Vasile ZOTIC1, Viorel PUIU1, Diana-Elena ALEXANDRU*1
* Corresponding author
1 Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Geography, Centre for Research on Settlements and Urbanism, Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA
E-mail: vasile.zotic@ubbcluj.ro, viorel.puiu@ubbcluj.ro, diana.alexandru@ubbcluj.ro
Pages: 181-191. URL: https://geografie.ubbcluj.ro/ccau/jssp/arhiva2_2010/13JSSP022010.pdf
Cite: Zotic V., Puiu V., Alexandru D.-E. (2010), Functional Zoning of the City/Village Area and its Role in the Sustainable Development of Settlements. Journal of Settlements and Spatial Planning, 1(2), 181-191. URL: https://geografie.ubbcluj.ro/ccau/jssp/arhiva2_2010/13JSSP022010.pdf
Abstract. Functional zoning of the city/village area is a mandatory step in planning a settlement. This is a complex conceptual and technical procedure carried out for the elaboration of the General Urban Plan (GUP), whose component it is, and on which the entire internal organization of a settlement depends. Its position in settlement’s internal structure is based on a variety of natural, technical and socio-economic elements, between which deep systemic relations are established. This complex geosystemic structure is nothing but the human habitat. Like other geosystemic structures it is also subject to planning and organization in order to improve the quality of housing. The quality of human habitat depends primarily on how the division and distribution of internal structural elements within a locality is made. In the past this was considered a secondary factor due to the limited technical possibilities of the human factor’s intervention, the dominant factor being the location in the territory. However, the fundamental concern is how to achieve this delineation of the city/village area, procedure that is called functional zoning, and what are the principles, methods and means used. Establishing the general urban characteristics ultimately depends on the development of a settlement, be it a rural or urban, as well as on the quality of the zoning process, which consists of: the determination of types of areas, their location within the city/village and their territorial size. Hence, when we speak about sustainable development of settlements we must take into account the way we realize the functional zoning of the city/village area.
K e y w o r d s: functional zoning, building regulations, land-use, urban density indicators, settlements, sustainable development