We explain what urban planning is and what the object of study of this discipline is. Also, what is the urbanization process and when it started.
What is urbanism?
urbanism is the academic discipline that studies the relationships between the inhabitants of urban areas and the built environment in which they live. It deals with the spatial organization of the city (that is, urban planning), with the social, economic and environmental relations that take place in it, and with the way in which both things influence and feed each other.
The term town planning (from Latin urbs“city”) was coined at the end of the 19th century by Ildefonso Cerdá (1815-1876), a Catalan civil engineer and jurist, and since then it has been used to name this academic perspective, very close to architecture and sociology. From this word also derives the term urban planningwhich describes the set of techniques proposed by urban planning to intervene in the city's processes and make them more efficient.
That its name is contemporary does not mean, however, that the object of study of urban planning or the need to understand the processes of the city are also contemporary. On the contrary, the first studies on the subject date back to Antiquity and are attributed to Hippodamus of Miletus (498-408 BC), who is considered the father of urban planning. In fact, the organization of cities on a grid, known as the “hippodamic plan” or “hippodamic layout”, owes its name to this Greek scholar of cities.
Throughout history, in addition, many individuals in positions of power had an interest in urban reformulation, as was the case of Emperor Nero, who rebuilt Rome after its famous fire, or of the King of Spain Philip II, in whose “laws” of the Indies” were the guidelines for the cities founded in the so-called New World. However, Urban planning as a discipline appeared in the 19th century, with the purpose of contributing to the transformation of the industrial city.
Among the interests of urban planning are the construction and beautification of public spaces, the layout of cities for their growth and the resolution of the problems that historically afflict human settlements, such as pollution, vehicular traffic, overpopulation. To do this, it uses knowledge from architecture, sociology, geography, economics and other academic disciplines.
See also: Urban geography
Other uses of the term “urbanism”
The word “urbanism” is often used to refer to the process of urbanization itself, that is, the historical process of concentration of humanity in cities and the growth of these. This process began in Antiquity, when the first ancient cities emerged in Mesopotamia around 4300 to 3100 BC. c.
Similarly, in some Spanish-speaking countries the term is used as a synonym for “urbanization”, that is, an urban complex with similar characteristics. Thus, for example, in the city of Caracas, Venezuela, there is “Nelson Mandela Urbanism”.
References
- Jerez Mir, Carlos. (2011). What is urbanism? University of Granada Publishing House.
- Royal Spanish Academy. (2022). “Town planning”. Dictionary of the Spanish language. Espasa.
- The Encyclopaedia Britannica. (sf). “Urban planning”. https://www.britannica.com/
