Coving (urban planning)

For other uses, see Cove (disambiguation).

Coving is a method of urban planning used in subdivision characterized by non-uniform lot shapes and home placement. When combined with winding roads, lot area is increased and road area reduced. Coving is used as an alternative to conventional "grid" subdivision layout in order to reduce costs, such as road surfacing, while improving aesthetics, and increasing the amount of land available for construction.^{[1] [2]}

History

Coving method

Conventional or grid method

Coving was pioneered by Minneapolis-based urban designer Rick Harrison. His design intent was that no two houses look directly into each others windows. The name comes from coves of green spaces among the homes which are made possible by winding roads and staggered setbacks.^[3]

Advantages and disadvantages

A coved layout reduces construction costs by reducing roadway, thereby lowering paving and utility-line costs. The reduction in road surface adds usable land for lots and parks. Other benefits are increased pedestrian safety due to less road and fewer intersections. Individual properties also gain aesthetic value from the separate meandering setback lines, sidewalks, and roadways.^[4]

Coving has been cited as having several disadvantages: greater set-back from the street, larger lots, reduced usability for mixed application, decreased walkability, decreased street and pedestrian connectivity of a tract to its surroundings, increased suburban sprawl, leaving little or no public open space^[5], and allowing more soil runoff and less communal open space than alternate development types such as urban cluster and new urbanism.^[6]

Design

Designing coved developments is considered comparatively difficult. Specialized software is often used and designers often need several years of experience to become proficient. The design also isn't feasible for narrow tracts of land, and house footprints need to be less than 85% of the lot size.^[7]

References

1. ^ Carriger, Adrienne (October 1997). "Coving: The Future in Single Family Design". Professional Surveyor 17 (7). Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928001718/http://www.profsurv.com/archive.php?issue=18&article=200. 
2. ^ Harrison, Rick (2005-05-10). "Land Development Economics 101". Land Development Today. Archived from the original on March 20, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060320225642/http://www.landdevelopmenttoday.com/Article256.htm. Retrieved 2006-07-03. 
3. ^ Sharoff, Robert (1998-02-15). "Creating a New Concept in Subdivision Layouts". New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E04E7D7163CF936A25751C0A96E958260. Retrieved 2006-07-03. 
4. ^ Carriger, Adrienne (March 1998). "Coving: The Future in Single Family Design". Professional Surveyor 18 (2). Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070928001547/http://www.profsurv.com/archive.php?issue=21&article=249. 
5. ^ "CHAPTER XXXII - LAND DIVISION ORDINANCE". Village of Slinger, Wisconsin. Archived from the original on 2007-06-13. http://web.archive.org/web/20070613182846/http://www.slinger-wi-usa.org/Ordinance+Page/land+division+article+7.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-25. 
6. ^ "Low Impact Development" (PDF). Lancaster, Nebraska. http://www.lancaster.ne.gov/city/pworks/watrshed/educate/bmpguide/pdf/bmpguid4.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-25. 
7. ^ Sichelman, Lew (2005-07-10). "Developer's cove". San Diego Union-Tribune. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050710/news_1h10sichel.html. Retrieved 2006-07-03.