This book is a comprehensive introduction to the historical evolution--from antiquity to the present--of the city and the built environment. It considers the forces that influence the city's form and content and explores the wide variety of city designs and built forms that have evolved throughout history.

A comprehensive history of urban design in the 20th century. Our time is an urban age. More people live in cities than ever before, cities are growing larger and denser than ever, and urbanity has reached unprecedented levels of complexity. This boom in urbanization began in earnest around the turn of the twentieth century when technological advancement and the extraction of seemingly endless supplies of natural resources propelled urban development. As urban populations steadily increased, architects and planners were not only faced with designing housing and public space but also with responding to emerging societal challenges such as political tensions, reconstruction, decolonization, economic crises, growing climatic concerns, and cultural shifts. Through the analysis of more than one hundred richly illustrated urban design projects and initiatives, this book provides a comprehensive history of how these challenges have fomented new attitudes and approaches in the discipline of urban design.

Exploring the social origins and history of town planning in nineteenth-century England and France. Carefully documented and copiously illustrated, Origins of Modern Town Planning delves into the social origins and history of town planning in nineteenth-century England and France.The touchstone of Benevolo's research is the relationship between town planning and politics. The twofold origin of the planning concept found expression in two schools of nineteenth-century thought: the Utopians—Owen, Saint-Simon, Fourier—and their active vision of the town as a self-sufficient, coherent organism are contrasted with the specialists and officials who endeavored to remedy each urban defect individually by introducing new health regulations and social legislation into already existing towns. Despite the conceptual difference, however, Benevolo points out the shared ideology which inspired all achievements of thought and action—even the purely technical—and establishes its correspondence in spirit up to the time of modern socialism.

Peter Hall’s seminal Cities of Tomorrow remains an unrivalled account of the history of planning in theory and practice, as well as of the social and economic problems and opportunities that gave rise to it. Now comprehensively revised, the fourth edition offers a perceptive, critical, and global history of urban planning and design throughout the twentieth-century and beyond. A revised and updated edition of this classic text from one of the most notable figures in the field of urban planning and design Offers an incisive, insightful, and unrivalled critical history of planning in theory and practice, as well as of the underlying socio-economic challenges and opportunities Comprehensively revised to take account of abundant new research published over the last decade Reviews the development of the modern planning movement over the entire span of the twentieth-century and beyond Draws on global examples throughout, and weaves the author’s own fascinating experiences into the text to illustrate this authoritative story of urban growth

Urban Design Since 1945: A Global Perspective reviews the emergence of urban design as a global phenomenon. The book opens with the urgent need to rebuild cities and re-house the millions of refugees living in camps and shantytowns at the end of the Second World War. Against this background, the book traces the collapse of the modernist, comprehensive state-planning schemes on both sides of the Iron Curtain as global corporations emerged, concentrating on networks and enclaves. It describes how Latin America and then Asia began a rapid urbanisation process, shifting the global urban centre away from Europe and overturning existing urban design models. This resulted in global megacities of an unprecedented scale, often with large associated shantytowns. By outlining the dominant models in urban design over the last sixty years - the metropolis, the megalopolis, the fragmented metropolis and the global megacity - the book provides an essential framework for students of the subject. Featured case studies include: the rebuilding of metropolitan capitals in Europe and Asia, such as Berlin, London, Moscow, Tokyo and Beijing the construction of new towns like Nowa Huta, Poland; Harlow, UK; Chandigarh, India; Brasilia, Brazil; Milton Keynes New Town, UK; and Shenzhen, China the megalopolis as a global phenomenon from the American East Coast, Texas, California, Arizona and Florida, with examples from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America, such as Caracas, Venezuela the fragmented metropolis as a global phenomenon, with American, Asian and European examples, such as Downtown and Midtown (New York), Shinjuku (Tokyo), Canary Wharf (London), La Défense (Paris) and Potsdamer Platz (Berlin) megacities as a global phenomenon, such as Jakarta in Indonesia or Bangkok in Thailand, that include urban agriculture and urban villages, as do shrinking eco-city regions such as Duisburg, Germany or Detroit, USA World's Fairs such as Brussels 1958 and Osaka 1970 which feature as drivers of innovation, as do Olympic events in Tokyo (1964), Barcelona (1992), Beijing (2008) and London (2012).

Taylor describes the development of urban planning ideas since the end of the Second World War, outlining the main theories from the traditional view of planning as an exercise in physical design to recent views of planning as 'communicative action'.

Based on Urban Design Associates’ in-house training procedures, this unique handbook details the techniques and working methods of a major urban design and planning firm. Covering the process from basic principles to developed designs, the book outlines the range of project types and services that urban designers can offer and sets out a set of general operating guidelines and procedures for: Developing a master plan, including techniques for engaging citizens in the design process and technical analysis to evaluate the physical form of the neighborhood, centered on a design charrette with public participation; Preparing a pattern book to guide residential construction in a new traditional town, including the documentation of architectural and urban precedents in a form that can be used by architects and builders; Implementing contextual architectural design, including methods of applying the essential qualities of traditional architecture in many styles to modern programs and construction techniques. This invaluable guide offers an introductory course in urbanism as well as an operations manual for architects, planners, developers, and public officials.