For a city or place to be livable, it should meet the standard of living. The different styles tell us a story that unfolds the process of development through time. The development of social, economic, and cultural aspects has undergone a transition in urban planning and its coordinates to make the well-functioning and developed city that we see now.
Urban Development
As defined by Cambridge Dictionary, urban development is the process of developing a town or city by building new buildings, or the process of building houses, etc., in an area. To make a city livable, various forms, functions, communal interactions, guidance, and different aspects are needed to make human life sustainable and easy. It majorly advocates the accommodation to shape a city through urban planning, infrastructure development, and transportation, through which a human can have an easy present and future.
Architectural Styles
Architectural styles add value to a city’s image and give a sense of place through various urban elements. Through the execution of principles in the inclusion of transportation, promoting the advancement of urban life. The development in era and styles through emphasis on the various examples gives us a meaning to the spatial theories and planning.
Classical Era
The era is a pioneer of urban development, which helped to shape a baseline for the development. The Roman and Greek philosophies and theories are well executed in examples to have the development in the Urban sector. The best example of urban development is the urban planning in Rome. The ancient planning stated that it would be built on one of the seven hills overlooking the Tibet River. The road network plays a vital role in gathering people together in every part. It impacted civilization and helped in its rapid development. The focal point is roads with economic engineering works.
Modernism
This era birthed many skyscrapers, and the skylines of urban development were instantly a high-rise form. This era mostly focused on the function of the buildings, the use of new materials, and the deduction of ornamentation. Le-corbusier and Walter Gropius were the ones who started a different approach to the design. The plain facades, new materials, rigid geometry, and ornamentation give the style a functional approach.
Le-corbusier helped in processing the principles of urban high-rise housing with his masterplan, The Radiant City or Villa Radieuse, which is a blueprint for the world in high-rise building. The master plan provided the framework to tackle the problem of high density and cost-effectiveness. These projects, often part of urban renewal or slum clearance initiatives in the United States, have garnered widespread criticism and become synonymous with the failings of modernist architecture.
Post Modernism
Essentially, Post Modernism has been connected with a loss of faith in the features of International modernism (eg, Progress, rationality, science) and with a growing acceptance of a bewilderingly large palette of images, signs, and products, promoted on a larger scale, which welcomed ‘complexity’ in design. Such as ornaments and decorative motifs in building design, garish colors, and illogical juxtaposition. It is a light-hearted compilation of aesthetic symbols and details, often using arbitrary geometry, with an intentional inconsistency or scale.
The characteristics include the mixture of Whimsical shapes and colors, Reliance on motifs from other styles, deliberate placement of incompatible geometries, and Outgoing and colorful character. Human scale and pedestrian-friendly designs were revived in the postmodern philosophy. Through the slow and drastic change in this era, the characteristics of the pits and parts of earlier eras characteristics are there to complement each other. Simulation and themed environments were another urban element observed in postmodernism. The concept was recognised for its potential to shape future cities, but it faced criticism for blurring the boundaries between fantasy and reality. Notable examples include the Las Vegas Strip and Disneyland.
Overall Impact
Each and every era complements the other to bring a positive change to the people of the community. With the incorporation of modern beliefs and emphasis on accepting the character of past eras, the urban space is created, and learning to be more of a functional community.
Through the visual, cultural, and well-being aspects, the improvisation on the impact that it has on mankind is really a growth trajectory. The various promising arts and philosophies given by promising architects give us a glimpse of the thorough process at that particular time. Urban development is only possible through the various architectural approaches like sustainability, open plaza-centric design to include the public interaction, the durability and accessibility to mobility, the human-centric design for a greater tomorrow, and a great present, the priority and cause of creating more livable and resilient cities.
Urban development is a foundation for where our future is heading and what needs to be done to make the livelihood sustainable, functional, and accessible. Through the community interaction, enriching urban spaces and the delivery of what a human actually needs is to be studied for offering a dynamic, inclusive, and sustainable tomorrow.
References:
- Aithor (2024). Urban Planning in Ancient Rome. [online] aithor.com. Available at: https://aithor.com/essay-examples/urban-planning-in-ancient-rome.
- Amber, W. (2025). How Architectural Styles Shape Urban Development: From Traditional Approach to Contemporary Values. Available at: https://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/architectural-community/a14016-how-architectural-styles-shape-urban-development-from-traditional-approach-to-contemporary-values/ Rethinking the future.
- Architecture.com. (2024). Modernism. [online] Available at: https://www.architecture.com/explore-architecture/modernism?srsltid=AfmBOoqa0f4FQR5k1n-b0okLIOUDGK3gsmeNhMfGzMjKnejB55rx83TZ [Accessed 15 Aug. 2025].
- Cambridge Dictionary (2024). urban development. [online] @CambridgeWords. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/urban-development.
- Cheng, I. (2022). Modernist City Planning Ideals: a Roadmap to Decline? [online] Urban Design lab. Available at: https://urbandesignlab.in/modernist-city-planning-ideals/?srsltid=AfmBOoq98GF9lv0u4SS_xgnzUvPtHdJfl_N7ZkBHbqwnCy0Bn5fqiPik.
- Kato Nabirye and Kampala International University Research Centre (2024). The Impact of Architecture on Urban Spaces and Community Interaction. [online] 4(3), pp.17–20. doi:https://doi.org/10.59298/ROJE/2024/431720.
