planned towns
Intentionally laid-out settlements
Planned towns are settlements designed and built according to a comprehensive scheme rather than evolving organically over time.
Unlike cities that grow incrementally around trade routes or natural features, planned towns follow deliberate layouts—often geometric street grids, designated zones for housing and commerce, and coordinated infrastructure: Canberra was built as a planned town to serve as Australia's capital.
The term covers everything from ancient Roman colonies to modern suburban developments.
- BrasíliaBrazil's purpose-built capital
- utopian idealsBeliefs in achievable perfection
- social engineeringManipulating people for information
- blank slateUnmarked starting point
- from scratchStarting with nothing prepared
drawing board · zoning · Canberra · New Delhi · Washington D.C. · green belts · infrastructure · grid systems · city blocks · Ebenezer Howard · garden cities · boulevards · walkability · land use · satellite cities · post-war reconstruction · civic centers · underground utilities
- planned communitiessubdivision, gated community, model villages, garden cities, eco-villages
planned townssquatter settlements
Unauthorized improvised housing communities
favelas · shanty towns · historic villages · slums · medieval villages
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