University of Jijel

Faculty of Sciences and Technology

Department of Architecture

1st year Licence GTU

Subject : Introduction to urban planning 1

Chapter 02: History of cities

Lesson 05: Cities in the industrial age

Academic year: 2023-2024

 INTRODUCTION

Cities and societies in England, Europe and then the rest of the world were to
experience, essentially during the 19th century, the dazzling impact of the
industrial revolution and its positive and negative effects, notably through
the transformation of the relationship with time, thanks in part to the rapid
transport provided by the triumphant railroads (Saidouni, 2000, p. 43).
Source : http://classeconnectee.weebly.com/la-reacutevolution-industrielle.html
The Industrial Revolution and its impact on the city

The industrial city of the 19th century underwent

profound changes. Cities and societies underwent
major changes during this period. As a direct result
of the industrial revolution, the morphology of
towns and cities underwent significant upheaval.
These changes affected not only THE
STRUCTURE of these cities, but also THE WAY
THEY THEY WERE THOUGHT AND
DESIGNED.
Source : http://classeconnectee.weebly.com/la-reacutevolution-
industrielle.html
 The Industrial
Revolution made
invention and
production the
PRIORITY of
society.

Source : https://www.alamyimages.fr/photos-images/usines-du-19%C3%A8me-si%C3%A8cle.html?sortBy=relevant
 The industrial revolution,
combined with the
revolution in transport
and agricultural
techniques, led to
ACCELERATED
URBANIZATION, in
the form of a massive
exodus from the
countryside to major
industrial centers.

Source : http://classeconnectee.weebly.com/la-reacutevolution-industrielle.html
In Europe, cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, which accounted for 2% of the population at
the beginning of the 19th century, accounted for 15% in 1910. London's population doubled in
thirty years, reaching 4 million in 1880. The estimated rate of urbanization, which around 1500 was
around 9%, changed little between 1700 (around 11%) and 1800 (around 11%); it reached around
30% in 1850 and 50% in 1910, with a peak of 75% in England. In the same country, the proportion
of towns with more than 10,000 inhabitants rose from 24% in 1801 to 70.1% in 1911, and the
number of towns with more than 100,000 inhabitants rose from one to 36 between these two dates.
The production of the built environment no longer obeyed the laws of urban composition and urban art
inherited from the classical city, but rather the laws of industrialization and the capital economy, encouraged
mainly by the development of private initiative. The characteristics of the period can be summed up as follows:

❑ The break-up of the traditional city outside

its walls, creating industrial suburbs.

The emergence of a periphery consisting mainly

of working-class neighborhoods alongside
factories and warehouses.

Cities in the industrial age

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=l8BnS6Of5H8
❑ The cramming of people
into slums; the most
sinister example is the
construction of "Back to
Back housing" in England's
industrial cities.

An aerial view of back-to-back rows of terraced houses in a working-class area of a town in northern England.
Source: https://www.alamyimages.fr/photos-images/maison-en-rang%C3%A9e-de-la-classe-ouvri%C3%A8re.html?sortBy=relevant
❑ Deterioration of urban fabric
(old medieval districts).

❑ Deteriorating sanitary and

hygiene conditions and the
emergence of deadly epidemics.

Photograph of the village of Bournville, south of Birmingham, 1926. The Cadbury

company set up its factories here in 1879.
Source: https://ehne.fr/fr/encyclopedie/th%C3%A9matiques/%C3%A9cologies-et-
environnements/les-risques-environnementaux/les-pollutions-industrielles-en-europe
The Industrial Revolution was also an urban revolution.
Inventing a new urban landscape was the challenge
faced by 19th-century mankind in the face of the
upheavals brought about by the Industrial Revolution.
Technical advances, economic demands and social
pressures had a profound impact on urban planning; in
just a few decades, the urban world changed, and this
change can be summed up in one word: NEW. This word
can be broken down into several themes: new streets, new
buildings, traffic patterns, materials, centers of power,
new cities.
At the time, the city was a focal point
for all the signs of modernity, but also
for the negative effects of society's
major economic and technical
changes. Indeed, the city's situation was
truly worrying, and remedies had to be
found for the sick city, which drew
widespread criticism.
By the middle of the 19th century, some European cities appeared
anachronistic, unable to fulfill the functions imposed on them by
industrialization and demographic concentration. To survive and At the end of the 19th century, a
adapt, they were in need of far-reaching global transformation. The society shaped by industrial
most spectacular transformation was accomplished (between 1853 development saw the emergence of
and 1869) by the Baron and Prefect of Paris Georges Eugène urban planning as a "scientific",
Haussmann. He treated the whole of Paris as a whole. He reflective and critical discipline.
commissioned the first comprehensive plan of Paris, complete with Two currents developed: the
contour lines, enabling him to carry out an in-depth analysis of the progressive and the culturalist.
city's topography and morphology.
CONCLUSION

In every historical period, urban planning has taken on new dimensions. In ancient times, the
physical and historical conditions required to establish a city were the key factors. This city was
the spatial support for the later Greek and Roman cities. In the Middle Ages, the city underwent
great change due to demographic growth, and new urban systems emerged: centric and
radioconcentric. During the Renaissance, the aesthetic quality of urban space played a major role
in city planning.
 References
❖ DJOUAD Fatima-Zahra, 2021 : Polycopié de Cours
“Introduction à l’urbanisme”,Université 08 Mai 1945
de Guelma.
❖ HADEF, H (2021) : Polycopié de Cours “Introduction
à l’urbanisme”,Université de Jijel.
❖ L. MELOUAH. « Cours : Généralités sur la ville et
son évolution », M1 GV.
❖ Maacha, D. (2013). Emergence d'un réseau et d'un
pôle urbaines régionaux. Référence empirique à la
grande kabylie (Doctoral dissertation, Universite
Mouloud Mammeri).
❖ MAOUIA, S. (2000). Eléments d’introduction à
l’urbanisme. Histoire, Méthodologie, Réglementation,
Alger: casbah édition, p202.
❖ MERLIN, P. (1991). L'urbanisme. Que sais-je.
❖ Boutet, A., Chouraqui, J., & Mauvoisin, M. (2019). Petites
centralités: entre desserrement urbain et dynamiques macro-
régionales.
❖ http://classeconnectee.weebly.com/la-reacutevolution-
industrielle.html
❖ https://ehne.fr/fr/encyclopedie/th%C3%A9matiques/%C3%
A9cologies-et-environnements/les-risques-
environnementaux/les-pollutions-industrielles-en-europe
❖ https://www.alamyimages.fr/photos-images/maison-en-
rang%C3%A9e-de-la-classe-
ouvri%C3%A8re.html?sortBy=relevant
❖ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=l8BnS6O
f5H8