Chapter II: The theoretical basis

Conclusion

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The approach adopted in this study differentiates it in three main respects from most previous studies:

1. In most other studies the traffic problem has been seen primarily as one of keeping vehicles on the move. As a result, these studies have been concerned first with by-passes to towns and have then worked inwards towards the town centre, applying the by-pass principle to facilitate the passage of vehicles round congested shopping centres and bottlenecks. This concentration of attention on the movement of vehicles has tended, we think, to distort or obscure the basic environmental objectives of town planning. The approach adopted in this study, centred on an attempt to distinguish the basic values, produces an inwards-outwards progression. Attention is first turned to the environment, to delineating the areas within which life is led and activities conducted. Gradually, for the whole town, working outwards from a large number of points, the cellular structure takes shape, and as it does so, by a complementary pro-cess, the pattern of the network declares itself. This, we submit, is the right order, and thus are vehicles and the arrangements for their movement kept in the right place-the place of service, no more, to the buildings and the activities therein.
2. The approach we have outlined opens the possibility of objective, quantitative assessments in fields where hitherto much has depended upon intuition.
3. Traffic is seen as part of the comprehensive problem of town planning. The importance of this for the redevelopment of urban areas, for administration, and for collaboration between the professions can hardly be exaggerated.