Urban Theorist:

Constantine Doxiadis
Published his Ekistics Grid a system for recording planning data and ordering the planning
process.
Approached town planning as a science involving multi-disciplines resulting into a total rational
and human approach which he referred to as Ekistics the science of human settlements
Charles Adams
Saw housing as one of the prime fields of endeavor for solving urban problems
Lewis Mumford
Recognized the physical limitations of human settlements
Wrote the The City in History (1961)

Ancient Times
People lived in groups
for protection against the elements
For security against rival tribes
For ease in gathering food
Humans natural need for companionship
Natural factors that affect the development and growth of urban centers
Potential for natural calamities (fire, flood, volcanic eruptions)
Presence of fertile soil, bodies of water, and other natural resources
Slope and terrain and other forms of natural defenses
Climate
Innovations that influenced the development of early cities
The plow
Rectilinear town planning
Circular and radio- centric plans
3000 4000 B.C.
During this era, cities in the Fertile Crescent were formed by the Tigris and Euphrates river
valleys of Mesopotamia
The City of Eridu the oldest city
The City of Damascus oldest continually inhabited city
Babylon the largest city with 80,000 population

3000 B.C.
Thebes and Memphis along the Nile Valley these Egyptian cities were characterized by
monumental architecture popularly symbolized by the pyramids
2500 B.C.
Indus Valley (now Pakistan)
Mohenjo-Daro administrative and religious centers with 40,000 population
1900 B.C.
Yellow River Valley of China land within the passes. Precursor of the Linear City
Anyang largest city of the Yellow River Valley
Cities also evolved in Mesoamerica, built by Aztecs, Mextecs and Zapotecs

Greek Classical Cities

700 B.C.
Greek cities spread through the Aegean Region westward to France and Spain
polis defined as city state. Most famous is the Acropolis a religious and defensive
structure up on the hills, with no definite geometrical plan
Finite measurement of the Greeks built to human scale
Sparta and Athens were the largest cities
Neopolis and Paleopolis new and old cities. A Neopolis became a Paleopolis once another
new city was built

450 400 B.C.

The city of Miletus said to be the first planned city
3 sections of Miletus for artisans, farmers, and the military
Hippodamus the first noted urban planner and referred to as the Father of Town Planning.
Introduced the grid system and the Agora (public marketplace)

Roman Classical Cities

Roman Cities adopted Greek forms but with different scale monumental and had a social
hierarchy
Roman Forums focal points of Roman city planning.
o Romans as conquerors built forum after forum
o Romans as engineers built aqueducts, public baths, utility systems, fountains, etc.
o Romans as physical and social planners developed housing variations and other spaces:
Basilica covered markets with law courts
Curia local meeting hall; the capitol
Domus traditional Roman house with a central atrium
Insulae 3 to 6 storey apartments with storefronts
The Romans were fond of public works and arts

Medieval Ages

Decline of the Roman Empire

Growth and development revolved around the fortifications of towns and cities, and the
construction of monasteries
Feudalism affected the urban design of most towns
The rise of the church as a main urban design component was signified in Constantinople (now
Turkey) and Sienna, Italy

The Main Cathedral in Sienna provides an

overwhelming architectural massing of the town

Towns were fine and intimate characterized with winding roads and sequenced views of the
cathedral or military fortifications. Expansion was limited to the size the city could support but was
not limited in land area.
There was a continuing increase in number of towns, although with a small population per town.
New 11th century towns in Europe were mostly coastal port towns.
Mercantilist cities: continuous increase in size while the power of the feudal lords declined
Ownership shifted to a new variety that of the wealthy merchants while the church continued its
rise, creating two privileged classes: the nobles and the clergy.
World trade and travel created major population concentrations like Florence, Paris, and Venice.

NOTE : The growing population brought about congestion and slums, and ultimately led to the decline
of the cities.

The Renaissance and Baroque Periods

In the 15th Century France the kings achieved unity and display their affluence and power by
improving and beautifying their cities.
Arts and architecture became a major element of town planning.
Geometrical forms of cities were proposed.
Vienna emerged as the city of culture and the arts, the first university town
Landscape architecture showcased palaces and gardens; e.g. Versailles, France and Karlsruhe in
Germany

The Garden City Movement

Self-contained constellations of new towns built in open countryside, far from the slums, the smoke
and the overblown values of the giant city.
Ebenezer Howard showed how workable and livable towns could be formed within the capitalist
framework through cluster concept whereby a central city of 58,000 people was surrounded by
garden cities of 30,000 people each separated by permanent green space serving as horizontal
fence of farmland; rails and roads would link the towns with industries and nearby towns supplying
fresh food, etc.

The Garden City Association by Howard in 1889, meant to provide financial machinery for the
realization of his proposals.
o Letchworth was the first developed Garden City. It was started in 1902 and designed by
Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker. The plan was a combination of landscaping, informal
street layouts, and a main axis focusing on a town center. It was built in an area of 4,500
acres; 3000 for agricultural uses and 1500 for the city proper.

Welwyn ithe second Garden City was built in 1920. It was designed by Louis de Soisson. Welwyn is
characterized with formality and was built in a smaller land area of 2400 acres. The towns focal
point was a mile-long mall with beautiful Georgian houses and shops facing it.

Hampstead Garden Suburbs exclusively for housing but offered variety of housing types which
were lined along the streets with terminating axes on civic buildings in large common green.

The City Beautiful Movement

Ushered the golden age of urban design in the U.S. Theorist suggest it began in 1891 with the
Columbian Exposition.
The emphasis of the movement was on grand formal design, but also with social motives
Daniel Burnham spearheaded the movement with his design of Chicago. His axiom was make no
little plans, they have no magic to stir mens blood
Burnham is also credited with the designs of Cleveland, San Francisco, and the cities of Manila and
Baguio, among others

Frank Lloyd Wright

Broadacres
Proposed that every American family live in one acre of land, in a city complete with all
necessary amenities
Critics argued that land is not enough, which led Wright to develop his translation of high
density living
The Mile High Tower
Wright proposed to house a significant number of Manhattan residents to free up space for
green fields in a mile- high building
He suggested that 10 or more of these could possibly replace all buildings in Manhattan
The Mile High Tower

The Neighborhood Unit

Conceptualized by Clarence Perry and Clarence Stein, the Neighborhood unit was defined as the
physical environment wherein social, cultural, educational, and commercial uses/developments are
within easy reach of each other
The development was not intended to segregate anybody by race, creed or income. The unit was a
template for new neighborhoods with the main objective being self sustainability of smaller units
The elementary school was located at the center of development and the size of the neighborhood
was dependent on the population of the school.

Contemporary World Urbanization

Millionaire cities large cities were the exception prior to the 20thh century, but a few did exist in
antiquity. The table refers to the earliest large cities:
Leading World Cities in 900 A.D.

City

Population

Baghdad (Iraq)

900,000

Changan
(China)
Constantinople
(Turkey)

500,000

Kyoto (Japan)

200,000

Cordova
(Spain)

200,000

300,000

The Industrial Revolution generated:

o Jobs
o Increased productivity
o Opened up mass markets for goods
o Innovative transportation systems
o Additional capital to support urban growth
Complex support systems are required to employ, feed, and house people in big cities
important factors in the growth of very large cities in recent times
o Iron and steel construction technology
o the electric elevator
o Medicine
o Transportation
o Infrastructure

Megalopolis concept coined by Jean Gottmann for urban complexes in the Northeastern United
States. The term means Great City in Greek. Today it is used to refer to massive urban
concentrations created from strong physical linkages between three or more large cities. Examples
are:
o Boston New York Philadelphia Washington (U.S.)
o San Diego Los Angeles San Francisco (U.S.)
o Dortmund Essen- Duesseldorf (Germany)
o The Hague Rotterdam Amsterdam (Netherlands)
o Tokyo Yokohama Nagoya Osaka Kobe (Japan)

Large cities dwindled during the middle ages. Millionaire cities generally did not emerge until the
20th century, as shown below:
Leading World Cities in 1990
City

Population

City

Population

London

6,480,000

Vienna

1,662,000

New York

4,242,000

Tokyo

1,497,000

Paris

3,330,000

Leningrad

1,439,000

Berlin

2,424,000

Philadelphia

1,418,000

Chicago

1,717,000

Manchester

1,255,000

New Capitals
Brasilia
The new capital of Brazil and a completely new 20th century city, designed by Lucio Costa with a lot
of influence from Le Corbusier
Designed with two huge axes in the sign of the cross, with the principal multi-level traffic arteries
traversing these axes. Separate centers for government, commerce, and entertainment are located
along one axis, and the residential districts distributed about the other
Oscar Niemeyer was among the architects employed to design the buildings

Canberra
The government of Australia sponsored a design competition in 1901 for the new capital and
invited top urban designers as Daniel Burnham, Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie, and Frederick :aw
Olmstead, but the winner was Walter Burley Griffin, a descendant of Frank Lloyd Wright
Canberras design reflected the principles of the city beautiful movement with a triangular
formation of three important buildings; the Court of Justice, the Parliament House, and the Capitol
Building, with each apex pointing to another important building or monument

Chandigarh
With separation of India and Pakistan, the site of the original Indian capital of Lahore was given to
Pakistan, thus creating a need for a new capital
Chandigarh was designed to be the Capital of Punjab, a province of India
The original Master Plan was by Albert Meyer but Le Corbusier eventually took over
It was designed with a regular grid of major roads for rapid transport surrounding residential
superblocks or sections was based on the rectangle, and measuring 800 x 1200 meters
The entire plan represents a large scale application of the Radburn principle regularized by Le
Corbusiers predilection for the rectilinear and the monumental.

New Delhi, India

The Master Plan was designed by Sir Edward Lutyens based on the great east-west axis of
Kingsway; 1.5 miles long with the Government House on a hilltop in the West end, and the eastern
counterpoint a large hexagonal space reserved for palaces of the native princes.
Kingsway forms the base of a triangle with the northern point of which is a busy commercial node
The planned area covers 2650 hectares, but it was intended as a low density garden-city with
population growth of no more than 57,000 people.
The City of Towers
Two concerns led to the conceptualization of high density living in tall structures that will take up
less space:
o Congestion
o Need for open space
First conceptualized by Le Corbusier in his book The Cities of Tomorrow
His first plan was in Unite d Habitation in Marseilles; a super building that contained 337
dwellings in only 10 acres of land

Le Corbusier also planned Le Contemporaine, designed for a population of 3,000,000 people

It consisted of high rise office and residential buildings with a greenbelt for institutions and
recreational spaces
Designed with a grid pattern of superblocks, 200 x 400 meters
Transit was underground
Beyond this were industrial areas

Settlement Planning in the Philippines

Pre-colonial Times
Like other cities in the world the earliest Filipino communities developed out of need for their
inhabitants to band together
They were formed for:
o Security
o Proximity to resources for food and water
o Most towns were by the coast for fisherfolk or where there was abundant agricultural land
for the farmers
o The community unit was the barangay, consisting of 30 to 100 families
The Spanish Colonial Times
Laws of the Indies
In 1573, King Philip II proclaimed the Laws of the Indies that established uniform standards and
planning procedures for colonial settlements.
These laws provided guidelines for site selection, layout and dimensioning of streets and squares;
the location of civic and religious buildings, open spaces, cultivation and pasturing lands, and even
the main procedural phases of planning and construction.
The plaza Complex was a result of several ordinances of the Laws of the Indies
The plaza was surrounded by important buildings such as:
o Catholic Church
o Municipal or Town Hall
o Marketplace and merchants stores
o Elementary school
o The homes of the principalia
o Other government buildings

Intramuros
The walled city of Manila
Home of the Spanish (except for the Friars and high ranking officials;
The city was 1.2 sq. km. in area, containing large churches, plazas, office and residential buildings,
housing 7,000 residents surrounded by high walls;
Due to limitations in growth, decentralization occurred and settlements were built in Malate, San
Miguel, and Paco, among other areas.

The American Period

The main purpose was to guide urban growth and physical development
More emphasis on other values such as
o Sanitation
o Housing
o Aesthetic improvements
Daniel Burnham
o An architect/planner was brought in and commissioned to design Manila based on the city
beautiful movement theories he was known for;
o Burnhams design of Manila was very similar to his design of Washington D.C., evident in
the strong similarities of the Capitol mall with Luneta Park;
o Burnham went as far as ordering reclamation of the sea to create a better view of the ports

City of Manila
Burnhams Design for Manila
Grand avenues and a strong central civic core;
Included a civic mall to house national buildings (only the Finance and Agriculture buildings were
built);
It fronted Manila Bay like most Baroque plans fronted a large body of water;
The plan was too grand that it was never fully realized.
Manila as the first chartered city
On July 31,1903, by virtue of Act No. 183, the city of Manila was incorporated;
Manila encompassed Intramuros, and the towns of Binondo,Tondo, Sta Cruz, Malate, Ermita, Paco
and Pandacan.

The population then was 190,000 people.

Growth of Manila
The Arrabales
Quiapo the illustrado territory: the enclave of the rich and powerful. Also the
manifestation of folk religiosity;
Tondo coastal city adjacent to manila
Binondo the trading port developed by the Chinese and Arabs
Sta. Cruz the main commercial district with proliferation of shops, movie houses,
restaurants, etc.
San Nicolas also a commercial town built by the Spaniards with shops for specialized
categories like ceramics, soap, etc.;
Sampaloc centered on two churches: Our Lady of Loreto and St. Anthony of Padua. Also
known as the first University Town.
Later Suburbs

San Miguel (Malacanang) where rest-houses were built for the Spanish government;
Malate the early summer resort of wealthy and cultured Filipinos. Then became the first
fishing and salt-making town;
Ermita early tourist belt (red-light district)
Paco first town built around a train station
Pandacan town built by the Americans for Oil depots.

Further Suburbanization

Quezon City land of 15,000 hectares, was projected to be the Capital of the Philippines
where the three main seats of government would be housed;
It was the location of Constitution Hill, envisioned to be the National Government Center,
but the destruction of WWII interfered;
Was revived as a capital in 1949 and remained until 1975;
Philippine Homesite and Housing Corporation built homes for the masses (the projects,
i.e. projects 4, 5, 6, etc.) with urban design principles adopted from the Neighborhood Unit
of Perry and Stein;
Philamlife Homes the first Quezon City subdivisions along Highway 54 (presently EDSA);
was the icon of middle class suburbanization;
Today Quezon City is one of the few areas in Metro Manila with an abundance of greens and
open spaces.