ENBE X TOWN REPORT

Content:
1. Introduction 3
2. The Town 4-5
3. Investigation & Data Collection: Ancient town 6-8
4. Investigation & Data Collection: Present town 9-11
5. Investigation & Data Collection: The future of town and better town 12-13
6. Case Study: A town on a small island 14-15
7. The New “X” Town ̶ Rafflesia Town 16-27
8. The Conclusion 28
9. References Links 29-30
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1.Introduction
For Elements of Natural Built Environment, our final project title is ‘Better Livable
Town’. This project consists of 40% which is 20% individual work and 20% group work.
From compiling and understanding of all the research, students are required to
plan for their own town. As the people in “X” town need a new town because it is
too crowded, each student needs to pretend that they are the mayor of the “X”
Town and propose a new “X” Town immediately so the citizens have place to live.
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By doing this project, students learn to explore the basic elements such as
natural topography, landscape, space, building and infrastructure. They also learn
to differentiate and compare the different development of the built environment by
looking at the natural topography, landscape, space, building and infrastructure.
2.The Town
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The Town Definition
A town is a place with many houses, shops, stores and many more where people live
and work. It is larger than a village but smaller than a city.
What is the brief history
The development of towns is generally complex. In those of our historic towns
not too mangled by Blitz or boom, you can trace the growth from medieval core
through belts of Georgian, Victorian and modern buildings, almost like tree rings.
Check your conclusions with a series of town maps. The date and magnificence
of churches, public buildings and places of entertainment give other clues to the
periods of greatest prosperity.
In the earliest town centers, the key ingredients of civilization came
together. Agricultural surpluses were sufficient to support specialized non farming
producers and non farming political and religious leaders. The interaction of these
groups resulted in a burst of creativity and innovation in a wide variety of fields. But
these earliest centers were quite isolated. They were merely tiny islands of sedentary
cultivators and small numbers of town people, surrounded by vast plains and
woodlands. The earliest town centers appear to have traded rather extensively but
to have maintained only intermittent and limited contacts with neighboring hunting-
and-gathering peoples. Though small in size and not highly specialized in
comparison with the cities of Sumer and other early civilizations, the first towns,
settled during this period, nonetheless played critical roles in continuing the
Neolithic transformation. The ruling elites and craft specialists of these towns
contributed in several major ways to the introduction in the 4th
millennium B.C. of
critical inventions such as the wheel, the plow, writing, and the use of bronze that
secured the future of civilized life as the central pattern of human history.
What makes a town
Someone needs to control the town. This person will run the whole town and
has the responsibility to protect the citizens. The government is in charge of
everything in the town. A town needs to have transportation, government buildings,
business area, commercial area, recreational area, education area, religious and
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cultures area, hospitals, services area, industrial area, residential area, community
area, port and shipping area, forest and green area and agriculture area and many
more. Besides, town needs to provide sufficient food and water as they are the basic
needs of living things. The management of waste and electrical supply also needs to
be operated well so that the citizens can live in the town comfortably.
What makes a good town
• Safe to live
• Clean environment
• Clean water supplement
• Efficient food supplement
• Efficient electrical supplement
• Balance economy
• Sufficient education opportunities
• Sufficient occupation opportunities
• Sufficient shelters to live
• Sufficient and convenient facilities
• Consideration of health issues
• Good medical resources
• Consideration of environmental issues
• Houses and services are energy efficient
• Safety and security are accessible to all
• Lots of green spaces
• Lots of vacation spots
• Lots of public spaces for people to interact
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What is the future town
In this era of globalization, technology had taken more than 50 percent
everyone’s lifestyle without doubt in the future, it will become a higher percentage.
Most probably in the future, vehicles travel using biomass, electricity or solar energy,
or the technology in town would be so advance that the vehicles wouldn’t even
need to get in contact with the ground! The buildings would probably be built using
the green building system which can protect the environment. It consists of many
green landscapes and surrounds by plants. The future town focuses more on the
environmental issues and will become clean and green, free of pollution and also
peaceful lifestyle so that we can live better.
3.Investigation & Data Collection:
Ancient town
Xitang, China
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History
Xitang is a famous town with thousands of years of history, lying in Jiashan County
in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. It dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period
(770 BC-476 BC) and the Warring States Period (476 BC-221 BC). The town was a
place of strategic importance on the boundary of the Wu and Yue states. Its flat
terrain is marked by a quiet, natural environment with rivers running through it. From
a bird's-eye view of the whole town, one sees blue water sparkling almost in every
point the eyes touch and reflections of the houses in the water. The quiet water,
handsome bridges, and the reflections in the early morning and the rosy sunset,
fishing boats and the glistening lights in the evening, form an amazing picture full of
a sense of poetry which can only be seen in the south lower reaches of the Yangtze
River. People there, whether local residents or visitors, feel that this is fairyland. They
even have no idea as to whether people are wandering in the picture or the picture
is moving in their hearts.
In the town, there are well-preserved groups of buildings of the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644) and the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) with relatively high artistic quality and
research value. It is famous for its large number of covered corridors, lanes and
bridges.
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What makes it a significant town and what are the details
The covered corridor is the most well known scene in this town. It is also the most
distinctive feature historic it offers compared with other water towns. Consisting of
many sections, the whole covered corridor is more than 1,000 meters (about 1094
yards) long, attracting visitors from all over the world with its particular charm. Mostly,
it is tile-roofed and built along the riverside, providing shelter for people to avoid
either the baking hot sun or the rain. Besides, the bridges to the south of the lower
reaches of the Yangtze River are like the hyperlink to the internet. Beautiful legends
about these bridges are still spread among the people. The craftsmanship of these
well-preserved bridges is so masterly that they are indeed a feast for your eyes. In
the old town, people who live there are not rich, so no newer modern houses have
been built there. That's maybe one of the reasons why the old constructions are
preserved as a whole almost without damage.
Conclusion about the town
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The bridges which built between rivers can connect the buildings and citizens
together. Some old towns in the world were destroyed by the natural disasters, but
Xitang Town still looks new and peaceful. If you need a break from the hustle and
bustle city life, there's really no better place for chilling out and experiencing the
peaceful life of it.
What information or element that I can use to my new future town
● I might be consider the boats as my town transportation as my town is on an island
which contains rivers.
● I will consider the interaction between people is not neglected.
● I will plant more plants beside the rivers as they are the source of water for plants.
Besides, plants can cool down the climate of my town.
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Present Town
West Bromwich, England
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History
In 1888, West Bromwich became a county borough, incorporating the village
of Great Barr. It was expanded in 1966, acquiring most of
the borough of Tiptonand Wednesbury urban district as well as a small section
of Coseley urban district, before joining with the neighbouring county borough
of Warley (which contained the towns of Rowley Regis, Oldbury and Smethwick) in
1974 to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell.
West Bromwich suffered heavily in the Cholera epidemic of 1831 which
spread northwards into the town. A temporary board of health was set up and a
hospital opened in the former Revivalist chapel in Spon Lane. The West Bromwich
Town Improvement Commissioners was established in 1854, and they tackled the
drainage problem in the town. By the outbreak of World War I in 1914, many of the
older houses that had been built to house workers during the Industrial
Revolution were becoming unfit for human habitation. After the end of the war, the
local council started building new homes to rehouse people from the rundown town
centre.The local road network was massively improved during the 1960s and 1970s.
Queen's Square shopping centre opened in the town centre in 1971,
providing shoppers with a 60-unit indoor shopping centre and an 850-space multi-
storey car park. West Bromwich's road links were further enhanced in 1995 on the
completion of the Black Country Spine Road that gives an unbroken dual
carriageway link to Bilston.The town has enjoyed something of an economic revival
since 11 July 2013, when the New Square shopping and entertainment complex
opened in the town centre on land adjoining the existing Queen's Square shopping
centre. Hundreds of jobs have been created and the town has attracted retailers.
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The town is famous for its football club, West Bromwich Albion. The club has won
seven major trophies; five FA Cups, one Football League title and one Football
League Cup. The local cricket team is West Bromwich Dartmouth Cricket Club and is
based in the town, very near to West Bromwich Albion's ground, the Hawthorns.
Engineering and chemicals are important to the town's economy, as it played a
crucial part in the Industrial Revolution during the 19th century and still retains many
manufacturing jobs to this day, despite a steady nationwide decline in this sector
since the 1970s. Sandwell General Hospital which locates near the town centre is
part of the Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust, one of the largest NHS
teaching trusts in the United Kingdom. Besides, the Church of England provides the
most places of worship across the geographically wider West Bromwich Deanery. It
has many mosques and also gurdwaras. It also provides sufficient education
opportunities for the citizens as there are many primary and secondary schools,
colleges and universities.
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This town is still developing into a better town. It is famous for its football club, West
Bromwich Albion which won lots of major trophies. It considers lots of perspectives
such as the population of people, social issues, culture and many more. In addition,
the infrastructure is sufficient to all the citizens in order to make their life better.
What information or element that I can use to my new town
● I may build a big football field and form a football club in my town to attract
tourists.
● I will build different religious buildings to allow my residents to pray for their religion
respectively.
● I will provide sufficient public services for my residents to provide them a
comfortable life.
● I will make sure the infrastructure is always under good condition.
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The future of town and Better Town
The Sino-Singapore Nanjing Eco Hi-tech Island
History
15

Sino-Singapore Nanjing Eco Hi-Tech Island Project was initiated by Ministry Trade
and Industry (MTI) of Singapore, International Enterprise (IE) Singapore, CPC Jiangsu
Committee, Provincial Government of Jiangsu, CPC Nanjing Committee, and the
Municipal Government of Nanjing. The JV Company, Sino Singapore Eco Hi-Tech
Island Development Co., Ltd., is co-invested by Yanlord Land Pte. Ltd., Sembcorp
Industrial Park Ltd. From Singapore, and State Assets Operation (Holding) Cp., Ltd. Of
Jianye District, and Development and Construction Department of Hexi New Town
of Nanjing. Both Singapore and Chinese shareholders are commited to building an
Eco Hi-Tech Island on Jiangxinzhou Island in Nanjing.
The total registered capital of the project company is US$ 300 million, and with an
initial capital injection of US$ 99 million, Development timeframe is expected to be
more than 10 years, with a total investment amounting to RMB 100 billion.
●three main development groups to ensure the intensive land using.
●the well-spaced and distributed buildings to present the view of the island in folds
of lush trees.
●relocate the local residents on the island in a designed area, providing with a
complete measure of social security and employment.
●It provides IT services, eco-environmental service, modern service industry and
modern agriculture service industry.
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The Sino-Singapore Nanjing Eco Hi-tech Island focuses more on the environment
issues. In order to make the town more eco-friendly, it uses many green
technologies to run the town. It also uses renewable energy as its energy source.
What information or element that I can use to my new town
● I will make sure I use the land intensively and do not misuse it.
● I will plant lots of trees around the island and distribute my buildings well.
● I will relocate my residents in a designed area and ensure they live together
peacefully.
● I might be provide IT services and eco-environmental service to improve the
quality of life of my residents.
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6.Case Study: A town on a small island
An island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is
above water at high tide. An island may be described as such despite the presence
of an artificial land bridge, for example Singapore and its causeway, or the
various Dutch delta islands, such as IJsselmonde. Some places may even retain
"island" in their names for historical reasons after being connected to a larger
landmass by a wide land bridge, such as Coney Island or Coronado Island.
Conversely, when a piece of land is separated from the mainland by a man-made
canal, for example the Peloponnese by the Corinth Canal, it is generally not
considered an island. Furthermore, there are two main types of islands which
are continental islands and oceanic islands. There are also artificial islands.
Advantages and Disadvantages of island
Advantages
● It has the natural barriers of water for protection and the water can provide a
source of food and transportation.
● There are surfing and the beautiful beaches.
● We can grow some exotic fruits and vegetables as the soil is fertile.
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● Warm tropical climate, golden sandy beaches and ravishing sapphire seas which
surround the island.
● It is remote and apart from the outside world, which gives us a quieter environment
to live in and allows us to explore the island relatively freely and safely.
Disadvantages
● It sometime has natural disaster such as tsunami which can kill lots of people.
● High rate of death due to drowning in the huge sea.
● People need to take aeroplanes or ferries if they want to visit other places.
● Water shortage as the heavy rain is irregular from season to season and from year
to year and also most islands have little water storage capacity.
● Solid waste disposal which are improper managed can cause health and pollution
problems.
Why the town is on an island
●I can use sea water to generate energy as water is renewable energy.
●Boats can be good public transport to travel around the town by using the rivers
instead of road vehicles.
●I can build underwater aquarium without catching the aquatic animals and can
attract tourist to visit my town.
●Island is remote and apart from the outside world, which gives us a quitter
environment to live in and allows us to live on it freely.
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7. The New “X” Town ̶ Rafflesia Town
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Masterplan of Rafflesia Town
• Logo
• SIZE OF TOWN: 30 km²
• POPULATION: 100,000 - 150,000
• Location: Sabah, Malaysia.
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The new town is proposed in Sabah because it is one of the most attractive
tourism places for tourist to visit. Besides, it is located in the Sulu Sea which has
the least monsoon happen.
Why ‘Rafflesia Town
The name of this town comes from two words which are ‘Rafflesia’ and ‘Aspasia’.
• Rafflesia is a type of flowering plant which can be found in Southeastern Asia
country especially in Malaysia. The town shape looks like a rafflesia.
• The word, ‘Aspasia’ in Greek means ‘welcome’.
Hence, the combination of these two words has the meaning of ‘Rafflesia Town
always welcomes you’.
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Aim of Rafflesia Town
•Tourism
It is a good place to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle city life.
It has lots of vacation spots such as aquatic theme park, resort, underwater
aquarium, recreational park, aquatic center which can attract people and results in
the growth of the economy and population.
Underground aquarium Aquatic theme park
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Sandy beach Aquatic center
Zoning
The residential locates quite far from the island to allow residents to enjoy
peaceful life and get away from the hustle and bustle city life. There are some
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tourism areas near the residential area to allow tourist to communicate with the
residents and enjoy the awesome scenery of the Rafflesia Town. There are also
military area, police stations and clinics near the residential area. Military area and
police stations can protect the safety of the town while clinics can make sure the
residents and tourist are always as fit as fiddles.
The green area which surrounds the town provides clean and fresh air and
also improves the climate of the town. The sandy beach can be one of the vacation
spots of Rafflesia Town as it allows people to do lots of aquatic activities such as
snorkeling, swimming, fishing and many more. Public services area such as police
stations, firefighter stations and hospitals are located inside the island to take quick
respond if any emergencies happen in the town. Besides, the waste management
area manages the waste well by recycling and reusing the waste. The public spaces
such as park, plaza and public squares enable the citizens to relax and also do some
family activities like picnic. The agriculture area provides sufficient food for the
residents and make sure they are healthy.
Government area consists of authority and government buildings, town
council, town hall and high courts. It provides occupation opportunities to the
residents of Rafflesia Town. Furthermore, the commercial area includes Malls,
markets, shops and restaurants which allow people to buy things and goods if
necessary. There are different religious buildings in religious and cultures area to
allow the residents to pray for their religion respectively. Education area such as
kindergarten, primary school, secondary school, colleges and universities provide
better and high quality education to the residents of Rafflesia Town. The recreational
area is built near to the education area to allow the students to relax after their
schools.
In addition, the military area is not only built near the residential area, but also
in the town. This to protect and ensure the safety of the town. There are some
factories in the industrial area which produce sardine fish tins, fishnets, fishing rods
and many more to increase the income of Rafflesia Town. The communication area
is located at the centre of the town to receive connection and provide the newest
information to the entire town. The lighthouse is located at the centre of the town to
emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and used as a navigational
aid for maritime pilots at sea. The port area enables trades to occur in and out of the
town efficiently.
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Transportation
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●MRTs allow the residents to travel around the whole island.
●Highways allow the residents to travel between residential area and the island.
●Ships and boats allow the residents to travel between residential area and the
island.
●Ships and boats also allow people to travel around the island by using rivers.
●Bridges allow people to walk across river.
●Bicycle pathways make the residents more convenient to travel around the area.
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●Buses enable people to travel from one place to another in the town.
Highlight of Rafflesia Town
TSUNAMI BARRIER SYSTEM (TPS)
●The barrier is made of extremely thick glass which can detect all weapon
projectiles and natural disaster like tsunami.
● It can detect earthquake vibration and predict tsunamis.
● It forms a barrier shield around the town automatically during tsunami.
● It prevents full damage from natural disaster like tsunami and ensure the safety of
the citizens.
PRESSURE PUMP
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● Pressure pipes carries pressure to the booster pump.
● Then, it will be sent to pressure tank to be stored.
● During high tide, the pressure tank will distribute pressure to the residential area.
● This will ensure the residential area keeps floating and does not flood.
30

FILTER MACHINE
● It pumps water from sea to filter sea water and sea water will undergo filtration
process.
● Sea water then undergoes reverse osmosis in reverse osmosis system.
● Sea water is boiled and salt and impurities will be filtered until it turns into clean
water.
● Then, the filtered water will be transmitted to all the buildings on the island.
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Perspective of Rafflesia Town
32

33

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Sustainable Approaches
●Transportation are mainly public transport such as MRTs, boats, ships, taxis, buses
and bicycles.
35

●Green buildings which can save energy and resources and improve the quality of
human life.
●Walkability which has many health, environmental and economic benefits.
36

●Emphasize the concept of 3Rs which are reuse, reduce and recycle, especially
water transportation.
●Renewable energy like water is clean source of energy that has a much lower
environmental impact than conventional energy technologies.
37

8.Conclusion
It has been few weeks since I have been researching on town, it is an extremely
challenging project as I’m just a beginner in architecture. But, I really enjoy the
process of doing this project and I’ve learned many things.
By doing research towards ancient, present and future towns, it makes a very
big difference when planning a town as I can see how the world is changing and
investigate the development of buildings. Besides, I realize that green place plays an
important role in our life as it allows us to relax and get away from the hustle and
bustle city life. I also learn to differentiate and compare the different development
of the built environment by looking at the natural topography, landscape, space,
building and infrastructure.
In a nutshell, I believe that Rafflesia Town is the town that you will never leave
once you live. It is the best island town ever! Thank you!
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9.Reference Links
1. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/town?q=town
2. http://www.buildinghistory.org/towns.shtml
3. http://history-world.org/firsttowns.htm
4. http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1583419
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5. http://futurecapetown.com/
6. http://www.chinahighlights.com/hangzhou/attraction/xitang-town.htm
7. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=36157
8. http://www.workhouses.org.uk/WestBromwich/
9. http://en.sneco.com/
10. http://www.sembcorp.com/en/integrated-urban-development-china-
sino_singapore_nanjing_eco_hi_tech_island.aspx
11. http://www.labiotheque.org/2011/05/biodiversity-on-islands-i-island.html
12. http://www.gdrc.org/oceans/sin-problems.html
13. http://www.wonderfulmalaysia.com/islands-malaysia.htm
14. http://www.pinterest.com/oviox/plans-master-plan/
15. http://adn.blam.be/springfield/
16. http://worldbuildingschool.com/how-to-design-a-town/
17.http://books.google.com.my/books?id=7rP_5Oa78kcC&pg=PA75&source=gbs_to
c_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false
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18. http://www.freedrinkingwater.com/water_quality/quality1/1-make-seawater-
drinkable.htm
19. http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/pages/what-is-sustainable-development.html
20. http://www.greenbuildingindex.org/
21. http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-and-sustainable-energy-reviews/
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