The ideals of the renaissance in urban planning

Abstract

With the Renaissance a new way of thinking emerged that would heavily impact the built environment. Artists started envisioning their ideal cities as ordered and geometrically perfect entities and in urban planning projects more attention was paid to the human experience. Although the cities of Ferrara, Mantua and Sabbioneta are all revered for their Renaissance town planning, the way that the Renaissance has manifested itself in these cities is quite different. The Addizione Erculea of Ferrara does not resemble the typical Renaissance addition as it has a quite irregular layout. However, it is the Humanistic approach to urban development with which the addition was designed that makes Ferrara a true Renaissance city. Also, the urban structures of Mantua don’t immediately reveal why the city is so revered for its Renaissance town planning as both the outlines and layout of the city are mostly irregular. For Mantua, it is the way that the ruling Gonzaga family displayed their power that is typical for the Renaissance: they were constantly developing Mantua, as they felt that their own magnificence would be reflected through their city and they created an environment of architects, artists and artisans that established a new artistic language there. Finally, the urban fabric of Sabbioneta is the most literal manifestation of the ideal city of the Renaissance. The entire design of the city is heavily influenced by classical Roman town planning practices and, although the outline of the city and the grid layout seem to be irregular, they are deliberately planned this way through complex calculations.