CITY AND METROPOLITAN PLANNING

Urbanisation
• Nomadic Hunters-Cavemen
• Village: Agriculture: Water + Fertile Soil
• Site: Which provided some natural protection:
elevated terrain, islands, peninsula
• Increase in population: societies, surplus food, trade:
Urbanisation
• Diversified activities attract people from rural to urban
areas
• Main magnetic pull is economic base or opportunities
which urban areas provide (But if this pull becomes too
strong, cities get screwed.)
 Location and Types: Urbanism
Geography:
• Danger of Fire and Flood, Extreme Weather
Conditions, Possibility of Earthquakes and Volcanic
Eruption, Natural Resources
• Temperate Climate was more favoured
• Steep slopes were avoided
• Natural Environment: Urbanisation impacts the
environment mostly in negative sense
 Location and Types: Urbanism
Forest Cover
 Location and Types: Urbanism
Political and Social Organisation:
• Communities are part of nature, and have suffered
from changes they have brought in the
environment
• They have needed to improve Economic Security,
correct social maladjustments, discard mass
superstitions, or resist seizure of power by autocrats
• It introduced the need for mutual responsibility and
cooperation
• Various social and political organizations emerged
as a direct result
 Location and Types: Urbanism
Political and Social Organisation:
• Social, economic, and political organization are
essential for the growth and development of a city
• But with these organisations, class division also
started
• Tremendous amount of energy were expended to
produce great edifices, such as palaces and
cathedrals , pride to the public, and seat of power
for rulers
• Dichotomy of urbanisation: masses lived in mud
huts in sub-standard conditions while rulers in
palaces
 Types of Urban Area
Urban Areas/Towns/Cities can be classified based on
the activities performed there:

• Industries: Jamshedpur
• Educational: Kota
• Trade: Lothal
• Transportation: Bhusawal, Aerotropolis
• Tourism: Panjim
• Administrative: New Delhi
 Types of Urban Area
Evolution of Physical Form
• Physical form of cities has been shaped by economic,
social, and political forces of society
• Walled Town and Open City
• Organic and Inorganic: Very few of the great ancient
civilizations were planned, the growth was incremental
and organic
• Formal and Informal,
• Irregular and Geometric
If you want to check the greatness of any city, see the
facilities for the lower class, monuments don’t tell the
actual story
Types of Urban Area
 Types of Urban Area
Urban Areas/Towns/Cities can be classified based on
the activities performed there:

• Industries: Bokaro Steel City, Jamshedpur

• Educational: Kota
• Trade: Lothal
• Transportation: Bhusawal, Aerotropolis
• Tourism: Panjim
• Administrative: New Delhi, Chandigarh
• Recreation: Bangkok, Las Vegas
Ancient Cities
 Ancient Cities
Egypt: 5000 B.C.
• Towns were planned to house the slaves and artisans
who built the great pyramids
• Sun dried bricks, narrow lanes, smaller and higher
windows, drainage system, thick walls etc. were the
main planning ideas
• The towns grew in size and scale with time
• Towns were fortified from all sides with thick brick walls
as flood was very frequent
 Ancient Cities
Egypt: Dier-el-Madina, 1550-1080 B.C.
 Ancient Cities
Egypt: Thebes
 Ancient Cities
Indus Valley Civilization, 3000 B.C.

http://www.tslr.net/2007/09/mohenjo-daro-ancient-city-of-indus.html
 Ancient Cities
Mesopotamia, 4000 B.C.
 Ancient Cities
Mesopotamia, 4000 B.C.
 Ancient Cities
Mesopotamia, 4000 B.C.
• Walled fortification,
• Monumental gates,
• Hanging gardens,
• Processional avenues and secondary narrow streets
• Three to four storied houses of common masses,
• Streets at right angles (not very strictly)
• Hammurabi Code (First such documented law book)
 Ancient Cities
Cities of the Aegean Sea, 4000 B.C.
• Irregular in form due to topography
• Narrow streets paved with stone
• Highly developed systems of water supply, sanitation,
and drainage
• Most dwellings were single storied
• There was no concept of forbidden city so palace was
a hub of activities
 Ancient Cities
Cities of the Aegean Sea: Knossos,
 Ancient Cities
Cities of the Aegean Sea: Knossos,
 Ancient Cities
Cities of the Aegean Sea: Knossos,
 Ancient Cities
Beijing, 800 B.C.
 Ancient Cities
Beijing, 800 B.C.
 Ancient Cities
Lukang,
Classical Cities
 Classical Cities
The Greece
• The wealthy landowning class rose to power (800 B.C.),
• The palace citadel was replaced by the temple of
gods upon the elevated portion, the citadel
• The nobles assumed the power of kings, dominated the
city and oppressed the poor classes
• A merchant middle class emerged
• They supported he rights of common people and
ultimately they rose to power
• Land was redistributed and a strong farmer class
evolved
 Classical Cities
The Greece
• The political organization of the community was of a
new form: a government of “Laws determined by
People”,
• Laws were framed for everyone and magistrates were
elected to execute the law ,
• Political education was encouraged,
• Reason was encouraged, logic invited, and science
investigated
• This culture produced Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle
 Classical Cities
The Greece: The Humble City
• A maze of wandering streets
• Lack in drainage and sanitation,
• No palaces, few public buildings,
• Pnyx was the common meeting place
• Agora was the market place which was irregular in
form
• Then came Hippodamus (5th century B.C.)
 Classical Cities
The Greece: The Humble City
 Classical Cities
The Greece: Hippodamus: Priene
• He is credited as the originator of Grid-Iron street
system (Seriously?)
 Classical Cities
The Greece: Hippodamus: Miletus
 Classical Cities
The Greece: Hippodamus: The Public Spaces
 Classical Cities
The Public Spaces
• Agora was the center of business and political life,
• Next to it were assembly hall, council hall and council
chamber
• Agora was almost one fifth of the city dimensions and
approximately in the center
• Streets terminated at Agora
Byelaws
• No encroachment on streets
• No opening on main streets
• Water drains were not allowed to open up on streets
 Classical Cities
Phasing
• The old cities were remodeled in parts
• New settlements were planned on virgin land but next
to a mother city (Satellite town)
• These satellite towns had political autonomy
• It was later established that standard size for a city was
5000-10000 and rest must be sent off to a colonial town
 Classical Cities

Greece: The Decline

To be continued…