ARC481.

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SETTLEMENT PLANNING
B.ARCH IV/I

Prepared by : Ar. Nirjana Shrestha

HISTORY OF PLANNING

■ ANCIENT SETTLEMENT
■ MEDIEVAL SETTLEMENT
■ RENAISSANCE SETTLEMENT
■ MODERN SETTLEMENT
 History of Planning
 History - record of the past events

>> important reference for the study of human activity

>> helps to project the future trend.

 We began at about 8,000 BC when village life began in the new stone age
>> also known as the Neolithic revolution (NEW STONE AGE)
 What is Revolution??
 A total new way of living.
 From Hunter >>> gathers to agriculture

The invention of agriculture changed the way of people lived

 History of Planning
 For convenience, world history is divided into different periods:

1. Ancient period: 3500 BC- 500 AD (end of Roman empire)

2. Medieval period: 500 AD- 13th Century AD
3. Renaissance period: 13th – 17th century AD
4. Modern period: 18th century AD-
 Ancient Settlement
 Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus valley & Hwang- ho delta (China): the cradle of
early human civilizations record of the past events
 All these settlements were flourished by the side of famous & large Rivers.

o Mesopotamia- Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

o Egypt- Nile River

o Indus valley- Indus river- Ganga River

o Hwang- ho delta- Hwang-ho & Yangtze Rivers

 Mesopotamia
 Valley between two rivers
 Sargon 1st – 2340 BC
 Moderate temperature, less natural calamities
 Stately palaces and temples predominates the city & the people lived in the
shadows of slavery and superstitious religion.
 Sumerian- arrived 3500 BS
o Pottery, writing, irrigation, trade

 Each city has central temple of their patron deity

 Priest are influential.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVf5kZA0HtQ
Khorsabad City
Khorsabad:
 Fortified city & palace of Sargon II (721-705 BCE)
 About a mile square
 Plan is symmetrical & as regimented as a military camp
 The palace itself (at the upper-center of the picture) was built on a platform
elevated 50 ft.
 The city's walls were built of mud brick (adobe) and faced with glazed brick
(brick with ceramic coating>> glossy finish)
 Stone was available but used for sculpture
Khorsabad:
 The top of the walls was crenellated (open space for battlements)
 Ziggurat was built in 7 levels, each 18 ft high and each was painted a
different color.

Ziggurat of Khorsabad Palace of Sargon in Khorsabad

Other features:
 Compact towns: some are in circular pattern
 Temple & palace > market place > people caste hierarchies.
 Near river bank- irrigation/ navigation/ transport.
 Houses- mud & timber. Stone houses were rare
 Roads were planned & constructed parallel to the bank of river and cross
road were of steps.
 Master and slaves relationships
 Uruk and Kish (Mesopotamian cities)- civic spaces are only for gods and
kings, not for common people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKGqJgYtif0
 Uruk City

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjK-dRF7kSg
Hammurabi: (1792-1750 BS)>> priest king
 Reunited under Babylon
 Code of law>>> called Code of
Hammurabi
 First known building by-laws
 Record keeping
 Hanging garden, planned streets
 Walled city+ moat
 Marduk (temple) – at center
 Common men still lived in congested
although regularly laid out residences
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6JzGlR2TfE
Hanging Garden

https://https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=vhffa8LiEzU
 Mesopotamia
 Eridu: the oldest of the cities
 Warka : another city with a perimeter of 9km has a temple dedicated to
Eranna (mother goddess) and Anna (sun god)
 Uruk : celebration of god and king, 3200 BC had its central temple on
platform
 Urr: city built by Urnummu (2125 BC)
 Oval shaped and had a Ziggurat and a court.

 A secondary court and three great temples.

 Another building- mausoleum (a building with burial/ tomb) of the kings.

 Egypt
 Flourished on the bank of Nile River
 Fertile clay

 Favorable microclimate- hot and dry

 No earthquakes

 Hill on east and south- natural fortification

 Corn King- pharaoh: symbol of agriculture and

progress.
 Later- pharaohs as divine (dictatorial) & people as
slaves
 Egypt
 Great faith on god and life later death >>> temples, great tombs and
Pyramids
 Egypt is more famous for its pyramids than the cities themselves
 Memphis was the upper capital
 Thebes was lower capital.
 Hieroglyphs writing, water transport from city to city

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omajagaozk0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaOIFyPXAdI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZQE4BVUEg4
 Egypt
 Cities
o Erected on the order of Pharaoh as early as 3000 BC to house the slaves
and artisans working on pyramids, the royal tombs.

o Houses made of sun dried bricks around courtyard with many small rooms-
as dormitory

o Palaces, monumental avenues, large temple plaza for the kings and his
nobles.

o Cities had high walls towards river- save from flood.

El Kahun:
 A worker’s town existed at the time of king
Senusret II (1897-75 BS)
 Rectangular shape- 350mX400M
 Walled town- a divider brick wall that divides poor
and rich residential areas
 Rich residential area- a handful of 60 room large
houses
 Poor area- the 44m2 houses of the workmen had
2 rooms on ground floor & access to flat roof which
was used as living and storing space
 Culs-de-sacs alleys
 Large houses were 2700m2 each –as living
quarters for high officials in charge of the
construction work.
 Streets all over the city were laid out in straight
lines.
 Main street- 9m wide & workers districts- 1.5m
 No space left for gardens inside the walls of the
city.
 Streets had shallow stone channels running down
the middle for drainage
 Town was on the East & Pyramids on the west of
River
 Main street ran north-South
Characteristics of Egyptian Towns
 Linear & they correspond to the alignment of river Nile.
 Roads laid straight in a way parallel to one another. Main streets ran North-
South.
 Major transportation through Nile river.
 Zoning of city reflects social stratification
 Luxury for nobles and slums for people
 Monumental avenues, palaces & large temples built for pharaohs & nobles

 Workers dormitories were congested with narrow lanes without open public spaces

 Compact sun dried brick houses with many small rooms around a courtyard.
 Faith on life after death & divinity assigned to kings led to development in
tomb architecture
 Pyramids became landmark in urban scenario.
 Ancient Indian Settlements/ Indus valley Civilization

 Mohenjo-Daro: located on the bank of river

Indus
 Harappa: on river Ravi, a tributary of River
Indus.
 Fertile land, agricultural production, availability
of timber & transportation through river &
access to sea led to the development of
settlement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VECJJIEYTXw
 Indus Valley Towns
 With growth of the settlement, development in
art and culture it had been center of Aryan
civilization.
 Exhibit effective town planning
 Great achievements in

 Planning

 Residential architecture, and

 Civic administration in the principal cities

 Indus Valley Towns
 Mohenjo-Daro & Harappa show similar planning
approaches
 Both were nearly a mile square in area with defensive walls
 Layout of Grid iron pattern of streets N-S & E-W >> 9m wide
 City divided into 12 blocks by streets >> each block is
approx. 365m X244m
 The central western block allocated for citadel (fortress) &
other mainly for residential
 City served by extensive drainage system & better street
networks
 Indus Valley Towns
City citadel:
 Located on central western block
 At Mohenjo-daro, its built over a platform
of baked brick >> 15m above the general
city level
 Contains palace, bathing tank, massive
granary

 The bathing tank probably for ritual public bath>>Surrounded by living quarters
for priests
 Indus Valley Towns
 Granaries (as storage chambers of grains) provided with
unloading platforms & cross ventilation
 Citadel has terraces at various levels approached by ramps
or staircases
 Ruins of vast halls (70x24)m>> as part of
palace/worshipping place??
 Circular brick paved floor making platforms next to
granaries
 A row of two roomed cells probably for labours
 Indus Valley Towns
Residential architecture
 Residences arranged around open to sky>
central courtyard
 No direct entry from the main street>> through
irregular, narrow & shaded walkway
 Virtually no windows towards street
 Depend on central open court for light and
ventilation
 Basic unit of residential block is a house of
varying size & 2 or more stories in height
 Indus Valley Towns
 Group of housing units share a common well for
water supply
 Each house had a separate bathing area >>
connected to drains
 Extensive drainage system in the city
 Indus Valley Towns
 Town planning principles enveloped significantly
 Such principles had been compiled in Manasara>>
Dandaka, sarbatobhadra, Prastara, Swastika,
Padmaka, etc
 Classic Cities -Greek cities
 The classic period of Greek cities saw the rise of democracy, mercantile economy &
prosperous and powerful city states
 Hyppodamus (498 BC-408BC, architect from Miletus)>> designed and planned
towns.
 Greek towns:

 Hyppodammian grid iron pattern

 Noted for its amenities as well as its provision of mercantile

 Economy, democratic state, etc.
 Famous towns were>> Miletus, Priene, Thurii
 Greek cities
 Hippodamian plan
 Agora at centre>> around it are temple shrines,
public bldgs. and shops
 Dwelling blocks are planned to provide
appropriate orientation of houses
 Recreation & entertainment facilities are
provided as gymnasium, stadium and theatres
 Contour site >> steep streets, steps being
frequently required
 Greek cities
Other characteristics
 Geometric system of layout with Hyppodamian grid iron street pattern
 Democratic culture>> design to serve the people
 Agora >> center of business & political life
 Functional uses of buildings & public spaces were recognized in the
arrangement of streets
 Evidence of building regulations to restrict building from encroachment upon
the streets
 Roman cities
 Rome was an empire
 Earlier towns were unplanned & irregular
 Used the Greek concept of central space
of the town & street pattern>> adapted in
their own context
 Roman cities: Pompeii, Timgad (military
town in Algeria)
 Roman cities
Characteristics
 Roman city had wall all around & network of streets.
 Cross roads in cardinal directions & spanning from E-W and N-S.
 Town divided into grid squares.
 Major roads are called Cardo and minor roads are called Decumanus
 Forum: marketplace>> center of Roman public life>> site of Triumphal
processions & elections, venue for public speeches, criminal trials and
gladiatorial matches and nucleus of commercial affairs (1st Century BC-1st
Century AD)
 Roman cities
 Roman cities have 2 forums: Republican &Imperial
 Republican forum: old, congested and consisted of commercial and
administrative heart

 Imperial forum: new, spacious and consisted of public amenities like thermae,
basilica, etc.
Roman Forums
Pompeii
 Roman cities
 To make cities more habitable, infrastructures like water supply and
sewerage system were built
 Roman were highly developed in technical aspect of water supply canals,
construction of roads and bridges.
 Introduced lime concrete and triumphal arches
 Imperial buildings & public monumental buildings>> super human scale and
designed to express power and legacy of emperor.
 Medieval Settlements
 Downfall of Roman empire by 5th century>> height of luxury, pomp and
ceremony
 The western civilization started to decline, trade disintegrated, empires were
fragmented.
 Strongmen controlled the towns and formed city states
 Wars between feudal lords became frequent>> period of social and economic
confusion, uncertainties ad stagnation called Dark age followed
 Defense was most necessary element and hence the cities were fortified
 Medieval Settlements
 Government of landlords- Feudal system
 Increasing uncertain grew faith on religion>> castles, churches and
monasteries became shelter for refuse and those oppressed and these
religious institutions gained power
 Rulers extended their fortification to include the churches/monasteries and
people.
 Countryside was not safe and people preferred living inside the fortification
>> city congestion >> degeneration started.
 Medieval Settlements
Characteristics
 Cities located on irregular terrain occupying hilltops and islands
 Fortified cities with heavier walls with gates and moat around
 City dominated by churches/ monasteries/ castle of lords
 Church plaza became the market place

 Town hall & guild hall built nearby market plaza

 Roads radiate generally from church plaza & market square to town gate>>
secondary lateral roadways connecting them
 Medieval Settlements
Characteristics
 Irregular street pattern, often winding, probably consciously designed as a
means to confuse enemy in case of invasion
 Compact buildings>> lack of sufficient open spaces.
 Congestion, lack of hygiene and insufficient services >>> slum like conditions
in cities
 Eg. York, Canterbury
 Renaissance Settlements
 Renaissance: revival/ coming back
 Renaissance period: 13th century to 17th century
 In medieval period, many towns underwent downfall with congestion, lack of
services, lack of open spaces and slum like condition
 Renaissance brought about the revival of classic times in those
degenerated cities
 It is characterized by free thought and enquiry >> cities were rejuvenated
 Cities were improved with civic spaces and monumental buildings.
 Renaissance Settlements
Versailles
 Louis XIV>> removed his palace
from congested city of Paris to
open hunting ground of
Versailles
 Avenues radiating from the magnificent palace
 Garden at back of palace with axial pathways
 Small additional open space in other quarter of town
 Renaissance Settlements
 Originally a narrow winding street led to
St. Peter’s
 Mussolini, having impression of perish,
ordered that path to be opened widely,
removing the part of medieval buildings
 Axial avenue from the castle came into
being
 New public buildings and structures
designed to give impressive look
 Renaissance Settlements
Characteristics
 Creation of monumental avenues
 Creations based on the aesthetics of central lines, axiality and symmetry
 Carving out the town to create open spaces to heighten the monumentality
of the key element of composition such as the church, town hall, noble
man’s residence, palace, etc.
 Sculptural quality of buildings (objects to see from a distance and from
around it)
 Renaissance Settlements
Characteristics
 Strong geometric form
 New sense of civic space and civic design developed
 Good circulation and movement at center
 Renaissance Settlements
“Behind the wall”- (gallion & Eisner, 1986)
 Renaissance Settlements
 Congested urban population, devoid of sanitation, later distribution and
drainage
 Suffered from epidemics and disease and poverty was appalling
 Aristocracy ( upper class) ----------------- Masses (common people)
 Revolution in 18th century
 Industrial Cities
Industrial age:
 Started from 18th century onwards in west- James Watt invented steam
engine- (France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Northern Italy)
 Mass production and mass consumption became the rule.
 New mode of employment, new crop rotation
 Mercantilism ---- Capitalism
 Medieval guilds of proprietors ---- Trade unions
 Industries & industrial labor became important economic element in town
 Factory as a magnet >> increase in worker’s dwelling >> industrial town was
born
 Growth of Cities after Industrial Revolution
The stages of growth are:
First stage (1770-1820)
 Modern city began because of industries>>
industries acted as magnet >> people
attracted to cities for employment and
services
 Growth of Cities after Industrial Revolution
Second stage (1820-1900)
 With development of railways>> more
concentration at center and city expanded
in appendages along the railway lines
Third stage (1900-1939)
 Congestion occurred at center resulting into
decay and unplanned growth
 Growth of Cities after Industrial Revolution
Fourth stage (1945----)
 City was decentralization, satellite towns developed
Fifth stage
 Central city was recreated
Sixth stage
 Central city was redeveloped
Eg. City of Edinburgh underwent changes near St. Giles
Cathedral
 Industrial Cities
Examples:
Chaux in France:
 In 1776, Claude Nicolas Ledoux of France designs for salt workers
Industrial village in Manchester:
 In 1779, Robert Owen designed to accommodate 800-1200 people
in 600-1800 acres of land.
 Industrial Cities
Characteristics:
 Developed at vicinity of industry
 To accommodate the industrial labor
 Large number of people at small area
 Efficient use of land
 Construction technique for mass construction partially implemented
 Access to basic services
 Industrial Cities
Problems of industrial towns:
 Towns and its services to industry- not so much for urban living
 Heavy rural to urban migration- Manchester numbered 17,000 ppl in 1750s;
30 years later, 40,000 and in 1801, 70,000
 Very fast pace of urbanization
 Congestion in residential area and shortage of housing
 Sanitation problem- failure of sewerage and drainage in towns
 Environmental pollution and health- the “ cloud of coal vapor”
 Industrial Cities
Problems of industrial towns:
 Traffic congestion
 Poverty
 Loss of amenities
 Urban sprawl