cinema halls, clubs and
theatres.
• Industry is not present.
• It contains offices and other professional buildings.
• These buildings tend to be taller than other buildings in the
city because it is cheaper to buy a small plot of land and build
upwards than buying a huge plot of land and only building
one or two floors.

7. Characteristics of Town Center
• Pedestrian levels are particularly high and parking
restrictions are greatest
• It is likely to contain a region with the greatest land
value.
• Transportation such as trains, underground metro
services and park and ride services
• High concentration of traffic.
• High use of public transportation.
• High employment rate.

8. Design Considerations of a Town Center
• A town center should be designed functionally and artistically to be a meeting ground for all
sections of the community and its neighborhood units.
• It is essential that the functions of a town center respond in details of their design to special
segments of the community, such as the handicapped and make the area accessible to them
by a variety of techniques such as mobile sidewalks and alternatives to stairways.
• An open green area should be separated from vehicles to be used by social groups of all
types
• The center should provide attractive and special space for public gatherings which should be
protected from the weather
• Climatic conditions should be considered in designing the integrated sections of the center.
• The public spaces in the town center should use natural daylight and at night it should be lit
up to encourage use and establish secure feelings
• Artistically the town center should be a noticeable land mark within the entire new town to
establish its image and residents identification, a place that people are attracted to which
respond to their social or economic needs.

9. Space Allocation in Town Center
• It involves determining the total population
which will regularly visit the town center
• demand for parking spaces
• Extent to which uses are divided vertically and
horizontally
• One acre per thousand population can be
allocated to the town center
• The choice of space allocation to different
uses depends upon the type of community to
be served and purpose of the new town

10. Some Examples of Purpose Built Town Centers
Stevenage Town Centre
Crawley Town Center
Harlow Town Center

11. Stevenage Town Centre
• It is internationally famous because it is the first pedestrian
center in the country
• There is a long central pedestrian way called Queensway
• A clock tower stands in an ornamental pool on town square
• Town square is a pleasant place for shoppers to rest with its
benches, groups of trees and tubs of flowers
• A mother and child bronze statue acts as monument
• A county college

12. Stevenage Town Center

13. Stevenage Town Center

14. Harlow Town Center
• It consists of several rectangular plots on
which buildings are formally grouped with
periphery roads
• Central part of the center is covered and
pedestrianized
• Open and multi storey parking facilities have
been provided

15. Harlow Town Center
 Civic Centre
 2 Police Station
 3 Magistrates Court
 4 Library
 5 Post Office
 6 Bus Terminus
 7 Harvey Shopping Centre
 8 Toilets
 9 Cinema
 10 County Court
 11 Harlow Market
 12 Advice Centre
 13 Playhouse Theatre
 14 St Pauls Church
 15 The Water Gardens
 16 First Bowl -
 Bowling Centre
 17 Shopmobility
 18 Wych Elm
 19 Harlow College
 20 ECC Registrar
 21 Occasio House &
 Young Peoples
 Information Centre
 22 Contact Harlow
 23 Princess Alexandra
 Hospital
 24 NHS Walk In Centre

16. Harlow Town Center

17. Crawley Town Center