Thus, this strategy can also be called as ‘building compact and networked city from bottom up’, or ‘Strategy of creating compact neighbourhoods’ On the other hand, The second strategy relates to the socio-economic dimension of neighbourhoods and relies primarily on socio-economic policies rather than structural transformations. It requires aligning the socio-economic policies to the neighbourhood scale and governing the type of ‘service’ that should be availed either by building ‘density and diversity’ or directly by ‘public actions.’ Example: Deciding which services should be housed in the ‘newly built’ or ‘abandoned/ existing’ ground floor retail shops or buildings. This can be done by implementing various socio-economic policies and incentive instruments. Thus, this type of Strategy can also be called as ‘buildings neighbourhoods based on access from bottom up’ or ‘Strategy of reducing time poverty in cities. The following two subsections further elaborate the shared as well as specific characteristics of these two interrelated and complex strategic dimensions of creating ‘walkable’ and ‘proximate’ city with neighbourhoods and people as focal point.
5.1.1. Strategy of ‘Enabling Service Localization in Neighbourhoods’ From a spatial planning perspective (in a free market economy), enabling services and amenities to be localised in neighbourhoods requires structural changes in neighbourhoods based on creating density and diversity and increasing pedestrianization through urban design measures. This strategy can also be called as ‘building compact city from bottom up’, or ‘Strategy of creating compact neighbourhoods’ Transforming neighbourhoods to the compact city ideal requisites infill densification and diversification in underutilised lots and brownfield areas. This infill densification needs to be prioritised near transit hubs to avail localization of services close to from where people commute. Generally, this densification is bought about by amending zonal regulations. For example, increasing the allowable limit for floor area ratio (FAR) is a common tool for increasing density. Such tools activate private developers to increase density within their properties. As suggested from the literature reviewed on compact cities and observing the case studies, building (compact) cities from local scale of neighbourhoods requires a ‘placebased approach’ to city making. A place-based approach warrants ‘comprehensive strategic framework’ to resolve the issues of creating compact cities (Barca et al., 2012). A place-based approach mandates co-creation of neighbourhoods with communities. By doing so, it gives a fine-grained focus on the issues of the neighbourhood. It helps to identify potentials and difficulties for infill development of density and diversity by looking at existing resources in the neighbourhoods. For example, Portland has added inclusionary zoning policy through which it is allowing production of different building types in 110
