Transect Model

This information originally appeared as an article by Emily Neely in the Winter 2006 On the Move.

     Imagine taking a Sunday drive through the countryside, and seeing a large, glass bank building in the middle of a field: this picture would probably strike most people as out of place. On the other hand, imagine walking through a city and seeing this same building amid other large financial buildings: this picture aligns with what most people expect in a city. 

People have an innate sense of what types of buildings belong where, as well as what those buildings should look like. When we see farmland, we assume we are far from an urban area.  When we see dense neighborhoods, we feel we are closer.  When we see a large school in the middle of farmland, we are more confused about what type of place we are in. When a building or sequence of development does not fit our expectations, we can lose our sense of comfort or “sense of place.” 

Counties, towns and cities can create and maintain welcoming places by using human perception as the guiding principal for deciding how development is placed and designed. Currently, counties or municipalities manage development through zoning laws or land development ordinances.  These types of regulations have historically been used to protect the compatibility of adjoining land uses, such as the often-used example of keeping hog farms away from residential areas. 

The Transect is a tool that helps order the built environment from rural to urban.

These regulations are very effective at separating certain types of land use from one another, but they also can remove the possibility of locating highly compatible uses near each other (e.g. small businesses, schools, and homes). 

When we focus on partitioning the land into separate uses, we are not only confronted with a complicated list of zoning categories, but we are also forced into thinking and building our places in a rigid, piecemeal fashion. On the other hand, if we focus on the overall form and identity that we envision for our land, we can simplify development regulations and provide citizens and developers the flexibility to create special places.  

The Transect Model is an empowering tool for communities to create and maintain sustainable and unique places.  The theory of the Transect Model originates from the field of ecology, which orders the natural environment into a series of vegetative and animal habitats that flows from sparse coastal areas to grassy meadows to dense forests.

The Transect uses this same theory to order the manmade environment into a sequence of human habitats that flow from rural to urban zones. Each of these human habitats has a specific character with unique attributes and inhabitants, yet is also part of a network of other habitats that form a sustainable, cohesive system. In general, the Transect uses the following six zones, each of which can be adapted to local goals and character: 1) Rural Preserve, 2) Rural Reserve, 3) Sub-Urban, 4) General Urban, 5) Urban Center, and 6) Urban Core.

Counties can apply the Transect to illustrate what form each zone should take in order to achieve a vibrant network of diverse zones. Each of these zones addresses critical planning elements such as land use, roads, infrastructure, development, open space, wastewater, and vegetation.  However, the Transect adapts the form of each of these elements to the underlying nature of the area by designing buildings, lots, streets, and the use according to the level of urban intensity.  Thus, urban zones will have highways, small lots, mixed commercial and residential development, and multi-story buildings, while more rural zones will have country roads, larger lots, limited commercial development, and lower-story buildings. 

Even though the Transect is called a “model,” the fundamental importance of the Transect is its flexibility for communities to create immersive, sustainable human habitats.  Just as in nature, where a monoculture crop will eventually deplete the soil and stop being agriculturally productive, an area that has only one type of building and function may stop being economically productive.  The Transect is one solution that some communities are using to balance the range of different environments—from the city to the suburbs to the country—where people choose to live, work and play.

Case Study: Nashville-Davidson County, Tennessee      When Rick Bernhardt returned to his native home of Nashville in 2000 to head up Nashville-Davidson County’s Metropolitan Planning Department, he brought big ideas with him. With a 25 per cent population change between 1990 and 2000, the Music City was facing serious planning and land use issues. Bernhardt came ready to address these issues.  He had previously spent seventeen years as Director of the Planning and Development Department for the city of Orlando, Florida, where he had instituted an innovative growth management program. The Metropolitan Government of Nashville-Davidson County has since committed to sustainable development for Davidson County, and some of Bernhardt’s current goals include: Linking transportation and land use decisions, Broadening the citizen-engaged neighborhood and community planning process, Implementing programs to encourage the reuse of intown neighborhoods as quality places to live, and Adopting new land development regulations to permit and implement conservation subdivisions and traditional development proposals. As Nashville-Davidson County works toward these goals, Bernhardt has found the Transect a useful tool.  The Transect isn’t used to regulate land uses or design in metropolitan Nashville.  As Bernhardt puts it, “We use it to try to explain certain conditions of the built environment.” Community Transect Zones for Davidson County, Tennessee He adds, “Think of a house—certain elements go into making a successful environment.  You wouldn’t put a bed in the kitchen or a stove in the bathroom.  The Transect describes the same type of relationship for a community.  It helps you not put the wrong thing in the wrong place.” For example, smaller buildings, narrow sidewalks and open swales make more sense in rural communities, while larger buildings, wide sidewalks and raised curbs would be appropriate for more urban settings. Bernhardt says the Transect works well for big picture, community-wide planning efforts.  He explains, “The Nashville area is divided into fourteen communities.  We adopted the Transect four years ago to help these communities identify fundamentals they want.  Once there’s a consensus, you can do finer-grained planning to work out the details.” As Bernhardt puts it, “It’s much more effective to argue the kind of community you want rather than numbers.” In metropolitan Nashville, the finer-grained planning may come in the form of detailed design plans, form-based codes (codes designed to create a public realm by controlling physical form rather than focusing on land use) or traditional zoning methods. Bernhardt has found the Transect complements this variety of planning tools.  He recalls one instance in particular when the Transect resulted in a very successful rezoning.  He explains, “There were battles for thirty years over zoning between a community and a neighborhood in a particular area.  We finally used the Transect to help stakeholders understand the options.  We were able to rezone using elements of the Transect.  The area’s probably fifty per cent developed now.”