Cities, like people, are dynamic and constantly evolving to keep pace with and adapt to the social, economic, and environmental changes of their time. Similarly, the vision of how the ideal city should be planned has been influenced by each era’s realities and prevailing thoughts.
Industrialization, the increasing migration of people from rural to urban areas, population growth, the development of new materials and construction technologies, the dominance of automobiles as a means of transportation, and, more recently, the search for alternative ways of occupying and moving through cities have all impacted urban planning theories throughout history. These influences have shaped the structure of modern cities—with their successes and challenges.
Five urbanism concepts have been fundamental in establishing the guidelines that directed the division of spaces and land use, ultimately shaping the cities we know today: Garden Cities, Modernism, New Urbanism, Cities for People, and the 15-Minute City. Learn more about the principles of each of these concepts below.
Garden Cities
Advocated by the English planner Ebenezer Howard from the turn of the 19th until the 20th century, these autonomous, egalitarian districts with a strong sense of community combine the qualities of rural life with those of more developed urban centers.
Garden Cities were his response to the challenges of the post-industrial revolution, such as pollution, irregular settlements, and the migration of people from rural to urban areas in search of better living conditions and job opportunities.
Howard first presented his model of a locality in 1898. In 1902, with the publication of the book Garden Cities of To-Morrow, the proposal spread throughout England and other countries.
To develop his concept, the planner defined a diagram with three magnets: two of them highlighted the positive and negative aspects of cities and the countryside. The third combined the advantages of both. Thus, Garden Cities would be the result of merging the benefits of each reality.
Structured in concentric circles radiating from a large central area designated for a park, the districts were composed of areas for public buildings, cultural institutions, and a hospital, followed by zones for commerce and services, housing, agriculture, and industries. These environments were surrounded by a green belt intended to limit their expansion, and an interconnected network of roads facilitated communication between the areas.
Letchworth and Welwyn were the first Garden Cities implemented by Howard in England in 1903 and 1920, respectively. As noted by architect Frances Holliss in an article for The Guardian, the lack of density and the separation of living and working spaces are some of the criticisms of the English planner's conception. Howard's utopian vision and the definition of functional zoning ultimately turned these places into dormitory towns, where residents depended on their vehicles to access services and reach their jobs.
According to Frances, although the COVID-19 pandemic has rekindled interest in localities that bring housing closer to nature, there should be a debate about whether Garden Cities would function today or if they are merely a nostalgic look at the past.
Modernism
As cities evolved and their populations increased significantly, a new approach to planning and building emerged, leaving a distinct mark on architecture, especially in the first half of the 20th century. Modernism emphasized minimalism, functionality, order, and functional zoning.
This movement's principles, which peaked between the 1930s and 1960s, were consolidated in the Athens Charter, published in 1933 during the International Congress of Modern Architecture (CIAM). The Radiant City (La Ville Radieuse) project, designed by Swiss-French architect and urban planner Le Corbusier, embodied these concepts, envisioning a city that functioned like a machine. First presented in 1924 and published in a book in 1933, the complex was never realized.
Another hallmark of modernism was the rejection of ornamentation with a preference for basic forms and asymmetrical compositions, along with the rational use of materials such as exposed concrete, steel, and glass, and structural innovation. The rigid division of cities according to human activities — living, working, leisure, and commuting — and the clear identification of each function's location were also core aspects of the movement.
Architects, landscape designers, aimed to develop a distinct language independent of European ideals, adapted to national materials, forms, and culture. Brazil’s capital city, Brasília, designed by Lucio Costa, is the most significant symbol of the application of modernist principles, with its geometric and orderly layout, zoning by function, and prioritization of car transportation over public and active transport — walking and cycling. The expansion of skyscrapers, the formation of suburbs, and urban planning focused on automobiles are all outcomes of the movement's criteria adopted in cities.
New Urbanism
Compartmentalized cities, where residences were far from urban centers and main streets, became prevalent during the second half of the 20th century, negatively impacting the economy, environment, and community health.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, many urban planners, architects, engineers, and developers became frustrated with how cities were being designed and proposed a different approach: New Urbanism.
The movement sought to return to the principles that guided towns and villages built over the centuries. It set housing and commerce in close proximity, with their high-quality and accessible public spaces and attractive, walkable streets and blocks.
According to the Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU), a nonprofit organization founded in 1993 and based in Washington, D.C. (USA), this movement focused on human-scale urban design and emerged as an alternative to the type of city expansion that became common after World War II — characterized by single-use zoning and low-density construction.
The principles that guide the movement were consolidated in the Charter of the New Urbanism and have helped create and popularize many of the standards and strategies currently seen in various cities, such as mixed-use land, transit-oriented development, traditional neighborhood design, and complete streets.
Pioneers of this school of thought include architects like Peter Calthorpe, Andres Duany, Elizabeth Moule, Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Stefanos Polyzoides, and Daniel Solomon, co-founders of the CNU.
The criteria of New Urbanism can be applied to both the conception of new projects and the revitalization and preservation of urban environments. Another key characteristic of the movement is the prioritization of placemaking and the planning of public spaces, which are designed from the perspective of how people will use them and involve the community in the decision-making process.
Cities for People
For over 50 years, Danish architect and urban planner Jan Gehl has studied Modernism's harmful effects on cities and has advocated for urban planning that places people at its core, creating spaces designed at eye level.
Graduating in the 1960s, Gehl's interest in how the built environment affects people's lives was sparked after marrying a psychologist. Through conversations with her and her friends, he realized that architects often did not consider the needs of individuals in their designs. This realization led him to research how cities are constructed and how they impact the lives of their residents. In line with this concept, Gehl founded Gehl Architects in 2000, in hopes to provide consultancy services focused on citizen-centered developments and creating more high-quality spaces.
Drawing on his extensive experience, Gehl published the book Cities for People in 2010, outlining his ideas on designing 21st-century cities. It suggests ways to create pleasant and accessible spaces for walking and cycling and install urban furniture that encourages people to use and enjoy these areas, thus fostering a sense of community.
In the book, Gehl emphasizes that cities should be vibrant, safe, sustainable, and healthy. Additionally, he stresses that urban landscapes need to be designed with the five human senses in mind, experienced at the pace of walking rather than at the speed of a car, bus, or train.
Gehl is critical of cities that are organized with separate functions, like the Brazilian capital, Brasília. In his projects, he prioritizes the development of neighborhoods that are "high-density, mixed-use, livable, sociable, sustainable, and adaptable," as described on his firm's website. For Gehl, urban structures should also have mobility planned holistically, integrating different modes of transportation and providing low-carbon travel options for citizens.
According to Gehl, Modernism caused architects to lose the ability to design cities for people, leading to the creation of large, cold, and lifeless places. He sees Brasília as a prime example of this approach to city building. "Brasília is fantastic from an airplane, from a helicopter, with its huge parks and monuments, everything is orderly and separated. What isn’t great about the city is how individuals are treated, how they move and walk through it," he said.
Gehl also noted that since the 1960s, cities have been overtaken by cars, which have come to dictate urban design. He argues that this logic must be reversed by putting residents at the forefront of urban planning. Gehl's principles have been implemented in over 200 cities worldwide, including New York, Moscow, Copenhagen, London, Sydney, and São Paulo.
15-Minute City
In recent years, the Paris city government has brought attention to the concept of the 15-Minute City as it announced its plans to decentralize the French capital by reshaping neighborhoods and creating new local hubs.
This urban approach, developed by Franco-Colombian researcher and associate professor at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Carlos Moreno, envisions the development of areas where people can access everything they need for daily life within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from their homes. The idea aims to bring housing closer to work, leisure, and commerce, reducing long commutes and saving time.
Moreno explains that the proposal seeks to introduce diversity into cities through social, economic, and cultural interactions. It also promotes substantial densification while increasing public meetings and socializing points. It optimizes service offerings through digital technology and collaborative sharing models and transforms streets into carbon-free mobility environments — on foot or by bike. Moreno’s work is inspired by the thoughts of writer Jane Jacobs, who believed that the secret to making cities vibrant spaces lies in the proximity of the various functions they serve.
In this context, he argues that cities need to be redesigned so that citizens can reconnect with their neighborhoods. "It’s an attempt to make life more human-scaled rather than dividing the urban environment into an inhuman size and forcing our adaptation," Moreno notes.
Four pillars underpin the researcher’s theory: ecology, proximity, solidarity, and participation. The goal with these principles is to design more sustainable and green spaces, with short distances between the various activities of residents, and to enable the creation of bonds between neighbors.
In his book, Droit de cité: De la "ville-monde" à la "ville du quart d'heure", Moreno asserts that his proposal also encompasses three main characteristics: cities designed at the pace of people rather than vehicles, every square meter of a region should serve multiple purposes, and areas should be planned to minimize the need for frequent travel.
The 15-Minute City also responds to the need to save time, suggesting a different pace of life where common daily activities can be accomplished within just a quarter of an hour. In addition to the positive impact on people’s well-being, the benefits of the 15-Minute City extend to emerging topics in the field of architecture and urbanism, such as mobility, accessibility, and the environment.
