Evolution of cities

“Town planning is sign of optimum utilization of all

resources -- physical, social, demographic and economic --
for the best benefit of the community or a society.”
FROM CAVE TO VILLAGES TO TOWNS
⚫ Settlement started when people gathered for protection
against the elements or for defense against rival tribes.

⚫ These places of communal living gave way to the village.

⚫ Generally located around rivers, on sites that offered

some natural protection, such as hills, islands & peninsulas,
they have sanctuary for the altar of their deity, a meeting
place for assembly, and a center for trade.

⚫ With the development of a diversified economy, not

totally dependent upon food production, thus providing
employment, and as the environment became populated
these villages started transforming into towns and cities.
⚫ The physical form of cities has been shaped by the
economic, social, and political forces of society.

⚫ Two basic urban forms came up : the walled city & the
open city.
Growth was irregular, but with the flow of civilization
irregular and geometrical patterns have been grafted
one upon the other.
 EARLY CITIES
⚫ Early cities started along fertile valleys where food,
water and transportation possibilities were at hand.
⚫ Series of great & small empires rose, waged, fought wars,
and fell supremacy shifted from one kingdom to
another, adding its contribution to the evolution of
the civilized world.
⚫ Rulers were considered deity. They housed slaves and
artisans engaged in building monuments for them. Ex-
great pyramids in Egypt.
⚫ Cities resembling like huge barracks, cells of sun dried
bricks crowded about a common courtyards, narrow lanes
 EARLY CITIES
⚫ In Harappa & Mohenjo-Daro first time grid iron pattern
of city planning was seen with a proper drainage system.

Plan of Mohenjo-daro
Excavation in Indus valley have revealed the remains of a large city built in 3000
B.C . Houses ranged in size from 2 rooms to mansions , building were of
masonry , streets were paved and a considerable evidence of sewer drainage
was found .
⚫ In 20th century B.C., Egyptian pharaohs built temple cities
on the banks of Nile, with monumental avenues, colossal
temple plazas and tomb cut from rock, giving very
less space for people to live
These were city of temples and
tombs, but not city of the people.
WORKER’s VILLAGE
 THE CLASSICAL CITY - GREEK
⚫ In the latter part of the 5th century B.C. an architect from
Miletus by the name of Hippodamus gave theories of
town planning.
⚫ The cities he planned was based on grid-iron system and
was designed to serve all the people. The individual
dwelling was the common denominator, blocks were
shaped to provide appropriate orientation according
to sun movement.
⚫ Provided public spaces like Agora( market place), squares,
theatres, plazas, assembly halls etc. for communal
gatherings.
⚫ It used to have agora in center, and dwellings around it.
⚫ It was a system that sprang from the element of individual
unit. This consistent treatment is unique in urban planning,
we do not find it recurring for 2400 yrs.
 C
D

B A

A – AGORA
B – THEATRE
C – STADIA
D – PORT

Plan of Miletus
⚫ Then came the Hellenistic period,
old cities flourished and new cities
were found.
⚫ The humble quality of Hellenic city
vanished. The city became scene of
luxury, ruddy with display of
empire.
⚫ Magnificent public buildings were
added to the agora, baths and stadia
were built for entertainment and
festivals.

Plan of Pergamon (Hellenestic)

 THE CLASSICAL CITY - ROMAN
⚫ The period of Roman town planning is from 300 BC to
365 AD.
⚫ Every available hand was used as a part of the infantry
hence no caste system. Characterized as;
◦ The patricians – the bigger farmers who control the land;
◦ and the plebeians – the smaller farmers who really till the land

⚫ Rome now became the culture of an unproductive race –

it became basically the culture of a military robber state.
 THE CLASSICAL CITY - ROMAN
⚫ The Roman towns’ demanded
⚫ i) Defense - outer wall had to be made first and the inner
development came later on.
⚫ ii) Simple Plan – Grid Iron – streets dominated
⚫ iii) Standardised Design - a module
⚫ iv) Display of Might - Human Scale discarded-
introduced the idea of major and minor streets adorned
with arches and monuments to distinguish them.
 MEDIEVAL TOWNS (5th -15th century)
DARK AGES 7th-15th century

⚫ The urban population, sick of city life, returned to the

rural life; in which economy was once again rooted in
agriculture.
⚫ Towns were located on an ideal site near a brook or
river on a hill;
⚫ the castle occupied the most commanding location and
the most strategic view.
⚫ Early medieval towns was dominated by the church
or monastery. The church occupied a place in the
heart of the city;
⚫ The church plaza became the market place and the
town hall and guild hall were built on or adjacent to the
market plaza.
⚫ To aid in the protection of cities, towns were usually sited on
irregular terrain, occupying hilltops or islands. The town
was designed to fit the topographical features of the
area.
⚫ Roads radiated generally from the church plaza and
market square to the gates, with secondary lateral
roadways connecting them.
⚫ Irregular pattern was consciously devised as a means to
confuse an enemy.
⚫ And also to conserve heat in the cold climates and also
because of restricted area of the town, houses here built in
connected rows along the narrow streets.
⚫ Practical limitation of growth (accommodation & supporting
capacity of land); new towns formed as expansion on
unsettled lands.
Example - regular medieval town, FURNES with its noble central place,
Example - irregular medieval town, FRENCH MONTPAZIER BASTIDE,
Again city got caught in congestion and development of
slums.
To be continued…..
 MEDIEVAL TOWNS (5th -15th century)
RENAISSANCE 13th-16th century

⚫ Number of towns increased rapidly during middle ages,

but they remained relatively small in population.
⚫ As the population grew it brought about congestion
within the cities.
⚫ Verticality-The traditional height of two stories for
dwellings change to three and four stories.
⚫ The cities were suffering from:
● Lack of sanitation,
● Really bad Environment
● Overcrowd & Congestion

⚫ accompanied by a
(mid 14th century) period
called ‘Black death’.

spread of the plague caused a

global crisis resulting in some
200m deaths across Europe
and Asia
⚫ After which renaissance movement started with
revival of old Greek ideas with more decorations and
antiquity.
⚫ Cities were studded with creative works such as;
● Boulevards
● street pavings,
● public spaces,
● Sculptures,
● statues,
● fountains,
● flag poles, etc
⚫ Works of
Michelangelo, Perugino, Raphael, Ghirlandaio, Luca
Signorelli, Botticelli, and Cosimo Rosselli.
CITY PLAN
•WALL
•AXIS
•CITY SQUARE
•GRID
•CLOISTER

Cloister - a covered walk, open

gallery, or open arcade

Palmanova, a Renaissance star

fort town in north eastern Italy
 Leonardo Da Vinci - an “ideal city” project, -

FROM
•winding and
overcrowded streets
•houses piled against
one another

TO
•Zoning
•width of the streets
match height of the
adjacent houses
•Separate levels for
people and services &
goods
NEO-CLASSICAL CITIES (16th -18th cent.)
⚫ Renaissance movement started with revival of
old Greek ideas with more decorations and
antiquity.
⚫ Formal plazas of medieval town were given
monumental scale.
⚫ The axis and strong centerline planning
symbolized the growing concentration of power.
⚫ Plazzas & Piazzas in cities developed
◦ Florence - Piazza Della Signoria
◦ Milan – Piazza Duomo
◦ Venice – Piazza San Marco
◦ Rome - Piazza Navona
PIAZZA DELLA SIGNORIA, FLORENCE
STATUE OF DAVID EQUISTARIAN – COSIMI-I

VIEW- PANORAMA
 Egyptian obelisk
added in 1586

St. Peter's Square in the Vatican City- 1656 to 1667

⚫ Walls were tore down and built earthwork ramparts
beyond the city. Within the leveled space of the old
walls boulevards and promenades were laid.

⚫ Cities were opening up, and the city of the middle

ages was being released from its clutter.

⚫ Avenues focused upon royal palace.

⚫ Design shifted from walled in architectural forms to an

extension and expansion of open space- Plazzas.

⚫ They were intended not as lavish plazas but as places

for quiet relaxation for residents.
Plan of London
1667
⚫ Grid –iron pattern and Radial planning woven into a
pattern of geometrical order became famous in America.
⚫ Cities Street system

Examples –
⚫ Versailles, France
⚫ Philadelphia, US
⚫ Washington D.C., US,
⚫ Barcelona, Spain, etc.
Plan of Versailles The centerline and the axis symbolized the mighty power of
the monarch.
1671 Avenues radiating from the magnificent palace of louis XIV
Philadelphia, ca. 1682
William Penn
 1774 – America became independent
Urgent issues
⚫Fast city layout
⚫Farmland distribution
⚫Cities around RAILWAY

⚫1776 – Invention of Steam Engine & Railway

⚫1785 – America Land Ordinance – Thomas Jefferson

GRID SYSTEM – Plan of LOUISIANA
⚫Townships- 6 X 6 Mile
⚫Section – 1 X 1 Mile
⚫Quarter Section – ¼ mile X ¼ mile

⚫Easy subdividing, selling, and occupying

 The five main characteristics of grid :
1.Order and regulatory,
2.Orientation in space and to elements,
3.Simplicity and ease of navigation,
4.Speed of layout, and
5.Adaptability to circumstance.

The Deficit of grid :

1.Monotony,
2.Longer movement path,
The Pierre Charles L'Enfant Plan for Washington, D.C. - 1792
Washington city Street Plan ;
•plan for the smaller streets is rectangular,
•primary system of wide diagonal avenues radiating from fixed
centers.
•The resultant effect is a number of handsome smaller parks
•a very marked addition to the appearance of the city
•primary streets lead in the direction of main threads of travel
of a city.
BARCELONA SPAIN – FORTIFIED OLD CITY
BARCELONA SPAIN EXTENSION – ILDEFONS CERDA
1859
The main characteristics of CITY plan:
• Grid Iron,
• Evenly distributed social infrastructure,
• Chamfered blocks for traffic movement,
• Stress upon maintaining Hygiene
• Ample green Space in blocks
 19th CENTURY
⚫ With the 19th century came the dawn of industrial
revolution, called as ‘Machine age’.

⚫ Development of transportation like cars, steam engines

became part of city planning, resulting city to
expand further.

⚫ The new industrial economy brought with it greater

exploitation of the poor.

⚫ New slums called as mechanical slums developed as

workers lived near industries.
⚫ The environment of city started degrading very
quickly.

⚫ Which caused some industrialists to propose utopian

plans for a self sustaining city.

⚫ Robert Owen, proposal indicated

◦ Dwellings grouped about a large open space in which
communal buildings were located,
◦ surrounding the dwellings were large gardens.
◦ Entire area was encircled by a main roadway.
◦ On all sides were agricultural belt.

⚫ Several other utopians proposals came but most of them

were not executed as they focused attention upon the
growing evils of urban environment.
PARIS
Haussmann's renovation of Paris
•Executed between 1853 and 1870.
•a vast public works program commissioned by
Emperor Napoléon III and
•directed by Georges-Eugène Haussmann or Baron
Haussmann,

It included
•the demolition of medieval overcrowded & unhealthy
neighbourhoods
•building of wide avenues;
•Addition of new parks and squares;
•annexation of the suburbs surrounding Paris;
Haussmann's renovation of Paris – 1853-1870
Result of Haussmann's renovation of Paris

• Cleaner & Safer city

• Better housing environment
• Uniform building heights
• Shopper-friendly
• Tree-lined 12 grand avenues
• Better traffic flow
• Streets too broad for rebels to barricade
• Railway stations
GREAT STINK – LONDON - 1858

“to put it as mildly as possible,

millions of English men, women,
and children were living in shit” –
1840 gov’t report
Map of London - 1806
Characteristics
•Narrow streets
•No front yards & Small backyards “terraces” (row houses)
•Over-crowding: “six to ten persons occupying one room”
•No water supply system
•Introduction to toilet
•No proper Drainage & Sewage system
•Untreated Human waste disposed in Thames river
•Cess pits over flow

Effects
•Contamination of ground water
•Cholera spread
1858-1875
JOSEPH BAZELGETTE – English Engineer

•New Under ground drainage tunnels constructed

by 1865 and completed in 1875
•3 sewer lines in north London and 2 line in south
•Size of tunnels twice as required – future
provision
•Used for other services i.e. electric cable laying

https://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/discover/how-bazalgette-built-londons-
first-super-sewer
 MODEL TOWNS
⚫ Recognizing the desirability of good housing for their
workers the industrialists undertook to build model
towns.

⚫ Industry surrounded by dwellings of workers. One

such town was formed by George Cadbury, who brought
his chocolate factory from Birmingham to a rural site and
began town of Bourneville.

⚫ The model towns of industrialists were so few that they

contributed little to the solution of the real problem of
housing in the urban centers.
• In 1892 Patrick Geddes
• wished to study the whole complex of urban life.
• He insisted upon a view of all phases of human
existence as the base of operations, an integration
of physical planning with social and economic
improvement.
• He gave the idea of regional planning.

PLANNING THEORIES

To be continued…..2
⚫ Housing the most neglected feature in the urban scene,
received attention.

⚫ Planning agencies were formed, zoning and building laws

enacted.

⚫ In 1882 a Spaniard Soria Y Mata proposed the theory of

linear city.

⚫ He sought to expand the city along the spine of

communication – the highway.

⚫ Housing and industry stretched along the roadway would

thus border a continuous artery that linked existing cities.
⚫ In 1917, Tony Garnier presented his plans for la cite
industrielle- the industrial city.

⚫ He separated the civic centre and residential sections from

the factory district with a broad buffer zone, a greenbelt, and
the highway and railroad traversed this broad space.
THE GARDEN CITY MOVEMENT
Sir Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928) – A City planner

It was first described in his

book Garden Cities of Tomorrow,
published in 1902.
⚫ One of main features of it was the Zoning which was never
done before. Zoning determines the use of specific areas,
and only those uses were permitted.

⚫ Master plan came into existence.

⚫ Unlike the early utopians, this idea became reality before his
death in 1928.

⚫ In 1903, first garden city ‘Letchworth’ began 34 miles away

from London, in 4500 acres of land.
 Plan of Letchworth

⚫ Dwellings would be
distributed about a large
central court, where public
buildings would be located.
⚫ The shopping center at the
edge of town and industries
on outskirts.
⚫ Surrounding the city would be
a permanent belt of
agricultural land comprising
5,000 acres, which will later
help in expansion of city.
 LE CORBUSIER (Father of Modernism)
1887 - 1965

⚫ In 1922 in Paris the architect Le Corbusier displayed his

vision of La Ville Contemporaine.
⚫ His Utopian scheme was a city of magnificent sky
scraper towers surrounded by a broad and sweeping
open space.
⚫ The city was a huge park.
⚫ Sixty storey office buildings accommodating 1200
person per acre and covering only 5 percent of
the ground area were grouped in the heart of
city.
⚫ Surrounding the sky scrapers was the apartment
district, eight story buildings arranged in zigzag
rows with broad open spaces about them, with a
density of 120 persons per acre.
⚫ Lying about the outskirts were the garden cities
of single houses.
⚫ City was designed for a population of 30,00,000.
⚫ In 1925 he adapted the plan to voisin for the
centre of paris.
 RADBURN CITY PLAN
Clarence Stein, Henry Wright – 1880s – 1970s
American urban planner, architect

Location:
Fair Lawn, New Jersey

Built/Founded:
1928

Clarence Stein
HOW RADBURN WAS GOING TO MEET
THE PROBLEMS OF "MODERN SOCIETY

✔ Plan simply, but comprehensively.

✔ Provide ample sites for community use:
✔ Minimize wasteful transportation of goods or people.
✔ Plan with a minimum of danger, noise and confusion.
✔ Bring private and public land
into relationship
✔ Occupancy of houses on a fair
basis of cost and service,
RADBURN CITY
PLANNING PRINCIPLES
•Radburn was explicitly
designed to separate traffic
by mode,

•A pedestrian path system

that does not cross any
major roads at grade.

•Radburn introduced the

largely residential
"superblock”

•Incorporating cul-de-sacs
ACHIEVEMENTS AND ADVANTAGES
•the separation of pedestrian and vehicular traffic

•have important implications for energy conservation,

•to confront the automobile and encourage face-to-face

interaction between the residents

•The Radburn type of plan

✔ less area of street to secure the same amount of
frontage
✔ it used narrower roads of less expensive
construction
✔ as well as smaller utility lines
 FAILURES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS
•Land allocated to most homes was relatively
limited

•Small homes , that couldn't be expanded

•The typical closeness of the houses also

resulted in less privacy

•Congestion arose on the cul-de-sacs due to

limited parking area.

•This design is not suited to a lifestyle centered

around the automobile
 FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT

Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959)

was an American architect.

Proposed Broadacre City -

urban or suburban development
concept

He presented the idea in his

book The Disappearing City in
1932
 Plan of Broadacre

⚫ 4 sq. mile area

⚫ Density of 10000 people
⚫ Each family got an acre of
land for farming so that city
should be self sustainable.
Double story streets
 CONCENTRIC ZONE MODEL

Ernest Watson Burgess

(1886 – 1966)

a Canadian-American urban
sociologist born in Tilbury,
Ontario.
1 2
3
4 5
 HOMER HOYT

Homer Hoyt (1895 –1984). An

Economist

Developed the SECTOR MODEL

THEORY.
To be continued…..3
THE GARDEN CITY
⚫ Another person came into existence, he was Ebenezer Howard, disturbed by
the depressing ugliness, haphazard growth and unhealthful condition of cities.
⚫ He set the idea of garden city.
⚫ He described a town in which the land would remain in the single ownership of
the community. Population would be 30,000 in an area of 1000 acres.
⚫ Dwellings would be distributed about a large central court, where public
buildings would be located. The shopping center at the edge of town and
industries on outskirts. Surrounding the city would be a permanent belt of
agricultural land comprising 5,000 acres, which will later help in expansion
of city.
⚫ Unlike the early utopians, this idea became reality before his death in 1928.
⚫ In 1903, first garden city ‘Letchwork’ began 34 miles away from London, in
4500 acres of land.
⚫ One of main features of it was the Zoning which was done never before.
Zoning determines the use of specific areas, and only those uses were
permitted.
⚫ Master plan came into existence.
 Plan of Letchworth

Dwellings would be distributed about a

large central court, where public buildings
would be located. The shopping center at
the edge of town and industries on
outskirts. Surrounding the city would be a
permanent belt of agricultural land
comprising 5,000 acres, which will later help
in expansion of city.
 NEW UTOPIANS (Early 20th century)
⚫ Finally housing the most neglected feature in the urban scene, received
attention.
⚫ Planning agencies were formed, zoning and building laws enacted.
⚫ In 1882 a Spaniard Soria Y Mata proposed the theory of linear city.
⚫ He sought to expand the city along the spine of communication – the
highway.
⚫ Housing and industry stretched along the roadway would thus border a
continuous artery that linked existing cities.
⚫ In 1917, Tony Garnier presented his plans for la cite industrielle- the industrial
city. He separated the civic centre and residential sections from the factory
district with a broad buffer zone, a greenbelt, and the highway and railroad
traversed this broad space.

LE CORBUSIER (Father of Modernism)

⚫ In 1922 in Paris the architect Le Corbusier displayed his vision of La Ville
Contemporaine.
⚫ His Utopian scheme was a city of magnificent sky scraper towers
surrounded by a broad and sweeping open space.
⚫ The city was a huge park.
⚫ Sixty storey office buildings accommodating 1200 person per acre and covering
only 5 percent of the ground area were grouped in the heart of city.
⚫ Surrounding the sky scrapers was the apartment district, eight story buildings
arranged in zigzag rows with broad open spaces about them, with a density of
120 persons per acre.
⚫ Lying about the outskirts were the garden cities of single houses.
⚫ City was designed for a population of 3,000,000.
⚫ In 1925 he adapted the plan to voisin for the centre of paris.
⚫ In 1945, Assembly of Constructors for an Architectural Renovation
(ASCORAL) under the leadership of Le Corbusier set forth “Three Human
Establishments”, i.e. the farming unit, the radioconcentric city, and the
linear city.
⚫ They connected all three established with each other with transportation-
water, rail, and highway- that connect the existing cities with linear satellite
towns and farming units.
⚫ Factories were called green factories due to their proximity to landscaped
areas, along the main transport routes, separated from residential areas.
⚫ The residential area includes the horizontal garden town of single houses
and a vertical apartment building with a district for communal facilities.
⚫ Sports, entertainment, shopping, and office facilities are distributed in this
district.
⚫ In the latter half of 20th century congestion has inspired a variety of proposals.
⚫ Among the most popular was the concept of the double and triple
decked streets.
⚫ It came from the New York World’s fair of 1939 by Norman Bel Geddes
illustrated the separation of automobile way and pedestrian way. With elevated
pedestrian flyway and urban freeways.
MODERNIST CITY
⚫ The Athens Charter was the result of the 1933 Congrès International
d'Architecture Moderne (CIAM).
⚫ Addressing topics such as high-rise residential blocks, strict zoning, the
separation of residential areas and transportation arteries, and the
preservation of historic districts and buildings. The key underlying concept
was the creation of independent zones for the four 'functions': living, working,
recreation, and circulation.
⚫ The modernist city would be a single, open space for living that was
organized by a central state planning authority. In place of the
mixed-use road system open to all means of transport that was to be found
in the traditional city, the modernist city would have a traffic system
separated hierarchically according to function. The housing question
was inseparable from the crisis in the old cities, and should no longer be left
in the hands of private speculators, but instead dealt with by erecting whole
areas of mass housing, all built to the same standard, and offering
light, air, and sun for all.
⚫ These concepts were widely adopted by urban planners in their efforts to
rebuild European cities following World War II, for the construction of public
housing worldwide; Brasilia, a fine example of the application of this charter,
follows it virtually to the letter.
Plan of Brasilia
⚫ The chance to build a completely new city occurred only rarely, however. Between the
years of 1951 and 1965 Le Corbusier was commissioned by Pandit Nehru to plan the
state capital of Chandigarh, which was intended to be the symbol of modern India.
⚫ Over a space of around 250 acres (100 hectares) he laid out a grid of through roads. In
between these there were residential areas for 150,000 people, with all the 13 different
castes of Indian society living separately from each other. The only area shared by all was
the line of commercial establishments along the east-west axis, in the middle of which
was the civic center.
⚫ The state government was separated off in its own area to the north of the city.

Plan of Chandigarh
 PROBLEMS IN MODERNIST CITY
⚫ Brasilia is an exemplary demonstration of the failure of modern town planning.
It was successful only insofar as it solved the housing problem. In all other ways
it could not even live up to its own promises. Brasilia's road system does not
permit you to cover a distance of a mile simply on foot, you have to go by car,
taking a six-mile detour.
⚫ The international town planning ideas realized here take no consideration of
the site or of the traditions of the country. The functionally divided city,
intersected by motorways, left nowhere for civic life to grow. It merely
represents a collection of buildings, not a city.
⚫ Despite the enormous open spaces, there is none that can be used by society.
Because the plan accounted for every square inch of Brasilia, today
three-quarters of the inhabitants live in satellite towns which have grown up
without any plan at all.
⚫ The main lesson that was learnt from Brasilia was that town planning efforts
that impose the new instead of giving space to what has developed historically
deny themselves from the outset any chance of sustained development.
RENNAISSANCE OF CITY
⚫ So, theory looked again at the traditional city.
⚫ In 1977 the "Charter of Machu Pichu" was drawn up. It was the antithesis of
the Charter of Athens, and it demanded, amongst other things, the
preservation of historic buildings, the continuity of the city ground plan, the
integration of various uses, and the priority of public transport over individual
transport.
⚫ Thereafter town planning concentrated more and more on the inner city.
Between 1984 and 1987, IBA, the International Building Exhibition, turned
West Burlin into a showplace for town planning ideas
⚫ Under the slogan "critical reconstruction", the ground plan of the city that had
been destroyed by the war and by modernist town planning was reconstituted
with the most varied examples of contemporary architecture.
⚫ Until now every architect in the world needs to plan a decent city with good
living spaces for everyone, especially the poors.
⚫ Eradicate the slums and give people decent housing and renewing our old
cities.