SETTLEMENTS EVOLUTION

AND
PLANNING THEORY
 EVOLUTION OF ANCIENT CITIES
City is a mirror of human civilization prevailing at that particular period of time. It’s not mere roads
and buildings that make city, but the prevailing culture which moulds the shape and size of the city.

 Ancient Cities:
 Major changes in human settlements occurred because of the adaption t climate. People started
growing plants and domesticating animals for food and survival.
 The growing of grain began in Southern Egypt and by 8000B.C agriculture was established along
the river valleys of Nile, Tigris and Euphrates.
 Slowly the patterns as changed and permanent house were built to increase the growth of towns
and cities. So. Most of the large settlements took place in an around 8000B.C.
Catal Huyuk – It was the south central turkey
which is an example for how an Neolithic city
functioned. There were no streets but tightly
clustered houses with occasional courtyards.
Entry to the houses was by means of a hole in
the roof, which also served as smoke outlet.

 Valley of Tigris and Euphrates rivers known as Mesopotamia(“A Greek word means the land
between the rivers”)
 Pottery vessels were made to store food grains and writing, rituals, singing and dancing were
developed for communication.
 Larger cities were built along the rivers by 3500B.C.The only permanent buildings were temples,
tombs and storehouses.
 Timber and stone were scarce, so buildings were made of clay bricks, at first sun dried and later
kiln baked.
 The streets were narrow for pedestrian movement and joined one another at right angles but did
not form a continuous grid iron pattern. This shows that there was np overall plan of the city.

 Egyptian cities:
 Ancient Egyptian civilization is one of the most important civilizations that influenced human
heritage. It is one of the most necessary civilizations established on the premise of urban
construction.
 This was done by rulers and kings who ruled Egypt both in the pre-Christmas period and beyond.
The ancient Egyptians relied on the construction of cities because of the population density at the
time, and with regard to the existence of the Nile River as the Lifeline of the Egyptians, both in
Upper Egypt or Lower Egypt.
 The tombs of the Pharaohs are called as “Pyramids”
 Residents were around a common courtyard and Walls surrounded the towns, which might have
been built for protection from seasonal floods of Nile river.
 The Egyptian kind was called as “Pharaoh”. He was worshipped as god and believed in life after
death and felt that body and soul existed in different forms after death and the preserved dead
bodies were known as Mummies.
 The “Sphinx” is the most outstanding creation of Egyptians, it’s a huge sculpture with a lion
body and human head.
 After many expansions of the city, the number of houses reached 120, and it has 600 inhabitants.
 Tell al-Dabaa.: The Daba Hill area is one of the main cities in the early Middle Kingdom, around
2000 BC. It was discovered by the remains of the city located so far with an area of about 100
square meters. The city streets are surrounded by a wall, each containing 10 rows of houses in
each row.

 Greek Cities:
 The ancient Greeks from 750 to 350 BC learned a lot from Egyptians but they shaped alter a
distinct art and architecture and town Planning.
 The most important political contribution of Greek civilization was the invention of democracy
in Athens initiated by Pericles in 5th century Bc.
 A Greek city state was called as “Polis”, It was community of families related by common
ancestors.
 The base of acropolis, paths were laid to the surroundings farms with an agora or market place
consisting of public building.
 Greeks sought privacy in their houses, as all the rooms were designed for comfort according to
the climatic conditions and rooms were opened into an interior courtyard.
 Paving of streets, water reservoirs and underground drains were provide for houses but water
supply and sewage distribution was not provided.
 The Scientific method of planning was first attempted in Miletus, it was designed by
Hippodamus (first person to introduce Grid iron pattern of road system in planning).

MILETUS

 The city was divided into three zones like residential area on the north, Agora at the centre and
another larger block of residential area at south.
 Temples were the major missing place in the city and the Apollo Sancutuary was located 14miles
to the south of the city.

 Roman Cities:
 Roman life was focused on the city, like Greeks. The city of Rome was founded by Romulus and
Remus in 753BC.
 As the growth of the empire increased, far away cities became part of the roman empire for self
rule by all the people and was the centre of great empire and civilization.
 The Latin language was developed by Romans and buildings like temples, baths and amphi
theatres were built that is why they were known for great builders.
 It was not the plan of the city, but great monuments meant for the rules dominated the Empire.
 These cities had streets forming irregular rectangles as the cities were expanded into blocks and
become more regular rectangles. The heart of the cities was the “Forum”(civic open space)
 For example : POMPEII CITY
Pompeii is a vast archaeological site in southern Italy’s Campania region,
near the coast of the Bay of Naples. Once a thriving and sophisticated Roman city.
The preserved site features excavated ruins of streets and houses that visitors can
freely explore.
 From Greeks, Romans learned the technique of orthogonal planning, basis for laying out army
camps during the secondary century BC. The Principal streets were marked from north to south
and east to west.
 Medieval Cities:
 Around 5th century AD Roman empire disintegrated because of show and luxury of its rules.
Cities lost importance and socio economic disturbances.
 People in these cities depended upon agriculture and their rules for survival as this period can be
called as Dark ages.
 The early medieval town was dominated by church and fort of the king and the spaces around the
church became the market place and also the public buildings were also constructed.
 For protection, the town’s sites were located on irregular lands like hilltops or islands.
 The main roads radiated from the market to the external gates with the secondary roads
connecting them, few main roads were used for vehicular traffic where as rest were used for
pedestrian movement.
For Example: NOERDLINGEN (GERMANY)

 Renaissance cities:
 During 1400 to 1500 AD population grew rapidly in cities like Paris and Venice. The danger of
wars decreased and trading prospered between towns and cities.
 The processing of goods and materials was taken over by merchants and the new economy
centered around the money flow.
 Population density increased without proper water supply and sanitation, vehicular traffic
increased, the class distinctions also increased between poor and rich.
 The fortified wall and trenches became irrelevant and size of the city increased. These new
spaces separated the old towns from suburbs
For Example: VIENNA CITY

 During the 15th and 16th centuries new colonies where established with the invention of mariners
compass. The initial settlements were irregular, but most of the towns were small and within
walking distance from all parts.

IN INDIA:
 Ancient Indian cities :
 Urban planning in India started with “Indus valley civilization” during 2500B.C.The valley of
Indus was a vast rich fertile land, but now greater of it is desert.
 This civilization was found at Mohenjo-Daro in Sind and Harappa in Punjab had certain clear
urban planning.
 Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were well laid out broad roads and designed houses located on a
place higher than the rest of the city.
 Agriculture was the main occupation and Wheat, barley were the main food crops. Animals like
goats, buffaloes and elephants were used.
 The seals of “sailing ship” found in Harappa indicate that there was trade with Mesopotamia.
 The houses were built with burnt brick in single and double storey’s, each room was planned
with central courtyard around, which had stairs to an upper floor. Another major characteristics
feature is that the streets and the buildings were provided with brick drains with inspection holes.
 MOHENJO-DARO

 Ancient Urban Planning rules in India :

 The Rules for planning of towns are :
a) Dimensions of towns
b) The Surrounding wall
c) Places to be avoided
d) Streets
e) The royal capital
f) Forts
g) Town Planning
h) Bazaars.

 Indian cities during Mughal period :

 The Indian history after decline of maurya and gupta empires from 6th century AD to the time of
Mughals of 16th century AD was full of invasions.
 The urban planning during this period was limited to the fortified capital cities like Jaisalmer in
Rajasthan and Golconda in telangana.
 The palaces, forts, mosques, tombs, monumental buildings and beautiful gardens have distinctive
style of their own but there was no evidence to show that there were planned towns constructed
during this period.
Example: JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN
 Jaipur in Rajasthan can be described as the sole example of a planned city during this period in
India. The city was built by Rajput King Maharajah Sawai Jai Singh in 1727.
 The City was designed on a grid iron pattern with orthogonal clustering of square sectors, east-
west road and three north-west roads divide the city into 8 district sectors know as “Chowkris”.
 The house walls were thick with good thermal resistance and opening were provided on the
external walls. All the houses were provided with central courtyard, into which windows open
out.
 Pinkish stones were used for the building facades on the major roads which brought the name
“Pink City” to Jaipur.