THE CONSERVATION GLOSSARY

Grid-iron / Organic planning

- sometimes simply referred to as the grid or checkerboard planning. The commonest, and the most rational, pattern for planning urban development. Virtually every town and village if not originally planned on a grid has a gridded addition. Grids are all too often perceived as boring and unimaginative, whereas in reality, there are many factors, which in conservation terms require careful analysis; the proportional relationships within the grid, the size shape and internal organisation of blocks, distribution of different building types and open space, the hierarchy of streets, the termination of streets, the effect of the mass of each grid. Gridiron planning is usually seen as the opposite of "organic" or unplanned town form, characterised by curved streets and irregular spaces. In fact, research usually shows that the organic form was usually subject to a control, just as strict as that of the gridiron.