European Planning Influences on Third-Tier Suburbs: Installment One

Very Very Quick Historical Overview


Ancient Planning: Greece and the Roman Empire

The concept of the “city-polis” was “probably consciously created as early as the seventh century B.C. The city is some form of partnership where people strive together to live in a place for the highest good. According to Aristotle man is a political animal by nature and inhabits cities which are formed from several households and villages combining to become complete and self-sufficient. Cited on the web at http://www.uni-rostock.de/fakult/philfak/fkw/iph/strobach/demo/pol/Lecture%203.pdf.

Ancient Greek planning is dominated by architecture in the form of great edifices that have survived till recent times particularly the agoras, palaces, and temples. These monumental structures have formed the genesis of a number of planning movements including the City Beautiful initiative and New Urbanism. (Cited in A.E.J. Morris’s book entitled “History of Urban Form”, pages 35-54.)

As for the Romans, this society organized their Empire into “a state where cities and countryside could be regarded as two facets of one and the same culture.” Monumental structures and forms also predominated the landscape as well. Key architectural and planning elements included paved streets, courthouses, circuses, houses, libraries, and public baths. The forum was the public square or marketplace in the city which served as the “administrative, commercial, and economic center of the colony, [and] was a lively place of economic, cultural, and artistic exchanges.” The Romans emphasized the importance of cities and transformed a number of existing villages into cities as well. (Cited in “History of Urban Form”, pages 55-91.)

Medieval Planning

After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, the Church influenced human settlement. “Medieval society was centered on the Church. The church was responsible for housing for the poor and encouraging commerce, building and the arts. For example, markets were held under its walls and religious buildings became the focal point of education and worship. The medieval towns developed around religious buildings and were created “with a sense of order and continuity.” A regular form of settlement was devised with a cluster around a castle, church, or natural eminence. Wall fortifications were built around these communities to protect the inhabitants “from the hostile barbarian countryside without.” By the 14th Century, the French turn “suburbe” was used based on the Latin term of “suburbium which was defined as two parts: “sub” meaning near and “urbs” meaning city.(Cited in “History of Urban Form”, pages 92-156.)


Renaissance/ Baroque City Planning

During this period the concepts of the ideal city centered on the circle or square with star shaped fortifications and a central core. Also new emphasis was placed on aesthetics. The ideal city was “expressive of a longing for utopia… [where] man imposed his own ideals of order and heroic dimensions.” Manheim, Germany in the 1600’s, Versailles, France, and Karlsruhe, Germany are good examples of the Renaissance/Baroque Planning. Both Karlsruhe and Mannheim “evolved around the palaces and great gardens of the royalty.” (Cited in Gallion and Eisner, “The Urban Pattern”, pages 49-50.)

According to Lewis Mumford in his book entitled “The City in History” the “city proper itself was transformed into “a sector of the original spider web, with the other avenues radiating out into a park or the open country.” For example, the royal town of Karlsruhe evolved into a pattern of a “partial star.” (Cited in City in History, pages 390-392.)


Western Europe—Versailles France and Andre Le Notre

Of special note was the development of Versailles. In 1624, Louis XIII purchased land near the small village of Versailles and built a royal hunting box. Over time, this site transformed into the grandest palace with the village becoming the “suburban capital” of the country. The monarch’s son hired Andre Le Notre to create a vast park from the earlier gardens. This park was described as “a great vista flanked by two shrubberies and following the central axis of the palace, with symmetrical arrangements of lawns and flowers on either side of this line.” (Cited in the History of Urban Form, pages 210-213.) According to Gallion and Eisner in their book entitled “The Urban Pattern”, the gardens of Versailles…was space of unparalleled proportions, scale of incomprehensive size. Here was the concept of a man…set about to become master of nature.” (Cited on page 49.)

Of additional note is the town of Versailles itself with “its combination of approach radials, to the glory of the monarch, and an expediency surveyor’s grid.” (Cited in “History of Urban Form”, pages 21.) All main avenues would lead to the palace. According to Mumford, the palace…would close the vista. The axial approach served as a spotlight to focus attention on the prince.” (Cited in “The City in History”, page 389.) Later in time, this “radial motif” played a key role in the design of Washington, D.C. by Pierre L’Enfant.


Industrial Revolution and Pre-Modern Planning—Paris France—Baron Haussman

The pre-modern period is the two hundred year period between 1700 and 1900 where Western Civilization was transforming from an agrarian society to an industrial society. With the invention of the railway and steam engine, the country side began to transform itself. Land allocated for different purposes to achieve maximum economic efficiency. Construction of tenement housing was profitable and standards for land uses were lax. Slums were created and issues of public health and safety were at stake.


By the mid 1800’s, Napoleon III recognized these conditions and was concerned with potential mob violence. With one eye open to control this, the emperor proposed a program to create broad avenues through the slums. Baron Georges-Eugene Haussman was selected to administer this program. Haussman laid out “new streets in long sweeps cutting through the maze of medieval lanes.” He created many grand boulevards by “radiating avenues” from the Place de l’Etoile and Champ Elysees across the open fields. Paris experienced rapid growth into its suburbs and “absorbed the open spaces” where there were pre-existing walls. (Cited in “The Urban Pattern”, pages 83-85.)



Modern Planning

The modern period is identified from the turn of the twentieth century to the current times of the twenty-first century. There are a number of modernist planners and architects who will be discussed in a future blog. The rest of this blog will comment on areas that are not publicized as much as Western Europe.


Central Europe: Austria—Vienna and Camillo Sitte

Vienna was typical of the medieval form of settlement. There was a clear demarcation between the town and countryside. In 1857 the old fortification system was demolished and in its place was constructed a broad tree lined avenue known as the Ring. Land use within the built-up area of the city was characterized by mixed uses with tenements, warehouses, and factories.

One of the most influential European architects and planners was Camillo Sitte who was born and died in Vienna. In 1883, his book entitled “City Planning According to Artistic Principles” enunciated basic principles of urban design. Sitte considered the proportions of town squares, monuments, and churches. Planning should be “creative art.” The interplay between public buildings and open spaces was paramount to good planning. He considered the gridiron subdivisions as “monotonous” and maximizing “land exploitation. Vienna was cited as one of the communities that practiced some of these principles. (Cited in Arnold Whittick, ed., “Encyclopedia of Urban Planning”, pages 902-903.)

In 1905, a prohibition of construction within a “woods and meadow” belt around the city was implemented by municipal law. Planning after 1955, finally considered combining elements of urban design, transportation planning as well as traditional land use zoning. One theory of town extension schemes would incorporate old villages and existing settlements as “suburbs” with good public transport and incorporate them with some of the surrounding countryside rather than leap into more isolated open stretches of land. Next, an urban renewal concept in suburban districts would encourage redesigned suburban centers with apartments replacing existing subsistence settlements. (Cited in “Encyclopedia of Urban Planning”, pages 134-148).

Eastern Europe: Poland

In the early eighth to thirteen centuries, settlement characteristics consisting of
“constructing the first of the grody (fortified burghs) around which the additional settlements-military, working-class, and commercial suburbs—clustered. By the fifteenth century, the urban network for a number of Polish towns was firmly established. However, many Polish communities were devastated by the activity of World War II. The historic core of Warsaw was basically leveled by the Nazis. In an extraordinary achievement, this city’s houses, churches, and other buildings were rebuilt in their historic form. In more recent times, existing towns have been developed in new districts and housing projects. In the period between 1950 and 1955, twenty five “new towns were built or major extensions carried out.” Some their town centers would accommodate central services and urban amenities with housing and its associated service facilities. (Cited in “Encyclopedia of Urban Planning”, pages 829-842).