Ancient and Medieval Cities: Urban Development Through History
Ancient Cities
Around 5,000 years ago, the first urban civilizations emerged in seven distinct regions:
- The Hoang-ho River Valley (Huixian, Anyang, Gaocheng)
- The Indus Valley (Rags, Mohenjo-Daro, Balatok)
- The Tigris and Euphrates Valleys (Nineveh, Babylon, Ur, Uruk, Assur)
- The Nile Valley (Ilahun, Memphis, Giza, Thebes, Abydos)
- The Niger Valley (Goa, Timbuktu)
- The Mesoamerican Highlands (Tikal, Cocaxtlan, El Tajin, Tenochtitlan, Copán)
- The Peruvian Highlands (Tiahuanaco, Pikimachay, Machu Picchu, Nazca)
Classical Cities
Classical cities, primarily Greek and Roman, exhibited diverse forms and structures influenced by the cultures that created them. A tendency towards geometric regularity, often orthogonal, appeared in cities like Rags and Mohenjo-Daro, but reached its peak in classical antiquity, particularly in Greek cities. Houses were typically constructed from adobe, brick, wood, and cane.
The Greek City
The Greek city-state, or polis, often featured a grid plan, with the most regular plans indicating greater organization. Public spaces like temples, agoras, and markets (sometimes covered with arcades called stoas) served as centers for gatherings, democratic discourse, and philosophical discussions. Buildings for leisure and entertainment, such as theaters and stadiums, were also common. The concept of urban planning, attributed to Hippodamus of Miletus by Aristotle, involved the orthogonal layout of streets and blocks of equal width, with logical distribution of trades. This model was used in Greek colonies throughout the Mediterranean, including cities like Miletus, Athens, Sparta, and Antioch, often modified only by topography. Whenever possible, cities were oriented north-south to maximize sunlight exposure for homes. Greek houses were organized around a central courtyard and were typically made of mud, reflecting the emphasis on public life over private dwellings.
The Roman City
The Roman city, a descendant of the Greek model, underwent gradual and continuous development throughout the Empire. Like Greek cities, Roman cities employed grid plans and featured public spaces for political and recreational activities, as well as temples and palaces. However, Roman cities had distinct characteristics. In planned cities, often of military origin, two wider main streets, the north-south cardo and the east-west decumanus, intersected the city. Older cities, built upon existing settlements, often had more irregular layouts. Roman cities prioritized public health and amenities, including sewage systems, aqueducts, fountains, bridges, baths, paved roads, fire and police services, and markets. Public buildings included government structures, religious temples, forums, basilicas, theaters, amphitheaters, circuses, markets, and baths. Decorative and commemorative structures like columns and triumphal arches were also common. Roman houses, more comfortable than their Greek counterparts, were organized around a courtyard with a well or pool. Rooms served various functions, from bedrooms and halls to kitchens, stables, and slave quarters, depending on the family’s wealth. Apartment buildings with multiple floors also emerged in Rome, catering to a range of incomes.
Medieval Cities
Following the decline of the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasions in the West, two distinct cultures with differing urban conceptions emerged: the Islamic world and the Christian world, both centered around religion.
The Islamic City
Islamic cities reflected an introverted and hierarchical society with minimal community interaction. Life centered around spacious and luxurious houses with few exterior openings. The external appearance of Islamic cities was often unadorned. Cities like Damascus, Baghdad, Cairo, Fez, Marrakech, Cordoba, and Toledo, whether newly built or significantly transformed, exemplified Islamic urban design. Streets were narrow, irregular, and often lacked outlets to plazas. Many streets were within gated neighborhoods, closed at night and on holidays, isolating them from the rest of the city. Public spaces were limited to baths, bazaars, and mosques. Functional segregation was prominent, with neighborhoods dedicated to specific trades like carpentry, dyeing, goldsmithing, and shoemaking. The souk, or marketplace, was located within a neighborhood with similar characteristics. Unlike Christian cities, Islamic cities had fixed and permanent shops, reflecting their larger populations, some exceeding 100,000 or even 500,000 inhabitants. This highly developed urban culture extended from the Iberian Peninsula to India. Walled for protection and tax collection, the medina, or city, was surrounded by less affluent neighborhoods, often housing undesirable trades like tanning. Kasbahs, fortified citadels, housed family units within their walls, lacking streets altogether. Islamic houses, the center of daily life, featured landscaped courtyards and two types of rooms: the private harem and the salamlik for receiving visitors.
The Christian City
Medieval Christian cities reflected a different social model, inherited from Greece and Rome. They tended towards geometric regularity, adapting to the topography. Basic plan types included circular, linear, and fortified (orthogonal), often centered around a castle. Over time, internal roads and the initial structure of each nucleus contributed to an irregular urban form. Houses were modest with outward-facing openings, and the street served as a social space. Public spaces included small squares, churches, and colonnaded plazas. Medieval society drew a sharp distinction between rural and urban life. Urban life offered privileges stemming from a specific legal system: charters. Charters granted rights to specific trades, tax exemptions and obligations, and the privilege of holding trade fairs and markets. Christian cities were smaller than Islamic cities, rarely exceeding 15,000 inhabitants, and maintained close ties to the countryside, with many inhabitants engaged in agriculture. Suburbs existed outside the city walls, situated at a distance to avoid hindering defense. However, the primary purpose of walls was not military but rather for taxation and control. As in Islamic cities, functional segregation of space was prominent, with different trades concentrated in specific streets and neighborhoods, regulated by guilds. Christian cities actively participated in their governance through municipalities and cathedrals, which formed the pillars of public policy. Some cities had access to royal courts, primarily for paying homage to the king and granting special taxes. The medieval urban bourgeoisie and feudal lords controlled city government. Markets, held in open spaces like arcaded squares or gateways, were essential components of the city. The foundation of cities and fortified towns often involved granting charters to promote urban growth and provide advantages over rural areas. However, spontaneous cities also emerged at important economic crossroads, such as along the Way of St. James or at navigable rivers, like the Seine or the Rhine.