City Planning As An Expression of Social Relations in Built Form

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Module 6: Urban Planning and Design

Lecture 33: City Planning
The Lecture Contains:
City Planning as an Expression of Social Relations in Built Form
Planning in History: Ancient, Middle Ages and Renaissance
Beginning of Modern Planning in the late Nineteenth Century
References
file:///D|/NPTL%20WORK/Dr.%20Anindita%20Chakrabarti/UrbanSociology/lecture33/33_1.htm [5/31/2013 12:40:45 PM]

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Spatial design is something that reveals the in built form the underlying social relations and it is society
itself.
Following this logic we can say that city planning discloses a lot about society.
Modern urban planning began with segregation of activities. Earlier, the cities were organic in nature.
Even then, it could be said that in organic cities too planning elements were present. The city planning
catered to the needs of the people and reflected their routine and activities. The residence and work
place became separate in the modern era
City planning reveals why something which is of benefit to the individual might not be beneficial for the
society at large. For example, if each and every house extends into the lane there will be no street to
walk on. Therefore, planning is necessary and the best cities are the best planned
cities.

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When human beings first came to dwell together in the Early Neolithic times, their settlements had no
recognizable order, the dwelling of each family was for individual convenience.
One view was that the cities of ancient civilization were unplanned—their patterns arose as a
result of spontaneous expression of the culture in which they arose. But others have
pointed out that conscious designing was present in the ancient cities. Babylon and Kahun were
planned cities of the 5th century BC. The cities of the Indus valley civilization (see lecture 5) were
also well-planned.
of these cities were constructed in the rectangular form similar to the modern gridiron pattern. A few
were laid out in fan-shaped arteries. It is in the Roman Empire that we have more planned cities. The
Romans often leveled uneven land to fit their plans but they also selected appropriate sites to which
they fitted their plans. They made drainage and water their primary concern.

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Even during the ancient period some form of zoning was practiced that kept some industries outside
the central areas and of controlling building heights. In Rome the height of buildings was limited first to
70 feet at the time of Augustus and later to 60 feet and subsequently to twice the street width by Nero. It
has been pointed out that like all regulations these regulations were frequently disregarded!
During the Middle Ages there was very little building of cities in Europe. Smaller towns grew up. As
the urban population grew, the constrictions caused by walls and fortifications led to overcrowding, the
blocking out of air and light, and very poor sanitation. Irregularity was the common characteristic of
medieval cities—in places, street lines and widths.

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During the Middle Ages whenever planning took place it was primarily for military protection. Thus
a common feature of the medieval as well as of ancient cities was the circular roads following the lines
of fortifications. And there were radial lines running from circular walls to the centre. But we can not
assume patterns and planning in all quarters. The living conditions of the poorer citizens were
disregarded in medieval times perhaps even more than in the Roman cities. Most streets were a little
more than footpaths—more a medium for communication than for transportation—and even in major
European cities paving was not widely introduced before the 12th century. When cities expanded
beyond the wall the site was changed and new cities emerged about one days walk apart.
Conscious attempts to plan cities reemerged in Europe during the Renaissance (14th to 17th
century). Even during this era the aim was improving circulation and providing military defense
and equally importantly the glorification of a ruler or a state. From the 16th century to the end of
the 18th century many cities were laid out and built with monumental splendor.
The result may have pleased and inspired the citizens but it hardly contributed to their health, to the
comfort of their homes or to the efficiency in manufacturing, distribution and marketing.

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Urban planning or the modern city planning movement had its origins in the reaction
to the rapid and disorderly growth that characterized the latter part of the 19th
century. One of the best known modern plans, the Chicago Plan which began soon after 1900,
was based on the desire for more order and beauty in one of the most rapidly growing modern cities. In
America the European planning concepts were used but with modifications. More influential layout of
the U.S. cities was the rigid grid plan of Philadelphia, designed by William Penn (1682). It is the
simplest method of dividing up the surveyed territory which is easy to buy and sell.
In most parts of the world, city plans were based on the concept of a centrally located public
space—secretariat, market and the business district. Gradually a comprehensive concept of city
planning arose.

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References
● Urban planning. (2011). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/619445/urban-planning

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Module 6: Urban Planning and Design

The Lecture Contains: