Planned cities 41Insights from Brasilia and other cities
Probably most cities display the imprint of strong centralized planning
and building at times in their history. The prominent square cities of Northern
China, medieval rounded hilltop cities of Europe, and early semi-circular cities
bymajor water bodies come to mind. By today’s standards these are relatively
small areas. Sections of cities produced by central planning are also conspicu-
ous, such as Tokyo’s ancient ‘‘Edo” design for buildings and mini-greenspaces,
Paris’ nineteenth-century boulevard area, and Barcelona’s eight-sided city-block
buildings with inside courtyard and outside mini-neighborhoods.
However, the prime interest here is to gain insights into urban regions from
more-recent cities essentially planned from the start. Four are oft discussed in
planning circles (Hall2002): Chandigarth (India), New Delhi, Brasilia, and Can-
berra. The last three became the national capitals of India, Brazil, and Australia,
respectively. The new Indian cities were built near existing population centers,
while Brasilia and Canberra were built in relatively remote, low-population areas
at the time.
Chandigarth was perhaps more designed than planned. Architectural form
and aesthetics played a central role rather than planning for the diverse needs
of people. A relatively small area was planned, with glorious pieces within it
intensively designed. The surrounding urban region of the time received little
emphasis. The city rapidly grew in population, quickly overrunning or expanding
beyond the original design.
NewDelhi, today a major world city, reflected a more balanced combina-
tion of planning and design. People’s needs, from transportation and hous-
ing to water, wastes, and recreation, were seriously addressed. Stunning struc-
tures worthy of a national capital were also incorporated in places. New
Delhi’s population mushroomed, soon overwhelming some of the original plan’s
area and expectations. But extracting urban region lessons from New Delhi
is difficult because it was built on the outskirts of Delhi, already a large
city.
The plan for Brasiliaalso represented a balance between design of struc-
tures and their combinations and planning for people’s diverse requirements
(Hall2002). Population growth rapidly spread over and beyond the plan. The
original urban region received some overall planning, e.g., for two huge parks
sandwiching the city, but today’s urban region (Color Figure9)extends well
beyond the original vision. The central portion exhibits some of the grandeur
appropriate for one of the largest nations of the world. Housing for resi-
dents is concentrated in several separate communities, now small cities, and
public transport is widespread. Convenient parks provide recreation. Wetlands