2.4 Improve access to facilities
2.41. Define an appropriate supply of public facilities and services
This indicator has come to be understood in terms of minimums, maximums and
thresholds. It is highly traditional in Spanish urban planning laws and
nowadays is very present in Community legislation.
2.42. Foster proximity to amenities and facilities
This is a question of considering other requirements, above all related to
proximity and the distribution of amenities and facilities within the city.
Discussion
There are quite a number of references to this last section of the second sphere
(criteria for action in urbana areas),
especially true for the first of the two criteria, related to an
adequate offer of public amenities and facilities. Above all, this is
because the criterion has been interpreted as the establishment of
thresholds and percentages suitable for their introduction into the legal
framework. In contrast, the second criterion, referring to fostering the
proximity of the amenities and facilities, warrants few mentions, probably
due to the clear difficulty in exactly defining it. However, due to its
importance from the viewpoint of sustainability (many in-city trips
generated are caused by poor localization and distribution of amenities and
facilities) they should be re-conceived in terms of ease of use and not
simply in quantitative terms. It is also feasible to try out planning of
the type: sports installations at a maximum distance from residential
buildings. Whatever the case it seems vital that there is a new approach to
all the legislation related to public amenities and facilities. The
traditional scheme, the hierarchical Alexander tree form, should be
replaced by a new set up compatible with the complex character of historic
cities.