The GuardianCities The story of cities, part 1: how Alexandria laid foundations for the modern world verified_publisherThe Guardian - Jack ShenkerIn the first in a 50-part series charting the history of the planet’s urbanisation, Jack Shenker explores the ancient metropolis of Alexandria, which set a powerful precedent for future cities all over...
The Guardian Story of cities #2: Rome wasn't planned in a day … in fact it wasn't planned at all verified_publisherThe Guardian - Adrian Mourby in RomeThe grid system which the Roman republic exported all over Europe was never employed in the capital itself. The city has always lacked a coherent plan – save for the monumental temple that once towered...
The Guardian Story of cities #3: the birth of Baghdad was a landmark for world civilisation verified_publisherThe Guardian - Justin MarozziThe foundation of al-Mansur’s ‘Round City’ in 762 was a glorious milestone in the history of urban design. It developed into the cultural centre of the world If Baghdad today is a byword for inner-city...
The Guardian Story of cities #4: Beijing and the earliest planning document in history verified_publisherThe Guardian - Oliver WainwrightThe seemingly incoherent sprawl of modern Beijing is based on meticulous plans to bind citizens together under imperial rule. Conceived as a means of enforcing social order, the impact of planning remains...
The Guardian Story of cities #5: Benin City, the mighty medieval capital now lost without trace verified_publisherThe Guardian - Mawuna KoutoninWith its mathematical layout and earthworks longer than the Great Wall of China, Benin City was one of the best planned cities in the world when London was a place of ‘thievery and murder’. So why is left?...
The Guardian Story of cities #6: how silver turned Potosí into 'the first city of capitalism' verified_publisherThe Guardian - Patrick GreenfieldThe discovery of a mountain of silver (and a new way to extract it) transformed this remote Incan hamlet into the economic centre of Spain’s empire – larger than London, Milan or Seville. But then the...
The Guardian Story of cities #7: Philadelphia grid marks birth of America's urban dream verified_publisherThe Guardian - Emily MannWilliam Penn’s city was planned as a utopian ideal; a grid of broad streets to promote green urban living for settlers to this 17th-century colony. While Penn grew disillusioned, his design lives on in...
The Guardian Story of cities #8: St Petersburg – is the 'city built on bones' starting to crumble? verified_publisherThe Guardian - Alec Luhn in St PetersburgBuilt on a swamp at the cost of thousands of lives, Peter the Great’s ‘antidote to Moscow’ has survived uprisings, sieges and floods to become Europe’s third largest city. But is history now catching with...
The Guardian Story of cities #9: Kingston, Jamaica – a city born of 'wickedness' and disaster verified_publisherThe Guardian - Emily MannWhen the devastating earthquake of 1692 ripped through Port Royal, aka the ‘richest and wickedest city in the world’, a very different Caribbean capital rose up in its place. But could Kingston’s rigid...
The Guardian Story of cities #10: how the dirty Old Town became enlightened Edinburgh verified_publisherThe Guardian - Tom CampbellScotland’s capital was in a desperate state, plagued by social problems and limited space. Then a young, unqualified architect came up with a plan for Edinburgh New Town – and it heralded the greatest...
The Guardian Story of cities #11: the reclamation of Mumbai – from the sea, and its people? verified_publisherThe Guardian - Srinath Perur in MumbaiTransforming Bombay’s seven islets into land fit for a city was a daunting challenge. Its success created one of the world’s megacities – but today Mumbai faces the twin challenges of extreme population...
