referencing the history of city planning and how it has changed over time.
xiabuantjngo1
crewe_planning_history_1.pptxWHAT IS A CITY?
“Let us define as a city a community with a significant degree of division of labor that makes it part of a network of cities. That would distinguish it, for instance from a settlement of farmers, such as Jericho, with a population believed to have been in the region of 1-2,000. albeit protected, famously, by a wall, but not operating in a system of cities….”
TIMELINE OF EARLY CITIES
FLOODPLAIN CITIES: 3500 b.c., cities of Ur, Uruk, Nineveh, Babylon
EGYPT: Old Kingdom from around 2600 b.c.
GREEK CITY STATES: around 450 b.c.
ROME: early Roman Republic formed 509 b.c.; Julius Caesar ruled from 60 b.c. and accelerated conquests; 412 a.d. Alaric the Visigoth sacked Rome
FLOODPLAIN CITIES
Cities of Uruk, Ur, Nineveh, Babylon estimated at around 10,000
WESTERN ROOTS IN FLOODPLAIN CITIES
Centered around rivers for trade
Hierarchical urban space
Huge religious structures at center of city for ceremonies
Residential areas like suburbs; note flat roofs
Streets for triumphal processions
TIGRIS/ EUPHRATES RIVER BASIN AS CRADLE OF WEST
Tribes had farmed for centuries with herds; simple clan structure
At some point, migrated from mountains to floodplain, where they found fertile conditions for farming crops
This meant they had to plan ahead
Low Lying Territory, prone to flooding, fertile for crops
IRRIGATED FARMING ENCOURAGED EARLY URBANISM
Surplus grain requires sophisticated record keeping, taxation, government
Scientific projections about the seasons; new knowledge and new priest class
Complex division of labor
Growth of a wealthy class, which encouraged the arts, poetry, leisure . . . .
Ambitious architecture to glorify power and wealth
PEOPLE HAD TIME ON THEIR HANDS
POWER OF RELIGIOUS BUILDINGS: ZIGGURAT
ARCHITECTURE THAT IMPOSES: BABYLON PALACE GATES
LEISURE TO CREATE ART
Art to glorify rulers, impress your neighboring states, ensure immortality
With art comes a new class of artists and creative people
EARLY EXAMPLE OF GIS…
This is a gridded mold, to be superimposed on a sheep’s liver
Priests, or wise men, would note blemishes or marks on the liver and make prophecies according to location on the grid
Early spatial technology!
GRAPHIC RENDERING OF FLOODPLAIN CITY
ZIGGURATAS THOUGHT TO BE BIBLICAL “TOWER OF BABEL”
Medes, Persians, Syrians were the “bad guys” of the Old Testament
Likewise the golden calves, the false idols
ANCIENT EGYPT
Memphis, Thebes and later Alexandria; Egypt was “urban” but had few cities
EGYPT: A NEW DIMENSION OF SYMBOLISM & BEAUTY
EGYPT WELL DEFENDED, PROTECTED BY CLIFFS
EGYPT: BUILDING AS SYMBOL
Egyptian obsession with death and the afterlife
The fertile Nile allows plenty of leisure time for building
Buildings express religious power, they powerfully symbolize death, birth and the afterlife
SACRED TOMB OF QUEEN HATCHEPSUT
EGYPT: BUILDING AS SYMBOL OF DEATH
LESS KNOWN ABOUT EGYPTIAN DOMESTIC LIFE; MAYBE MORE CHEERFUL
Maybe history distorts our perceptions
Lives of ordinary Egyptians are lost; only granite monuments remain
EXAMPLES OF EQYPTIAN ART
THE ANCIENT GREEK “POLIS”
Athens, Mycaenae, and numerous city states
ANCIENT GREECE BRINGS NEW DIMENSION TO URBAN PLANNING
GREEKS: NEW THINKING ABOUT PLANNING
What is civic life?
What are civic obligations?
What is democracy, what is tyranny?
What is the perfect city?
Said the perfect city has 10,000 people-- ha ha!
OLIVES FOR CIVIC BONDING
Early Greek ruler gave an olive tree to each household, good food source
But also . . . Fostered good neighborliness because the roots were so invasive
TERRAIN KEPT CITIES SMALL; GOOD SITING
SITING THE PARTHENON
CREATIVE USE OF OUTDOORS IN ANCIENT GREECE
STOA, AS CENTER OF GREEK GOVERNMENT
EARLY PLAN OF MILETUS, note stoa and agora
WORSHIP OF THE MALE BODY
Cultivated health, physical prowess and physical beauty--in males
Origins of the Olympics, Marathon, Athletic stadiums
Celebration of the outdoors
POWER OF GREEK THINKING
Aristotle
Sophocles
Socrates
Plato
Hypocrates
Demosthenes
Pythagoras
GREEK AGORA
ANCIENT ROME
Also the towns of Ostia, Pompeii, and numerous Roman towns in Britain (Londinium, Eboracum), Spain, France
ROMAN CITIES AS CENTERS OF POWER AND GOVERNMENT
ROMAN EMPIRE AT MAXIMUM
NORTH to Scotland, Germany
WEST to Portugal, Spain, France
SOUTH to Morocco, Egypt, Sudan, Lybia
EAST NORTH to Jordan, Armenia, Syria, Iraq, Azerbaijan
ROMANS AS PLANNERS
Romans were the empire builders; rulers, and regional planners
Created blueprints for planned cities throughout the empire
Absorbed Greek thinking, and exported it
Master-builders, massive proliferation
ROMAN FORUM
Buildings organized to convey power and authority
Public space acquires a new meaning
Looks familiar, doesn’t it? Why?
Use of concrete
ROMAN LANDSCAPE FERTILE, EASY TO TRAVEL
ROMAN ROAD NEAR OSTIA
PONT DU GARDE, NIMES
ROMANS: REGIONAL PLANNING
TYPICAL STREET, POMPEII
WALL PAINTINGS IN POMPEII
1st CENTURY, ROMAN CITIES HAD APARTMENT BLOCKS
Apartments for less wealthy citizens
7-8 Stories high max.
Dwellings above shops at street level (bakeries, wine shops etc.)
Could get crowded and dirty; often one family per room
Familiar to apartment living: slum landlords, rent control, zoning to limit height--just like today
Was running sewage, though basic
ROMAN CIVILIZATION IN REMOTE PARTS OF EMPIRE
MEDIEVAL EUROPE
Most European cities! Bremen, Carcasonne, Bruges, Ghent, Seville
THE ENCHANTED MEDIEVAL CITY, ON A HILL
MEDIEVAL CITY: A CITY OF DEFENSE AGAINST DANGERS
FEAR OF FORESTS DEFINED HOW PEOPLE LIVED
Period of Chivalry
Not much by way of city-building! Too much fighting!
Lord of the Ring as medieval
Opinions differ as to the violence of the Middle Ages, whether or not they were clean and livable
The importance of gates in the Middle Ages, to keep intruders out
Here you see the PORTE MORDELAISE, RENNES, FRANCE
IMPORTANCE OF THE CHURCH IN MIDDLE AGES
One third of people were employed by the church
Churches were built by common people, artisans
The church was typically the largest visible building
SIZE OF THE CHURCH IN RELATION TO CITY
Church towered visually and psychologically over residents
Sound of bells ten times a day; call to work, call to prayer
THE MEDIEVAL STREET
Today we try and recreate the medieval street; it’s intimate, narrow, winding and informal
We love the long-lost togetherness; strong nostalgia at work
RENAISSANCE CITIES
Famously Florence, Venice, Rome, Milan
RENAISSANCE MAN AT CENTRE
RENAISSANCE CITIES
RENAISSANCE CITIES
Size, splendor as rulers and wealthy leaders seek to enhance their prestige
New attention to architecture, classicism; professional architects
Rules about architecture: Palladio
ENGLISH LANDSCAPE GARDEN STYLE
Origins of suburbia as we know it
English stately homes of Stowe, Stourhead; this style influenced suburban living in the U.S.
“SCHOLAR” GARDENS OF SOUTH CHINA
Naturalistic, free flowing to copy nature
Vanishing rivers and paths; willows dipping into the water…image of peace and tranquillity
THE STORY TURNS TO ENGLAND; REVOLT AGAINST FORMAL GARDENS
Sir William Chambers, a Scottish architect (1723-1796) traveled to China in the 1740s
Returned to English court; described the beauty of Chinese gardens
English gardens at the time were stiff and formal (see clipped shrubs and hedges)
LEGACY OF ENGLISH 18th CENTURY “LANDSCAPE” GARDENS
Stourhead as 18th Century garden: Artificial landscape of man-made lakes and hills to create illusions of nature
Age of Enlightenment
Aimed at seclusion and privacy; reaction against artificial and urban
HUMPHREY REPTON & THE RED BOOK
Landscape architects designed the estates of wealthy aristocrats; ambitious plans to include rivers, lakes and artificial hills
Repton’s “Red Book” showed before and after scenarios
Always the illusion of solitude
TREES, SWANS AND LAWN, PLUS A FEW FAKE RUINS
HOUSE SET IN “WILDERNESS”
Artificially created home in natural setting--note there are no people around. The nearby village was carefully screened off
Aristocratic vision of stately isolation--that’s behind today’s suburbs
CENTRAL PARK INFLUENCED BY ENGLISH SCHOOL
THE LEGACY OF ENGLISH GARDENS ON THE US
Frederick Law Olmsted visited England before designing Central Park; came back inspired by romantic parks and gardens
Built Central Park; Franklin Park and many others
Arguably the root of Americans’ taste for secluded, suburban homes
OUR DESIRE TO CREATE WILDERNESS IN THE CITY
SO TODAY, WE ALL WANT TO LIVE WITH NATURE (!)
Sprawl
Chemicals for grass
Loss of community
Sad catalogue of suburban evils…….
