Early Urbanism Flashcards
The urban revolution
Morris 1994
Development of settled agriculture
8000-10000 years ago humans exerted systematic control over food supplies- eg, domestication of animals and cultivation of crops
This led to permanence of residence- eg. Villages
What did the last ice age bring?
The Fertile Crescent
7000 BC
What was the first village
4000 BC
Egypt
2 rows of huts and a lane between
What are the conditions for urbanism?
Production of storable food The development of writing Social organisation Technological processes Modification in social and economic relations
The first 7 urban civilisations
Sumerian Egyptian Harrapan Shang Aztec Maya Inca
Sumerian Citigroup examples?
Uruk
Ziggurat of Nammu
Ur
3 element of Sumerian cities?
Old walled city- Tempe is on west side
Suburb of houses and agricultural land
Harbour- commercial centre, canal
What did the temenos contain?
Open spaces reserved for religious and Royal elite
Form of Sumerian cities?
Influenced by flooding of river trade
Residential areas influenced by climate, customs and urban mobility
House rooms grouped around courtyard
Protection from the sun, dust and sand
Streets needed to allow passage of animal traffic
How was the Harrapan urban form described?
Variants of a standard plan
Features of Harrapan cities?
Citadels raised on high platforms surrounded by high walls
Lower cities laid out in rectangular form
Future developments adhered to basic grid pattern
Mohenjo-Daro (Harrapan)
On the bank of the Indus
Building had civic-religious purposes such as public baths, offices, assembly halls
High quality sanitation- most houses had bathrooms, flushing sewers
What is the polis
The city state or self governing community
The Greek city form?
Urban centre with enclosing city walled surrounded by villages and farmland
The Acropolis
The agora
Residential districts
Leisure and cultural areas (theatre, stadium)
Harbour, port and industrial district
What is the Acropolis?
The religious centre
What is the agora?
Heart of the city
Focal point of planning
What did the Greeks achieve?
Systematic organisation
Architecture, democracy
Population controls
Focus on communal leisure space
Limits of Greek urbanism?
Women and slaves were not classed as citizens and had restricted rights
Poor sanitisation
Regular plague and sickness
High density with little garden space
Rome
Hill provided defence both military and flooding and on main trade routes
Rectangular design
How was Rome regulated?
Caesar banned carts during sunlight
Caesar limiting building hight, and regulated distance between buildings
The Roman urban achievement
Maintained a 1.2m population Applied engineering Public works Building regulators No segregation Fire and police services
Limits of Roman urbanism?
Extreme wealth contrasts
Malaria and plague
Crowding and deteriorating housing conditions
Little innovation
Medieval urban form
Walk with towers and gates and customs barrier
Streets and circulation spaces
Market place
Church
Residential building with private gardens
Refuse disposal and water supply
Florence 1
Global city Bureaucratic processes viewed as civic activity A new economy- textiles, banking First capitalist revolution Organised- long term planning Complex trades- firms employing 150+ Aristocracy of wealth
Florence 2
Self governance High public hygiene standards Inequalities Workers revolts Capitalist fluctuations and bankruptcies Emphasis on private homes
Examples of urban governance 1?
Immigration and ethnic and religious diversity
Race riots
Ghettos
Determine between refugees and economic migrants
Local governments
Planning regulations
Examples of urban governance 2?
Institutions for urban poor
Bureaucratic responses to plague - rubbish collection
Lawes of the Market- London no noise after 9 pm
Nuisance Assizes - resolve neighbourhood disputes
When was the plague and fire
London
Plague- 1665
Fire- 1666
Who was the commissioner for rebuilding London?
Roger Pratt
What was included in the Act for rebuilding London 1667?
Dictating materials and wall thickness
Vertical segregation of buildings
Prohibition of domestic storage of flammable materials
Removal of unstable wooden houses
Urban problems regarding class?
Class structure became more complex and clearly defined social class districts Desire for private and segregation
How was chaos regulated?
Traffic- laws to reduce horse speeds
Light- residents required to hang lanterns and fined if not
Money rewarded for informing on those not disposing of domestic waste properly
Examples of mobs and riots
Urban mobs- London and Paris
The Gordon riots June 1789
Burning of flour mills in Brum and London
The French Revolution
Edinburgh new town
Contrast to organic old town
Building acts- regulated building lines, widows, roofs, pavement widths and sewers
Celebrating unionism- Union Jack design
Where were the earliest civilisations found?
Mesopotamia, China, India, Egypt, America’s
Often near rivers
