Urban Planning Quiz: Evolution of Cities and Development

A Brief History of Urban Planning

Urban planning is a technical and political process involving the use of land and design of the urban environment, including infrastructure and transportation networks.
The history of urban planning runs parallel to the history of the city, with examples of planned cities dating back to the third millennium BC, such as the Harrapan and Egyptian civilizations.
Greek philosopher Hippodamus is regarded as the first town planner, credited with inventing the orthogonal urban layout, although this layout was used in many cities before his time.
The Romans used a consolidated scheme for city planning, with a central forum and a rectilinear grid of streets, similar to the Hippodamian plan.
During the medieval period, urban development focused on fortresses, fortified abbeys, and Roman nuclei and followed the irregularities of elevation contours.
In the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Florence was an early model of urban planning, with a star-shaped layout adapted from the new star fort, while Rome saw significant urban reform under Pope Sixtus V's ambitious urban reform program.
During this time, rulers often attempted to redesign their capital cities as a showpiece for the grandeur of the nation, with disasters often serving as a major catalyst for planned reconstruction.
The Industrial Revolution saw the expansion of urban populations, although the number of newly created settlements remained much lower than in the 12th and 13th centuries.
In the 19th century, the rise of industrialization and urbanization led to the need for new approaches to urban planning, with the Garden City movement and the City Beautiful movement emerging as significant influences.
The Garden City movement, founded by Ebenezer Howard, aimed to create self-contained communities surrounded by greenbelts, while the City Beautiful movement focused on beautifying urban areas with grand public spaces and monumental architecture.
In the 20th century, the rise of modernism and functionalism in architecture had a significant impact on urban planning, with the emergence of new technologies and materials leading to new approaches to urban design.
Today, urban planning continues to evolve, with a focus on sustainability, livability, and inclusivity, and the use of new technologies to create smart cities and improve urban infrastructure and transportation networks.A Brief History of Urban Planning
The Great Fire of London in 1666 and the subsequent rebuilding established a template for colonial planning, influencing the Oglethorpe Plan for Savannah (1733).
Governor Max Emanuel proposed a transformation of Brussels into a Baroque-style city following the 1695 bombardment by French troops, but residents and authorities opposed the grandiose proposal.
After the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, King Joseph I of Portugal and his ministers immediately launched efforts to rebuild the city, choosing to raze entire sections of the city and "laying out new streets without restraint".
Edinburgh's New Town, built between 1767 and 1850, was designed by James Craig, featuring a simple axial grid with a principal thoroughfare along the ridge linking two garden squares.
From 1800 onwards, urban planning developed as a technical and legal occupation, with Regent Street being one of the first planned developments of London.
Georges-Eugène Haussmann was commissioned to remodel the Medieval street plan of Paris in 1852, demolishing swathes of the old quarters and laying out wide boulevards.
The Eixample of Barcelona was based on a scientific analysis of the city and its modern requirements, consisting of 550 regular blocks with chamfered corners to facilitate the movement of trams, with objectives to improve the health of the inhabitants and assist social integration.
Vienna's Ringstrasse was built to replace the city walls in 1857, with a large number of opulent public and private buildings erected.
The industrialised cities of the 19th century grew at a tremendous rate, with urban planning models developed to mitigate the consequences of the industrial age.
Modern zoning legislation and other tools such as compulsory purchase and land readjustment originated in Prussia and spread to other countries.
The Town and Country Planning Association was founded in 1899 in Britain, with the first official consideration of new trends embodied in the Housing and Town Planning Act of 1909.
Sir Ebenezer Howard initiated the garden city movement in 1898, with his garden cities intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by parks, containing proportionate and separate areas of residences, industry, and agriculture.
The principles of the garden city were soon applied to the planning of city suburbs, with the first project being the Hampstead Garden Suburb founded by Henrietta Barnett and planned by Parker and Unwin.A Brief History of Urban Planning
The Garden City movement originated in the UK and aimed to create self-contained communities surrounded by greenbelts.
The Neighbourhood Unit-style development in North America was created to provide a safe way for children to walk to school.
Modernism emerged in the 1920s and focused on creating a clean, efficient urban environment with large, rectangular green spaces.
New towns were built in the UK and the US from the 1960s to provide a solution for post-war rebuilding initiatives.
New Urbanism emerged in the 1980s and aims to create sustainable urban environments with long-lasting structures and buildings.
Sustainable development has emerged as a guiding principle for urban planning in recent decades.
Collaborative planning is a method designed to empower stakeholders by elevating them to the level of decision-makers through direct engagement and dialogue between stakeholders and public agencies.
Behaviorist psychology influenced urban planning in the 1960s, manifesting in such theories as defensible space and crime prevention through environmental design.
The incorporation of nature within cities is often an integral part of sustainable cities.
Car-free sustainability in city planning can include large pedestrian zones or be totally car-free.
Critics of New Urbanism have argued that its environmental aspect is too focused on transport and excessive individual mobility.
Many urban planners advocate sustainable cities that are designed with consideration of environmental impacts and minimise the use of energy, water, and the outputs of waste and pollution.