HISTORY & DEVELOPMENT OF SETTLEMENT PLANNING

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Smaller cluster of houses started to come up which slowly and gradually took the
shape of small villages.
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Agglomeration of many such villages and increment in their size lead to the
development of towns.
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Many factors played an important role in the growth of our civilization.
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These factors, even today, play an equally important role in the shaping up of the
present day towns.

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These factors are as follows-
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Geographical Factors – earthquake & floods, land characteristics, fertility,
water availability, climate, weather, resources, etc.
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Economic Aspects – the production of agriculture, industry and trade &
commerce, the economic leadership.
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Political Aspects – defense considerations, administration.
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Socio- Cultural Aspect – castes, poor & rich, cultural pattern, social
grouping.
•
Technological Progress – influence in industrial production, building &
construction work, transportation within the settlement & beyond, utilities
and services.
EARLY CIVILIZATION

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Most of the civilizations have sprung up on the banks of some navigable river or at
any natural port, providing security and communicating links.

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Physical safety and communication links are the two prime factors which lead to
development of the towns.

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History of civilization was dominated by the rulers and the priests.

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The ruler had the support of armed force & priests had the sentimental support of
people.

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Any discrepancy amongst them lead to confusion, conflicts and ultimate downfall of
that civilization.
EGYPTIAN CITIES
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The Egyptian civilization grew only on one side of the river Nile as it was very wide
for navigation.
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The peoples’ life was dedicated to the Pharaoh, whose artistic ambitions and orders
build up the towns.

Religion and government brought order to

society through:
The construction of TEMPLES
The creation of LAWS
TAXATION
The ORGANIZATION OF LABOR
TRADE with neighbors
The DEFENCE of the country’s
interests.
EGYPTIAN CITIES

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The ‘cells’ or rooms of the houses were arranged around a common courtyard.
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The ancient Egyptian first lived in reed houses and later switched to unbaked mud
brick, which was used even on palaces.
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Later they developed a method of constructing buildings from stone, and built many
monumental buildings like the Great Pyramids.
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The narrow lane served as an open drains and walkways.
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Walls surrounded the cities for protection against the floods of the river Nile.
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Dwellings were of different types and sizes.
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Most important commodities were placed on the upper right corner of the towns.
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The roofs of the houses were made of reeds covered with mud plaster.
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Egyptians made great temple cities along the bank of the river Nile.
A ventilating device known as ‘mulguf’ was used on the roofs.

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In this system warm air is passed through a wind catcher placed at the roof
of the basement which was filled with water. The air passing through this
water got humidified and then this was passed through the perforated
flooring of the ground floor to make the rooms cool.
 GREEK CITIES
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By 7th Cent. B.C. nobles became the rulers.
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Land holding peasant classes developed.
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By 5th Cent. B.C. democracy took roots in Athens.
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Magistrates were elected, philosophy was nurtured, science was investigated.
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An environment of culture was developed by people.
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The ancient Greek civilization had established principles for planning and designing
cities.
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The Greek towns were divided into three main physical parts – gods, administration
and dwelling houses.
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The city was conceived to serve three classes of people – craftsmen, workers and
soldiers.
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The towns were designed to satisfy the requirements of hygiene, defense and
circulation.
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Temples were built upon Acropolis ( meaning “highest city” or settlement on
elevated ground).
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Towns had fixed boundaries and some were protected by fortifications.
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Much of the town was devoted to public use.
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Site planning and design was centered on the appreciation of buildings from the
outside.
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The location of buildings was therefore such that it could command a good view to
it.
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In the 5th Cent. B.C., Hippodamus, an architect from Miletus, introduced
applying the GRID IRON pattern of road layout.
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the functions of the building were given more importance.
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the rough topography of the Greek cities lead to creation of steps on the
roads.

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City form were of two types
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Old cities such as Athens had irregular street plans reflecting their
gradual organic development
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New cities, especially colonial cities had a grid-iron street plan
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The Greek City was usually divided into three parts
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The Acropolis,
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The Agora and
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The Town.
ACROPOLIS
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The Acropolis was the city of temples
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It was built to glorify the gods
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Greeks considered high places to be
important & sacred
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An acropolis is located at the "highest",
"topmost", "outermost“ part of the city or
the settlement, a citadel, built upon an area
of elevated ground where all the major
temples of a city are located.
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Other public buildings such as gymnasium,
stadium, and theaters were generally
regarded as part of religious rituals
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They are normally found attached on
lower ground to the hills of the Acropolis

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The most famous example is the
Acropolis of Athens, which, by reason of
its historical associations and the several
famous buildings erected upon it
(most notably the Parthenon).
AGORA
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The Agora was the most important gathering place in a Greek city
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It started as an open area where the council of the city met to take decisions
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With time buildings were constructed to define and enclose the space
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It also transformed into a place for combined social, commercial and political
activities
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It emerged as the heart of Greek intellectual life and discourse.
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It was usually located on a flat ground for ease of communication
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It was placed to be easily accessible from all directions

TOWN
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The town was where the people lived
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Early Greek towns had an irregular street pattern, resulting from its organic growth
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Later Hellenistic towns had a formal rectilinear pattern
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The town was made up of only residential houses
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Houses were usually constructed of mud bricks
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Houses were of the courtyard type, with rooms arranged around a courtyard having
windowless facades
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Houses of poor people were very simple compared to the house of the rich, which had
more rooms and better finishing
 CITY OF ATHENS

TOWN
ATHENS
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Athens is a very good example of a typical ancient Greek city
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The city has the three components of acropolis, agora and town found in a Greek city
•The best example of Greek emphasis on visualization in design and site planning is seen
at the Acropolis at Athens
•All the buildings on the Acropolis are designed to be seen
•
All the
temples on
the
Acropolis
are place at
an angle
that enables
them to be
seen on two
sides.
Characteristics of Greek cities
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Wandering and unpaved lanes.
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No drainage and sanitation system.
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Water was got from the local wells.
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The wastes were disposed off on the streets.
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There were no class distinction in the society.

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Public spaces played very important role in the life of Greeks –
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Temples dedicated to Greek Gods
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common assembly place (PNYX), council hall and council chamber
(PRYTANEUM),
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open-air theatre eg. Theatre of Dionysus
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the stadium eg. Theatre of Epidauros
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The processional gateway
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public gathering place ( AGORA), situated at the center of the city and
surrounded by storied colonnade corridors (stoa),
( The space occupied by agora is approx. 5% of the city area)
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Greeks did not had much interest in building elaborate houses and palaces.
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They were fascinated by other forms of civic architecture which combined beauty
with practical solutions - Theatres, council halls, public porticos, Gymnasiums, and
planning of the cities themselves.

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later part of 5th cent. B.C. sort of building bye-laws were introduced.
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projection of first floor were restricted.
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sanitation was given importance.
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Population of city size was guided by the amount of food & water supply.
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climate decided the orientation of the buildings.
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rooms faced southern private courtyard where projected colonnade protected
the rooms from direct sunlight.
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the north wall was punctured with small windows.

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Greek architecture in the later ages begins to make the move from ephemeral
materials (wood, mud brick, thatch) to permanent materials (namely, stone).
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Greek life was dominated by religion and so it is not surprising that the temples
of Greece were the biggest and most beautiful.
 ROMAN CITIES
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Flourished from the 6th C. B.C. to 5th C. A.D.
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Lacked creativity of the Greeks but built in large scale.
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The forum was the center of social life; it is very similar to the Greek Agora
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It was the place for social, political, recreational and religious activities
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Romans participated in a lot of entertainment activities, their social life was clearly
visible in their Architecture -
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Amphitheatres for gladiator contest,
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Basilicas for lawsuits,
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Domus for family life,
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Circus for racing,
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Theatres for dramas,
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State temples for religious activities,
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They also had new unique social activities such as recreational bathing.
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Forum was every where a centre of public life and national activities.
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They not just used Marble, in addition they could produce terra-cotta, stone, and
brick and timber.
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Romans also invented concrete.
 Bridges

Theatre
Aqueduct
Basilica
Circus

Temple Triumph Arch Amphi - Theatre

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They built significant civil structures like aqueducts, bridges and sewers.
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Rome also had a sanitary system to take away waste water from the city and large
warehouses to service the needs of its port.
CITY PLANNING PRINCIPLES
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The planning of most cities fall in between the two extremes of organic growth and
rigid grid planning.
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All cities had a forum, theater, bath, market etc.
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Many of the cities contained buildings that were copies or local versions of key
monuments in Rome.
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Focus in city design is on integrating civic buildings with public spaces and residential
neighborhoods.
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Each public building had interior spaces that responded to functional requirement
with the spaces also linked and connected with the public spaces of the city.
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The Forum was the center of the Roman city.
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Buildings commonly found in the forum include temples, basilicas, and bath.
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In forum governmental function were usually arranged on the west end & religious
ceremonies were celebrated at the east end.

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The Romans founded their cities mainly on three occasions-
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When the city became colonial center.
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When it was made a local capital
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When it became an imperial residence.
CITY PLANNING PRINCIPLES
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The cities were laid out to comply with fulfilling the religious auspices, defense
requirements and technical considerations.

The religious auspices include –

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To establish a city wall first. Their were different religious activities within and
outside the city wall.
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The city was developed with two cross roads; DECUMANUS running east- west
and CARDO running north- south. The main road running north- south is known
as CARDO MAXIMUS. This system of road layout is known as CENTURATIO
SYSTEM. Forum was to be developed at the crossing of the main roads.
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The rest of the town was to be divided into square or rectangular plots of one
side equaling 120 feet.
The defense requirements include –

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A defense wall.
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Straight roads to avoid curvatures in streets which enabled to perform military
parades easily.
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Long distance visibility for easy policing required the roads to be absolutely straight.
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The roads were at least 8’ (2.40m) wide.

The technical considerations include –

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Setbacks of 2’6” (0.76m) from the boundaries of each buildings.
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Drainage and water supply were elaborately prescribed.
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All construction within the towns was to be in concrete and stone. In specific case
they were faced with bricks.
The Roman towns were mainly divided into three categories.

1) COLLONIA : Which were high ranking cities having all benefits, where there are
hierarchy of plots for people having various social status. Rome is a good example.

2) OPPIDIA : Towns which were conquered from others. Eg. Calleva Atrebatum 

3) CASTRUM : Military camp towns. A well preserved example is the city of Timgadin,
North Africa. The town was laid in a grid of 12 blocks within a square 1,200 feet
wide.
City plan of Calleva Atrebatum