MODULE 4: Planning 3 History Part 1

MODULE 4: HISTORY OF PLANNING

ANCIENT TIMES:

- Innovations that influenced the development of the earliest cities
a) The plow and rectilinear farming.
b) Circular and radiocentric planning (for herding and eventually for defense)

NEOLITHIC CITIES:

* Jericho: early settlement in Israel -9000 BC
- A well-organized community of about 3000 people
- Built around a reliable source of freshwater
- Only 3 hectares and enclosed with a circular stone wall
- Overrun in about 6500 b.c., rectangular layouts followed

* Khirokitia: early settlement in Cyprus - 5500 BC
- First documented settlement with streets
- The main street heading uphill was narrow but had a wider terminal, which may have been a social spot

2000-4000 B.C.

Cities in the Fertile Crescent were formed by the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys of Mesopotamia
- Eridu- acknowledged as the oldest city.
- Damascus- oldest continually inhabited city
- Babylon- the largest city with 80,000 inhabitants

Rectilinear plotting with the use of the plow – suited all the needs of agriculture societies on the Nile, Tigris, and the Euphrates river for easy land division for crop planning, land ownership and land plotting and reapportionment after a flood.

3000 B.C.

Cities of Thebes and Memphis along the Nile Valley
- characterized by monumental architecture
- cities had monumental avenues, colossal temple plazas and tombs
- worker’s communities were built in cells along
narrow roads

Egyptian Civilization:
- No need for defensive walls
- Urban mobility
- Little evidence of controlled planning
- No zoning, no defined blocks for housing
- Social classes determined housing sites
- Workers’ camps
- Dependence on Nile River
- Egyptians built reservoirs to store water, and dug canals to carry it to the fields

2500 B.C.

Indus Valley (present day Pakistan)
Cities of Mohenjo – Daro and Harrapa:
- administrative-religious centers with 40,000 inhabitants
- archeological evidence indicates an advanced civilization lived here as there were housing variations, sanitary and sewage systems, etc.

1900 B.C.

Yellow River Valley of China
“land within the passes”. Precursor of Linear City.

800 B.C.

Beijing
founded in approximately same location it’s in today
- present form originated in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

B.C. to A.D.

Elaborate network of cities in Mesoamerica were built by the Zapotecs, Mextecs, and Aztecs in rough rugged land.

Teotijuacan and Dzibilchatun were the largest cities

ANCIENT GREECE

Greek cities spread to the Aegean region – Westward to France and Spain
“polis” : defined as a “city-state”. Most famous is the Acropolis- a religious and defensive structure up on the hills, with no definite geometrical plan

Neopolis and Paleopolis (new and old cities)
Sparta and Athens : the largest cities (100-150T)
Compact urban form
Never planned as a whole
Started with natural springs
Integration of social and civic life
Components
Acropolis
Main Harbors
Agora Complex
Cultural and leisure facilities

Acropolis- visible relationship between buildings and nature; sacred
Agora- buildings served as facades to form an enclosed urban space; grouped around central open space

Hippodamus of Miletus (Father of Town Planning) - Greek Architect who emphasized geometric designs grid pattern of streets. The first noted urban planner, he introduced the grid system and the Agora (public marketplace)

Miletus: 3 sections: for artisans, farmers, and the military

ANCIENT ROME

Roman Cities : adopted Greek forms but with different scale- monumental, had a social hierarchy

During the Etruscans’ reign, Rome grew into a great city built on seven hills along the Tiber.

Vitruvius - 10-volume treatise “De Arkitectura” – relates experience of Roman architecture and town design; treats architecture and town design as a single theme; suggested location of streets in relation to prevailing wind; the siting of public buildings; the testing of drinking water; design of plazas

Organization of towns - a system of gridiron streets enclosed by a wall; theater, arena and market were common places for public assembly

Perfected enclosed urban and architectural space – collonaded plazas with a temple or basilica at the end of the space.

Romans as engineers- built aqueducts (serving 200 cities), elaborate plumbing systems for public baths, network of paved roads (covering 50,000 miles), drainage systems, large open interiors for public gatherings
Romans incorporated public works and arts into city designs.
Romans as conquerors- built forum after forum

Developed housing variations and other spaces:
• Basilica- covered markets; later, law courts
• Curia- the local meeting hall; later, the capitol
• Domus- traditional Roman house; with a central atrium
• Insulae- 3 to 6- storey apartments with storefronts

MEDIEVAL AGES:

Decline of Roman power left many outposts all over Europe, where growth revolved around either a monastery or castle, assumed a radiocentric pattern; relied on protective town walls or fortification for security
Towns were fine and intimate with winding roads and sequenced views of cathedrals or military fortifications

Sienna and Constantinople: signified the rise of the Church
Feudalism affected the urban design of most towns
11th century towns in Europe: Coastal port towns (many of these coastal towns grew from military fortifications, but expansion was limited to what the city
could support)
Mercantilist cities : continuous increase in size
World trade and travel created major population concentrations like Florence, Paris, and Venice
Growth eventually led to congestion and slums

RENAISSANCE & BAROQUE PERIODS:

Rebirth of classical towns ; piazza planning in Venice; grandeur in civic structure and public spaces; streets were wide regular and circumferential with the piazza at the center as in Italy.
- Piazza de San Antonio Marco
- Vatican Square

15th Century France: display of power
Arts and architecture became a major element of town planning and urban design
Geometrical forms of cities were proposed

Vienna emerged as the city of culture and the arts - the first “university town”
Landscape architecture showcased palaces and gardens
- Karlsruhe (Germany)
- Versailles (France)

Pierre Charles L’Enfant - Prepared plan for Washington, DC.
- Axial plan of the Mall, Washington, D.C.: the Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial extend the central axis

ROME (1500s)

Leonardo da Vinci –
In his “Codex Atlanticus” he described a new concept of urban planning that was suited for Milan – sketched a city straddling a river where upstream, the river was directed into 6 or 7 branches, all parallel to the main stream and rejoining it below the city.

1844:

Arturo Soria Y Mata – Spanish Engineer
Suggested the idea of “Linear City” from Cadiz, Spain across Europe through St. Petersburg, Russia in which he proposed that the logic of linear utility line should be the basis of all city lay-out. Houses and buildings could be set alongside linear utility systems supplying water, communications and electricity. Proposed high-speed, high-intensity transport from an existing

N.A Milyutin, 1930 - Stalingrad

SETTLEMENTS IN THE AMERICAS:

Medieval Organic City
- taken after the “boug” (military town) and “fauborg” (citizen’s town) of the medieval ages

Medieval Bastide
- taken from the French bastide (eventually referred to as “new towns”)
- came in the form of grids or radial plans reflecting flexibility

The Spanish “Laws of the Indies” town
- King Philip II’s city guidelines that produced 3 types of towns- the pueblo (civil), the presidio (military), and the mission (religious)

The English Renaissance
- “the European Planned City” – ex. Savannah (designed by James Oglethorpe), Charleston, Annapolis, and Williamsburg (Col. Francis Nicholson)
- Today, Savannah is the world’s largest officially recognized historical district

Annapolis - government bldgs were focal points of the plan, though a civic square
was also provided
Williamsburg - plan was anchored by the Governor’s palace, the state capitol, and the College of William and Mary

The Speculator’s Town
- developments were driven by speculation
- Philadelphia (built between the Delaware and Scool Kill) – designed by William Penn