Section 10-A902. POLICIES AND ACTIONS UD-1 TOWARD A STRONGER CIVIC IDENTITY

 

902.1Washington’s identity is defined by a particular set of physical features, including the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, the topographic “bowl” of the original city and the rolling hills that surround it, the open spaces and dense tree canopy of its parks and neighborhoods, and the wide diagonal boulevards and rectangular street grid. The city is further defined by its horizontal skyline. The Virginia and Maryland suburbs contain the region’s tallest buildings while the central city is characterized by lower buildings of relatively uniform mass and height. 902.1

 

902.2The Height Act has given the District its unique horizontal character.

The character of the central city has largely been shaped by the L’Enfant and McMillan Plans and the 1910 Height of Buildings Act. The L’Enfant Plan in particular set the stage for conditions that define almost every new development in the historic center of the city today. The radial arrangement of streets and public spaces has created many irregular and prominent building sites. The Height Act has resulted in a predominance of structures that are as wide as they are tall, and a street environment that has more in common with Paris than it does with New York, Chicago, and other cities in North America. 902.2

 

902.3Beyond the city center, much of the District’s urban pattern consists of walkable, compact communities. A ring of more than a dozen well-defined neighborhoods lies within two miles of the edge of the National Mall. Beyond this ring lie many more neighborhoods designed with the best features of traditional urbanism-housing near open space and transit, pedestrian oriented shopping streets, and densities that create active street life. 902.3

 

902.4The design pattern in the city’s outer neighborhoods is less formal than it is in the heart of the city. Their image is defined more by architecture, scale, tree cover, and topography than it is by monumental vistas. The neighborhoods contain a patchwork of building forms and styles spanning various periods in the city’s history, from narrow colonial townhouses to modernist towers. There are small traditional shopping districts, auto oriented centers from the 1940s and 50s, and occasional strip malls and even “big boxes” from more recent years. Many of the neighborhoods were initially shaped by streetcar lines, creating a radial pattern of development that extends far beyond the city limits. 902.4

 

902.5The impacts of past urban design decisions have not all been positive. The urban renewal and freeway building efforts of the 1950s and 60s, in particular, contributed to some of the social and economic divisions that exist in the city today. For instance, “slum clearance” in the Near Southwest destroyed the fine-grained fabric of an entire neighborhood, and dislocated thousands of residents. Future design decisions must help to reconcile some of the inequities that persist in the city, changing the District’s image from that of a divided city to one that is much more inclusive. In this regard, the design of Washington’s neighborhoods should provide even greater relevance for national identity than the monuments themselves. 902.5

 

902.6The text below is organized to respond to the following topics, each related to the urban pattern and identity of the city as a whole:

 

•Protecting the Integrity of Washington's Historic Plans

 

•Respecting Natural Topography and Landform

 

•Improving Waterfront Identity and Design

 

•Strengthening Boulevards and Gateways

 

•Overcoming Physical Barriers. 902.6

 

notation

The provisions of Title 10, Part A of the DCMR accessible through this web interface are codification of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. As such, they do not represent the organic provisions adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia. The official version of the District Elements only appears as a hard copy volume of Title 10, Part A published pursuant to section 9a of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1994, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; D.C. Official Code § 1 -301.66)) . In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions accessible through this site and the provisions contained in the published version of Title 10, Part A, the provisions contained in the published version govern. A copy of the published District Elements is available www.planning.dc.gov.