Cool Fact: First Planned Cities

[The Learning Kingdom]

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    The Learning Kingdom's Cool Fact of the Day for April 6, 1999
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                Who designed the first planned cities?

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The first system of planned public works was invented and described by
the Greek Hippodamus, who redesigned his own city, Miletus, after it
was destroyed by the Persians.

Hippodamus divided his cities into three sections, for religious,
administrative, and commercial uses.  He believed that city design was
an art, and that mathematical laws of balance and proportion were
important.

Hippodamus invented the concept of "city blocks."  Streets were laid
out in regular grids for efficiency.  His cities had systems to
deliver water and dispose of sewage and garbage.

New Greek cities took on his distinctive look, and  existing cities
were redesigned and rebuilt.  Later, the Romans embraced and extended
his ideas in their own ambitious public works projects.

More about Miletus, one of the first planned cities:
http://fhw.uni-muenster.de/projects/bouleuterion/en/katopsis/miletus_intro.html

Miletus, Priene, and Didyma all showed features of preplanned design:
http://www.turkishodyssey.com/places/aegean/aegean4.htm

A Cool Fact about another inventive Greek from Miletus:
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/01/26.html


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