Because architectural facades are noticed first, the beauty of urban design is often overlooked. But thanks to the World Urban Planning Instagram account, we can see a city’s framework in full view.
Here is a list of 25 innovative infrastructures that stood out.
1. Rennes, France
Rennes’s history goes back more than 2,000 years. Rennes has grown incredibly since the 1950s, with its rural flight and the industrial development. During that time the city had great building plans to gain a population of 200,000 inhabitants. Today it has 700,000, and is the seventh biggest city in France. Here from a more rural development north of the city centre. A spiral development.⠀ ⠀
2. Brondby Garden City, Denmark
In 1964 the municipality of Brondby agreed to reserve an area for a “garden city”. The architect wanted the gardens to be divided into circular shapes. He explained that the shape was to symbolise a historical village where people met at the well located in the center. By designing this way, the architect believed social interaction would increase between residents.
3. Port Ariane, Lattes, France⠀
Port Ariane is a port located in Lattes. Lattes is a small commune with about 16.000 inhabitants. The city centre experience flooding once in a while so dykes and a spillway was built the past years. Fascinating circle-shaped marina area with a small park in the middle.
4. Forte De Nossa Senhora Da Graça, Elvas, Portugal
The fort is located just north of the town Elvas bordering Spain. The town has some of the best preserved military architecture (star forts) and was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012. The fort, more commonly known as Forte Conde de Lippe (named after its designer Marshal Lippe), is approximately 150 metres quadrangle with pentagonal bastions in the corners. In the centre of the fort we find a decorated chapel. ⠀
5. Carnaxide, Lisbon, Portugal
In Portugal we can see how a more modern 60-70s suburban development has been built in the vicinity of the old city of Lisbon. The aerial view shows residential apartment buildings connected into a large residential complex. Carnaxide is a former third level administrative subdivision (civil parish) in the municipality Oeiras. It dates back to the 13th century when it became the first suburban parish of Lisbon.
6. Suloszowa, Poland
Suloszowa is a small village with almost 6,000 inhabitants, and has one of the longest streets in Poland (stretching 9 km non-stop) as shown in the image. Suloszowa is located just 29 kilometres northwest of Krakow, and is connected to famous attractions including Ojcowski National Park and Pieskowa Scala (14th century cliffside castle).
7. Plaza De Tetuán, Barcelona, Spain
The now famous, but at that time radical, urban planner Ildefons Cerdà designed the grid pattern in Barcelona named Eixample. The design has long straight streets, wide avenues, and octagonal square blocks with rounded corners placed in a strict grid pattern. This has given better visibility, air and is the grand aerial landmark of Barcelona.⠀
8. Venice, Italy
Venice in Italy is archipelago of 117 islands formed by 177 canals in a shallow lagoon, and connected by 409 bridges. In the old centre, the canals serve the function of roads, and almost every form of transport is on water or on foot.
9. Arc De Triomphe, Paris, France
The famous monument Arc de Triomphe is located in Paris. It honours the ones who fought and died in the Napoleonic wars and French revolution. It was designed by Jean Chalgrin, in 1806, who was inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus, and in 1836 the construction finished. It was the tallest triumphal arc with a height of 50 meter, but the Momento a la Revolución (67m) in Mexico and the Arch of Triumph (60m) in North Korea exceeded its height in 1938 and 1982 respectively.
10. Bern, Switzerland
Bern’s old city was built on a narrow hill surrounded by the river Aare on three sides. The compact layout of the city has barely changed at all since its construction between the 12th and 15th century, and has kept its medieval character. In 1983 the old town was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its original medieval character. A great city where public transportation, biking and walking is a pleasure.
11. Grammichelle, Sicily, Italy
Grammichelle was built in 1693, and was laid out with six roads circling around the central square where you find the Town Hall and Mother Church. The six roads later expanded to more roads. Today it is one of the many hexagonal baroque towns you can find in Sicily.
12. Central Park, New York, USA
Central Park opened to the public for the first time in 1858 as a 778 acre or 3sq.km park (later on expanded to 843 acres or 3.41sq.km). The park is approx. 4 km long and 1 km in width. To walk across the entire park it would take you approximately 45 minutes. Many think Central Park is one of the largest city parks in the USA, however even San Fransisco’s Golden Gate Park is 20% bigger in size.
13. Runaway Bay, Queensland, Australia
Runaway Bay is a suburb on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. In 1967, a company bought 182 hectares of land along the western shore of the Gold Coast Broadwater. Development of the area started in 1972 where they had the goal of transforming it into a residential and boating area. The name “Runaway Bay” was coined to promote the area as a tranquil retreat. As other Gold Coast suburbs, many of the homes in Runaway Bay are situated along artificial canals.
14. The Forbidden City, Beijing, China
The Forbidden City (紫禁城) was the Chinese imperial palace, which was the home of emporers and the political centre, from 1420 to 1912. It is located in the centre of Beijing and today houses the Palace Museum. Inside, the 180 acre palace ground, we find 980 buildings with a total of 8,886 rooms. Outside, it is surrounded by huge imperial gardens. The palace exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced the cultural and architectural developments both in East Asia and globally. In 1987, the Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site and is listed by UNESCO as the world’s largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures.
15. Putrajaya, Malaysia
The city is located 25 km south of Kuala Lumpur and serves as the administrative centre of Malaysia. The seat of government shifted in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, due to overcrowding and congestion in Kuala Lumpur. This is similar to what the government in South Korea did when they moved most governmental agencies and institutions to Sejong City. A stronger move was done in Myanmar when the capital status was moved from Yangon to Naypyidaw in 2005.
16. Vicinity Of Port Said, Egypt
Port Said is a port city located north-eastern part of Egypt. It was founded in 1859 when the Suez Canal was developed. Within this area we find a number of canals along agricultural farm developments.
17. Arvaikheer, Mongolia
Arvaikheer is town in Mongolia accommodating 30,000 residents. It is the capital of the Övörkhangai Province, and is located in the middle of Mongolia’s 1,5 million sqkm of land. Foremost, the town is known for its traditional art, animal husbandry and equestrian sports. Yearly regional horse festivals are held to celebrate its long history of famous racing horses (dating back to the 18th century).
18. Park La Brea, Los Angeles, USA
Park La Brea is a large housing complex located in LA. It has a total of 4,247 apartments divided into eighteen 13-floor tall towers and thirty one 2-floor tall garden townhouses, making it is the largest housing development west of Mississippi. The townhouses were designed in 1941, while the iconic X-shaped towers were designed in 1948, inspired by Le Corbusier with shared green space for the residents. In the photo we see a few of the X-shaped buildings and townhouses.
19. Antigua, Fuerteventura, Spain
Antigua is one of the six Municipalities of Spain belonging to Canary Island Fuerteventura, and is one of the oldest municipality on the island. In the 19th century the town (also municipality) used to be the capital, but this title has been taken by Puerto del Rosario since. A windmill and some mansions are testimony to the former importance of the place. Particularly striking is the blue and white Art Nouveau villa from the period around 1900. This picture shows residential and resorts within the Fuerteventura, Castillo Caleta de Fuste located a few hundred meters from the sea.
20. Olivos, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Buenos Aires, founded 1536, is a city with a grid-pattern. Charles Darwin once describes the grid structure quite remarkably. He explained that Buenos Aires was “one of the most regular [cities] in the world. Every street is at right angles to the one it crosses, and the parallel ones being equidistant, the houses are collected into solid squares of equal dimensions, which are called quadras.”
21. Foster City, San Mateo, Ca, USA
Foster City is a planned city located in California. The city has been ranked as one of top towns to live well and best places to live by Forbes and Money magazine. Foster City was founded in the 1960s on a landfill in the marshes of the San Francisco Bay.
22. Washington Dc, USA
Lincoln park established in 1867 is a park in the center of the urban Washington DC. Pierre L’Enfant, the French-American, behind the design of the streets in Washington DC, or known as the L’Enfant Plan, included Lincoln Park in the original plan of 1791. In L’Enfant’s Plan, most streets would be part of a grid system. Some streets had an east-west direction, and others north-south direction. The diagonal avenues which intersected with the north-south and east-west streets in circles and rectangular plazas were later places where notable Americans were honoured and provides an open space for the general public.⠀ ⠀
In the top you can see the road leading up to the neoclassical white-styled Capitol Hill.
23. Sun Lakes, Arizona, USA
Sun Lakes is a master-planned community developed around the mid 70s by a single builder, Robson Communities. The Sun Lakes Resort was created for retired citizens to provide excellent and relaxing surroundings. In the area you find 10,000 homes, five golf courses, five country clubs, two shopping centers and a medical and education center.
24. Elche, Alicante, Spain
Today we are sharing one of our favourite photos. Elche is one of the 20 largest cities in Spain. It is the successor of La Alcudia which Greeks, Carthaginians and Romans had in possession at a time. Elche lost its some of its importance when it was moved from the sea, but became important for its traditional footwear industry when the railway was introduced. The “Palmeral of Elche” is an UNESCO World Heritage for its over 200.000 palm trees.
25. Pointe-Noire, Republic Of The Congo
