For thousands of years, people have organised cities and settlements in a grid system. And today, countless cities (especially in America) use the grid system.
It might seem like a boring element of urban design, used to make cities easier to navigate. But over the millennia, cities have been based on grids by vastly different civilisations for countless reasons – ranging from an expression of equality, to a form of oppression. From antiquity to modern times, here’s a brief potted history of the grid system.
What is a grid plan?
First off, let’s define exactly what it means for a city to be organised in a ‘grid’. In a city laid out in a grid plan, its streets run in straight lines. You have a series of streets running vertically, and a series running horizontally. When you look at it from above it looks like a grid, or a piece of checked paper. The map below illustrates a classic ‘grid-style’ street plan.
Mohenjo-daro: The earliest known grid-system
Mohenjo-Daro, the first known grid-planned city, dating from 2500BC
Image source: Wikivoyage. Creative Commons License.
The first known grid-planned city comes from almost 5000 years ago – Mohenjo-Daro, in modern day Pakistan. It was one of the world’s earliest major cities, making up part of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation.
Considering how long ago it was built, the city was incredibly well organised, and it’s considered the most advanced of its time, using sophisticated urban planning. Mohenjo-Daro’s streets were built in blocks, divided by a grid of straight streets – making it the earliest example of a city built in a grid-plan.
Even more remarkable is the reason why this ancient city used a street-grid. The area was prone to seasonal flooding – and building it in a grid-plan, along with an elaborate draining system, helped to control the flow of water.
Ancient Egypt and China: The early Grid system
In Ancient Egypt there were types of cities: ‘Nwt’ were unplanned cities that grew organically, while ‘dmj’ cities were planned. We know that some settlements in Ancient Egypt used a grid-plan, with streets running north-south from the royal palace, and east-west from the temple – coming together in a central plaza, the meeting of King and God.
In China, the grid system has also been used for thousands of years. This was formalised in about the 5th century BCE when the Kaogong Ji – one of the oldest urban planning documents in the world – stated that ‘a capital city should be square on plan’, with ‘nine main streets that crisscross the city and define its grid-pattern’.
After these writings were included in a major Confucian work – the Rites of Zhou – the grid plan was advocated for by important governors and scholars. This meant it became the most common way to set out towns and cities in Ancient China. Often it was an expression of Imperial Power – such as in Beijing, a grid-plan, with the emperor at the centre.
The grid system was also spread through much of Europe by the Roman Empire – who themselves got the idea from the Ancient Greeks.
Centuriation – the Roman grid system
The Roman’s liked the grid system because it was easy to organised and easy to expand. It was also a statement of power. Masters over nature – turning chaos to order. Grids also provided easy access for the army, helping the army to crush any potential rebellions.
Many European cities and towns, as they developed, were built on ancient grids originally established by the Roman Empire. One of the best examples of the Roman grid system is Timgad – the ruins of a city in modern day Algeria.
The Roman grid – and its ideological status as a form of control – would influence later European and Western cities. But as cities across Europe grew, many of them were unplanned and organic, leading to maze-like Medieval streets.
London’s lost grid
By the 1600s, many European cities had grown massively – in an organic, unplanned way. Winding, confusing medieval street plans were the order of the day.
Wandering around – and frequently getting lost in – the winding streets of the City of London, it’s hard to imagine it as an organised grid. But for a while, it was a possibility.
After the Great Fire of 1666, huge parts of London had to be rebuilt. Within days of the fire being put out, superstar architect (of St Paul’s fame) Christopher Wren had submitted a plan to the King. While not a perfect grid, Wren’s plan was for a far more ordered system of streets – wide, straight avenues and piazzas – similar to Paris.
Sir Christopher Wren’s plan for the rebuilding of the city of London
Another proposal put forward, by Richard Newcourt, was in a perfect grid – featuring a series of public squares, each with a church in the middle. It’s believed this plan was based on Philadelphia (below), itself the basis for the American grid system.
But in the end, land ownership and a lack of money meant that none of these plans were enacted. London was rebuilt largely on top of the same streets that had burned down. Its chaotic, winding medieval structure remains.
The grid system in the USA
Perhaps no country has embraced the grid system like the USA. This stems from the founding of Philadelphia – by a man called William Penn.
Philadelphia. Source: Wikimedia
Penn was a Quaker, with strong Quaker values, and he wanted his new city to reflect this. The city was designed in a grid system, inscribing in its streets the values of egality and community.
Philadelphia was an important city in America and helped spread the grid system across the country. Now, many US cities use a grid system. This is especially the case in the oldest parts of cities – ‘downtown’.
Lisbon – the grid as a safety measure
Like many European cities, Lisbon was once a maze of medieval streets. But then an earthquake hit, in 1755, destroying around 85% of the city’s buildings and killing tens of thousands of people.
It was decided to rebuild on the same spot, in a grid system. This was known as the Pombaline style, which aimed to make the town earthquake proof. Building heights were restricted, and streets had a minimum width, helping to prevent the spread of fire.
One area that survived the earthquake relatively unscathed was Alfama. Now, it is one of the city’s oldest (and most beautiful) neighbourhoods. By looking at a map you see the juxtaposition of Lisbon: the winding, narrow maze of streets in Alfama, and the straight ordered lines of Baixa that rose out of the ashes.
Final thoughts
People have ordered cities in grids for thousands of years, and for many reasons. The system has its supporters and detractors. It’s adaptable and easy to extend. They’re ordered and easy to navigate.
In Lisbon, it helped to reduce the risk from natural disasters. In New York, the grid system helped the city to grow quickly – both physically and in financial clout. Grid systems can also symbolise different things. Egalitarianism, in the case of Philadelphia. Or colonial subjugation and power, such as by the Roman Empire.
But they’re also accused of being boring and monotonous. They can lead to traffic congestion, especially at intersections. When I visited New York, I felt that every walk took far longer than it needed to, as you were forever waiting at traffic lights block after block. As we’ve built modern cities in the grid system, we’ve granted more and more space to cars, rather than people. Perhaps, as we continue to reevaluate what makes a city liveable and as pedestrianised and public spaces become more en vogue, the grid system will need to change. Or perhaps not. It’s how we’ve been building cities for thousands of years, after all.
Sources:
- The Address Book: What street addresses reveal about identity, race, wealth and power (Deirdre Mask)
- The urban planning of ancient capital cities in China, Urban Planning Society of China
- Why did the grid system become an important element of city design in the US? (AtkinsRealis)
- Grid Plan, Wikipedia
- The Decline of the City Grid, the Economist
- The grid as a symbol of urban roots? Sofia Greaves, the Impact of the Ancient City
- A Brief History of Grid Plans, Ancient to Renaissance, Laurence Aurbach
- Pombaline Lisbon, UNESCO
- Story of cities #7: Philadelphia grid marks birth of America’s urban dream (Emily Mann, the Guardian)
- Great Fire: The grid system for London that never happened (Paul Kerley, BBC)
- The Great Lisbon Earthquake (Dria Lai)
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