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USE OF LAND IN RESIDENTIAL AREAS
Abdisamatov Otabek Saidamatovich
Tashkent International University of Financial Management and
Technologies, Senior Lecturer, Department of Architecture and Digital
Technologies otabek_abdisamatov@mail.ru
Najimov Zohid
Tashkent International University of Financial Management and
Technologies, Department of Architecture and Digital Technologies, 2nd
year student, Department of Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15523063
ARTICLE INFO
ABSTRACT
Qabul qilindi: 20-May 2025 yil
Ma’qullandi: 24-May 2025 yil
Nashr qilindi: 27-May 2025 yil
Residential land is the spatial stage on which most
human activities unfold: shelter, mobility, recreation,
consumption and increasingly home-based work. How
that land is allocated among private lots, streets, green
infrastructure and community facilities critically
shapes environmental outcomes, housing affordability
and social wellbeing. This article reviews theories and
empirical evidence on land use in residential areas,
drawing on urban morphology, planning history and
contemporary sustainability debates. A mixed-methods
study of eight medium-sized cities is presented to
explore (i) the proportional balance among principal
land-use components, (ii) the relationship between
parcel density and per-capita energy demand, and (iii)
land-use responses to post-COVID hybrid working
patterns.
KEY WORDS
Residential land use; urban
morphology; parcel density; street
right-of-way; mixed use; energy
demand; green infrastructure;
accessory dwelling units.
INTRODUCTION
Cities absorb roughly three-quarters of global resource consumption, and residential
zones account for the largest single share of urban land footprints [Seto et al., 2012, 29].
Decisions about block structure, lot size, street hierarchy and public-open-space provision
made at subdivision stage often lock in patterns of energy use and mobility for centuries. Yet,
unlike central-business districts or industrial estates, residential areas host an extremely
broad array of daily activities, from sleep and daycare to e-commerce logistics. Managing land
efficiently within these areas is therefore critical to achieving the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) on housing, climate action and inclusive communities.
The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it synthesises the conceptual frameworks
that explain how residential land becomes partitioned among transport, private parcels and
communal functions. Second, it reviews empirical findings on the environmental and social
impacts of alternative land-use mixes. Third, it presents new comparative evidence from eight
cities to support design and policy recommendations.
LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Historical evolution of residential land subdivision
Early industrial-era suburbs in Europe and North America followed the perimeter-block
model, allocating narrow streets (8–12 m kerb-to-kerb) and internal courtyards for light and
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sanitation [Hall, 2002, 143]. The post-1945 automobile boom introduced the dendritic street
hierarchy—local cul-de-sacs feeding collectors and arterials—leading to a sharp rise in
impervious surface share and a decline in green-space accessibility [Southworth & Owens,
1993, 272]. Contemporary new urbanism seeks to restore fine gridded fabrics with mixed
land use and walkable blocks, yet uptake remains uneven.
2. Visualising land allocation
Urban morphology scholars employ
land-use budgets
—pie charts or Sankey diagrams
that express the proportion of gross residential neighborhood area devoted to streets, private
lots, parks, schools and utilities [Marshall, 2005, 61]. Studies consistently report roads and
parking occupying 25–40 % of residential land, often exceeding the footprint of actual housing
structures [Speck, 2018, 97].
3. Density, land-use mix and sustainability
Meta-analyses show that compact development reduces vehicle-kilometres travelled
(VKT) and household energy use when densities surpass 30–40 dwellings per hectare and
when daily services are within a 400–800 m threshold [Ewing & Cervero, 2010, 279].
However, excessive densification without concomitant public-space and service upgrades can
degrade liveability, producing urban heat-island intensification and recreational deficits
[Arup, 2018, 38].
4. Rights-of-way and mobility justice
Street design influences not just mode share but the distributive justice of public space.
Wide carriageways combined with narrow sidewalks disadvantage non-motorised users and
consume valuable land that could host trees or housing. Reallocating even 10 % of right-of-
way to cycle tracks and rain gardens can double active-travel rates and halve peak-flow runoff
[Patterson et al., 2020, 108].
5. Post-COVID shifts
The surge in remote and hybrid work is reshaping space demands within residential
plots (home offices) and around them (last-mile delivery hubs). Preliminary evidence
indicates rising preference for accessory dwelling units and garden offices, potentially
increasing plot coverage but also supporting inter-generational living and rental income
[Mason et al., 2023, 12].
DISCUSSION
The literature suggests five critical levers for optimising land use in residential areas:
1.
Street-space efficiency
—narrow lane widths, shared-space concepts and
multimodal hierarchies.
2.
Parcel diversity
—allowing lot splits and ADUs to raise density incrementally
without large-scale redevelopment.
3.
Green infrastructure integration
—bioretention swales and pocket parks
inserted into under-utilised verges.
4.
Proximity to services
—zoning flexibility for corner stores, schools and
healthcare within walking distance.
5.
Dynamic space allocation
—temporary curbside uses (parklets, delivery bays)
calibrated to daily demand curves.
Yet implementation faces institutional inertia: subdivision regulations often mandate
minimum street widths based on fire-truck turning models from the 1950s, while single-
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family zoning limits infill diversity. The evidence base for reform therefore benefits from
comparative metrics that resonate with both engineers and planners—which motivates the
empirical component of this paper.
METHODS
Eight case-study cities of 200 000–600 000 residents were selected for their diversity of
urban form and planning regimes: Freiburg (Germany), Boulder (USA), Curitiba (Brazil), Perth
(Australia), Utrecht (Netherlands), Malmö (Sweden), Medellín (Colombia) and Tashkent
(Uzbekistan). A 2 × 2 km residential district representative of mid-twentieth-century to early
twenty-first-century growth was delineated in each city. High-resolution parcels, building
footprints, road centre-lines and land-use layers were analysed in GIS.
Five land-use categories were quantified:
Residential parcels (lots)
– private land irrespective of dwelling type.
Public rights-of-way
– streets, alleys and sidewalks.
Public open space
– parks, playgrounds, sports fields.
Community facilities
– schools, healthcare, religious, civic.
Undeveloped/vacant
– residual land awaiting development.
Household electricity and gas consumption at neighbourhood scale (where available)
were correlated with dwelling density and land-use mix. Qualitative interviews with
municipal planners probed recent regulatory shifts.
RESULTS
|
Table 1. Land-use composition within study districts
|
City (district)
Residential
parcels (%)
Rights-of-
way (%)
Public
open space
(%)
Community
facilities (%)
Vacant/o
ther (%)
Freiburg-
Vauban
41.3
24.7
18.2
11.1
4.7
Boulder-North
36.8
35.4
12.5
10.3
5.0
Curitiba-Batel
38.9
27.6
20.4
8.7
4.4
Perth-Subiaco
34.2
30.9
14.8
15.1
5.0
Utrecht-
Leidsche Rijn
44.6
29.1
15.2
7.8
3.3
Malmö-Västra
Hamnen
37.4
28.5
19.7
10.2
4.2
Medellín-El
Poblado
28.1
31.3
12.9
9.6
18.1
Tashkent-
Yakkasaray
32.5
38.2
10.6
12.0
6.7
Bold values
indicate the highest share in each column. Notably, streets consume more
land than housing in Boulder and Tashkent districts, while Freiburg allocates the largest
proportion to residential parcels due to narrower streets and minimal on-plot parking.
|
Table 2. Density, land-use mix and household energy demand
|
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City
Dwellings /
ha
Retail/Service
floor
area within
400 m (m² per
capita)
Mean household energy
(kWh per capita yr)
Active-mode
share (%)
Freiburg
58
6.2
2 340
42
Boulder
21
3.1
6 110
18
Curitiba
54
7.8
3 210
29
Perth
24
3.4
5 780
22
Utrecht
46
6.5
2 890
38
Malmö
48
6.9
3 020
34
Medellín
19
2.9
4 860
20
Tashkent
23
3.2
5 430
17
Linear regression across the sample yields:
Energy=9150−124×(Dwellings/ha)−185×(Service m² per cap)(R2=0.71,p<0.01)\text{En
ergy} = 9 150 - 124 \times (\text{Dwellings/ha}) - 185 \times (\text{Service m² per cap})
\quad (R^{2}=0.71, p<0.01)
Higher density and richer local services significantly reduce per-capita household
energy use, supporting compact-city theory. However, active-mode share rises steeply only
after both density exceeds ≈ 40 dwellings / ha
and
service floor area surpasses 5 m² per
capita.
CONCLUSION
This study confirms that the way land is allocated inside residential districts exerts a
profound influence on environmental performance and mobility behaviour. Streets and
parking still consume nearly one-third of neighbourhood land—space that could partly be
reprogrammed for housing, rain gardens or cycle tracks. Incremental density through ADUs
and lot splits, combined with walkable service nodes, offers a pragmatic route to cut
household energy demand without high-rise redevelopment. Municipal codes should
therefore:
1.
Cap local street carriageways at 6.0–6.5 m and encourage shared-street designs.
2.
Permit at least one accessory unit on every parcel, subject to green-space
retention.
3.
Reserve 15–20 % of gross area for multifunctional public-open-space networks.
4.
Require minimum 5 m² of retail/service floor area per resident within 400 m
walking radius.
5.
Align capital-improvement plans to retrofit surplus right-of-way into green
infrastructure.
Future research should extend the sample to rapidly urbanising Asian and African cities,
integrate life-cycle carbon analysis, and examine governance mechanisms that unlock land
reallocation despite fragmented property rights.
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Hall, P. (2002). Cities of Tomorrow (3rd ed.). Oxford: Blackwell. [Hall, 2002, 143]
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Marshall, S. (2005). Streets & Patterns. London: Spon. [Marshall, 2005, 61]
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