forms, and cities in the American continents, such as Tenochtitlan. However,
many of the other cities tended to have irregular shapes that conformed to the
existing geography.
Thus, it seems that this era was characterized by a trend for irregular-shaped
cities lacking strong morphological urban planning, with a few key exceptions.
Around 1500, a new approach to urban forms appeared with the Renaissance.
Thus, we define the late medieval era as beginning in 1000 and ending around
1500. At the end of this era, the Spanish and Portuguese discovered America and
established sea routes around the world, and the Europeans began to establish
new cities on the American continent and Asia in the next era.
5. The premodern era: Around 1500, during the Renaissance period, many Italian
architects created new designs for cities based on the ideas of the Ancient Roman
architect Vitruvius, with octagonal or star-shaped layouts, including moats and
walls. However, few of these plans were ever realized although Palma Nova is a
key exception. The Europeans executed their ideal designs in the militaryoriented colonial cities of Asia—e.g., Intramuros in Manila, and Batavia, with
its encircling wall—and in the Americas, with a key example being the fortifications of Buenos Aires.
From around 1600, city planning began to focus on perspectives and vistas, as
exemplified by the Baroque cities, such as Versailles and Karlsruhe, with straight
wide roads and a large public square. The population of European cities grew in
this era and new colonial cities arose in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Around
1750, the new trends were shown in Philadelphia, Mexico City, and Buenos
Aires, which were vast, planned, grid cities without city walls. At the same time,
European cities gradually began to escape their medieval city walls, with urban
areas sprawling beyond these walls, or, as in Moscow or Paris, the old walls being
demolished, and new, larger, encircling city walls being constructed.
The city of Isfahan was an early example of the change that occurred from
1600, as a new “garden city” design was developed there, parallel to the irregular
medieval Islamic city design (Fukami 2002). However, many Islamic cities with
Muslim rulers continued to be organically developed cities, such as Istanbul
under the Ottomans, areas such as Sana’a and Cairo, and Mughal cities such as
Shah-Jahanabad and Ahmedabad, which developed almost inside the city wall.
It is notable that the urban form was retained by traditional cities in East,
Southeast, and South Asia. Beijing maintained the Chinese tradition of a vast
square city with a grid road layout and encircling wall. Edo and Seoul selected
another urban morphology, as both are vast, organic, sparsely populated cities,
with a radiating monarch’s palace. Jaipur and Madurai were square, grid cities
based on the town cosmology of Hindu culture, and Yogyakarta under the
Muslim Sultanate was based on local morphology from India and emphasized
the axis between sea and mountain through its palatial area. However, Ayutthaya
was an irregular-shaped island city.
In summary, from 1500 to 1800, known as the premodern era, Western
Europe’s influence increased as commercial trade grew. The cities of this era
5 Regional Diversity and Sustainability of Megacities in Global Historical. . .
73
many of the other cities tended to have irregular shapes that conformed to the
existing geography.
Thus, it seems that this era was characterized by a trend for irregular-shaped
cities lacking strong morphological urban planning, with a few key exceptions.
Around 1500, a new approach to urban forms appeared with the Renaissance.
Thus, we define the late medieval era as beginning in 1000 and ending around
1500. At the end of this era, the Spanish and Portuguese discovered America and
established sea routes around the world, and the Europeans began to establish
new cities on the American continent and Asia in the next era.
5. The premodern era: Around 1500, during the Renaissance period, many Italian
architects created new designs for cities based on the ideas of the Ancient Roman
architect Vitruvius, with octagonal or star-shaped layouts, including moats and
walls. However, few of these plans were ever realized although Palma Nova is a
key exception. The Europeans executed their ideal designs in the militaryoriented colonial cities of Asia—e.g., Intramuros in Manila, and Batavia, with
its encircling wall—and in the Americas, with a key example being the fortifications of Buenos Aires.
From around 1600, city planning began to focus on perspectives and vistas, as
exemplified by the Baroque cities, such as Versailles and Karlsruhe, with straight
wide roads and a large public square. The population of European cities grew in
this era and new colonial cities arose in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Around
1750, the new trends were shown in Philadelphia, Mexico City, and Buenos
Aires, which were vast, planned, grid cities without city walls. At the same time,
European cities gradually began to escape their medieval city walls, with urban
areas sprawling beyond these walls, or, as in Moscow or Paris, the old walls being
demolished, and new, larger, encircling city walls being constructed.
The city of Isfahan was an early example of the change that occurred from
1600, as a new “garden city” design was developed there, parallel to the irregular
medieval Islamic city design (Fukami 2002). However, many Islamic cities with
Muslim rulers continued to be organically developed cities, such as Istanbul
under the Ottomans, areas such as Sana’a and Cairo, and Mughal cities such as
Shah-Jahanabad and Ahmedabad, which developed almost inside the city wall.
It is notable that the urban form was retained by traditional cities in East,
Southeast, and South Asia. Beijing maintained the Chinese tradition of a vast
square city with a grid road layout and encircling wall. Edo and Seoul selected
another urban morphology, as both are vast, organic, sparsely populated cities,
with a radiating monarch’s palace. Jaipur and Madurai were square, grid cities
based on the town cosmology of Hindu culture, and Yogyakarta under the
Muslim Sultanate was based on local morphology from India and emphasized
the axis between sea and mountain through its palatial area. However, Ayutthaya
was an irregular-shaped island city.
In summary, from 1500 to 1800, known as the premodern era, Western
Europe’s influence increased as commercial trade grew. The cities of this era
5 Regional Diversity and Sustainability of Megacities in Global Historical. . .
73