Columbia University Libraries Digital Collections: The Real Estate Record

Real estate record and builders' guide: [v. 98, no. 2546: Articles]: December 30, 1916

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REAL ESTATE AND NEW YORK, DECEMBER 30, 1916 REQUIREMENTS IN PLANNING SUNLIGHT CITIES Statement by Herbert S. Swan and George W. Tuttie, of the Staff of the Committee on the City Plan SUNLIGHT cities must be planned from the start. The width and ar¬ rangement of streets, .the length and the breadth of the lot, the type, height and use of building, the least dimension and orientation of courts and yards, the latitude and the topography of the site— all of these have to be considered in laying out a sunlight town. If each of these factors is given its proper weight when the town is first planned, a ma.\inium of sunlight will he assured every home and work-place in the com¬ munity, not to mention the streets, courts and yards; ignored, then no amount of replanning can ever com¬ pletely rectify the mistake. Two things are essential to a sunlight plan—a street plan and a building plan. Each of these has to be conceived and perfected in harmony with the other as one unit. They are reciprocal parts of the sunlight plan and they therefore stand or fall together. It is impossible to give proper consideration to one without at the same time considering the demands of the other. Any other method of treatment is disastrous to the tunlighl plan. High buildings should be erected on wide streets and large open spaces; nar¬ row streets and small open spaces should be improved with low buildings. But although the height of liuildings should be proportionate to the width of tiie open space on each side from which it receives its sunlight, it does not at all follow tiiat this proportion should be the same on all sides of the open space nor at all latitudes. The farther north a city is situated, the greater is its need for a sunlight plan. Sunlight is a natural resource to be conserved and economized like any other gift of nature. There are places on tbe earth's surface where the suppb' of sunshine is so constant that there is probably very little necessity to impose any restrictions upon its use—there is enough for all. But in contrast with these there are other places, and these places contain the great bulk of the urban population throughout the world, viliich possesses such a fluctuating sup¬ ply of sunshine that its use must be subject to the strictest safeguards or the supply will be squandered to no purpose. The distance from the equator is of paramount importance in planning a sunlight city. In the first place the length of the shortest dav diminishes' as the latitude increases. The sunlight period at Key West on December 21st is only seven-ei,gliths as long as that at the equator. At Winnipeg it is only two-thirds as lon.g as that at the equator. In the second place the angle of th.e sun's altitude diminishes with increased distance from the equator. .\t Winni¬ peg the altitude of the sun at noon at the winter solstice is only 16.6°. .\t the equator it is 66.6°. ■ The effect of this difiference in alti¬ tude in the sun-li,ghting of streets and buildings at dififerent latitudes is self- evident. With each additional degree of latitude from the equator, fo obtain the same amount of sunlight, assumin.g that it could be obtained, the height of Iniilding would have to be decreased or the width of street increased. To illustrate: Suppose that the height of buildings on the south side of east TABLE II. Period of Sunsliino on Entire Street Facade on Either Side of Streets of Different Orientations With Buildings of Different HeUjhts at Different Latitudes at the Winter Solstice 25° North Latitude. Orientation of Street. Hght. of building. times street width. 1............ ,—South—^ e. s. w. s. h.m. h.m. 2 18 2 18 1 42 1 42 1 23 1 23 1 00 1 00 0 5« 0 50 0 43 0 45 0 .39 0 39 0 35 0 35 41 41 ,—South—^ e. s. w, s. h.m. h.m. :i 10 ■:; lo 2 07 2 07 1 34 1 34 1 16 1 16 0 58 0 58 0 50 0 50 0 42 0 42 0 37 0 37 0 33 0 33 43 43 ^South—.^ e. s. w. s. h.m. h.m. 2 52 2 52 1 32 1 52 1 23 1 23 1 10 1 10 0 53 0 53 0 46 0 46 0 38 0 38 0 34 0 34 0 30 0 30 43 45 ,—South—^ e. s. w. s. h.m. h.m. 2 37 2 37 1 40 1 40 1 10 1 10 1 00 1 00 0 47 0 47 0 41 0 41 0 34 0 34 0 30 0 30 0 27 0 27 48 48 ,—South—^ C. R. w. s. h.m. h.m. 2 IS 2 IS 1 24 1 24 0 38 0 38 0 49 0 49 0 38 0 .38 0 34 0 .34 0 28 0 28 0 25 0 25 0 22 0 22 30 50 ,—South—^ e. s. w. s. h.m. h.m. 1 52 1 52 1 06 1 06 0 47 0 47 0 41 fl 41 0 30 0 30 0 27 0 27 0 22 0 22 0 20 0 20 0 IS 0 18 31 31 ,—13° e. s. h.m. 2 58 2 06 1 38 1 10 0 58 0 52 0 44 0 3S 0 34 40 ,—13° e. s. h.m. 2 41 1 31 1 24 1 06 0 55 0 48 0 40 0 33 0 32 49 ^13° e. s. h.m. 2 25 1 38 1 11 0 57 0 43 0 43 0 36 0 32 0 29 50 ^13° e. s. h.m. 2 04 1 23 1 00 0 30 0 41 0 37 0 31 0 29 0 24 52 ,—15° e. s. t.m. 1 48 1 10 0 30 0 43 0 33 0 31 0 27 0 22 0 21 34 ^13° e. s. h.m. 1 27 0 32 0 3S 0 30 0 24 0 24 0 24 0 20 0 14 55 W.—^ ,—30° W.-^ ,—45° W.—, (Side of slreet) w. s. e. s. w. s. s. s. n. s. (Time in ho-urs and minutes) h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. 3 54 2 24 4 38 1 40 3 46 2 32 1 43 3 00 1 18 3 39 1 43 1 22 2 08 1 03 2 27 1 30 1 00 1 36 0 50 2 00 1 11 0 53 1 20 0 48 1 23 0 59 0 51 1 01 0 42 1 01 0 46 0 4;i 0 49 0 38 0 54 0 40 0 38 0 43 0 33 0 43 0 37 0 35 0 39 0 .31 0 40 40 56 47 1 22 59 .30° North Latitude. W.^ ^30° W.—^ .—45° W.—., (SUle of street) w. s. e. s. w. s. s. s. n. s. (Time in ho-urs and minutes) h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. 3 4^ 2 07 4 24 1 24 5 31 2 24 1 28 2 45 1 20 3 16 1 41 1 10 1 52 0 50 2 03 1 18 0 57 1 20 0 43 1 29 1 03 0 51 1 07 0 37 1 05 0 52 0 45 0 54 0 35 0 54 0 43 0 .38 0 45 0 31 0 45 0 38 0 33 0 40 0 26 0 38 0 33 0 31 0 37 0 23 0 34 43 57 49 1 20 .39 33° North Latitude. W.—^ ^-30° W.—^ ,—43° W.—^ (Side of street) w. s. e. s. w. s. s. s. n. s. (Time in hours and minutes) h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. 3 .30 1 31 4 07 1 08 3 04 2 08 1 20 2 28 0 50 2 44 1 32 1 00 1 40 0 41 1 40 1 10 0 47 1 13 0 :w 1 06 0 53 0 43 0 .53 0 30 0 50 0 47 0 38 0 47 0 28 0 44 0 39 0 32 0 40 0 24 0 .33 0 35 0 31 0 34 0 19 0 31 0 31 0 27 0 30 0 17 0 26 Entire 46 58 51 time 00 40° North Latitude. W.—> ^30° W.—, ^-45° W.—^ (Side of street) w. s. e.s. w. s. s. s. n. s. (Time in hours and minutes) h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. 3 07 1 33 3 45 0 50 4 32 1 52 1 04 2 04 fl 3S 2 04 1 20 0 50 1 20 fl 28 1 OS 0 59 0 44 1 00 0 23 0 46 0 48 0 33 0 47 0 2:! 0 33 fl 42 0 32 0 .37 0 20 fl 31 0 34 0 27 0 34 0 18 0 23 0 31 0 23 fl .3fl fl 14 fl 21 0 27 0 22 0 26 0 14 0 19 Entire 48 .38 53 time 60 45° North Latitude. W.-^ ^30° W.-^ ,—45° W.^ (Side of street) w. s. e. s. w. s. s. s. n. s. (Time in hours and minutes) h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. 2 44 1 15 3 13 0 .33 3 43 1 34 0 48 1 40 0 24 1 24 1 03 fl 38 1 02 0 21 0 48 0 48 0 32 0 46 0 10 0 32 0 40 0 25 0 37 0 13 0 24 0 .35 0 24 fl 32 0 13 0 20 0 20 0 21 0 27 0 12 0 19 0 25 0 18 0 23 0 09 0 14 0 23 0 17 0 20 0 08 0 12 Entire 30 .39 54 time 1 01 50° North Latitude. W.—^ ^!0° W.—^ ^40° W.^ (Side of street) w. s. e. s. w. s. s. st n. a. (Time inhours and. minutes) h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. h.m. 2 14 0 33 2 36 0 22 2 30 1 13 0 36 1 in 0 13 0 36 0 47 0 28 fl 50 0 10 0 21 0 3S 0 23 0 4fl fl 08 fl 13 0 26 0 20 0 30 0 07 fl 13 0 27 0 17 0 23 0 (16 0 10 0 20 0 15 0 19 0 06 0 OS 0 20 0 13 0 17 0 04 0 07 0 16 fl 12 0 15 0 04 0 06 E'ntire Entire 53 time 35 time 1 01 ,^60° W.—^ ^75° s. s. n. s. s. s. h.m. h.m. h.m. 0 30 7 23 ___ 0 21 4 39 ___ 0 18 2 38 ___ 0 IB 1 30 ___ 0 14 1 08 ___ 0 13 0 48 ___ 0 12 0 38 ___ 0 10 0 29 ___ 0 09 0 24 ___ Entire time 1 28 ___ ,—00° W.—^ ,—73° s. s. n. s. s. s. li.m. h.m. h.m. 0 18 7 07 ___ 0 12 3 40 ___ 0 10 1 37 ___ 0 08 0 48 ___ 0 06 0 35 ___ 0 00 0 22 ___ 0 06 0 19 ___ fl 05 0 13 ___ 0 05 0 12 ___ Entire time 1 23 ____ ^00° W.-^ ,—73° s. s. n. s. s. s. h.m. h.m. h.m. 0 06 6 .35 ___ 0 03 2 23 ___ 0 04 0 30 ___ 0 02 0 10 ___ .... 0 07 ___ Entire time 1 25 ___ ^00° W.—^ ,—75° s. s. n. s. s. s. h.m. h.m. h.m. .... 5 10 .... 48 .... ^-60° W.^ ,—75° s. s. n. s. s. s. h.m. h.m. h.m. ___ 2 50 ___ ,^60° W.—, ^75° s.s. n'. s. s. s. h.m. h.m. h.m. W.^ n. s. h.m. 8 04 0 34 W.—^ n. s. h.m. 6 54 W.^ n. s. h.m. 5 36 W.-^ n. s. h.m. 3 06 W.—^ n. s. h.m. W.-^ n. s. h.m. ,^90° s. s. h.m. ,-90° s. s. h.m. ,-90° s. s. h.m, ,—90° s. s. h.m. r-90° s. s. h.m. ,-90' s. s. h.m. W.-rt, n. s. h.m. 8 OS n. s. h.m. 0 28 n. s. h.m. 4 50 •> ^Vi.......... 4............ Deduct for for winclows Hght. ot building. times strett width. 1............ 4............ Deduct for windows Hght. ot building. times streit width. 1............ •1 .... 4............ .... Deduct for windows Hght. of building. times streit width. W.-~, n. s. h.m. 1............ 11,4.......... '-> 3..... 4............ G............ DedUft for windows 11 silt, of building:, times streit width. W.—., n. s. h.m. 1............ 1 i,{. .......... •J i^:::::::::: 4............ Deduct for windows Hsht. of building times street width. H........... 1............ W.^ n. s. h.m. ■1 4............ 6............ Deduct for windows