CHAPTER TWO: HIERARCHY OF PLANS
ARTICLE: HIERARCHY OF PLANS IN UK
Level 1, Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) at the national level
The Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) is on the highest level of the planning framework. It is a territorial development strategy, which guides urban planning at both regional and local levels by providing consistency across the whole country. Regional and local planning authorities must take their contents into account in preparing their development plans. It is a non-statutory policy guidance for providing planning objectives, approaches and operational principles at national level, and considering various aspects of urban planning, such as green belts, housing, countryside, industrial and commercial development, coastal areas, tourism, etc. PPG is produced for short periods of time (such as five years with a mid-term review) for which it is possible to foresee likely changes. Design issues are stressed recently and integrated into the PPG.
Level 2, Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) at the Regional Level
At the next level of the hierarchy, Regional Planning Guidance (RPG) is also non-statutory guidance but with emphasis on regional development. It provides a regional development strategy to coordinate local planning. The RPG has a dual role: on the one hand it offers a spatial framework for the land use and economic investment decisions of central government and large development interests and on the other it provides some rather general guidance for local planning. The long-term objective of RPG should be to develop into a comprehensive spatial strategy for the region; i.e. to set out the range of public policies that will manage the future distribution of activities within the region. RPG should avoid identifying specific sites as suitable for development. However, RPG will need to establish the locational criteria appropriate to regionally or sub-regionally significant housing, business, retail and leisure uses, or to the location of major new inward investment sites. At the same time, RGP also sets up general guidance for local planning to guide the region development in a consistence way, including housing, transport, urban design, etc.
Level 3, Development Plans at the Local/district level
At the local/district level, the development plan has statutory power under the Town and Country Plan Act. It is composed of the Structure Plan and Local Plan. While the structure plan provides a broad range of planning policies for the overall area, the local plan contains physical land use plans. The plans are usually in the form of maps or diagrams. Because the purpose of a Structure Plan is to establish general policy for future change in the planning, it is not important to show how planning proposals relate in any detail to individual plots of land. Structure Plan key diagrams are usually brightly colored and diagrammatic in style, with the policies indicated approximately to scale but without an Ordinance Survey base. In contrast, Local Plans are intended to show how Structure Plan policies are interpreted in more detail at the scale of individual settlements, especially where rapid change is taking place. Local Plan maps must show physical relief features and the location of specific sites. However, there are three types of Local Plan and the presentation differs somewhat:
District Plans cover fairly large areas such as a small town or collection of rural
settlements. These plans may be diagrammatic and cover essentially the same subjects
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as the Structure Plan but the proposals are specific to a certain site and shown at a scale of 1:25000.
Action Area Plans identify quite small areas, residential neighborhood or renewal
over a ten-year period. The maps show detail often at a scale of 1:2500. Subject Plans cover particular topics which Counties and Districts think require some
special investigation, for example: green belts, the rural-urban fringe, recreation, mineral extraction, reclamation and waster disposal. Urban design at the local/district level becomes more specific. Planning policies in the structure plan integrate urban design policies with a good understanding of the local/district context. For local plans, design policies in terms of desirable standards of urban design, like scale, height, materials are attached for different types of area. In addition, supplementary guidelines are especially set for different districts. Besides, the Town and County Plan Act have two ordinances concerned with urban design: the Civic Amenities 1967 and the Housing Act 1969, which give urban design control with statutory power.
FURTHER READING (1):Comprehensive Plan, Precise Plan and Zoning
The Comprehensive Plan sets the basic policies for development of the city, the general relation between the various land uses —— residential, commercial, and industrial and forms the framework of the urban structure, From time to time this general framework is translated into precise plans which specify the zoning for land use, streets and highways, mass transit, recreation and conservation, subdivision expansion, utilities, railways and airports, civic centers, schools, and urban redevelopment. The precise plans interpret the basic policies for urban development reflected in the comprehensive plan and serve to adjust the Plan to new situations and conditions as they arise.
The precise plans serve a dual function. On one hand, they define the standards for development of the city, the standards of population density, the design of the circulation system, and the amount and location of open space and physical facilities for business and residence. On the other hand, the precise plans provide a program for development, a basis for timing proposed improvements in the city, the location, design, and installation of utilities, schools, parks, the extension of subdivision development, and the redevelopment of devastated areas. Thus, the need for public improvements may be geared with the ability to finance such improvements and maintain a coordinated pace with expansion of private development.
Planning is a process which anticipates the needs of a community, proposes ways and means for the satisfaction of these needs, and relates these proposals to the orderly development of the city and realization of the comprehensive plan. The precise plans are the instruments with which these functions are performed.
Zoning is the legal regulation of the use of land. It is an application of the police power for the protection of the public health, welfare, and safety. The regulations include provisions for
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the use of property and limitations upon the shape and bulk of buildings that occupy the land. The law comprises two parts: the ordinance in which the regulations are defined, and the zoning map which delineates the districts within which the provisions of the ordinance apply. Zoning Ordinance and Map. Zoning laws consist of two fundamental parts: an ordinance defining the entire set of regulations, and the zoning map describing the various use districts. Although there are many local variations, the zoning map normally includes residential districts (estate, single-family, and multiple family), commercial, industrial, and special-use districts, and the corresponding regulations indicate the density, intensity, height and bulk of development in each respective category.
Zoning is neither a substitute nor an alternative for the comprehensive plan. The plan expresses the basic policies which shape the community character, the general land use, circulation, and relationships among the variety of urban facilities. The zoning plan establishes the specific limitations which apply to the use of land as an instrument for achieving the goals set forth in the comprehensive plan. Serving as a comprehensive guide for urban development, the comprehensive plan is usually adopted as a resolution by the legislative body. The zoning plan is adopted and rendered effective as a legal ordinance. Validity of the zoning ordinance has been subjected to several tests by the courts, whose decisions have generally supported the following criteria:
1. The plan shall be comprehensive.
2. The same regulations shall apply to all districts having similar zone classifications. 3. The plan shall demonstrate protection of health, welfare, and safety. 4. There shall be neither discrimination nor capricious intent in the plan.
5. Administration of the ordinance shall be reasonable and free from arbitrary decisions.
FURTHER READING（2）: Hierarchy of Plans in Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, planning is carried out at three levels (see Figure 2.2), namely, territorial, sub-regional and district planning. This gives rise to a three-tier planning system comprising the Territorial Development Strategy, the Sub-Regional Development Strategy and the district plans. Guiding the preparation of these plans is the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines.
Figure 2.2 the hierarchy of plans in HK 1. Territorial Development Strategy (TDS)
The TDS provides a long-term planning framework, upon which sub-regional and district planning will be based, for the integration of Government policies on land use, transport infrastructure development and environmental matters. It’s objectives is to formulate a long
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TERRITORIAL/STRATEGIC Territorial Development Strategy SUB-REGIONAL
Sub-regional Development Strategy Statutory Outline Zoning Plan &Development Permission Area Plan DISTRICT/LOCAL Hong Kong Planning Standards & Guidelines Outline Development Plan Layout Plan term land use/transportation strategy for Hong Kong to cater for a derived population and associated socio-economic activities in a manner which will produce a highest quality of environment with constrains set by resources availability and time frame within which the needs of target population have to meet.
Since the first TDS 1984, it has been reviewed several times to take account of changing circumstance. Recently, “Hong Kong 2030: Planning Vision and Strategy” is being carried out for a further review.
2. Sub-regional Development Strategy (SRDS)
Within the framework of the TDS, SRDS are prepared to translate the territorial goals into more specific planning objectives for the five sub-regions of Hong Kong(i.e. the Metropolitan area, the North East New Territories, the North West New Territories, the South East New Territories and the South West New Territories). Each SRDS comprises a series of plans and development statements which provide a framework for more detailed district planning and work programmers.
In one of the sub-regions, the Metropolitan area, the Metroplan has been prepared to provide a planning framework for public and private sector development and a conceptual strategy for developing and upgrading the Metro sub-region. On the basis of Metroplan, development statements have been prepared to translate the broad Metroplan concepts into specific district planning objectives and plans of action. To date, development statements for West Kowloon, South East Kowloon (including the Kai Tak Airport site) and Tsuen Wan-Kwai Tsing have been published. The Hong Kong Island West Development Statement is under preparation. 3. District plans
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District plans are detailed land use plans which translate the broad planning principles identified in the territorial and sub-regional levels to the local level through the designation of various parcels of land for different uses. There are two types of district plans, namely, statutory and departmental plans.
Statutory plans are prepared by the Town Planning Board (TPB) under the Town Planning Ordinance. They include Outline Zoning Plans (OZPs) and Development Permission Area (DPA) plans. The OZPs show the proposed land uses and major road systems of individual planning scheme areas. Areas covered by such plans are zoned for such uses as residential, commercial, industrial, open space, government, institution and community uses, green belt, conservation areas, comprehensive development areas, village type development, open storage or other specified purposes. Attached to each OZP is a Schedule of Notes setting out the uses which are always permitted (Column 1 uses) in a particular zone and other uses for which the TPB's Permission must be sought (Column 2 uses).
DPA plans have been prepared since the enactment of the Town Planning (Amendment) Ordinance 1991 mainly for the non-urban area. They also indicate land use zones and are accompanied by a set of Notes which specify the uses which are always permitted and those which require TPB's permission. Development without the necessary planning permission will constitute an unauthorized development and will be subject to enforcement. DPA plans are interim plans. They are effective for three years from the date of first publication and will be replaced by OZPs within the period. The provisions for enforcement will however continue to be applicable in the areas after the DPA plans are replaced by OZPs.
Departmental plans are non-statutory and they include Outline Development Plans (ODPs) and Layout Plans (LPs). ODPs are prepared within the framework of the relevant SRDS and OZPs, and show greater details of development proposals. LPs are usually of local significance, drawn on larger scales and prepared for unformed or newly-formed land or redevelopment areas that require comprehensive planning. Once approved, both ODPs and LPs are binding on Government and serve as a guide for development programming, development control, land sales and the reservation and allocation of Government sites. Level: Planning hierarchy: territorial; regional; local/district PPG; RPG; Development Plans; local plan; structure plan; development strategy; spatial framework; non-statutory; statutory; comprehensive plan; precise plan; zoning countryside; residential; commercial; industrial; retail; high way; mass transit; rail ways; airport; civic centers, schools; recreation; conservation; open space; utility ; circulation policy; regulation; law; ordinance; supplementary scale, height and materials; shape and bulk; density ; intensity Land use: Document: Policies or limitations:
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