Greek and Roman

City Urban Planning

Anas Aparna Aswin Athul Chris Christeena Deepak

b17ARA08 b17ARA09 b17ARA10 b17ARA11 b17ARA12 b17ARA13 b17ARA14
 City or town planning used to mean merely the
conscious laying In recent time, however, it has
been extended, often in the form of urban
planning, to cover, beyond the physical, social,
economic, and artistic design of cities, such other
aspects as public services and essential supply.

Out of cities so that its various elements of

Overview public and private buildings, open spaces, roads,

and transportation facilities were interrelated for
optimum efficiency and aesthetic effect.

Urban planning of these cities indicate a more

comprehensive conscious blueprinting of both the
physical and nonphysical aspects of a city
Introduction to
● Greek civilization occurred area around the Greek
mainland ,on a peninsula that extends into
mediterranean sea.

Greece ● It started in cities on the greek mainland and on

islands in the aegean sea.

● Towards the later or hellenistic period,greek

civilization spread to other far away places including
Asia minor and Northern Africa
The period of ancient greek history can be
divided into four as follows:

Greek dark ages Classical period

1100BC-750BC 750 BC-490BC 500BC-323BC 323BC-147BC 11.01.XX

Archaic period Hellenistic period

Planning and design Principles for Greek cities:
● The ancient Greek civilization had
established principles for planning and
designing cities
● City form were of two types: Old city,
New city
● Old cities such as Athens had irregular
street plans reflecting their gradual
organic development
● New cities, especially colonial cities
established during the Hellenistic
period, had a grid-iron street plan
● Certain things were common among
cities
● Towns had fixed boundaries and some
were protected by fortifications
● Much of the town was devoted to public
use
● The Greek City was usually divided into
three parts; the acropolis, the agora and
the town.
● Site planning and design was centered
on the appreciation of buildings from
the outside.
● The location of buildings was therefore
such that it could command a good view
to it.
The role of Hippodamus of Miletus in the
development of grid-planned cities in Classical
Greece.
● Urban plan based on streets
intersecting at right angles, known as
the Hippodamian Plan.
● The Hippodamian Plan is based on a grid
of right angles and the allocation of
public and private space.
● Since the Hippodamian Plan is based on
angles and measurements, it can be laid
out uniformly over any kind of terrain. In
the city of Priene, the plan is laid out
over a sloping hillside, and the terrain is
terraced to fit into the rational network
of houses, streets, and public buildings.

● The center of the city is the home of the

city's most important civic public
spaces, including the agora, the
bouleuterion, theatres, and temples.
Private rooms surround the city's public
areas.
The Acropolis
● The Acropolis was the city of temples

● It is the location where all the major

temples of a city are located

● It was built to glorify the gods

● Greeks considered high places to be

important & sacred

● The Acropolis were usually located on the

highest ground

● Other public buildings such as gymnasia,

stadia, and theaters were generally
regarded as part of religious rituals

● They are normally found attached on lower

ground to the hills of the Acropolis
The Agora
● The Agora was the most important
gathering place in a Greek city
● It started as an open area where the council
of the city met to take decisions
● With time buildings were constructed to
define and enclose the space
● It also transformed into a place for
combined social, commercial and political
activities
● It emerged as the heart of Greek intellectual
life and discourse.
● It was usually located on a flat ground for
ease of communication
● It was placed to be easily accessible from all
directions
● In many cities, it is also located close to the
Acropolis
The Town
● The town was where the people lived
● This was the domain of women, who did not
have any public role
● Early Greek towns had an irregular street
pattern, resulting from its organic growth
● Later Hellenistic towns such as Prienne had
a formal rectilinear pattern
● The town was made up of only residential
houses
● Houses were usually constructed of mud
bricks
● Houses were of the courtyard type, with
rooms arranged around a courtyard
● Houses vary according to standing in the
society
 PRIENE – Hippodamian plan
● The city of Priene demonstrates the ''Hippodamian plan'' as it
developed toward the end of the Hellenic period
● It was divided into four districts: the religious, the political, the
cultural and the commercial zone.
● The main religious area was in the centre and was occupied by the
temple of Athena Polias.
● The cultural zone was associated with the function of the theatre.
Priene's theatre is one of the best and most well-preserved
Hellenistic theatres.
● The main streets were the ones oriented from west to east,
connecting the gates of the city. The east – west streets, and
especially the main one crossing the open space of agora, were all
paved and could be traversed by wheeled carriages.
● The grid seems denser on the east side of the city, and wider on the
west. In the centre, where also the site becomes flatter, two blocks
had been removed and space was provided for the Agora.
● The Agora occupies the approximate geographical centre of the town,
occupying about one-fifteenth of the built-up area of the city. There
An imagined aerial view of Priene are the temple shrines, public buildings, and shops about it. The
streets around the Agora were pedestrianized and a big flat terrace
was created to connect them.
The Spatial Organization of Priene city, the main activities in the city have
linked to the integrated spaces (red lines). Residential units were linked to the
segregated spaces to give the requirements of privacy and calm (blue lines)
 ● Emerging from a small agricultural
community in central Italy,the city of Rome
was traditionally founded in 753 BC.
● Rome's location in central Italy placed it

Introduction to squarely within a cultural environment

dominated by a cluster of interlinked

Rome
Mediterranean civilizations, the most
famous of these was that of the ancient
greeks
● As Rome's reach extended throughout the
Italian peninsula it came into direct contact
with the Greek cities to the south.
● From then on Greek influence would become
an increasingly important element within
Roman life. However, the Romans would
give Greek culture their own slant, giving it a
new grandeur which can be seen in Roman
remains throughout the empire
 Evolution of planning
● Rome is one of the oldest cities in the world and it has a particular urban development during its historical
evolution.
● The typical Roman city of the later Republic and empire had a rectangular plan and resembled
● a Roman military camp with two main streets:
1. The Cardo (north-south)
2. The Decumanus (east-west)
● Older cities, such as Rome itself, founded before the adoption of regularized city planning however, consisted of a
maze of crooked streets
● The typical features found in roman city planning are- forums,basilicas, Roman temples, commemorative
structures, paved roads, public baths, aqua ducts.
● The forum, an open area bordered by colonnades with shops, functioned as the chief meeting place of the town.
● It was also the site of the city's primary religious and civic buildings, among them the
Senate house, records office, and basilica
Planning principles
● Romans adopted the technology and planning skills of the Greeks. They were more advanced than the Greeks in
terms of technological skills which they used to develop better infrastructural facilities and construction
techniques
● It had two main axial roads called
Cardus (E-W)
Decumanus(N-S)
● "Secondary streets" complete the gridiron layout and form the building blocks known as "Insulae”
● Perimeter of the city was usually square/rectangular with bassions.
● Cross streets occasionally stepped and bridged around the city due to topographical condition
● Generally rectangular walled city entered by several gates,showing complete town organization
From the religious significance of the Temples by the Greeks there was a change to the civic influence of Law
Courts "
● Basilica" which became more important than the public buildings
● The most important part of the city was the forum, where political, economic, administrative, social and religious
activity were centred."Forum Area" usually located centre of the town formed by the intersection of the
Decamanus and cardo similar to Greek “Agoras”
● In big cities there were theatres, circuses, stadiums,odeons
I Town planning: POMPEII
● Pompeii is an irregular oval area of 160 acres planted on small
natural hill and has stone wall nearly 2 miles in circumference.
● The location of Pompeii was ideal and played a significant role in
the city’s fortune.
● It has forum with principle temples and public buildings around it.
● Pompeii was accessed by seven gates, five of which led to other
towns.
● The town was planned in grid system.These grids were marked
by roads, the main axial road( decumanii) crossed by minor
roads ( cardini) creating blocks called insulae about 35x90
metres
● Three major road arteries contributed to subdivision of the city.
● It was divided into several zoned sections, with a forum (civic
areas and shopping centers,) residential quadrants,
entertainment areas with theaters and amphitheaters and
combined areas.
● The roads met at right angles. Shrines and water fountains
were often placed at these cross roads.The roads were
sloping towards the sides allowing excess water to drain off.
● Streetscapes represent the interrelationship between
buildings, landscape and open spaces in the street scene.
● Elements of streetscape are sidewalks, benches, fountains,
street paving, crosswalks , public art and plantings.
● Streets varied in width, reflecting the relative volume of
pedestrian and wheeled traffic

Water Supply
Town Planning: HERCULANEUM

● Herculaneum, like its larger neighbor Pompeii,

was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in
79 A.D. and not rediscovered until the 1700s.
● Followed the classical layout of Greek towns.
● Narrow, Straight streets dividing the town into
● blocks (insulae).
● Less Traffic on the Roads.
● Better drainage and Sewage systems
● Unlike the streets of Pompeii, road surfaces were
smooth stone, with no signs of heavy traffic
● Stepping stones were not necessary due to the
underground drainage system
● The main street of Herculaneum is 40 feet wide
with 12 feet sidewalks on either side. Sidewalks
are protected by overhanging roofs.
References
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