1. Urban Planning / Transportation Engineering Project

2. Objective Introduce students to the TDL Career Cluster: Transportation Systems/Infrastructure Planning, Management, and Regulation –Urban Planning / Transportation Engineering (Civil Engineering) Introduce Students to Urban Planning Concepts

3. What is Urban Planning? Urban Planners develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of local jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.

4. City Zones What are City Zones? –Zones regulate land use in various parts of counties and cities. –“Zoning” is the practice of designating what a specific section of land can be used for within a given geographical area. mapped zones separate one set of land uses from another

5. WHY USE ZONING? Primary purpose of zoning is to segregate different uses of land that are incompatible with each other. –Zoning is used to prevent new developments from harming existing residents or businesses.

6. EXAMPLE Lets say you live in a low density housing area (suburb) of Omaha, and a new power company wanted to buy some of the houses in your neighborhood, destroy them, and put up a nuclear power plant in your back yard, would this harm your way of living?

7. ANSWER By constructing a new nuclear power plant… –Housing values would go down. –Pollution (although within the required legal limits) would increase. –Higher traffic in and out of plant may cause traffic safety issues. –Noise levels would go up…if the plant ran 24/7, it would be difficult for families living in the area.

8. City Zones Residential Zone (Green) –The areas in a city where people live. –Housing developments, Apartments and Condos. Purpose of a Residential Zone –To reserve appropriate located areas for families living in a broad range of dwellings. –To ensure adequate light, air, privacy, and open space – To minimize traffic congestion and to avoid the overloading of public services.

9. City Zones Commercial Zone (Blue) –Commerce deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. –Example: Wal-Mart, Kum and Go, and Wendy’s Purpose of Commercial Zones: –To provide areas for the development and operation of retail and service businesses in support of community needs.

10. City Zones Industrial Zone (Yellow) –Industry is the segment of economy concerned with production of goods –The purpose of Industrial zones is to provide a location for Manufacturing plants. –Industrial Zones provide cities with large employers. EXAMPLE: Kellogg’s Plant, Omaha

11. City Zones Utilities : –Refer to the set of services (infrastructure) provided by organizations that are consumed by the public: gas, water, electricity, and sewerage. –These organizations are usually owned or regulated by the government Power Plants Supplying Power to the city. OPPD: Omaha Public Power District Water Treatment and Gas Supplying water and gas to the city MUD: Metropolitan Utilities District

12. Transportation Engineering Be mindful of how well you provide areas for people to move around and through your city. Provide areas for road expansion. –You must be able to grow your highway and street system as your population grows.

13. How Would You Layout Your City?

14. Project Using the SIM City software, you will develop your own city. You will be graded on 3 things –How fast you grow your city (100 points) –How well you take stats on your city (200 points) –How well you put together your presentation of your city (200 points)

15. What You Will Be Graded On 1 st, City Growth: 100 points –Try to grow your city by 500 people a year. –You will start you city in the year 1900 and end in the year 1925

16. Where Would You Start? Start by a river or a body of water Using water ways was a major form of transportation in the early 1900’s and today is the cheapest means of transporting goods.

17. Topography Be mindful of the surface features of a given area Is it harder to build on bluffs or hills Build on plains or flat areas. Example: Council Bluffs Vs. Omaha

18. When Using the SIM software Start on a flat surface near water. –Bluffs are hard to build on and will only cause you to run out of space. Start with a power plant –Do not put residential around the power plant –Power Plants should be on the outskirts of the city. One square equals 6 to 8 city blocks. –Do not build areas wider than 6 by 6 Do not spread your city out too much! Remember, you do not construct the buildings, you just zone the land for building.

19. Start with these settings: Easy $20,000 1900 Do Not modify the land area.

20. What You Will Be Graded On 2 nd, Statistics: 200 points –Everyone will be required to take stats over how well you city is growing. –To take stats, you will use the excel spreadsheet given to you.

21. When Do I Take Stats? You will take your stats every December You will take stats every 5 years in December –December 1905, December 1910, December 1915… Make sure to pay attention, points will be taken away if you take stats at the wrong time.

22. Taking Stats Graph Button –Press the Graph Button to take stats for the first 13 rows on your stat sheet. (reddish orange area)

23. Taking Stats Budget Window –Press the green money symbol to take stats for the last 12 rows on your stat sheet. (light blue area)

24. What You Will Be Graded On 3 rd, Presentation: 200 points –Everyone will be required to make a presentation using the MS PowerPoint Template given. –You must have pictures included in your presentation. –Presentations must be completed to earn maximum points –Presentations will be given to the class after cities are completed and all stats are taken.

25. Good Luck