Modern cities : progress of the awakening for their betterment here and in Europe / by Horatio M. Pollock and William S. Morgan.

  • Horatio Milo Pollock
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Modern cities : progress of the awakening for their betterment here and in Europe / by Horatio M. Pollock and William S. Morgan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    35/476 (page 17)
    Although the beginning of the twentieth cen- tury has witnessed a marvelous development of interest in the planning and replanning of cities, city planning is not a new science. The oldest cities of which we know were laid out on a definite plan. According to Professor Petrie the recently excavated town of Kahun, built about 3000 B. C. for the workmen who were constructing the pyramid Illahun, was laid out symmetrically on rectangular lines. The an- cient Greek cities were remarkable for the grandeur and magnificence with which they planned their temples and other public build- ings. Conjectural restorations of some of these cities show that while the shops and dwelling- houses of the Greeks were comparatively in- significant, the public places and buildings were laid out on a scale that has never been sur- passed. The skill of the landscape artist was combined with that of the architect as in modern city planning, and the effect produced was worthy of that nation of artists. Of the early cities of Italy, Pompeii is the only one that has been preserved in its original condition. The uncovered walls and streets of this unfortunate city show that much intelligent effort had been put forth to make the town a fit place for the abode of human beings. The forum, or civic center of the town, was laid out on a magnificent scale and was sur- [17]