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A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve organically. The term ''new town'' refers to planned communities of the
new towns movement While purpose-built towns and cities have many precedents in antiquity - the 195 BC iteration of Chang'an providing a case in point - the New Towns ''movement'' refers to an ideologically-driven social campaign. The best-known and possibly most inf ...
in particular, mainly in the United Kingdom. It was also common in the
European colonization of the Americas During the Age of Discovery, a large scale colonization of the Americas, involving a number of European countries, took place primarily between the late 15th century and the early 19th century. The Norse explored and colonized areas of Europe a ...
to build according to a plan either on fresh ground or on the ruins of earlier Native American villages. A model city is a type of planned city designed to a high standard and intended as a
model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...
for others to imitate. The term was first used in 1854.


Planned capitals

A planned capital is a city specially planned, designed and built to be a capital. Several of the world's national capitals are planned capitals, including
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
in Australia,
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
in Brazil,
Belmopan Belmopan () is the capital city of Belize. Its population in 2010 was 16,451. Belmopan is the smallest capital city in the continental Americas (by population) and the third-largest settlement in Belize, behind Belize City and San Ignacio. Fou ...
in Belize,
New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...
in India,
Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...
in Nigeria,
Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...
in Pakistan,
Naypyidaw Naypyidaw (), officially Romanization of Burmese, romanized as Nay Pyi Taw (NPT), is the capital city, capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's ...
in Myanmar (Burma),
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
in the United States, the modern parts of
Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...
in Kazakhstan, and
Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
in Turkey. In Indonesia, Nusantara is planned to be inaugurated on 17 August 2024, and in Egypt a new capital city (to the east of Cairo) is under construction.
Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (), is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The Seat of government, seat of the Government of Malaysia, federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajay ...
, the federal administrative and judicial centre of
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
, is also a planned city.
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
(UAE) and some of the recently built cities in the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
region are also planned cities.
Sejong Sejong (; 15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), commonly known as Sejong the Great (), was the fourth monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. He is regarded as the greatest ruler in Korean history, and is remembered as the inventor of Hangul, the n ...
was constructed to be a planned-administrative capital of South Korea.


Africa


Botswana

The city of
Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Botswana, largest city of Botswana, with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its metropolitan area is home to 534, ...
was planned and constructed in the 1960s.


Egypt

Company towns During the construction of the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
in the 1860s, and after, new towns were planned and built to serve the new international shipping canal. Other smaller
company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
s were built during the 20th Century to serve oil exploration sites and factories. The larger towns have since been incorporated into mainstream local government. *
Port Fuad Port Fuad or Port Fouad ( ', ) is a city in Port Said Governorate, Egypt. Port Fuad is located in northeastern Egypt at the northwesternmost tip of the Sinai Peninsula on the Asian side of the Suez Canal, across from the city of Port Said. Port ...
– Port Said Governorate. *
Port Tewfik The Suez Port (also called Port Tawfiq) is an Egyptian port located at the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea at southern entrance of the Suez Canal, serving the canal and the city of Suez. It is owned and operated by the Ministry of ...
– Suez Governorate *
Ismailia Ismailia ( ', ) is a city in north-eastern Egypt. Situated on the west bank of the Suez Canal, it is the capital of the Ismailia Governorate. The city had an estimated population of about 1,434,741 according to the statistics issued by the Cen ...
– Ismailia Governorate * Ras Ghareb – Red Sea * Mosta'maret al-Mahallah – Gahrbia * Kima – Aswan * Sahary – Aswan * Mosta'maret al-Sad – Aswan New urban communities In the late 1970s, it became national policy to construct new desert towns in Egypt, managed by the
New Urban Communities Authority The New Urban Communities Authority () is an Egyptian state owned enterprise (SOE) established in 1979 and affiliated to the Ministry of Housing. It is the exclusive satellite city developer in Egypt, in addition to being Egypt's largest re ...
. *
6th of October (city) 6th of October ( ; ) is a city in the Giza Governorate of Egypt. It is a satellite city, located adjacent to Giza, and is part of the Greater Cairo region.10th of Ramadan (city) 10th of Ramadan () is an Egyptian city located in Sharqia Governorate. It is a first-generation new urban community, and one of the most industrialized. It is in close proximity to the city of Cairo, and is considered part of Greater Cairo. I ...
– Sharqia Governorate. * 15th of May (city) – Cairo Governorate. * Badr – Cairo Governorate. *
New Borg El Arab New Borg El Arab ( ') is a new Egyptian city of the first generation, located in Alexandria Governorate, and administratively affiliated to the New Urban Communities Authority. It was established by decree of the President of the Arab Republic ...
– Alexandria Governorate. * El Shorouk – Cairo Governorate. *
New Akhmim New Akhmim () is a new Egyptian planned city of the third generation cities, located in Sohag, and administratively affiliated to New Urban Communities Authority, Established with the Presidential decree No. 195 of 2000 and edited by the Minister ...
– Sohag Governorate. *
New Aswan New Aswan () is a city in the Aswan Governorate, Egypt. See also * List of cities and towns in Egypt 0-9 * 10th of Ramadan * 15th of May (city), 15th of May * 6th of October (city), 6th of October A * Abu El Matamir * Abu Hummus * Abu T ...
– Aswan Governorate. * New Asyut – Asyut Governorate. *
New Beni Suef New Beni Suef () is a city in the Beni Suef Governorate, Egypt. The city is located east of Old Beni Suef and lies on the Nile River. The city was constructed by the New Urban Communities Authority The New Urban Communities Authority () is a ...
– Beni Suef Governorate. *
New Cairo New Cairo ( ') is a satellite city within the Cairo governorate of Egypt, and the metropolitan area of Greater Cairo. Administratively, it is officially part of the Eastern Area of Cairo city, but like all new settlements in Egypt, it is di ...
– Cairo Governorate. * New Damietta – Damietta Governorate. * New Fayum – Fayum Governorate. * New Nubariya – Beheira Governorate. *
New Qena New Qena () is a city in the Qena Governorate, Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Penin ...
– Qena Governorate. * New Salhia – Sharqia Governorate. *
New Tiba New Thebes () is a city in Luxor Governorate, Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Penin ...
– Luxor Governorate. *
Obour (city) Obour (  , meaning "The Crossing") is a city in the Qalyubia Governorate, about 35 kilometers north-east of Cairo. The city has approximately 700,000 residents. It is named to honor the crossing ("obour") of the Bar Lev Line by the Egyp ...
– Qalubyia Governorate. *
Sheikh Zayed City Sheikh Zayed City () is a city in Giza Governorate in Egypt and part of the Greater Cairo urban area. It was established in 1995 and is named after Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. Geography Sheikh Zayed City is situated about from Lebanon Square in ...
– Giza Governorate.


NUCs under construction

* New Administrative Capital – Cairo * New Alamein – Matrouh * New Ismailia – Ismailia * El Galala – Suez (not part of NUCA)


Pre-modern

*
Memphis, Egypt Memphis (, ; Bohairic ; ), or Men-nefer, was the ancient capital of Inebu-hedj, the first Nome (Egypt), nome of Lower Egypt that was known as ''mḥw'' ("North"). Its ruins are located in the vicinity of the present-day village of Mit Rahina () ...
– The first capital of Egypt. It was built by the king
Narmer Narmer (, may mean "painful catfish", "stinging catfish", "harsh catfish", or "fierce catfish"; ) was an ancient Egyptian king of the Early Dynastic Period, whose reign began at the end of the 4th millennium BC. He was the successor to the Prot ...
around 3150 B.C. * Akhetaten – A city which was built by the King
Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...
in the 14th century B.C. It was the capital of Egypt in his reign. *
Pithom Pithom (; ; or , and ) was an ancient city of Egypt. References in the Hebrew Bible and ancient Greek and Roman sources exist for this city, but its exact location remains somewhat uncertain. Some scholars identified it as the later archaeo ...
– A city was built by the King
Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...
in the 13th century B.C. *
Pi-Ramesses Pi-Ramesses (; Ancient Egyptian: , meaning "House of Ramesses") was the new capital built by the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty Pharaoh Ramesses II (1279–1213 BC) at Qantir, near the old site of Avaris. The city had served as a ...
– Another city which was built by
Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...
in the 13th century B.C. It was the capital of Egypt in his reign and it was the first city to exceed 100,000 in history. At its peak, the population of the city was 300,000. *
Heracleion Heracleion (Ancient Greek: ), also known as Thonis (Ancient Greek: ; from the Egyptian language, Ancient Egyptian: ; ) and sometimes called Thonis-Heracleion, was an ancient Egyptian port city located near the Canopic Mouth of the Nile, abo ...
– A city built in the 7th Century B.C. The city had been a major port in Ancient before it sank. *
Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
– A city built by
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
in the 4th century B.C. It was the first city to have a population of half million. *
Ptolemais Hermiou Ptolemais Hermiou, or Ptolemais in the Thebaid, was a city and metropolitan archbishopric in Greco-Roman Egypt and remains a Catholic titular see. Today, the city of El Mansha ()-Bsoi () in the Sohag Governorate is located where the ancient cit ...
– A city built by Ptolemy I in the 4th century B.C. *
Berenice Troglodytica Berenice Troglodytica, also called Berenike (Greek language, Greek: ) or Baranis, is an ancient seaport of Egypt on the western shore of the Red Sea. It is situated about 825 km south of Suez, 260 km east of Aswan in Upper Egypt and 140 ...
– A city built by
Ptolemy I Ptolemy I Soter (; , ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'', "Ptolemy the Savior"; 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian, and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the Ptolemaic Kingdom centered on Egypt. Pt ...
in the 3rd century B.C. on the Red Sea Coast. *
Fustat Fustat (), also Fostat, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, though it has been integrated into Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by the Rashidun Muslim general 'Amr ibn al-'As immediately after the Mus ...
– A city built by
'Amr ibn al-'As Amr ibn al-As ibn Wa'il al-Sahmi (664) was an Arab commander and companion of Muhammad who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt and served as its governor in 640–646 and 658–664. The son of a wealthy Qurayshite, Amr embraced Islam in and wa ...
when he conquered Egypt to be its capital around the 7th century A.C. *
al-Askar Al-‘Askar () was the capital of Egypt from 750–868, when Egypt was a province of the Abbasid Caliphate. History Background After the Early Muslim conquests, Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641, Fustat was established, just north of Coptic Cairo ...
– The capital of Egypt during the Tulunide Dynasty. *
al-Qata'i Al-Qaṭāʾi () was the short-lived Tulunid capital of Egypt, founded by Ahmad ibn Tulun in the year 868 CE. Al-Qata'i was located immediately to the northeast of the previous capital, al-Askar, which in turn was adjacent to the settlement of F ...
– Capital of Egypt during the Ikhshid Dynasty. *
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
– It was built in the 10th century A.D. by the Fatimid Caliph
Al Muizz Abu Tamim Ma'ad al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (; 26 September 932 – 19 December 975) was the fourth Fatimid caliph and the 14th Ismaili imam, reigning from 953 to 975. It was during his caliphate that the center of power of the Fatimid dynasty was m ...
. *


Equatorial Guinea

In 2012, President Teodoro Obiang decided to move the capital to a new jungle site at
Oyala Ciudad de la Paz (, ), formerly Oyala, also known as Djibloho – Ciudad de la Paz, is a city in Equatorial Guinea that is being built to replace Malabo as the national capital. Established as an urban district in Wele-Nzas in 2015, it is now ...
.


Kenya

Konza Technology City is a planned city that is hoped to become a hub of African science and technology upon its completion in 2030. Tatu City is also another planned city located in Kiambu county.


Nigeria

The capital,
Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...
, is a planned city and was built mainly in the 1980s. Several other cities are under development to accommodate the rapidly growing population, some of which include:
Eko Atlantic City Eko Atlantic, officially Nigeria International Commerce city, also known as Eko Atlantic City, is a planned city in Lagos State, Nigeria, being constructed on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. Upon completion, the new peninsula is anticipat ...
, a planned city of
Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...
being constructed on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. Upon completion, the new city which is still under development, is anticipating 250,000 residents and a daily flow of 150,000 commuters. Centenary City, in the
Federal Capital Territory A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...
, is another planned
smart city A smart city is an urban area that uses digital technology to collect data and operate services. Data is collected from citizens, devices, buildings, or cameras. Applications include traffic and transportation systems, power plants, utilities ...
under development. The city is designed to become a major tourist attraction to the country. A list of Nigerian cities and neighbourhoods that went through a form of planning are as follows: *
Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...
, one of the most populous planned cities, and the fastest growing city in the world. *
Banana Island Banana Island is an artificial island off the foreshore of Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria. Its name derives from the curvature of its shape. The island is a planned, mixed development with residential, commercial and recreational buildings. History ...
, an affluent neighbourhood in
Ikoyi Ikoyi is the most affluent neighborhood of Lagos, located in Eti-Osa Local Government Area. It lies to the northeast of Obalende and adjoins Lagos Island to the west, and at the edge of the Lagos Lagoon. Popular with the extreme upper class r ...
,
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
,
Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...
*
Bonny Island Bonny Island is a local government situated at the southern edge of Rivers State in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria near Port Harcourt. Ferries are the main form of transport, though recently an airstrip has been built and it’s fully functio ...
in
Rivers State Rivers is a states of Nigeria, state in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria (Old Eastern Region). Formed on 27 May 1967, when it was split from the former Eastern Region, Nigeria, Eastern Region, Rivers State borders include Imo State, Im ...
* Centenary City in the
Federal Capital Territory A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...
*
Eko Atlantic Eko Atlantic, officially Nigeria International Commerce city, also known as Eko Atlantic City, is a planned city in Lagos State, Nigeria, being constructed on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean. Upon completion, the new peninsula is anticipat ...
in
Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...
*
Festac Town Festac Town is a federal housing estate located at Lagos Nigeria. Its name is derived from the acronym FESTAC, which stands for Second World African Festival of Arts and Culture that was held there in 1977.Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
,
Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...
**FESTAC Phase 2, the next phase for Festac has been proposed. *
Ikeja Ikeja is the List of capitals of states of Nigeria, capital city of Lagos State in southwestern Nigeria. Its population, as of the 2006 census, is 313,196. Prior to the emergence of military rule in the early 1980s, Ikeja was a well planned, cl ...
, the capital of
Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...
*
Lekki Lekki is a city in Lagos State, Nigeria. It is located to the south-east of Lagos city. Lekki is a naturally formed peninsula, adjoining to its west Victoria Island and Ikoyi districts of Lagos, with the Atlantic Ocean to its south, Lagos Lag ...
, a new city in
Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...
** Lekki Free Zone, a free trade zone in the Lekki **Orange Island, a planned real estate development in Lekki. *
Victoria Island Victoria Island () is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the eighth-largest island in the world, and at in area, it is Canada's second-largest i ...
in
Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...
,
Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...


Senegal

* Akon City, the nation's first planned city, co-planned by the Senegalese-American singer
Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...
.


South Africa

A number of cities were set up during the apartheid-era for a variety of ethnic groups. Planned settlements set up for white inhabitants included
Welkom Welkom () is a city in the Free State (province), Free State province of South Africa, located about northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. Welkom is also known as Circle City, City Within A Garden, Mvela and Matjhabeng. The city' ...
,
Sasolburg Sasolburg is a city in the Free State province of South Africa. The city is located in the northern part of the province and is the seat of the Metsimaholo Local Municipality. The city lies 13 kilometres south of the Gauteng province and form ...
and Secunda. Additionally the majority of settlements in South Africa were planned in their early stages and the original town centres still lie in a grid street fashion. Some settlements were also set up for non-whites such as the former homeland capital of
Bisho Bhisho, formerly Bisho, is the capital of the Eastern Cape province in South Africa. The Office of the Premier, Provincial Legislature and many other government departments are headquartered in the town. The town, three kilometres from King Will ...
.


Asia


Azerbaijan

*
Sumqayit Sumqayit (or Sumgait; ; , ) is a city in Azerbaijan, located near the Caspian Sea, on the Absheron Peninsula, about away from the capital Baku. The city had a population of 427,000 at the beginning of 2024, making it the List of cities in Azerb ...
was planned as an industrial city to support the Soviet Union’s petrochemical industry. It became one of Azerbaijan's major industrial centers, housing factories and workers' residential areas. *
Mingachevir Mingachevir ( ) is the fourth largest city in Azerbaijan with a population of about 106,000. It is often called the "city of lights" because of its hydroelectric power station on the Kura (South Caucasus river), Kura River, which divides the city ...
was established in the 1940s as a planned city to serve as the center for Azerbaijan’s hydroelectric power production, hosting the Mingachevir Hydroelectric Power Station, one of the largest in the country. * Ganja (city) underwent urban planning during the Soviet period, with the development of modern infrastructure including residential and commercial districts, along with the expansion of industrial facilities to support the growing population. *
Shirvan Shirvan (from ; ; Tat: ''Şirvan'') is a historical region in the eastern Caucasus, as known in both pre-Islamic Sasanian and Islamic times. Today, the region is an industrially and agriculturally developed part of the Republic of Azerbaijan ...
was developed as an industrial city, with a focus on chemical and agricultural industries. The city's growth was part of the Soviet-era initiative to establish more industrial hubs in Azerbaijan. * Gabala, once a small town, is undergoing urbanization with modern infrastructure projects aimed at transforming it into a major tourist and cultural center while still preserving its natural surroundings. * Khirdalan, located near Baku, was developed as a satellite city to ease the population pressure in the capital. The city has seen significant growth with new residential areas and local amenities.


Hong Kong

The terrains of Hong Kong are mostly mountainous and many places in the
New Territories The New Territories (N.T., Traditional Chinese characters, Chinese: ) is one of the three areas of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of H ...
have limited access to roads. Hong Kong started developing new towns in the 1950s, to accommodate rapidly growing populations. In the early days the term "satellite towns" was used. The very first new towns included
Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a New towns of Hong Kong, town built on a bay in the New Territories West (constituency), western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite Tsing Yi, Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market ...
and
Kwun Tong Kwun Tong is an area in the Kwun Tong District of Hong Kong, situated at the eastern part of the Kowloon Peninsula, and its boundary stretches from Lion Rock in the north to Lei Yue Mun in the south, and from the winding paths of Kowloon P ...
.
Wah Fu Estate Wah Fu Estate () is a Public housing in Hong Kong, public housing estate located next to Waterfall Bay, Hong Kong, Waterfall Bay, Pok Fu Lam in Hong Kong's Southern District, Hong Kong, Southern District. It was built on a New towns of Hong K ...
was built in a remote corner on
Hong Kong Island Hong Kong Island () is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. The island, known originally and on road signs simply as "Hong Kong", had a population of 1,289,500 and a population density of , . It is the second largest island in Hong Kon ...
, with similar concepts in a smaller scale. In the late 1960s and the 1970s, another stage of new town developments was launched. Nine new towns have been developed to date. Land use is carefully planned and development provides plenty of room for public housing projects. Rail transport is usually available at a later stage. The first towns are
Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The new ...
,
Tsuen Wan Tsuen Wan (formerly also spelled Tsun Wan) is a New towns of Hong Kong, town built on a bay in the New Territories West (constituency), western New Territories of Hong Kong, opposite Tsing Yi, Tsing Yi Island across Rambler Channel. The market ...
,
Tuen Mun Tuen Mun () or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the mo ...
and
Tseung Kwan O Tseung Kwan O New Town, commonly known as Tseung Kwan O ( zh, t=將軍澳新市鎮, j=Zoeng1 gwan1 ou3 san1 si5 zan3), is one of the nine New towns of Hong Kong, new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on Land reclamation in Hong Kong, reclaimed ...
.
Tuen Mun Tuen Mun () or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the mo ...
was intended to be self-reliant, but was not successful at the beginning and maintained as a
dormitory town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...
up until the recent decades like the other new towns. More recent developments are
Tin Shui Wai Tin Shui Wai New Town is a new towns in Hong Kong, satellite town in the northwestern New Territories of Hong Kong. Originally a ' () fish pond area, it was developed in 1980s in Hong Kong, the 1980s as the second New towns of Hong Kong, new tow ...
and North Lantau. The government also plans to build such towns in
Hung Shui Kiu Hung Shui Kiu is an area between Ping Shan and Lam Tei, in the western part of the New Territories of Hong Kong. It covers parts of Yuen Long and Tuen Mun districts. It is a largely rural residential area. Several Housing Authority blocks ...
, Ping Che-
Ta Kwu Ling Ta Kwu Ling is an area in the North District, New Territories, Hong Kong, located northeast of Sheung Shui, close to the border with mainland China and south to Liantang Subdistrict in Shenzhen. Before 4 January 2016, parts of Ta Kwu Ling ...
,
Fanling Fanling ( zh, t=粉嶺; also spelled Fan Ling or Fan Leng) is a town in the New Territories East of Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the North District. Fanling Town is the main settlement of the Fanling area. The name Fanling is ...
North and
Kwu Tung Kwu Tung () is an area in the northern New Territories, west of Sheung Shui and Fanling, and east of Lok Ma Chau and San Tin, in Hong Kong. Administration For electoral purposes, Kwu Tung is part of the Sheung Shui Rural constituency of the ...
North. At present, there are a total of nine new towns: *
Tsuen Wan New Town Tsuen Wan New Town is a new town in Hong Kong. It spans Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and the eastern part of Tsing Yi Island. Traditionally, the administrative officials of Tsuen Wan managed the area of Tsuen Wan proper, Kwai Chung, Tsing Yi Is ...
*
Sha Tin New Town Sha Tin New Town, also known as Sha Tin-Ma On Shan New Town or Sha Tin Town is one of the satellite towns and new towns of Hong Kong. It is within the Sha Tin District, the New Territories. The New Town covers the neighbourhoods of Sha Tin, ...
*
Tuen Mun New Town Tuen Mun New Town (formerly Castle Peak New Town), commonly referred to simply as Tuen Mun, is a satellite town of Hong Kong. It is one of the new towns that were developed by the Hong Kong Government in the New Territories from the 1960s. ...
*
Tai Po New Town Tai Po New Town, or Tai Po Town (Chinese: 大埔新市鎮), is a new town (satellite town) and non-administrative area in Tai Po District, in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The area is a planned town that surrounding the existing indigenous ...
* Fanling-Sheung Shui New Town *
Yuen Long New Town Yuen Long New Town is a new town in the northwest New Territories, Hong Kong. It was developed from the traditional market town of Yuen Long Town () from the late 1970s onwards. As it is located in the centre of the Yuen Long Plain, th ...
*
Tseung Kwan O New Town Tseung Kwan O New Town, commonly known as Tseung Kwan O ( zh, t=將軍澳新市鎮, j=Zoeng1 gwan1 ou3 san1 si5 zan3), is one of the nine new towns in Hong Kong, built mainly on reclaimed land in the northern half of Junk Bay in southeaster ...
*
Tin Shui Wai New Town Tin Shui Wai New Town is a satellite town in the northwestern New Territories of Hong Kong. Originally a ' () fish pond area, it was developed in the 1980s as the second new town in Yuen Long District and the eighth in Hong Kong. It is due n ...
*
North Lantau New Town Tung Chung New Town, formerly named North Lantau New Town, is the newest of the nine New towns of Hong Kong, new towns in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China, located on the northern coast of the Lantau Island in the New Terri ...


Indonesia

*
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
** Batavia (predecessor of modern
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
) was a planned city, modeled after Dutch 17th century coastal city architecture. First, in the 17th century as a planned fortified city, crisscrossed with Dutch-style canals dug in regular grid. The city served as the administrative center of
Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
. ** In the early 19th century, the Dutch colonial authority moved their administrative center from the dilapidated and unhealthy port town of Old Batavia (now Kota area) several kilometres south to
Weltevreden Weltevreden may refer to: *Sawah Besar, a subdistrict of Central Jakarta, Indonesia, the core of the larger colonial district of Weltevreden in Batavia, Java *Weltevreden, Java Sawah Besar is a Districts of Indonesia, district (''kecamatan'') of ...
area (now
Central Jakarta Central Jakarta (, ), abbreviated as Jakpus, is one of the five Cities of Indonesia, administrative cities () and ''de facto'' Capital City of the Jakarta, Special Capital Region of Jakarta. It had 902,973 inhabitants according to the 2010 census ...
). Old Batavia and Weltevreden were connected by the Molenvliet Canal and a road (now Gajah Mada Road) that ran alongside the waterway. It was a well-planned community around the
Koningsplein Koningsplein ('King's Square') is a square in Amsterdam. It is located between the Singel and Herengracht canals. It has become a meeting place for the local community. References External links TERENA Webcam Koningsplein, Amsterdam via TER ...
, the
Waterlooplein Waterlooplein (Waterloo Square) is a square in the centre of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The square near the Amstel river is named after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Prominent buildings on the square are the Stopera city hall and opera bu ...
and Rijswijk (Jalan Veteran). The area, then known as Weltevreden, which include the Koningsplein, Rijswijk, Noordwijk, Tanah Abang, Kebon Sirih, and Prapatan became a popular residential, entertainment and commercial district for the European colonial elite. **
Menteng Menteng is a district () in the administrative city of Central Jakarta, Indonesia. Menteng is surrounded by the districts of Senen and Matraman to the east, Tebet and Setiabudi to the south, Tanah Abang to the west, and Gambir to the north. ...
, today a sub-district in Central Jakarta, was first built as a well-planned community. An
urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes based on geographical location. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, city, ...
developed in the 1910s set the area to become a residential area for Dutch people and high officials. At the time of its development, the area was the first planned
garden suburb The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, an ...
in colonial Batavia. Supported by easy access to service centers and nearby to the central business district, this area has become one of the most expensive areas for residential real estate in modern Jakarta. * In the early 20th century,
Bandung Bandung is the capital city of the West Java province of Indonesia. Located on the island of Java, the city is the List of Indonesian cities by population, fourth-most populous city and fourth largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta, Surabay ...
was planned by the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
government as a new capital city to replace Batavia. The idea was to separate the busy trading port or the commercial center (Batavia) from the new administrative and political center (Bandung). By the 1920s the plan to transfer the capital to Bandung was underway. As the city began to laid the master plan of a well-planned new city, grid of streets and avenues were laid, and numbers of government buildings were constructed, such as
Gedung Sate Gedung Sate is a public building in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. It was designed according to a neoclassical design incorporating native Indonesian elements (such as Hindu-Buddhist elements) by Dutch architect J. Gerber to be the seat of th ...
that was planned as the colonial administrative center of Dutch East Indies. The plan, however, failed due to the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
and the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. * Since
Palangkaraya Palangka Raya or Palangkaraya is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan. The city is situated between the Kahayan and the Sabangau rivers on the island of Borneo. As of the 2020 census, the city has a popu ...
was established as the capital of
Central Kalimantan Central Kalimantan () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. It is the largest province in Indonesia by area since 2022, bordered by West Kalimantan to the west ...
province in 1957, the first president of Indonesia,
Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...
, outlined a plan to develop Palangkaraya as the future capital of Indonesia. Palangkaraya is far larger in area than
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
and safe from the danger of earthquakes and
volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...
es, common on the island of
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
. * In the late 1950s to the first half of the 1960s,
Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...
, Indonesia's first president, laid a master plan to build
Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
as the planned national capital of the Republic of Indonesia. He filled Jakarta with numbers of monuments and statues. Numbers of monumental projects were conceived, planned and initiated during his administration, including Monumen Nasional, Istiqlal mosque, DPR/MPR Building, and Gelora Bung Karno stadium. Sukarno also filled Jakarta with nationalistic monuments and statues, including
Selamat Datang Monument The Selamat Datang Monument (, ), also known as ''Monumen Bundaran HI'' or ''Monumen Bunderan HI'', is a monument located in Central Jakarta, Indonesia, located at the centre of the Bundaran Hotel Indonesia roundabout. Completed in 1962 by sculpto ...
, Pemuda Monument at Senayan, Dirgantara Monument at Pancoran, and Irian Jaya Liberation Monument at
Lapangan Banteng Lapangan Banteng (Indonesian language, Indonesian: "Bull's Field", formerly Waterloo Square (Dutch language, Dutch: Waterlooplein) in Batavia, Dutch East Indies) is a historic Town square, square located in a historic area formerly known as ''Wel ...
. Although many of this projects were completed later in his successor era (
Suharto Suharto (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was an Indonesian Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician, and dictator, who was the second and longest serving president of Indonesia, serving from 1967 to 1998. His 32 years rule, cha ...
administration), Sukarno is credited for shaping Jakarta's monuments and landmarks. He desired Jakarta to be the beacon of a powerful new nation. * Because of Jakarta's environmental degradation and
overpopulation Overpopulation or overabundance is a state in which the population of a species is larger than the carrying capacity of its environment. This may be caused by increased birth rates, lowered mortality rates, reduced predation or large scale migr ...
problems, there has been an idea to build a new proposed capital city to replace Jakarta. In 2019, President
Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician, engineer, and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic ...
announced that Indonesia will move its capital from Jakarta to the new planned city in the
East Kalimantan East Kalimantan (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. Its territory comprises the eastern portion of Borneo/Kalimantan. It had a population of about 3.03 million at the 2010 census (within the cu ...
province which will be built in between the regencies of Penajam North Paser and
Kutai Kartanegara Kutai Kartanegara Regency (abbreviated as ''Kukar'') is a Regency (Indonesia), regency of East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia. It has a land area of 27,891.13 km2 and a water area of 4,097 km2, geographically located between 1°18′4 ...
. Its construction will commence in 2020. The new national capital will be called Nusantara and it is set to be inaugurated in 2024 with the groundbreaking ceremony in March 2022. The capital is expected to form a new province separated from East Kalimantan, similar to Jakarta.


Iran

Sadra, a planned city near Shiraz In the period of the Persian
Safavid The Guarded Domains of Iran, commonly called Safavid Iran, Safavid Persia or the Safavid Empire, was one of the largest and longest-lasting Iranian empires. It was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often considered the begi ...
Empire,
Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...
, the Persian capital, was built according to a planned scheme, consisting of a long boulevard and planned housing and green areas around it. In modern-day Iran more than 20 planned cities have been developed or are under construction, mostly around Iran's main metropolitan areas such as
Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
,
Isfahan Isfahan or Esfahan ( ) is a city in the Central District (Isfahan County), Central District of Isfahan County, Isfahan province, Iran. It is the capital of the province, the county, and the district. It is located south of Tehran. The city ...
,
Shiraz Shiraz (; ) is the List of largest cities of Iran, fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars province, which has been historically known as Pars (Sasanian province), Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the popu ...
and
Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...
. Some of these new cities are built for special purposes such as: * Pardis, which is built as a scientific city. * Poulad-Shahr, which is an industrial city built for the housing of Isfahan's steel industry workers. *
Shirin Shahr Shirin Shahr () is a new planned city in Soveyseh District of Karun County, Khuzestan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the we ...
which is to provide housing for the sugar industry personnel. *
Tehranpars Tehranpars or Tehran Pars () is an absorbed city inside the Greater Tehran Area, located in the north east area of the city. It is considered a neighbourhood of Tehran City and lies in Tehran's eastern flank inside the area of the 4th and 8th muni ...
which was built to house Tehran's additional population. *
Shahrak-e Gharb Shahrak-e Gharb or Gharb Town (, "West Town"), officially Qods Town (, "Quds (Jerusalem) Town"), is a planned town built as a massive project of modern, luxury apartment buildings and villas in the north-western part of Tehran, Iran. History O ...
, built as a massive project of modern apartment buildings. *
Parand Parand () is a planned city in the Central District of Robat Karim County, Tehran province, Iran. Its toponym means "natural silk". History The city is intended to provide residences for the staff of Imam Khomeini International Airport, ...
which is intended to provide residences for the staff of
Imam Khomeini International Airport Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport () is the international airport of Tehran, the capital of Iran. It is located 2 kilometers (1 mi) of Vahnabad and southwest of Tehran and is named for Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran's first supreme lea ...
. *
Shushtar Shushtar () is a city in the Central District of Shushtar County, Khuzestan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Shushtar is an ancient fortress city, approximately from Ahvaz, the centre of the province ...
New Town which was built to provide housing for the employees of a sugar cane processing plant. 576,000 people were planned to be settled in Iran's new towns by 2005. For a list of Iran's modern planned cities see:
List of Iran's planned cities This is a list of planned city, planned cities (sometimes known as planned communities or new towns) by country. Additions to this list should be cities whose overall form (as opposed to individual neighborhoods or expansions) has been determined ...
.


Israel

According to politics of country settlement a number of planned cities were created in peripheral regions. De facto all the cities which have Jewish population its new Jewish side have been planned like New Acre and Nazareth Illit. Those cities also known as ''
Development Town Development towns (, ''Ayarat Pitu'ah'') were new settlements built in Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing for a large influx of Jewish immigrants from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from Europe and other new immig ...
s''. The most successful is
Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...
with more than 200,000 inhabitants, a
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
and developed infrastructure. Other cities that were developed following Israel's lineation plan are
Shoham Shoham () is a town in the Central District of Israel. The name relates to one of the 12 stones on the Hoshen, the sacred breastplate worn by a Jewish high priest (Exodus 28:20), similar to other nearby towns: Nofekh, Bareket, Leshem and Ahlam ...
,
Karmiel Karmiel () is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Established in 1964 as a development town, Karmiel is located in the Beit HaKerem Valley which divides upper and lower Galilee. The city is located south of the Acre–Safed road, from Sa ...
and Arad.
Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut ( ''Mōdīʿīn-Makkabbīm-Rēʿūt'') is a city located in central Israel, about southeast of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In the population was . The populati ...
has been another of the country's most successful planned cities. Construction began in 1994 and it now has a population of over 80,000. Modi'in also rates higher in terms of average salary and graduation rates than the national average. It was designed and planned by Israeli architect
Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie (; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author. He is well known for incorporating principles of socially responsible design throughout his six-decade career. His projects include cultural, ed ...
. Many
Israeli settlement Israeli settlements, also called Israeli colonies, are the civilian communities built by Israel throughout the Israeli-occupied territories. They are populated by Israeli citizens, almost exclusively of Israeli Jews, Jewish identity or ethni ...
s follow this model, including towns like
Modi'in Illit Modi'in Illit (; , lit. "Upper Modi'in") is a Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jewish-Israeli settlement organized as a city council (Israel), city council in the West Bank, situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Built on the land of five Palest ...
and Betar Illit.


Malaysia

*
Kuala Kubu Bharu Kuala Kubu Bharu (also spelt Kuala Kubu Baru, Kuala Kubu Bahru or Kuala Kubu Baharu; abbreviated to KKB), is the district capital of Hulu Selangor District, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located north of Kuala Lumpur and from Shah Alam, the stat ...
*
Bandar Baru Bangi Bandar Baru Bangi (literal translation: ''Bangi New Town'') is a township and satellite town of Kajang situated in Hulu Langat District, in southeastern Selangor, Malaysia. It is named after the small town of Bangi situated further south. It i ...
*
Shah Alam Shah Alam (, from Persian language, Persian, meaning "king of the world") is a city and the state capital of Selangor, Malaysia which is situated within the Petaling District and a small portion of the neighbouring Klang District. Shah Alam rep ...
*
Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (), is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The Seat of government, seat of the Government of Malaysia, federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajay ...
, Malaysia's new administrative capital *
Cyberjaya Cyberjaya (a portmanteau of ''cyber'' and ''Putrajaya'') is a planned city with a science park as its core that forms part of Greater Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia. It is located in Sepang District, Selangor. Cyberjaya is adjacent to and developed ...
* Petaling Jaya (New Town) * Kulim Hi-Tech Park *
Iskandar Puteri Iskandar Puteri (formerly known as Nusajaya) is a Cities of Malaysia, city and the administrative capital of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is situated along the Straits of Johor at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula and the southernmos ...
*
Iskandar Malaysia Iskandar Malaysia (formerly known as Iskandar Development Region and South Johor Economic Region), is the main southern development corridor in Johor, Malaysia. It was established on 8 November 2006. Iskandar Malaysia is currently the largest ...


Japan

The city of
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
was developed as a planned city in 794 as a new imperial capital (then called
Heian-kyō Heian-kyō was one of several former names for the city now known as Kyoto. It was the official capital of Japan for over one thousand years, from 794 to 1868 with an interruption in 1180. Emperor Kanmu established it as the capital in 794, mo ...
), built on a grid layout and remained the capital for over a millennium. The grid layout remains, reflected in major east–west streets being numbered, such as . In modern times,
Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...
was built from 1868, following an American
grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...
, and is today the fifth-largest city in Japan. Both these cities have regular addressing systems (following the grid) unlike the usual subdivision-based
Japanese addressing system The Japanese addressing system is used to identify a specific location in Japan. When written in Japanese characters, addresses start with the largest geographical entity and proceed to the most specific one. The Japanese system is complex, the ...
. Borrowing from the New Town movement in the United Kingdom, some 30 new towns have been built all over Japan. Most of these constructions were initiated during the period of rapid economic growth in the 1960s, but construction continued into the 1980s. Most of them are located near Tokyo and the big cities in
Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...
region. Some towns, (,
Tama New Town is a large residential development, straddling the municipalities of Hachiōji, Tama, Inagi and Machida cities, in Tokyo, Japan. It was designed as a new town in 1965. It is approximately long stretching east-west, and between and wide, loc ...
) do not provide much employment, and many of the residents commute to the nearby cities. These towns fostered the infamous congestion of commuter trains (although as the metropolitan areas have grown, this commute has become relatively short in comparison to commutes from the new urban fringe). Other New Towns act as industrial/academic agglomerations (''sangyo-shuseki'') (
Tsukuba Science City is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. As of January 1, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 256,526 in 121,001 households and a population density of 900 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 wa ...
, Kashima Port Town). These areas attempt to create an all-inclusive environment for daily living, in accordance with
Uzō Nishiyama was a Japanese modernist architect, city planner, and architectural scholar. He is noted for his application of methods of scientific research to the study of architecture and urban planning. Nishiyama served as a professor at Kyoto University fo ...
's "life-spheres" principle. Japan has also developed the concept of new towns to what
Manuel Castells Manuel Castells Oliván (; born 9 February 1942) is a Spanish sociologist. He is well known for his authorship of a trilogy of works, entitled '' The Information Age: Economy, Society and Culture''. He is a scholar of the information society, c ...
and Sir Peter Hall call technopolis. The technopolis program of the 1980s has precedents in the New Industrial Cities Act of the 1960s. These cities are largely modeled after Tsukuba Academic New Town (Tsukuba Science City) in that they attempt to agglomerate high-tech resources together in a campus-like environment. In the past, the Japanese government had proposed relocating the capital to a planned city, but this plan was cancelled. Overall, Japan's New Town program consists of many diverse projects, most of which focus on a primary function, but also aspire to create an all-inclusive urban environment. Japan's New Town program is heavily informed by the Anglo-American Garden City tradition, American neighborhood design, as well as Soviet strategies of industrial development. In 2002 Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi Junichiro Koizumi ( ; , ''Koizumi Jun'ichirō'' ; born 8 January 1942) is a Japanese retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), president of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ...
announced the end of new town construction, although the new towns continue to receive government funding and redevelopment. Sources: * Ministry of Construction, Japan International Cooperation Agency, City Bureau. 1975? City Planning in Japan. * Hein, Carola. 2003. “Visionary Plans and Planners: Japanese Traditions and Western Influences” in Japanese Capitals in Historical * Perspective, Nicholas Fiévé and Paul Waley, eds. New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 309–43. * Scott, W. Stephen. 2006. Just Housing? Evidence of Garden City Principles in a Postwar Japanese New Town. Undergraduate diss. New College of Florida.


Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has several planned cities, many of which were founded in recent history as part of the country’s shift from its historically
nomadic pastoralism Nomadic pastoralism, also known as nomadic herding, is a form of pastoralism in which livestock are herded in order to seek for fresh pastures on which to graze. True nomads follow an irregular pattern of movement, in contrast with transhumance ...
to a more urbanized and industrialized society. This transition began particularly during the Soviet era, as the country developed its infrastructure and urban areas to support industrial growth and modernization. Some of the most prominent planned cities in Kazakhstan reflect this shift, with their establishment linked to the growth of key industries such as energy, mining, and manufacturing: *
Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...
was originally founded as Akmolinsk and was restructured to become the planned capital city of Kazakhstan in 1997. Its modern planning by Japanese architect
Kisho Kurokawa (April 8, 1934 – October 12, 2007) was a leading Japanese architect and one of the founders of the Metabolist Movement. Biography Born in Kanie, Aichi, Kurokawa studied architecture at Kyoto University, graduating with a bachelor's ...
reflects the shift towards urbanization and industrialization, focusing on government institutions, modern infrastructure, and green spaces. *
Turkistan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...
has recently started undergoing significant urbanization and development. Historically a center for cultural and religious importance, the city now enjoys special city status, with efforts to preserve its historical appearance through the establishment of a reserve of archaeological monuments, while new infrastructure is being built in a traditional design style. * Ekibastuz was planned during the Soviet era to support coal mining and energy production, serving as an industrial city built for the region's resource needs. * Zhanaozen was developed as a key hub for Kazakhstan’s oil and gas industry, designed to support workers in this vital sector. *
Temirtau Temirtau (; ) is a city in the Karaganda Region of Kazakhstan. The population was 170,481 in the 1999 census, rising to 210,590 in 2015. The city is located on the Nura River (the Samarkand Reservoir), northwest of Karaganda. History The first ...
was a planned industrial city created in the 20th century to support Kazakhstan's steel production industry. *
Aktau Aktau (; ) is a city in south-west Kazakhstan, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Aktau is on the Mangyshlak Peninsula in the Mangystau Region. Known for its strategic location on the Caspian Sea, Aktau is a port, playing a key role in th ...
was built as a planned center to support the growing oil industry, positioned along the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...
as a hub for Kazakhstan’s energy sector. *
Karaganda Karaganda (, ; ), also known as Karagandy (, ; ; ) (also sometimes romanized as Qaraghandy), is a major city in central Kazakhstan and the capital of the Karaganda Region. It is the fifth most populous city in the country, with a population o ...
was initially developed as a mining town, later becoming a planned city with infrastructure to support coal mining and steel production. *
Shymkent Shymkent (, ; ) is a city in southern Kazakhstan, located near the border with Uzbekistan. It holds the status of a city of republican significance, one of only three cities in Kazakhstan with this distinction, alongside Almaty and Astana. As of ...
though it has ancient roots, the modern development of Shymkent reflects Kazakhstan's post-Soviet urbanization, with the city growing around trade, industry, and administrative functions. *
Pavlodar Pavlodar (; ; ) is a city in northeastern Kazakhstan and the capital of Pavlodar Region. It is located northeast of the national capital Astana and southeast of the Russian city of Omsk along the Irtysh River. In 2010, the city had a popul ...
was developed as an industrial hub focused on chemical and energy industries. *
Atyrau Atyrau (, ; , ; ), known until 1991 as Guryev (), is a city in Kazakhstan and the capital of Atyrau Region. Atyrau is a transcontinental city, at the mouth of the Ural River on the Caspian Sea, between Europe and Asia, west of Almaty and east o ...
was transformed from a fishing village into a planned city, primarily due to its proximity to Kazakhstan’s key oil and gas reserves. *
Kyzylorda Kyzylorda ( , formerly known as Kzyl-Orda (), Ak-Mechet (Ак-Мечеть), Perovsk (Перовск), and Fort-Perovsky (Форт-Перовский), is a city in south-central Kazakhstan, capital of Kyzylorda Region and former capital of the ...
was developed in response to the need for irrigation and agriculture in southern Kazakhstan. * Saran was a small industrial city developed during the Soviet era to support Kazakhstan’s steel industry, particularly as a
satellite city A satellite city or satellite town is a smaller municipality or settlement that is part of (or on the edge of) a larger metropolitan area and serves as a regional population and employment center. It differs from mere suburbs, Subdivision (la ...
of larger industrial centers like Karaganda. * Aksu was created as a planned industrial town to support the development of aluminum production. *
Kokshetau Kokshetau (; , ; rus, Кокшета́у, p=kəkʂɛ'taʊ; ), formerly known as Kokchetav (; ) between 1868 and 1993, is a lakeside city in northern Kazakhstan and the capital of Akmola Region. It stretches along the southern shore of Lak ...
was a small town that evolved into a regional center, planned with a focus on agriculture and light industry. *
Baikonur Baikonur ( ; ) is a city in Kazakhstan on the northern bank of the Syr Darya river. It is currently leased and administered by the Russian Federation as an enclave until 2050. It was constructed to serve the Baikonur Cosmodrome with adminis ...
was established as the Soviet Union's primary space launch facility and remains a key planned city in Kazakhstan, designed to support space exploration and technology.


Myanmar

Naypyidaw Naypyidaw (), officially Romanization of Burmese, romanized as Nay Pyi Taw (NPT), is the capital city, capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's ...
is the capital of Myanmar. It is administered by the
Naypyidaw Union Territory The Union Territory (Nay Pyi Taw) (), also called Nay Pyi Taw Council Territory () (Nay Pyi Taw also spelled Nay Pyitaw, Naypyidaw or Nay Pyi Daw) is an administrative division in central Myanmar (Burma). It contains Naypyidaw, the capital city ...
, as per the 2008 Constitution. On 6 November 2005, the administrative capital of Myanmar was officially moved to a greenfield 3.2 km west of
Pyinmana Pyinmana (, ; population: 100,000 (2006 estimate)) is a logging town and sugarcane refinery center in the Naypyidaw Union Territory of Myanmar. The administrative capital of Myanmar was officially moved to a militarized greenfield site (which the ...
, and approximately 300 km north of
Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
(Rangoon), the previous capital. The capital's official name was announced on 27 March 2006, coinciding with Myanmar's
Armed Forces Day An Armed Forces Day, alongside its Military branch, branch-specific variants often referred to as Army or Soldier's Day, Navy or Sailor's Day, and Air Force or Aviator's Day, is a holiday dedicated to honoring the Military, armed forces, o ...
. Much of the city was still under construction as late as 2012.Marshall Cavendish Corporation (2007). ''World and Its Peoples: Eastern and Southern Asia.'' Marshall Cavendish. p. 650. As of 2009, the population was 925,000, which makes it Myanmar's third largest city, after
Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
and
Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...
.


Pakistan

*
Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...
, planned capital city whose foundations were laid during the 1950s * Ravi City, riverfront and urban development megaproject (expected population 25–35 million, under construction ) *
Gwadar Gwadar (, ) is a Port, port city on the southwestern coast of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea, opposite Oman and has a populati ...
, port city established as the southern leg for
China–Pakistan Economic Corridor China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC; zh, c=中巴经济走廊, p=Zhōng bā jīngjì zǒuláng; ) is a 3,000 km Chinese infrastructure network project currently under construction in Pakistan. This sea-and-land-based corridor aims to ...
*
Faisalabad Faisalabad, formerly known as Lyallpur, is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, second-largest city and primary List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, industrial center of the Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan ...
, established by the British and later Ayub Khan as a planned
industrial city An industrial city or industrial town is a town or city in which the municipal economy, at least historically, is centered around industry, with important factories or other production facilities in the town. It has been part of most countries' ...
*
Jauharabad Jauharabad ( Punjabi / ; ; ) is the headquarters of Khushab District in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Etymology The Urdu word 'Jauhar' translates to 'gem' in English, but the city was named in honour of the renowned Pakistani freedom activi ...
, a planned town situated in Khushab District, Punjab, Pakistan *
Sargodha Sargodha (Punjabi language, Punjabi/; ; ) is a city and capital of Sargodha Division, located in Central Punjab, central Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. It is Pakistan's List of most populous cities in Pakistan, 11th most populous city and ...
, established by the British for air defence *
Sahiwal Sahiwal ( Punjabi / ; ; ), formerly known as Montgomery, is a city in central Punjab, Pakistan. It is the administrative capital of both Sahiwal District and Sahiwal Division. It is the 19th largest city of Pakistan by population accordin ...
*
Bahria Town Bahria Town (Private) Limited () is an Islamabad-based privately employee-owned real-estate development company that owns, develops, and manages properties across Pakistan. It established its first gated community in Rawalpindi/Islamabad. Its ...
, privately built towns in Islamabad–Rawalpindi,
Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...
and
Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...
*
Defence Housing Authority, Islamabad The Defence Housing Authority, Islamabad-Rawalpindi (DHAI-R) () is an affluent residential neighbourhood or a gated community located within Islamabad–Rawalpindi metropolitan area of Pakistan. The neighbourhood is divided into five parts and ...
* Defence Housing Authority, Lahore *
Defence Housing Authority, Karachi The Pakistan Defense Officers Housing Authority (PDOHA), Karachi (), formerly Pakistan Defense Officers Cooperative Housing Society, is a residential neighbourhood or a housing society located within Clifton Cantonment of Karachi. The total p ...
*
Clifton, Karachi Clifton is an upscale and historic seaside locality in Karachi, Pakistan. It is one of the most affluent parts of the city, home to some of Karachi's most expensive real estates. It is home to several foreign consulates, while its commercial cent ...
*
WAPDA Town WAPDA Town (, ) is a residential neighborhood located within union council 257 (Wapda Town) in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. It is considered one of the more upscale residential societies of Lahore. Location Located in a posh locality of the ci ...
*
DHA City DHA City Karachi is a housing estate being built in Gadap Town, which is located in the outskirts of Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The project spans over 11,640 acres. Located 56 kilometers from Karachi, the community is planned to be self-dependent f ...
* LDA City


Palestine

*
Rawabi Rawabi (, meaning "The Hills") is the first planned city built for and by Palestinians in the West Bank, and is hailed as a "flagship Palestinian enterprise." Rawabi is located near Birzeit and Ramallah. The master plan envisages a high tech cit ...


People's Republic of China

Many ancient
cities in China A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...
, especially those on the
North China Plain The North China Plain () is a large-scale downfaulted rift basin formed in the late Paleogene and Neogene and then modified by the deposits of the Yellow River. It is the largest alluvial plain of China. The plain is bordered to the north by th ...
, were carefully designed according to the
fengshui Feng shui ( or ), sometimes called Chinese geomancy, is a traditional form of geomancy that originated in ancient China and claims to use energy forces to harmonize individuals with their surrounding environment. The term ''feng shui'' mean ...
theory, featuring square or rectangular city walls, rectilinear road grid, and symmetrical layout. Famous examples are
Chang'an Chang'an (; zh, t=長安, s=长安, p=Cháng'ān, first=t) is the traditional name of the city now named Xi'an and was the capital of several Chinese dynasties, ranging from 202 BCE to 907 CE. The site has been inhabited since Neolithic time ...
in
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
and
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
. An exception to that is an ancient town in
Tekes County Tekes County is a county within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. It contains an area of 8,067 km2. According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 150,000. Th ...
,
Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in northern Xinjiang, China. Its capital is Yining, also known as Ghulja or Kulja. Covering an area of 268,591 square kilometres (16.18 per cent of Xinjiang), Ili Prefecture shares ...
, Xinjiang, with a shape of a
ba gua The ''bagua'' ( zh, c=八卦, p=bāguà, l=eight trigrams) is a set of symbols from China intended to illustrate the nature of reality as being composed of mutually opposing forces reinforcing one another. ''Bagua'' is a group of trigrams—co ...
. In modern China, many
special economic zones A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
are developed from the sketch, for example,
Pudong Pudong is a list of administrative divisions of Shanghai, district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu River, Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank (g ...
, a new district of Shanghai.


Philippines

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...
was the planned city of President
Manuel L. Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (, , , ; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino people, Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1 ...
, who had earlier proposed a new city to be built on land northeast of the
City of Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on the island of Luzon, it is ...
. Carefully planned districts include Santa Mesa Heights (part of the original Burnham Plan for Manila), the Diliman Estate (includes the
University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...
), New Manila, the Cubao Commercial District, South Triangle, Housing Projects 1 (Roxas District), 2 and 3 (Quirino District), 4, 5 (Kamias-Kamuning District), 6, 7, and 8. President
Elpidio Quirino Elpidio Rivera Quirino (; November 16, 1890 – February 29, 1956) was a Philippine nationality law, Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 6th President of the Philippines from 1948 to 1953. A lawyer by profession, Quirino entered p ...
proclaimed Quezon City as the national capital on 17 July 1948, with President
Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...
restoring Manila as the capital on 24 June 1976. He then created a metropolitan area called
Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila ( ), commonly shortened to Metro Manila and formally the National Capital Region (NCR; ), is the capital region and largest List of metropolitan areas in the Philippines, metropolitan area of the Philippines. Located ...
, which remains congested today due to failed execution of the Quezon City plan as well as the Burnham Plan. Other planned cities (in order of foundation): *
Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...
*
Trece Martires Trece Martires (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially the City of Trece Martires (), is a component city and '' de facto'' capital city of the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...
,
Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...
*
Island Garden City of Samal Samal, officially the Island Garden City of Samal (IGaCOS; ; ) is a component city in the province of Davao del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 116,771 people. It is made up of Samal Island and the s ...
*
Palayan Palayan, officially the City of Palayan (, Ilocano: ''Siudad ti Palayan''), is a component city and capital of the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 45,383 people, making it the least ...
,
Nueva Ecija Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( ; ; ; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Palayan, while Cabanatuan, its former capital, is the largest Local gove ...
*
New Clark City New Clark City is a planned community currently undergoing development, owned and managed by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA). It is located within the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone in the municipalities of Bamb ...


Saudi Arabia

King Abdullah Economic City King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC, ; ) is a planned city in Rabigh Governorate, Mecca Province, Saudi Arabia. It was announced as a megaproject in 2005 by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. It is located in close proximity to Thuwal, almost 100 k ...
, a future planned city along the
Red Sea The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
located in Saudi Arabia. In 1975, Jubail Industrial City, also known as
Jubail Jubail (, ''Al Jubayl'') is a city in the Eastern province on the Persian Gulf coast of Saudi Arabia, with a total population of 474,679 as of 2022. It is home to one of the largest industrial cities in the world. It is also home to the Middle ...
, was designated as a new industrial city by the
Saudi government The politics of Saudi Arabia takes place in the context of a unitary absolute monarchy, along traditional Islamist lines, where the King is both the head of state and government. Decisions are, to a large extent, made on the basis of consult ...
. It provides 50% of the country's drinking water through
desalination Desalination is a process that removes mineral components from saline water. More generally, desalination is the removal of salts and minerals from a substance. One example is Soil salinity control, soil desalination. This is important for agric ...
of the water from the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
.


Singapore

The new town planning concept was introduced into Singapore with the building of the first New Town, Queenstown, from July 1952 to 1973 by the country's public housing authority, the
Housing and Development Board The Housing & Development Board (HDB; often referred to as the Housing Board; ; ; ), is a Statutory boards of the Singapore Government, statutory board under the Ministry of National Development (Singapore), Ministry of National Developmen ...
. Today, the vast majority of the approximately 11,000 public housing buildings are organised into 22 new towns across the country. Each new town is designed to be completely self-sustainable. Helmed by a hierarchy of commercial developments, ranging from a town centre to precinct-level outlets, there is no need to venture out of town to meet the most common needs of residences. Employment can be found in industrial estates located within several towns. Educational, health care, and recreational needs are also taken care of with the provision of schools, hospitals, parks, sports complexes, and so on. Singapore's expertise in successful new town design was internationally recognised when the Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF) of the United Nations awarded the
World Habitat Award The World Habitat Awards were established in 1985 by the Building and Social Housing Foundation as part of its contribution to the United Nations' International Year of Shelter for the Homeless in 1987. Two awards are given annually to projects f ...
to
Tampines Tampines ( or ) is the Regional centre (Singapore), regional centre of the East Region, Singapore, East Region of Singapore. With a population of 284,560 living across its five subzones as of 2024, it is the most populous Planning Areas of Sin ...
New Town, which was selected as a representative of Singapore's new towns, on 5 October 1992.


South Korea

Since 2007
Sejong Sejong (; 15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450), commonly known as Sejong the Great (), was the fourth monarch of the Joseon dynasty of Korea. He is regarded as the greatest ruler in Korean history, and is remembered as the inventor of Hangul, the n ...
was planned as the new capital, but it is becoming the de facto administrative capital instead, with many national government agencies and research institutes moving there between 2013 and present. It has a planned population of 0.8 million, which is the largest of all the newtown development plans. The head of the domestic-administration, the
Prime Minister of South Korea The prime minister of the Republic of Korea () is the deputy head of government and the second highest political office of South Korea. The prime minister is appointed by the president of the Republic of Korea, with the National Assembly's appro ...
also resides in Sejong, along with more than 65% of the South Korea's government facilities.
New Songdo City Songdo (), officially known as Songdo International Business District (Songdo IBD), is a smart city built on of reclaimed land along Incheon's waterfront, southwest of Seoul, South Korea. It is connected to Incheon International Airport by a r ...
is a planned international business centre to be developed on 6 square kilometres of reclaimed land along Incheon's waterfront, 65 kilometres west of Seoul and connected to Incheon International Airport by a 10-kilometre highway bridge. This 10-year development project is estimated to cost in excess of $40 billion, making it the largest private development project ever undertaken anywhere in the world.
Gwanggyo Gwanggyo refers to a planned city surrounding Yeongtong District of Suwon and Suji District (or Giheung District) of Yongin Yongin (; ) is a city in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, the largest in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. With a populati ...
newtown is located 25 km south away from Seoul in Suwon city and Youngin city, Gyeonggi province. Gwanggyo newtown area 11 square kilometers was designated in 2004 by Gyeonggi Province, Suwon city, Youngin city, and Gyeonggi Development Corporation (GICO). It will accommodate more than 31,000 households. Gwanggyo newtown was not only for the housing supply but also for several regional goals such as provincial office movement, convention center building, and creating economic growth core in Gyeonggi provincial area. Its infrastructure was scheduled to be constructed by 2012. Since the 1990s, several planned communities were built in the
Seoul Metropolitan Area The Seoul Metropolitan Area (Sudogwon; , ) or Gyeonggi (region), Gyeonggi region (), is the metropolitan area of Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province, located in north-western South Korea. Its population of 26 million (as of 2024) is ranked ...
to alleviate housing demands in
Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
. They include: * Several ongoing developments in Hwaseong, including Bongdam, Dongtan1 & 2, and Hyangnam, Suji in Yongin. * Gangnam, Seocho & Jamsil, Southern Seoul called Gangnam *
Bundang Bundang () is a planned community in Bundang District, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It was developed to encourage affordable housing and urban decentralization. The community has a sports complex, a park and a youth center. Origi ...
,
Seongnam City Seongnam (; ) is the fourth largest Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. It consists of three admini ...
*
Ilsan Ilsan New Town () refers to a planned city occupying Ilsandong District and Ilsanseo District of Goyang. Ilsan is located northwest of Seoul. Like other satellite cities in the Seoul National Capital Area such as Bundang, Ilsan was planned in o ...
,
Goyang City Goyang (; ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province in the north of South Korea. It is part of the Seoul Metropolitan Area, making Goyang one of Seoul's satellite cities. It is one of the largest cities in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, with a population ...
* Hwajeong, Goyang City * Jungdong, Bucheon * Pyeongchon, Anyang * Sanbon, Gunpo * Dongtan1, Hwaseong * Dongtan2, East Hwaseong: The largest in South Korea with more than 100,000 flats and 300,000 inhabitants * Pangyo,
Seongnam City Seongnam (; ) is the fourth largest Administrative divisions of South Korea, city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. It consists of three admini ...
* Wirye, SE Seoul * Haewun dae in East Busan. * Myeongji in West Busan * Dunsan in Daejeon after relocating air field site development.


Taiwan

After losing the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...
, the central government of China and its government forces retreated to the former Qing province and later Japanese colony of the island of Taiwan, which was still a Japanese territory under Allied occupation. As a result,
Nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
forces constructed several
military dependents' village Military dependents' villages () are communities in Taiwan built in the late 1940s and the 1950s whose original purpose was to serve as provisional housing for soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines of the Republic of China Armed Forces, along ...
s that were intended to be temporary housing for party members and their families to regain
Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
from the
Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
s. Many of these neighborhoods became permanent and still exist today. Beginning in the 1950s, the
Taiwan Provincial Government Taiwan Provincial Government is the nominal government of Taiwan Province in the Republic of China. Since 2018, its functions have been transferred to the National Development Council (Taiwan), National Development Council and other ministries ...
was moved out of
Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...
to central Taiwan for security reasons. Several new planned communities were created to house these government employees. The first planned community under the background was Guangfu New Village, located in
Wufeng, Taichung Wufeng District () is a suburban district in southern Taichung, Taiwan. It is the location of Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council. Wufeng is a mainly agricultural town. It was heavily damaged by the Jiji earthquake on 21 September 1999, wh ...
. After Guangfu New Village, other communities were created as well: *
Zhongxing New Village Zhongxing New Village, sometimes rendered as Chunghsing New Village is an urban village located in Nantou City, Nantou County, Taiwan (ROC) and was the seat of government of Taiwan Province until the abolition of the Taiwan Provincial Governmen ...
, the seat of the provincial government, Nantou County *
Liming New Village Liming New Village ( zh, t=黎明新村, p=Límíng Xīncūn) is a planned community located in Nantun District, Taichung City, Taiwan. The community's boundaries roughly corresponds to those of Liming Village. History Originally, Taipei w ...
, Taichung City In the 1970s, several new cities were planned to help alleviate the overpopulation in Taiwan's largest cities, including Linkou new town and
Danhai New Town Danhai New Town (), previously romanized as Tamhai New Town, is a large residential development in Tamsui District, New Taipei, Taiwan. It was first proposed as a new town in 1992. The project aims to create a town using 17.56 km2 of land north ...
to alleviate Taipei downtown's overpopulation, Dapingding new town to alleviate Kaohsiung downtown. Most of the new city plans during the time did not succeed due to strong opposition from locals and negative responses from various government departments.
Taichung's 7th Redevelopment Zone Taichung’s 7th Redevelopment Zone ( zh, t=臺中市第七期市地重劃區) is located in Xitun District and Nantun District, known to many local residents by its abbreviated Mandarin name "Qiqi" (七期). This area is adjacent to the 3rd, ...
, which is located in
Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...
, Taiwan, was a major planned community. Before Taichung's 7th Redevelopment Zone Plan, only a few farmhouses were scattered along a limited number of narrow streets. Today, this area the new central business district (CBD) of Taichung, away from the city's Central District. It features broad and widely spaced boulevards, large apartments complexes, department stores, and office towers. There are many universities nearby, such as
Tunghai University Tunghai University (THU; ) is a private university in Xitun District, Taichung, Taiwan, established in 1955. It was founded by the United Board for Christian Higher Education in Asia (UBCHEA). The university is known for its liberal arts educati ...
and
Feng Chia University Feng Chia University (FCU; ) is a private research university in Taiwan, located in Taichung. It was named after Chiu Feng-Chia, one of the leaders of the military resistance against the Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895. Feng Chia Univer ...
.


Turkey

Some parts of the biggest city,
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
, are being re-developed and re-planned. The capital,
Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...
, was built by a plan and is constantly re-planned. Atça,
Aydın Aydın ( ''EYE-din''; ; formerly named ''Güzelhisar; Greek: Τράλλεις)'' is a city in and the seat of Aydın Province in Turkey's Aegean Region. The city is located at the heart of the lower valley of Büyük Menderes River (ancient ...
was burned down by Greek forces in the
Turkish Independence War , strength1 = May 1919: 35,000November 1920: 86,000Turkish General Staff, ''Türk İstiklal Harbinde Batı Cephesi'', Edition II, Part 2, Ankara 1999, p. 225August 1922: 271,000Celâl Erikan, Rıdvan Akın: ''Kurtuluş Savaşı tarih ...
. The rebuilding plan was based on Paris' plan. Some other cities including
Erzincan Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...
,
Karabük Karabük is a city in the Black Sea region of Turkey. It is the seat of Karabük Province and Karabük District.Kars Kars ( or ; ; ) is a city in northeast Turkey. It is the seat of Kars Province and Kars District. ...
,
Kayseri Kayseri () is a large List of cities in Turkey, city in Central Anatolia, Turkey, and the capital of Kayseri Province, Kayseri province. Historically known as Caesarea (Mazaca), Caesarea, it has been the historical capital of Cappadocia since anc ...
,
Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...
were also planned.


United Arab Emirates

* Capital city of
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
, is a planned city to some extent * New Khalifa City The city is part of Abu Dhabi's Vision 2030 new city plan. * Certain new parts of Dubai, are planned *
Masdar City Masdar City () is an urban community in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. It was built by Masdar, a subsidiary of the state-owned Mubadala Investment Company, with the majority of seed capital provided by the Government of A ...
, conceived of as a mixed purpose residential and commercial area


South Asia


Ancient history

An urban culture is evident in the mature phase of
Indus Valley civilization The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300  BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...
which thrived in present-day Pakistan and north western India from around 3300 BC. The quality of municipal city planning suggests knowledge of
urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
and efficient municipal governments which placed a high priority on
hygiene Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refer ...
. The streets of major cities in present-day Pakistan such as
Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro (; , ; ) is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major city, cities, contemp ...
and
Harappa Harappa () is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal, that takes its name from a modern village near the former course of the Ravi River, which now runs to the north. Harappa is the type site of the Bronze Age Indus ...
, the world's earliest planned cities, were laid out in a perfect
grid pattern In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at Angle#Types of angles, right angles to each other, forming a wikt:grid, grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, fr ...
comparable to that of present-day New York City. The houses were protected from noise, odours, and thieves. As seen in the ancient sites of
Harappa Harappa () is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal, that takes its name from a modern village near the former course of the Ravi River, which now runs to the north. Harappa is the type site of the Bronze Age Indus ...
and
Mohenjo-daro Mohenjo-daro (; , ; ) is an archaeological site in Larkana District, Sindh, Pakistan. Built 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major city, cities, contemp ...
in Pakistan and western border of India, this urban plan included the world's first urban
sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...
systems. Within the city, individual homes or groups of homes obtained water from
well A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
s. From a room that appears to have been set aside for bathing,
waste water Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...
was directed to covered drains, which lined the major streets. Houses opened only to inner
courtyard A courtyard or court is a circumscribed area, often surrounded by a building or complex, that is open to the sky. Courtyards are common elements in both Western and Eastern building patterns and have been used by both ancient and contemporary a ...
s and smaller lanes. The ancient Indus systems of
sewage Sewage (or domestic sewage, domestic wastewater, municipal wastewater) is a type of wastewater that is produced by a community of people. It is typically transported through a sewerage, sewer system. Sewage consists of wastewater discharged fro ...
and
drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...
that were developed and used in cities throughout the Indus Valley were far more advanced than any found in contemporary urban sites in the Middle East and even more efficient than those in some areas of modern South Asia today. The advanced architecture of the Harappans is shown by their
dockyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes more involve ...
s,
granaries A granary, also known as a grain house and historically as a granarium in Latin, is a post-harvest storage building primarily for grains or seeds. Granaries are typically built above the ground to prevent spoilage and protect the stored grains o ...
,
warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...
s, brick platforms, and protective walls.


Medieval history

A number of medieval Indian cities were planned including: *
Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ), also spelled Amdavad (), is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 ...
in Gujarat. Established by Sultan Ahmad Shah in 1411. *
Jaipur Jaipur (; , ) is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the List of cities and towns in Rajasthan, largest city of the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. , the city had ...
in Rajasthan. Established in 1727 by Maharaja Sawai
Jai Singh II Sawai Jai Singh II (3 November 1688 – 21 September 1743), was the 30th Kachwaha Rajput ruler of the Kingdom of Amber, who later founded the fortified city of Jaipur and made it his capital. He became the ruler of Amber at the age of 11, after ...
.It is the capital of
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...
state of India. *
Udaipur Udaipur (Hindi: , ) (ISO 15919: ''Udayapura'') is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, about south of the state capital Jaipur. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Udaipur district. It is the historic capital of t ...
in Rajasthan. It was the historic capital of the former kingdom of
Mewar Mewar, also spelled as Mewad is a region in the south-central part of Rajasthan state of India. It includes the present-day districts of Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, Pratapgarh, Rajsamand, Udaipur, Pirawa Tehsil of Jhalawar District of Rajasth ...
. *
Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...
in Tamil Nadu Which was the Capital of
Chola dynasty The Chola dynasty () was a Tamil dynasty originating from Southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd cen ...
During the Rule King Raja Raja Cholan * Madurai, in the state of Tamil Nadu. It was the capital of the erstwhile Pandyan kingdom and is noted for its lotus-like symmetry. * Fatehpur Sikri in Agra. Its planning was done by the Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor Akbar the Great. * Vijayanagara, Vijayanagar in Karnataka, the capital of the erstwhile Vijayanagara Empire. * Hampi in Karnataka, which was the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire prior to the city of Vijayanagar.


Modern history


=India

= India has a number of planned cities. Some prominent planned cities are Navi Mumbai, Noida, Dholera, Amaravati, New Delhi and Chandigarh. Noida was one of the most successful experiments as a planned city, undertaken by the State Government. It was divided into sectors, with residential and commercial zones, local water tanks and electricity distributors. Each sector is surrounded by roads, which ultimately connect to New Delhi, the capital of India. The period following Partition of India, independence saw India being defined into smaller geographical regions. New states such as Gujarat were formed with planned capital cities. The major planned cities of India include: * Amaravati (capital city), Amaravati, a new city planned to become the capital of Andhra Pradesh * Auroville * Bhilai,3rd planned township in India * Bhubaneshwar, the capital of Odisha * Bidhannagar, Kolkata (Salt Lake City), planned township near Kolkata * Bokaro Steel City * Chandigarh India's first planned city * Dhule, Maharashtra, a city planned by the renowned architect of India, Sir Vishveshwarayya. * Dispur first planned city in Assam * Durgapur, West Bengal, Durgapur India's second planned city *Gandhinagar *Greater Noida * Jamshedpur, planned township in Jharkhand * Kalyani, West Bengal, Kalyani * Lavasa * Manesar (Gurgaon) * Mohali * Navi Mumbai, planned city. Contains a population of 2.6 million. * Nava Raipur, the upcoming capital of Chhattisgarh * New Delhi * New Gurgaon * New Town, Kolkata * Noida * Panchkula, planned city near Chandigarh & part of Chandigarh Tricity * Patiala * Palava City, Palava * Pimpri-Chinchwad * Rajarhat (New Town, Kolkata), a planned township near Kolkata * Rourkela * Sri Ganganagar * Vijayawada *Vishakhapatnam *Habibganj, Bhopal Habibganj Township. *Bhararisain


Turkmenistan

Arkadag, named in honor of Turkmenistan’s former President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, is a new planned
smart city A smart city is an urban area that uses digital technology to collect data and operate services. Data is collected from citizens, devices, buildings, or cameras. Applications include traffic and transportation systems, power plants, utilities ...
in Turkmenistan. Situated to the southeast of Ashgabat, the city is designed to be a modern and innovative urban hub, reflecting Turkmenistan's aspirations for technological advancement and sustainable development. Arkadag is being developed with a focus on smart technologies, including energy efficiency, modern infrastructure, and eco-friendly solutions, while preserving Turkmen cultural heritage. This city is part of a broader vision to diversify the country’s urban landscape and provide an advanced living environment for its residents. Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, is a city that has been thoughtfully planned, with its foundations laid during the Soviet era. After Turkmenistan gained independence in 1991, the city saw considerable expansion and development. Ashgabat's layout is distinguished by monumental structures, grand government buildings, and wide avenues, many of which are made of marble. The urban development aims to showcase the national pride and Turkmen heritage, combining modern infrastructure with elements of traditional culture. Türkmenbaşy, Turkmenistan, Türkmenbaşy, formerly known as Krasnovodsk, was transformed into a resort town during the Soviet era. Located on the
Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...
coast, the city was developed as an important port and industrial center. In 1993, after Turkmenistan gained independence, the city was renamed Türkmenbaşy in honour of the country’s first president, Saparmurat Niyazov, who oversaw its further development. The city is known for its modern infrastructure, including wide streets, government buildings, and beach hotels, and serves as a major hub for the country’s oil and gas industries.


Europe


History

New settlements were planned in Europe at least since Greek antiquity (see article History of urban planning). The Greeks built new colonial cities around the Mediterranean. The ancient Romans also founded many new colonial towns through their empire. There are, however, also traces of planned settlements of non-Roman origin in pre-historic northern Europe. Most planned settlements of medieval Europe were created in the period of about the 12th to 14th centuries. All kinds of landlords, from the highest to the lowest rank, tried to found new villages and towns on their estates, to gain economic, political or military power. The settlers generally were attracted by fiscal, economic and juridical advantages granted by the founding lord, or were forced to move from elsewhere from his estates. Most of the new towns were to remain rather small (as for instance the bastides of southwestern France), but some of them became important cities, such as Cardiff, Leeds, 's-Hertogenbosch, Montauban, Bilbao, Malmö, Lübeck, Munich, Berlin, Bern, Klagenfurt, Alessandria, Warsaw and Sarajevo.


Roman Empire

The Roman Empire, Romans built a large number of towns throughout their empire, often as colonies for the settlement of citizens or veterans. These were generally characterised by a grid of streets and a planned water-supply; and many modern European towns of originally Roman foundation still retain part of the original street-grid.


Belarus

Belarus has several planned towns, all built during the 1950s – 1970s from Komsomol rapid construction projects. These planned towns include: *Salihorsk, built anew to host the population of Belaruskali workers *Svietlahorsk, built on site of ''Shatsilki'' village to host population of Svetlahorsk power plant, Svetlahorsk chemical textile plant and Svietlahorsk cellulose-cardboard combinate. *Navapolatsk, built to host the population of Naftan Oil Refinery workers *Novalukoml, built to host workers of Lukoml power plant


Belgium

As many Roman army camps, the settlement of ''Atuatuca Tungrorum'', on the site of the modern town of Tongeren, grew into an important regional centre, laid out along a
grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...
and supplied with water by an Aqueduct (water supply), aqueduct. While Tongeren's administrative and military functions were moved to Maastricht in the wake of Migration Period, Germanic invasions in the 350s, given the latter's better strategic position, remains of the Roman town are visible up to this day. Named after king Charles II of Spain, the town of Charleroi (or ''Caroloregium'', in Latin) was founded in 1666 as a stronghold near the French border, to fend off potential invasions. A few years before, in 1659, the border between kingdom of France, France and the Spanish Netherlands had shifted northward due to the Treaty of the Pyrenees. This shift, and the consequent loss of fortified border towns such as Cambrai and Avesnes had sparked the need to found new forts to defend the border. The original fortifications were destroyed between 1867 and 1871, making place for a quickly expanding industrial centre. In 1923, the city of Antwerp annexed the sparsely populated, marshy lands known as Vlaams Hoofd, with the intention of using the area for urban development. Over the following decades, the terrain was elevated and a new urban community, now called Linkeroever (literally 'Left Bank'), was created. Notably, Le Corbusier submitted a plan along the lines of his ''Cité radieuse''Verstraete, A. (4 April 2019)
Zo zou Linkeroever in Antwerpen er vandaag uitzien als Le Corbusier in 1933 zijn zin had gekregen
''VRT NWS'',
but neither his plan nor those of his colleagues were accepted. Instead, Linkeroever was developed gradually over the 20th and 21st centuries, inspired by a mix of modern architecture, modernist and later ideas. When the Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968), Catholic University of Leuven was split along linguistic lines in 1968, it was decided to move its French-speaking division, the Université catholique de Louvain, from Leuven (in the Flemish Region) to a new location, some 30 kilometers south, in the Walloon Region. Construction on the town of Louvain-la-Neuve (literally 'New Louvain') began in the 1970s, in what had previously been the mostly empty countryside near the village of Ottignies. Its city centre is supported by a concrete structure, allowing car traffic to pass underneath and making the city centre a pedestrian zone.


Bosnia and Herzegovina

* Slobomir is a new town in Republika Srpska and its name means: "the city of freedom and peace". It is located on the Drina river near Bijeljina. It was founded by Slobodan Pavlović, a Bosnian Serb philanthropist. It aims to be one of the major cities of post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. In fact, the city will be located in two countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, although majority of it will be in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The city is named after its founder, Slobodan Pavlović, and his wife, Mira. * Andrićgrad is a town under construction by the famous Serbian director Emir Kusturica, and will be located in Višegrad, Republika Srpska.


Bulgaria

The cities of Stara Zagora and Kazanlak, in central Bulgaria, were rebuilt as planned cities after they were burnt to the ground in the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War. Also the city of Dimitrovgrad, Bulgaria, Dimitrovgrad in south Bulgaria, that was planned as a key industrial and infrastructure center.


Croatia

Červar-Porat is a resort town in western Croatia, located on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea on the Červar lagoon. It was built as a planned town in the 1970s, although the area was inhabited in Roman times. During the War of Independence it was used as a refugee camp, camp for refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Vukovar. It was planned to house 6500 people. Raša, Istria County, Raša in Istria was built as a "new town" during 1936–1937 as part of Mussolini's urban colonization of Istria and other Italian territories. The capital of Zagreb underwent major expansion during the 1960s. By that time, the city's official boundary was the river Sava, since nothing was built over it. After a flood in the 1960s, many residents were moved and some other districts were created for the residents, such as Gornja Dubrava, Dubrava, which was the interconnection between the Zagreb's old part and Sesvete. During the 1960s and 1970s, a planned part of Zagreb, Novi Zagreb (''New Zagreb''), was constructed, which is on the other, previously uninhabited part of the river Sava, and is now one of major districts consisting of purely residential buildings and blocks. It is still under expansion and some new landmarks were built in it, the most famous one being the recent one, Arena Zagreb, built in 2008.


Czechia

The New Town, Prague, New Town of Prague was founded in 1348 by the King and Emperor Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV. This expansion made Prague, the new imperial seat, the third largest city in Europe by area at that time. Poruba (Ostrava), Poruba and Havířov were established in the 1950s as new satellite residential towns for workers of coal-mining, steel-mill and other heavy-industry complex in the Ostrava region. Prague was extended by large housing estates – "new towns" in the 1970s and 1980s: Severní Město (Northern Town), Jižní Město (Southern Town), Jihozápadní Město (South-Western Town) were the largest, with population around 100.000 each. Their remote position to the city centre was compensated for by underground lines constructed usually a decade after the completion of the housing projects. A new housing estate called Západní Město (Western Town) is currently (2017) partly under construction (Britská čtvrť) and partly in planning stage.


Denmark

Fredericia was founded in 1650 as a combined market town and List of modern military towns, military town following the Thirty Years' War. Similarly, the North Sea port city of Esbjerg was constructed in 1868 following the loss of Altona, Hamburg, Altona (now Greater Hamburg Act, part of Hamburg). More recent examples are Græse Bakkeby in North Zealand, and Ørestad (a Districts of Copenhagen, district of Copenhagen), planned and built to strengthen development in the Copenhagen/Malmö region. The suburb of Albertslund was also built from scratch in the 1970s, merging the villages Vridsløselille and Herstedvester. In 2017, plans for a new 20,000-inhabitant town outside Frederikssund named Vinge were approved by the Danish authorities.


Finland

The city of Helsinki, previously a town of 5,000 inhabitants, was made the capital of the new Grand Duchy of Finland in 1812 by decree of Alexander I of Russia, Alexander I, Emperor of Russia. The city center was rebuilt with the lead of the German architect Carl Ludvig Engel. However, the last town in Finland that was ordered to be built on a previously completely uninhabited land was Raahe, founded by governor general Per Brahe the Younger in 1649. The city of Vaasa was rebuilt about seven kilometers northwest of its original location in 1862, after a fire which destroyed the city in 1852. The new town was planned by Carl Axel Setterberg. The disastrous consequences of the fire were considered as the design included five broad avenues which divided the town into sections and each block was divided by alleys. Hamina is an old Finnish Eastern trade capital, founded during the Swedish reign. The star-shaped fortress and the circular town plan are based on an Italian Renaissance fortress concept from the 16th century. Finland also has various "ekokylä" communities or "ecological villages". For example, Tapiola is a post-war Garden city movement, garden city on the edge of Espoo. Hervanta in Tampere is a satellite city built starting from 1970s to accommodate a growing number of urban residents. It was built far from the city centre due to lower land prices. The district was intended to be as independent as possible. It includes a large Tampere University, university campus, the Police University College (Finland), Police University College of Finland and offices of many technology companies.


France

Many new cities, called bastides, were founded from the 12th to 14th centuries in southwestern France, where the Hundred Years War took place, to replace destroyed cities and organize defence and growth. Among those, Monpazier, Beaumont-du-Périgord, Beaumont, and Villeréal are good examples. In 1517, the construction of Le Havre was ordered by Francis I of France as a new port. It was completely destroyed during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and was entirely rebuilt in a modernist style, during the Trente Glorieuses, the thirty-year period from 1945 to 1975. Cardinal Richelieu founded the small Baroque town of Richelieu, Indre-et-Loire, Richelieu, which remains largely unchanged. A program of new towns (French ') was developed in the mid-1960s to try to control the expansion of cities. Ten ''villes nouvelles'' were created. * Near Paris: Cergy-Pontoise, Marne-la-Vallée, Sénart (former Melun-Sénart), Évry, Essonne, Évry, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines * Near Lille: Villeneuve d'Ascq (Former Lille-Est) * Near Lyon: L'Isle-d'Abeau * Near Marseille: Étang de Berre, Rives de l'Etang de Berre * Near Rouen: Le Vaudreuil * Near Grenoble: L'Isle-d'Abeau La Défense, in the Île-de-France#Petite Couronne, greater Paris area, could also be considered a planned town, though it was not built all at once but in successive stages beginning in the 1950s.


Germany

Planned cities in Germany are: * Bayreuth: an example of a medieval new city * Bremerhaven: founded as a seaport in the 19th century * Friedrichstadt (Berlin), Berlin – Friedrichstadt: founded in 1691 * Eisenhüttenstadt: the "first socialist town" in Germany * Freudenstadt: the roads follow the layout of the nine men's morris game * Glückstadt: founded in 1617 by the Duke of Holstein, King Christian IV of Denmark * Halle-Neustadt: a "Stadtteil" or borough in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt * Hellerau: first German garden city founded in 1909, today part of Dresden * Karlsruhe: the roads follow the layout of a hand-held fan with the castle being at the juncture * Ludwigsburg: planned new capital for the duke of Württemberg * Quadratestadt, Mannheim Quadratestadt: squares named like ranks and files on a chessboard * Munich Maxvorstadt: the first planned city expansion of Munich was realized from 1805 to 1810 according to a raster * Neu-Isenburg: founded in 1699 as a town of exiles by French Huguenots * Neustrelitz: founded in 1733 with streets spreading from an octagonal market place * Neuwied: founded in 1653 * Putbus: built around a circular centre with radially aligned streets * Sennestadt: founded in 1956, today part of Bielefeld * Wilhelmshaven: founded as a naval base by the Kingdom of Prussia * Wolfsburg: founded in 1938 to host the factories for the newly built Volkswagen Welthauptstadt Germania was the projected renewal of Berlin as a planned city, although only a small portion was constructed between 1937 and 1943. After World War II, several expellee towns were built like Espelkamp, Neutraubling and Traunreut.


Greece

Planned cities in Greece are: *Lakki, Leros, Lakki: planned and built in the 1930s by the Italians to house members of its military stationed on the island of Leros; its initial name was Portolago * Nea Alikarnassos: founded in 1925 to house Greek refugees from Halicarnassos, Asia Minor * Orestiada: founded in 1922 to house Greek refugees from Orestiada, Eastern Thrace * Paralia Distomou: planned and built to house workers of Aluminium of Greece *Piraeus, planned to be the major port of Athens. *Sparta (modern), Sparta: planned and built next to the ancient city, in 1834 after a decree issued by King Otto of Greece


Hungary

All Hungarian planned cities were built in the second half of the 20th century when a program of rapid industrialization was implemented by the communist government. * The area of Budapest was designed in a unique geometrical fashion. * Dunaújváros, built next to the existing village Dunapentele to provide housing for workers of a large steel factory complex. Once named after Stalin, the city maintains its importance in heavy industry even after the recession following the end of Communist era. * Tiszaújváros, built next to the existing village Tiszaszederkény and was named after Lenin for decades. A significant chemical factory was built simultaneously. * Kazincbarcika, created from the villages Sajókazinc, Barcika and Berente (the latter has become independent since then) in a mining area. The city and its population grew fast after the founding of a factory. * Tatabánya, created from four already existing villages was developed into a mining town and industrial centre and shortly after its elevation to town status became the county seat of its county, a status it still maintains despite the presence of historically more significant towns in the area. * Beloiannisz (although not a town, only a village) was planned and built in the 1950s to provide home for Greek refugees of the Greek Civil War, Civil War. * The Wekerletelep was developed between 1908 and 1925 as a result of planned state construction in the area of Kispest in a unique lacy layout.


Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland the term "new town" is often used to refer to planned towns built after World War II which were discussed as early as 1941. The term "new town" in Ireland was also used for some earlier developments, notably during the Georgian architecture, Georgian era. Part of Limerick city was built in a planned fashion as "Newtown Pery". In 1961 the first new town of Shannon Town, Shannon was commenced and a target of 6,000 inhabitants was set. This has since been exceeded. Shannon is of some regional importance today as an economic centre (with the Shannon Free Zone and Shannon Airport), but until recently failed to expand in population as anticipated. Since the late 1990s, and particularly in the early 2000s, the population has been expanding at a much faster rate, with town rejuvenation, new retail and entertainment facilities and many new housing developments. It was not until 1967 that the Wright Report planned four towns in County Dublin. These were Blanchardstown, Clondalkin, Lucan, County Dublin, Lucan and Tallaght but they were subsequently reduced to Blanchardstown, Lucan-Clondalkin and Tallaght. These areas had previously contained small semi-rural villages on the edge of the city of Dublin, but were greatly expanded throughout the 1970s. Each of these towns has approximately 50,000 inhabitants today. The most recent new town in Ireland is Adamstown, Dublin, Adamstown in County Dublin. Building commenced in 2005 and it was anticipated that the occupation would commence late in 2006 with the main development of 10,500 units being completed within a ten-year timescale. As of 2017 Adamstown is complete but currently only has 3,500 out of the 25,500 planned.


Italy

A famous example of renaissance planned city is the walled star city of Palmanova. It is a derivative of ideal circular cities, namely of Filarete's imaginary Sforzinda. In the early 20th century, during the fascist government of Benito Mussolini, many new cities were founded, the most prominent being Latina, Lazio, Littoria (renamed Latina after the fall of the Fascism). The city was inaugurated on 18 December 1932. Littoria was populated with immigrants coming from Northern Italy, mainly from Friuli and Veneto. The great 1693 Sicily earthquake, Sicilian earthquake of 1693 forced the Sicilian baroque#New cities, complete rebuilding on new plans of many towns. Other well-known new cities are located close to Milan in the metropolitan area. Crespi d'Adda, a few kilometres east of Milan along the Adda River, was settled by the Crespi family. It was the first Ideal Worker's City in Italy, built close to the cotton factory. Today Crespi d'Adda is part of the Unesco World Heritage List. Cusano Milanino was settled in the first years of the 20th century in the formerly small town of Cusano. It was built as a new green city, rich in parks, villas, large boulevards and called Milanino (Little Milan).


Lithuania

In 1961 Elektrėnai was established as planned city for workers in Elektrėnai Power Plant and in 1975 Visaginas was established as planned city for workers in Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant.


Malta

* The fortified cities of Senglea and Valletta were both built on a
grid plan In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogon ...
by the Knights Hospitaller, Knights of Malta in the 16th century. * The town of Paola, Malta, Paola, also known as ''Raħal Ġdid'' (New Town), is built on a grid plan by the Grand Master Antoine de Paule. * The towns of San Ġwann and Santa Luċija were built as planned cities in the 1960s and 1970s


Netherlands

One of the 12 provinces of the Netherlands, Flevoland (pop. 437,000 in 2022), was reclaimed from the Zuiderzee (Southern Sea). After a flood in 1916, it was decided that the Zuiderzee, an inland sea within the Netherlands, would be closed and reclaimed. In 1932, a causeway (the Afsluitdijk) was completed, which closed off the sea completely. The Zuiderzee was subsequently called IJsselmeer (IJssel Lake), and its previously salty water became fresh. The first part of the new lake that was reclaimed was the Noordoostpolder (Northeast Polder). This new land included, among others, the former island of Urk, and it was included with the province of Overijssel. After this, other parts were also reclaimed: the eastern part in 1957 (Oost-Flevoland) and the southern part (Zuid-Flevoland) in 1968. The municipalities on the three parts voted to become a separate province, which happened in 1986. The capital of Flevoland is Lelystad, but the biggest city is Almere (pop. 219,000 in 2022), which was founded in 1975. Apart from these two larger cities, several 'new villages' were built. In the Noordoostpolder, the central town of Emmeloord is surrounded by ten villages, all in cycling distance from Emmeloord since that was the most popular way of transport in the 1940s (and it is still very popular). Most noteworthy of these villages is Nagele which was designed by famous modern architects of the time, Gerrit Rietveld, Aldo van Eyck, Willem Wissing and Jaap Bakema among them. The other villages were built in a more traditional, or vernacular, style. In the more recent Flevolandpolders, four more 'new villages' were built. Initially, more villages were planned, but the introduction of cars made fewer but larger villages possible. New towns outside Flevoland are Hoofddorp and IJmuiden near Amsterdam, Hellevoetsluis and Spijkenisse near Rotterdam and the navy port Den Helder. Elburg is an example of a planned city in the medieval period. The cities of Almere, Capelle aan den IJssel, Haarlemmermeer (also a reclaimed polder, 19th century), Nieuwegein, Purmerend and Zoetermeer are members of the European New Town Platform.


North Macedonia

The Aerodrom Municipality (Skopje), Municipality of Aerodrom within the city of Skopje is a planned community.


Norway

* Oslo: After a great fire in 1624, it was decided by King Christian IV of Denmark, Christian IV that the city would be moved behind the Akershus fortress. The new town, named Christiania, was laid out in a grid and is now the downtown area known as "Kvadraturen" (''the Quadrature''). The original town of Oslo was later incorporated into Christiania, and is now a neighborhood in eastern Oslo; Gamlebyen or "The Old City". * The city of Kristiansand was formally founded in 1641 by King Christian IV. The city was granted all trade privileges on the southern coast of Norway, denying all other towns to trade with foreign states. As Oslo/Christiania before it, the city was behind a fortress, with a grid system allowing cannons to fire towards the two ports of the city and the river on the eastern end.


Poland

Four cities stand out as examples of planned communities in Poland: Zamość, Gdynia, Tychy and Nowa Huta. Their very diverse layouts are the result of the different aesthetics that were held as ideal during the development of each of these planned communities. Planned cities in Poland have a long history and fall primarily into three time periods during which planned towns developed in Poland and its neighbors that once comprised the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. These are the History of Poland (1569–1795), Nobleman's Republic (16th to 18th centuries), the interwar period (1918–1939) and Socialist Realism (1944–1956).


The Nobleman's Republic of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

The extreme opulence that Poland's nobility enjoyed during the Renaissance left Poland's elites with not only obscene amounts of money to spend, but also motivated them to find new ways to invest their hefty fortunes out of the grasp of the Royal Treasury. Jan Zamoyski founded the city of Zamość to circumvent royal tariffs and duties while also serving as the capital for his mini-state. Zamość was planned by the renowned Paduan architect Bernardo Morando and modeled on Renaissance theories of the 'ideal city'. Realizing the importance of trade, Zamoyski issued special location charters for representatives of peoples traditionally engaged in trade, i.e. to Greeks, Armenians and Sephardic Jews and secured exemptions on taxes, customs duties and tolls, which contributed to its fast development. Zamoyski's success with Zamość spawned numerous other Polish nobles to found their own "private" cities such as Białystok and many of these towns survive today, while Zamość was added to the World Heritage Site, UN World Heritage list in 1992 and is today considered one of the most precious urban complexes in Europe and in the world.


Interwar period

The preeminent example of a planned community in interwar Poland is Gdynia. After World War I when Poland regained its independence it lacked a commercial seaport (''De iure'' Polish people, Poles could use Gdańsk, which was the main port of the country before the War and is again today, but ''de facto'' Free City of Danzig, the Germans residing in the city made it almost impossible for them), making it necessary to build one from scratch. The extensive and modern seaport facilities in Gdynia, the most modern and extensive port facilities in Europe at the time, became Poland's central port on the Baltic Sea. In the shadow of the port, the city took shape mirroring in its scope the rapid development of 19th-century Chicago, growing from a small fishing village of 1,300 in 1921 into a full blown city with a population over 126,000 less than 20 years later. The Modernist Center of Gdynia, Central Business District that developed in Gdynia is a showcase of Art Deco and Modernist architectural styles and predominate much of the cityscape. There are also villas, particularly in the city's villa districts such as Kamienna Góra where Historicism (art), Historicism inspired Neo-Renaissance and Baroque Revival architecture, Neo-Baroque architecture.


Socialist realism

After the destruction of most Polish cities in World War II, the Communist government that took power in Poland sought to bring about architecture that was in line with its vision of society. Thus urban complexes arose that reflected the ideals of socialist realism. This can be seen in districts of Polish cities such as Warsaw's Marszałkowska Dzielnica Mieszkaniowa, MDM. The City of Nowa Huta (now a district of Kraków) and Tychy were built as the epitome of the proletarian future of Poland.


Portugal

Vila Real de Santo António Municipality, Vila Real de Santo António was built after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, on the same model that was used for rebuilding Lisbon, Portugal's capital city (also destroyed in the earthquake), and on a similar orthogonal plan.


Romania

The cities of Brăila, Giurgiu and Turnu Severin were rebuilt, according to new plans, in the first part of the 19th century and the cities of Alexandria, Romania, Alexandria and Călărași were built completely new the same time. The town of Victoria, Romania, Victoria, located in Brașov County, was built by the communist government starting in the late 1940s. The town of Motru in Oltenia dates to the 1960s.


Russia

*Saint Petersburg was built by Peter the Great as a planned capital city starting in 1703, particularly due to his interests in seafaring and the pursuit of maritime affairs with Europe, as well as the inconvenient locations of both Moscow and Arkhangelsk, which were two important trade centers at the time. *Magnitogorsk is an example of a planned industrial city based on Joseph Stalin, Stalin's 1930s five-year plans. * The Avtozavodsky district of Tolyatti is a planned industrial city of Soviet post-war modernism. * Kostomuksha was built as a mining town in a Finnish-Russian cooperation in the 1970s–1980s. *Zelenograd was planned as a center for textile industries and was re-oriented as the center for Soviet electronics and microelectronics. Today, it hosts a computer industry known as the "Soviet/Russian Silicon Valley", and remains an important center of electronics in modern Russia.


Serbia

Novi Beograd, meaning ''New Belgrade'' in Serbian language, Serbian, is a municipality of the city of Belgrade, built on a previously undeveloped area on the left bank of the Sava river. The first development began in 1947, the municipality has since expanded significantly and become the fastest developing region in Serbia. Drvengrad, meaning ''Wooden Town'' in Serbian language, Serbian, is a traditional village that the Serbs, Serbian film director Emir Kusturica had built for his film ''Life Is a Miracle''. It is located in the Zlatibor District near the city of Užice, two hundred kilometers southwest of Serbia's capital, Belgrade. It is located near Mokra Gora and Višegrad.


Slovakia

* Partizánske was established in 1938–1939, when Jan Antonín Baťa of Zlín, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) and his powerful network of companies built a shoe factory in the cadastral area of Šimonovany municipality. The newly created settlement for workers carried the name of Baťovany and was part of Šimonovany. With the growth of the factory, so grew the settlement. The whole municipality was renamed to Baťovany in 1948 and given town status. As a sign of recognition of local inhabitants fighting in the Slovak National uprising, the town was renamed Partizánske on 9 February 1949. * Svit was established in 1934 by business industrialist Jan Antonín Baťa of Zlín, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic) in accordance with his policy of setting up villages around the country for his workers. *Nová Dubnica is the town planned by architect Jiří Kroha, according to his concept of the ideal town. The construction of the town started in 1951, and while only one third of the original project was finished, the town center still remains one of the prime examples of Stalinist architecture in Slovakia.


Slovenia

Nova Gorica, built after 1947 immediately to the east of the new border with Italy, in which the town of Gorizia remained.


Spain

During the 16th and 17th centuries, the population of Spain declined due to emigration to the Americas and later kings and governments made efforts to repopulate the country. In the second half of the 18th century, King Charles III of Spain, Charles III implemented the so-called New Settlements (Nuevas Poblaciones) plan which would bring 10,000 immigrants from central Europe to the region of Sierra Morena. Pablo de Olavide was appointed superintendent and about forty new settlements were established of which the most notable was La Carolina, which has a perfectly rectangular grid design. Later kings and repopulation efforts led to the creation of more settlements, also with rectangular grid plans. One of them was the town of La Isabela (40.4295 N, 2.6876 W), which disappeared in the 1950s submerged under the waters of the newly created artificial lake of Buendía (municipality), Buendía but is still visible just under the water in satellite imagery. Under Francisco Franco, the Instituto Nacional de Colonización (National Institute of Colonization) built a great number of towns and villages. Tres Cantos, near Madrid, is a good example of a successful new town design in Spain. It was built in the 1970s. Newer additional sections of large cities are often newly planned as is the case of the Salamanca (Madrid), Salamanca district or Ciudad Lineal in Madrid or the Eixample in Barcelona.


Sweden

Gothenburg was planned and built as a major fortified city from nothing from 1621. Karlskrona was also planned and built as a major city and naval base from nothing, beginning 1680. Vällingby, a suburb, is an example of a new town in Sweden from after 1950. Kiruna was built because of the large mine, from 1898. Arvika was also a planned city, in 1811. Most old planned cities have grown far outside the original planned areas. The new areas were usually (but not always) also planned, but later and separately. Majorna (district), Majorna is a near suburb of Gothenburg that was not planned, but grew more ad-hoc, with irregular curvy streets following the topography.


Ukraine

Odesa was built as a planned city according to 18th-century plans by the Flemish engineer Franz de Wollant (also known as François Sainte de Wollant). The same engineer also planned the following municipalities in Ukraine in the late 18th century: * Voznesensk (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Вознесенськ), in Mykolayiv Oblast * Ovidiopol (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: Овідіополь), in Odesa Oblast During its Soviet period, there were number of projects carry out in Ukraine as part of the All-Union urban development programs. In 1920s-1930s cities throughout the Soviet Union were "redeveloped" and had new neighborhoods created known as "Sots-gorodok" or "Sots-misto". After the World War II that program was discontinued, but number of cities still have some of their neighborhoods named after that program. Some city neighborhoods were developed as hubs for science development and were named as Akademgorodok which could be traced among many cities of the former Soviet Union. There also were built special cities like "Atomgrad" (cities of nuclear scientists), "Goroda Energetikov" (cities of power installers), city-satellites of hydropower plants, etc. (Teplodar, Enerhodar, Pivdennoukrainsk, Svitlodarsk, Svitlovodsk and many others). Horishni Plavni, founded in the 1960 as ''Komsomolsk'', is the most prosperous planned city in Ukraine, depending on the internationally important iron ore mining business. The city was built by method of "community effort" (Soviet Union unpaid labor) and Komsomol activism. Pripyat (city), Prypiat is another new city in Ukraine built in 1970. The city was abandoned on 27 April 1986 after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. On 26 April the city had 50,000 habitants, the majority working at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Now the ghost town, abandoned town is highly contaminated by radiation. Most of the Pripyat (city), Prypiat's former inhabitants were resettled to Slavutych which was planned and built for that purpose.


United Kingdom

The Romans planned many towns in Britain, but the settlements were changed out of all recognition in subsequent centuries. The town of Winchelsea is said to be the first post-Roman new town in Britain, constructed to a grid system under the instructions of Edward I of England, King Edward I in 1280, and largely completed by 1292. Another claimant to the title is Salisbury, established in the early 13th century by the then Bishop of Salisbury, Bishop of Sarum. The best known pre-20th-century new town in the UK was undoubtedly the New Town, Edinburgh, Edinburgh New Town, built in accordance with a 1766 master plan by James Craig (architect), James Craig, and (along with Bath and Dublin) the archetype of the Georgian architecture, Georgian style of British architecture.


England

The term "new town" often refers in the UK to towns built after World War II under the New Towns Acts. These were influenced by the garden city movement, launched around 1900 by Ebenezer Howard and Sir Patrick Geddes and the work of Raymond Unwin, and manifested at Letchworth, England, Letchworth Garden City and Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire. Following World War II, some 17 projected new towns were designated under the New Towns Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 68), and were developed partly to house the large numbers of people whose homes had been destroyed by the Luftwaffe during World War II, WW2 and partly to move parts of the population out of (mainly Victorian era, Victorian) urban slums. New Towns policy was also informed by a series of wartime commissions, including: * the Barlow Commission (1940) into the distribution of industrial population, * the Scott Committee into rural land use (1941) * the Uthwatt Committee into compensation and betterment (1942) * (later) the John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, Reith Report into New Towns (1947). Also crucial to thinking was the Patrick Abercrombie, Abercrombie Plan for London (1944), which envisaged moving a million and a half people from London to new and expanded towns. (A similar plan was developed for the River Clyde, Clyde Valley in 1946 to combat similar problems faced in Glasgow.) Together these committees reflected a strong consensus to halt the uncontrolled sprawl of London and other large cities. For some, this consensus was tied up with a concern for social welfare reform (typified by the Beveridge Report), as typified in the motto ''if we can build better, we can live better''; for others, such as John Betjeman it was a more conservative objection to the changing character of existing towns. Following the building of Borehamwood, Middlesex, 12 miles north-west of central London, the first in a ring of major "first generation" New Towns around London (1946) were Stevenage, Hertfordshire, 33 miles to the north of London, and Basildon, Essex, 32 miles east of London along the River Thames. Hertfordshire built four other new towns, two in the vicinity of Stevenage (Welwyn Garden City and Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield), a third to the north called Letchworth, and Hemel Hempstead to the west. New Towns in the North East England, North East were also planned, such as Newton Aycliffe (which the social reformer and government adviser William Beveridge wanted to be the "ideal town to live in"), Washington, Tyne and Wear, Washington, Killingworth, Billingham, County Durham, Billingham and Peterlee which were in both County Durham and Northumberland (except Washington and Killingworth which are now in Tyne and Wear). Bracknell in Berkshire, to the south-west of London, was designated a New Town in 1949 and is still expanding. Other London new towns from this era include Harlow in Essex and Crawley in West Sussex. Later, a scatter of "second-generation" towns were built to meet specific problems, such as the development of the Corby Steelworks. Finally, following the New Towns Acts#New Towns Act 1965, New Towns Act 1965, five "third-generation" towns were launched in the late 1960s: these were larger, some of them based on substantial existing settlements such as Peterborough. Probably the most well-known was Milton Keynes History of Milton Keynes#Designated area, designed from the outset to be a new city midway between London and Birmingham, known for its Milton Keynes grid road system, grid network of distributor roads between rather than through neighbourhoods, its Listed building, G2 listed central park and "covered high street" shopping centre. The 1960s saw new towns being designated around England's second-city Birmingham, namely Redditch, Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth and Telford. Other towns, such as Ashford, Kent, Ashford in Kent, Basingstoke in Hampshire and Swindon in Wiltshire, were designated "Expanded Towns" and share many characteristics with the new towns. Scotland also gained three more new towns: Cumbernauld in 1956, noted for its enclosed Cumbernauld town centre, 'town centre', Livingston, West Lothian, Livingston (1962) and Irvine, Ayrshire, Irvine (1966). In spite of the relative success of new towns in the London Metropolitan green belt, London continued to suffer from a chronic housing shortage, especially in the south-east. Another small New Town, Thamesmead, was developed adjacent to the Thames in the early 1960s but suffered from poor transport links. Some improvement in infrastructure has been seen subsequently. All the new towns featured a car-aware layout with many roundabouts and a grid-based road system unusual in the old world. Milton Keynes in particular has a Milton Keynes grid road system, grid-based distributor road system, designed to minimise traffic in residential areas. The earlier new towns, where construction was often rushed and whose inhabitants were generally plucked out of their established communities with little ceremony, rapidly got a poor press reputation as the home of "new town blues". These issues were systematically addressed in the later towns, with the third generation towns in particular devoting substantial resources to cycle routes, public transport and community facilities, as well as employing teams of officers for social development work. The financing of the UK new towns was creative. Land within the designated area was acquired at agricultural use value by the development corporation for each town, and infrastructure and building funds borrowed on 60-year terms from the UK Treasury. Interest on these loans was rolled up, in the expectation that the growth in land values caused by the development of the town would eventually allow the loans to be repaid in full. However, the high levels of retail price inflation experienced in the developed world in the 1970s and 1980s fed through into interest rates and frustrated this expectation, so that substantial parts of the loans had ultimately to be written off. All New Towns designated under the New Towns Act of 1946 were serviced by a secretariat, the New Towns Association, a quango that reported to the New Towns Directorate of the Department of the Environment. It coordinated the work of the General Managers and technical officers, published a monthly information bulletin and provided information for visitors from around the world. As each New Town reached maturity, the town's assets were taken over by the Commission for New Towns. Set up in 1948, the New Towns Association was dissolved in 1998. All papers held by it and the Commission for New Towns are held in The National archives: From the 1970s the first generation towns began to reach their initial growth targets. As they did so, their development corporations were wound up and the assets disposed of: rented housing to the local authority, and other assets to the Commission for New Towns (in England; but alternative arrangements were made in Scotland and Wales). The Thatcher Government, from 1979, saw the new towns as a socialist experiment to be discontinued, and all the development corporations were dissolved by 1992 (with the closure of Milton Keynes Development Corporation), even for the third generation towns whose growth targets were still far from being achieved. Ultimately the Commission for New Towns was also dissolved and its assets – still including a lot of undeveloped land – passed to the English Industrial Estates Corporation (later known as English Partnerships). Many of the New Towns attempted to incorporate public art and cultural programmes but with mixed methods and results. In Harlow the architect in charge of the design of the new town, Frederick Gibberd, founded the Harlow Art Trust and used it to purchase works by leading sculptors, including Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. In Peterlee the abstract artist Victor Pasmore was appointed part of the design team, which led to the building of the Apollo Pavilion. Washington New Town was provided with a community theatre and art gallery. The public art in Milton Keynes includes the Concrete Cows, which resulted from the work of an 'artist in residence' and have gone on to become a recognised landmark. In the 1990s, an experimental "new town", developed by Charles, Prince of Wales, the Prince of Wales to use very traditional or vernacular architectural styles, was started at Poundbury in Dorset.


Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland, building of Craigavon, County Armagh, Craigavon in County Armagh commenced in 1966 between Lurgan and Portadown, although entire blocks of flats and shops lay empty, and later derelict, before eventually being bulldozed. It was intended to be the heart of a new Linear settlement, linear city incorporating Lurgan and Portadown, but this plan was mostly abandoned and later described as having been flawed. Derry was the first ever planned city on the island of Ireland. In 1613, Work began on building the new city across the River Foyle from the ancient town of Derry ( or ). The walls were actually completed five years later in 1618. The central diamond (plaza) within a walled city with four gates was thought to be a good design for defence.


Scotland

Two "post-war new towns" were planned at East Kilbride (1947) and Glenrothes (1948), then the late 1950s and early 1960s saw the creation of Cumbernauld, Irvine, North Ayrshire, Irvine and Livingston, West Lothian, Livingston. Each of these towns is in Scotland's list of 20 most populated towns and cities. Glenrothes was the first new town in the UK to appoint a town artist in 1968. A massive range of artworks (around 132 in total) ranging from concrete hippos to bronze statues, dancing children, giant flowers, a dinosaur, a horse and chariot and crocodiles, to name but a few, were created. Town artists appointed in Glenrothes include David Harding (artist), David Harding and Malcolm Robertson.


Wales

The only new towns in Wales have been Newtown, Powys, Newtown and Cwmbran. Cwmbran was established to provide new employment in the south eastern portion of the South Wales Coalfield.


North America and the Caribbean


Canada

When Prime Minister John A. Macdonald began to settle the West in Canada, he put the project under the command of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), which exercised complete control over the development of land under its ownership. The Politics of Canada, federal government granted every second square mile section (totalling 101,000 km2) along the proposed route to the railway. The railway decided where to place the railway stations, stations, and thus decided where the dominant town of the area would be. In most instances they built stations on empty sections of land to make the largest profit from land sales – meaning that the CPR founded many towns in western Canada, such as Medicine Hat and Moose Jaw, from scratch. If an existing town was close to the newly constructed station but on land not owned by the railway, the town was forced to move itself to the new site and reconstruct itself, essentially building a new town. Calgary, Alberta and Yorkton, Saskatchewan, were among the towns that had to move themselves. After the CPR established a station at a particular site, it planned how the town would be constructed. The side of the tracks with the station would go to business, while the other side would go to warehouses. Furthermore, the railway controlled where major buildings went (by giving the town free land to build where they wanted things to go), the construction of roads and the placement and organization of class-structured residential areas. The CPR's influence over the development of the Canadian west's communities was one of the earliest examples of new town construction in the modern world. Later influences on planned community development in Canada were the exploitation of mineral and forest wealth, usually in remote locations of the vast country. Among numerous
company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
s planned and built for these purposes were Corner Brook and Grand Falls-Windsor, Grand Falls in Newfoundland, Témiscaming and Fermont in Quebec. In the modern suburban context, several "New Towns" were established in the suburbs of large cities. Early examples include Leaside in Toronto and Mount Royal, Quebec, Mount Royal in Montreal. Both were planned and developed by the Canadian Northern Railway as middle class suburbs, though both, Leaside in particular, featured large industrial tracts. Leaside had its own municipal government until 1967, while Mount Royal continues to enjoy autonomy from the City of Montreal. In the post-war period, new corporate new towns were developed. Bramalea, Ontario, Bramalea, located in Brampton, Ontario and Erin Mills, located in Mississauga, Ontario, were both developed in phases. Both included residential, commercial and industrial components. Development in Erin Mills continues to this day. More recently, the Cornell, Ontario, Cornell development in Markham, Ontario, was built as a new town, using the concepts of New Urbanism. CityPlace, Toronto, CityPlace in Toronto is another example of a planned community.


Mexico

Tenochtitlan was the capital of the Aztec empire, which was built on an island in Lake Texcoco in what is now the Federal District in central Mexico. The city was largely destroyed in the 1520s by Spanish conquistadores. Mexico City was erected on top of the ruins and, over the ensuing centuries, most of Lake Texcoco has gradually been drained. Puebla, Puebla, Puebla was built because of the need of a Spanish settlement in the route between Mexico City and the port of Veracruz, Veracruz, Veracruz. Cancun in the state of Quintana Roo is a planned city, considered a tourism destination of global scale. It was transformed from old-growth forest to a well known Mexican destination.


United States


Colonial and pre-Industrial periods

In the colonial history of the United States, the first planned community was St. Augustine, Florida, St. Augustine, planned in 1565. The earliest towns in English-speaking America such as Jamestown, Virginia, Jamestown had only rudimentary elements of planning. The first comprehensively planned town was Charles Town (later Charleston, South Carolina), which was founded in 1670, planned in 1672, and relocated in 1680. Later planned cities included Philadelphia, 1682; Albany, New York, Albany, 1695; Williamsburg, Virginia, Williamsburg, 1699; Annapolis, Maryland, Annapolis, 1718; New York City 1731 (redesigned by the British); Savannah, Georgia, Savannah, 1733; New Haven, Connecticut, New Haven, 1748 (with an early plan dated 1638); and Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria, 1749. The national capital (Washington, D.C.), and several state capitals (Jackson, Mississippi; Columbus, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Raleigh, North Carolina; Columbia, South Carolina; Madison, Wisconsin; Salt Lake City, Utah; Tallahassee, Florida; and Austin, Texas) were essentially carved out of the wilderness to serve as capital cities. The Harmony Society created socialist utopian religious communities in Harmony, Pennsylvania (1804), New Harmony, Indiana (1814), and what is now Old Economy Village in Pennsylvania (1824). Radical Pietists founded a community at Zoar, Ohio in 1817, which was active until 1898. The Amana Colonies laid out seven villages in central Iowa, starting in 1855. They remain today substantially unchanged.


Industrial Revolution era

During the early- to mid-19th century, after the success of Slater's Mill and mills at Waltham, Massachusetts, wealthy investors such as the Boston Associates bought land on rivers, built dams and textile mills, and created mill towns including Lowell, Massachusetts, Lowell, Lawrence, Massachusetts, Lawrence, and Holyoke, Massachusetts, Holyoke, Massachusetts. Pullman, Chicago, Pullman, now incorporated into Chicago's South Side, Chicago, South Side, was a world-renowned company town founded by the industrialist George M. Pullman in the 1880s. Venice, Los Angeles, Venice of America, a California City opened in 1904, founded by Abbot Kinney who saw a swamp like area wetland of land in Los Angeles County as an opportunity to create a visitor destination on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The entire city was laid out to conform to the contours of natural water runoff which allowed him to dredge mud from the low-lying areas thereby forming canals and with the dirt that was removed in the process, along the sides of the canals raise the elevation high enough to create housing pads. In Beaver County, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh, American Bridge Company founded Ambridge, Pennsylvania in 1905 as a
company town A company town is a place where all or most of the stores and housing in the town are owned by the same company that is also the main employer. Company towns are often planned with a suite of amenities such as stores, houses of worship, schoo ...
for American Bridge; American Bridge is still based near Ambridge today in nearby Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. Another well-known company town is Gary, Indiana, which was founded in 1906 by the United States Steel Corporation as a home for its new steel mill, the Gary Works, and named after Elbert Henry Gary, the chairman of the company. For many years the Gary Works was the largest steel mill in the world, and it dominated the town, the main entrance being at the northern end of Broadway (Gary), Broadway, the city's main thoroughfare. The fortunes of this planned city have historically risen and fallen with those of the steel mill: prosperous in the 1930s, the city has lost 55 percent of its population since 1960. Riverside, Illinois, Radburn, New Jersey, and Kansas City, Missouri's Country Club District are other early examples of planned communities. Riverside is arguably the first planned suburb (as opposed to a stand-alone entity) in the United States, designed in 1869 by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted. The village was incorporated in 1875. Established in 1912, Shaker Heights, Ohio, was planned and developed by the Van Sweringen brothers, railroad moguls who envisioned the community as a suburban retreat from the industrial inner-city of Cleveland. Kohler Company created a planned village of Kohler, Wisconsin, the same name west of the company's former headquarters city of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, which incorporated in 1912. In 1918, the Aluminum Company of America built the town of Alcoa, Tennessee for the employees of the nearby aluminum processing plant. Mariemont, Ohio is a town financed in the 1920s by philanthropist Mary Emery, designed as a place for both single-family homes and affordable apartments outside of the inner city. The Ferrer Center and Colony, Stelton Colony in New Jersey was established as an anarchist community.


Government-led schemes

During the Florida land boom of the 1920s in South Florida, the communities of Coral Gables, Florida, Coral Gables, Opa-locka, Florida, Opa-locka, and Miami Springs, Florida, Miami Springs, now suburbs of Miami, were incorporated as fully planned "themed" communities which were to reflect the architecture and look of Spain, Arabia, and Mexico respectively, and are now considered some of the first modern planned communities in the United States. Oldsmar, Florida, Oldsmar, located in west central Florida, was developed by automobile pioneer Ransom E. Olds. In 1928, San Clemente, California was incorporated by Ole Hanson who designated that all buildings must be approved by an architectural review board to retain control over development and building style. During the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
of the 1930s, several model towns were planned and built by the Federal government. Arthurdale, West Virginia, Arthurdale, Eleanor, West Virginia, Eleanor, and Tygart Valley Homesteads Historic District, Tygart Valley, West Virginia, federally funded New Deal communities, were Eleanor Roosevelt's projects to ease the burden of the depression on coal miners. The Tennessee Valley Authority created several towns of its own to accommodate workers constructing their new dams; the most prominent being Norris, Tennessee. Three "Greenbelt Communities", Greenbelt, Maryland, Greenhills, Ohio, and Greendale, Wisconsin, built by the Federal government during the 1930s were planned with a surrounding "belt" of woodland and natural landscaping. Government policy prevented initial settlement by African-Americans in these communities. During World War II, the Manhattan Project built several planned communities to provide accommodations for scientists, engineers, industrial workers and their families. These communities, including Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Richland, Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico were necessary because the laboratories and industrial plants of the Manhattan Project were built in isolated locations to ensure secrecy. Even the existence of these towns was a military secret, and the towns themselves were closed to the public until after the war.


Postwar period

The William Levitt, Levittowns—in Long Island, Pennsylvania and New Jersey (now known as Willingboro, New Jersey) – typified the planned suburban communities of the 1950s and early 1960s. California's Rohnert Park, California, Rohnert Park (north of San Francisco) is another example of a planned city (built at the same time as Levittown, Pennsylvania, Levittown) that was marketed to attract middle-class people into an area only populated with farmers with the phrase, "A Country Club for the middle class." Concord Park, Pennsylvania, established in 1954, was intended to be a model racially integrated community, though to accommodate discriminatory attitudes among financiers, the fraction of African-American households was capped at 45%. Parts of Lexington, Massachusetts (Six Moon Hill, Five Fields, Peacock Farm, and Turning Mill / Middle Ridge) were developed along different philosophical linkes, with mid-century modern architecture and semi-communal property, in stages from 1947 to 1967.


Modern planned cities

The era of the modern planned city began in 1962–1964 with the creation of Reston, Virginia, followed a year later by Coral Springs, Florida, and Columbia, Maryland. In more recent years, New Urbanism has set the stage for new cities, with places like Seaside, Florida, Seaside, Florida, and Celebration, Florida, Celebration, Florida, developed by The Walt Disney Company. In the United States, suburban growth in the Sunbelt states has coincided with the popularity of Master Planned Communities within established suburbs. In 1970, Jonathan, Minnesota became the first new town in the United States to receive a guarantee of financial assistance from federal government as part of Title IV of the Housing and Urban Development act of 1968; this community folded in 1979, though remnants of the planned community are still visible today. Las Colinas, established in 1973, was another early example and is still growing. Las Colinas is a master planned community within the Dallas-area city of Irving, Texas, Irving. In 2006, residents approved changes to deed restrictions to allow greater density of urban mixed-use and residential construction. Also in the 1970s, just north of the existing town of Spring, Texas (north of Houston), oil and gas industry executive George P. Mitchell developed The Woodlands, Texas, The Woodlands, a major residential and commercial master planned community which is now considered one of the premier residential and business destinations in the Houston area. The Woodlands is still experiencing huge growth to this day. In the 1990s, Cinco Ranch, Texas, Cinco Ranch was first developed just south of the existing town of Katy, Texas, Katy, one of the western suburbs of Houston, and has contributed to the explosive recent growth of Houston's suburban west side. In the San Francisco Bay Area, master planned commercial developments such as Bishop Ranch in San Ramon, California, San Ramon and Hacienda Business Park in Pleasanton, California, Pleasanton have attracted major corporate tenants to relocate from downtown Oakland and San Francisco; these companies include Safeway Inc., Safeway, Chevron Corporation and AT&T Inc., AT&T (as the former Pacific Bell). Towns such as Mountain House, San Joaquin County, California, Mountain House, California, added an additional wrinkle to the movement: to prevent conurbation with nearby cities, they have imposed strict growth boundaries, as well as automatic "circuit breakers" that place moratoriums on residential development if the number of jobs per resident in the town falls below a certain value. Centennial, California, a planned community on a portion of Tejon Ranch halfway between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, California, Bakersfield, incorporates such restrictions to minimize the commuter load on severely congested Interstate 5, I-5. Coyote Springs, Nevada, Destiny, Florida and Douglas Ranch, Buckeye, Douglas Ranch in Buckeye, Arizona are amongst the largest communities being planned for the 21st century. A recent twist is the town of Ave Maria, Florida, founded in 2007, which is anchored by Ave Maria University, a Catholic university and has a large Catholic Church in the United States, Catholic church in the center of town surrounded by commercial and residential development. Although the Walt Disney Company divested its interest in Celebration, Florida, in March 2022, the company selected Rancho Mirage, California as the location of its first mixed-use Storyliving by Disney community. Named Cotino, the community is being developed in collaboration with DMB Development of Scottsdale, Arizona.


South and Central America


Colonial cities in Spanish and Portuguese administration

The colonial city was the basic administrative organism of the Portuguese Brazil, Portuguese and Spanish America, Spanish viceroyalties in America. Cities were built and organized according to the Castilian model. Streets were drawn according to a perpendicular layout and in the center was the "Plaza de Armas", where the local and religious authorities were. Cities can be divided into several categories: administration centers, international ports, regional ports, mining centers, indigenous centers, agricultural centers, presidios, border military centers or religious centers (missions). Cities, of course, grew and transformed over time. The only example of the original layout of a city from the first decades of the conquest can be seen in the ruins of León Viejo, next to Lake Managua, in Nicaragua. The city was abandoned and moved to its current location before the end of the 16th century.


Argentina

La Plata was planned in 1880 to replace Buenos Aires city as the capital of the Buenos Aires Province. Urban planner Pedro Benoit designed a city layout based on a rationalist conception of urban centers. The city has the shape of a square with a central park and two main diagonal avenues, north–south and east–west. (In addition, there are numerous other shorter diagonals.) This design is copied in a self-similar manner in small blocks of six by six blocks in length. Every six blocks, one finds a small park or square. Other than the diagonals, all streets are on a rectangular grid, and are numbered consecutively. The designs for the government buildings were chosen in an international architectural competition. Thus, the Governor Palace was designed by Italians, City Hall by Germans, etc. Electric street lighting was installed in 1884, and was the first of its kind in Latin America.


Brazil


Brasília

Juscelino Kubitschek, President of Brazil from 1956 to 1961, ordered the construction of
Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...
, fulfilling the promise of the Constitution and his own political campaign promise. Building Brasília was part of Juscelino's "fifty years of prosperity in five" plan. Lúcio Costa won a contest and was the main urban planner in 1957, with 5550 people competing. Oscar Niemeyer, a close friend, was the chief architect of most public buildings and Roberto Burle Marx was the landscape designer. Brasília was built in 41 months, from 1956 to 21 April 1960, when it was officially inaugurated. The former capital of Brazil was Rio de Janeiro, and resources tended to be concentrated in the southeast region of Brazil. While the city was built because there was a need for a neutrally located federal capital, the main reason was to promote the development of Brazil's hinterland and better integrate the entire territory of Brazil. Brasília is approximately at the geographical center of Brazilian territory. Lúcio Costa, the city's principal architect, designed the city to be shaped like an airplane. Housing and offices are situated on giant superblocks, everything following the original plan. The plan specifies which zones are residential, which zones are commercial, where industries can settle, where official buildings can be built, the maximum height of buildings, etc.


Belo Horizonte

In 1889, Brazil became a republic, and it was agreed that a new state capital of Minas Gerais, in tune with a modern and prosperous Minas Gerais, had to be set. In 1893, due to the climatic and topographic conditions, Curral Del Rey was selected by Minas Gerais governor Afonso Pena among other cities as the location for the new economical and cultural center of the state, under the new name of "Cidade de Minas," or City of Minas. Aarão Reis, an urbanist from the State of Pará, was then set to design the second planned city of Brazil (the first one is Teresina), and then Cidade de Minas was inaugurated finally in 1897, with many unfinished constructions as the Brazilian Government set a deadline for its completion. Inhabitation of the city was subsidized by the local government, through the concession of free empty lots and funding for building houses. An interesting feature of Reis' downtown street plan for Belo Horizonte was the inclusion of a symmetrical array of perpendicular and diagonal streets named after Brazilian states and Brazilian indigenous tribes.


Goiânia

The plan was for a city of 50,000 with the shape of a concentric radius – streets in the form of a spoke, with the Praça Cívica as the center, with the seats of the state and municipal government – The Palace of Emeralds and the Palace of Campinas. In 1937, a decree was signed transferring the state capital from the Cidade de Goiás to Goiânia. The official inauguration only occurred in 1942 with the presence of the president of the republic, governors, and ministers.


Other

Fordlândia was built to be a part of Henry Ford's motor company. Originally intended to be a rubber plantation, it failed within several years and is now home to squatting farmers. Other notable planned cities in Brazil include Teresina (The first one, inaugurated in 1842), Petrópolis, Boa Vista, Roraima, Boa Vista, Palmas, Tocantins, Palmas, Londrina, and Maringá (the latter two in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná).


Chile

While cities such as Santiago, La Serena, Chile, La Serena or Concepción, Chile, Concepción were planned and built in the Conquest of Chile, Conquista period (16th century), it was in the 18th century when authorities promoted the founding of cities through the Population Office ('), establishing new planned cities such as Rancagua, Talca or Chillán. After Independence of Chile, Independence, more planned cities were founded to expedite the consolidation of national sovereignty in remote places, such as Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas and Temuco. In the 20th century onwards there were a few cases, like Coyhaique, though until the 1930s there were private planned communities for mining workers called ''List of saltpeter works in Tarapacá and Antofagasta, oficinas,'' such as Sewell, Chile, Sewell or María Elena, Chile, María Elena.


Panama

Although Panama City itself is not planned, certain areas are such as Costa del Este, an exclusive high density residential and business area, very close to downtown Panama City. The project combines many skyscrapers with beautiful green areas, and it is close to a highway that connects it to the city center. Other planned areas, but in a lesser degree, are Punta Pacifica and the former Canal Zone.


Venezuela

* Guayana City – Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State : Guyana City is a city in Bolívar State (Venezuela), Bolívar State, Venezuela. It lies south of the Orinoco, where the river is joined by the Caroni River (Venezuela), Caroní River. The city, officially founded in 1961, is actually composed of the old town of San Félix at the east and the new town of Puerto Ordaz to the west, which lies on the confluence of the Caroní River, Caroní and Orinoco Rivers and is the site of the Llovizna Falls. There are bridges across the Caroni and a new bridge across the Orinoco (Second Orinoco crossing). The city stretches 40 kilometers along the south bank of the Orinoco. With approximately one million people, it is Venezuela's fastest-growing city due to its important Ironworks, iron and steelworks and aluminium industries. The city has a large hydroelectric power plant, Macagua Dam. Guayana City is one of Venezuela's five most important ports, since most goods produced in Bolívar are shipped through it, onto the Atlantic Ocean via the Orinoco river. Due to its planned nature, the city has a drastically different feel to it than many other South American cities. The towers of the Alta Vista district recall Barranquilla, and many of the residential neighborhoods have architecture and landscaping that are similar to suburbs in the United States in the 1950s, including 'cookie cutter' homes, sidewalks, and patterned lawns. This is an artifact due to the presence in the 1960s and early 1970s of US Steel, an American company with iron mining operations in the region. US Steel built housing for hundreds of its American expatriate workers and families, who lived in Puerto Ordaz and other communities until the nationalization of the Venezuelan steel industry forced the company and its workers to leave.


Oceania


Australia

Australia's most prominent fully planned city is
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
, its capital, designed by American architect Walter Burley Griffin. The early central areas of two state capital cities – Adelaide and Melbourne – were also planned by surveyors. Walter Burley Griffin was Australia's most notable city planner, having also designed smaller cities and towns, including Leeton, New South Wales, Leeton and Griffith, New South Wales, Griffith in New South Wales. A controversial Japanese-backed planned city, Multifunction Polis, was proposed in the 1980s, but never implemented. Australia is still building planned communities with developers such as Delfin Lend Lease, an S&P/ASX 50 company, that has been responsible for large master planned communities such as; * Forest Lake, Queensland, Brisbane (completed 2004) * The New Rouse Hill, Sydney (current) * Golden Grove, South Australia (Completed 1991)


Adelaide

Adelaide was founded by British and German colonists in 1836 to test out Edward Gibbon Wakefield's theories of systematic colonisation. Convict labour was not employed and the colony in theory would be financially self-sufficient; in practice, government assistance was used in the early stages. Land had been sold before any European settlers set foot in the largely unexplored territory and the city (the basis for the future central business district) was surveyed and planned in a remarkably short space of time. Adelaide's design has been praised for its four-square layout, its choice of setting and its ample parklands which have had minimal encroachment of developments. The town centre was in sufficient proximity to a water source, the River Torrens.


Melbourne

Melbourne was planned as a free settlement in 1837 through the Hoddle Grid, drawn up by Robert Hoddle under instructions from George Gipps, the original plan for Melbourne as part of the first land sales (prior to the planning only a handful of existing settlements were built on the fringe of the grid). The grid featured wide parallel streets, spanning a gently sloping valley between hills (Batman's Hill, Flagstaff Gardens, Flagstaff Hill and Eastern Hill) and roughly parallel to the course of the Yarra River. The deliberate exclusion of city squares or open space within the grid was a subject of future frustration for the municipality and residents. Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, in the centre of the grid, was built over a gully and has therefore been prone to flooding. Despite a later extension and later inclusion of planned suburbs, Melbourne's original plans were not as extensive as Adelaide's, and the city rapidly outgrew its original boundaries. As such, it is often not considered to be a planned city, but the grid continues to define much of the character of the Melbourne city centre.


Canberra

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
, established in 1908, was planned as the capital city of Australia and is Australia's most notable and ambitious example of civic planning. The city was designed to be the Federal Capital following the federation of the six Australian colonies which formed the Commonwealth of Australia. The new nation required a capital that was located away from other major settlements such as Melbourne and Sydney. Canberra is thus located in a Territory – the Australian Capital Territory – and not a State. Prior to this time the land that Canberra is found on was farming land, indigenous settlements, and forest. In 1912, after an extensive planning competition was completed, the vision of American Walter Burley Griffin was chosen as the winning design for the city. Extensive construction and public works were required to complete the city, this involved the flooding of a large parcel of land to form the center piece of the city, Lake Burley Griffin. Unlike some other Australian cities, the road network, suburbs, parks and other elements of the city were designed in context with each other, rather than haphazard planning as witnessed in much of Sydney. Notable buildings include the High Court, Federal Parliament, Government House, War Memorial, Anzac Parade and headquarters of the Department of Defence.


New Zealand

New Zealand has several small ''new towns'', built for a specific purpose. Examples include Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty (a mill town), Twizel in south Canterbury, and Mangakino in the Waikato (both for hydroelectricity). Construction of Kawerau began in 1953. Twizel was built in 1968 to house workers constructing the Upper Waitaki River, Waitaki hydroelectric scheme and was supposed to close on their completion. However, its residents managed to save the town in 1983. Mangakino, constructed from 1946, was also meant to be a temporary construction town, but it too remains today. John Martin, the founder of the Wairarapa town of Martinborough, set out the town's first streets in the pattern of the Union Flag in the 19th century. In 2006, construction began on Pegasus Town, a new planned town adjacent to Woodend, New Zealand, Woodend, approximately north of Christchurch.


See also

* Lists of purpose-built capital cities * List of planned cities * Arcology * Arcosanti * ''Cardo, Cardus'' and ''Decumanus Maximus, decumanus'' in Roman ''Colonia (Roman), coloniae'' * Company town * Garden city movement * Grid plan * Housing estate * Model village * Multifunction Polis * International Olympic Committee, Olympic Movement * Principles of Intelligent Urbanism * Private community * Urban planning * List of urban planners * Utopia


Notes


References


Further reading

*


External links


European New Town Platform

Town and Country Planning Association
(formerly the Garden Cities Association)

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160821024235/http://www.bestlaidschemes.com/moviezone/new-towns/ Movie: New Towns in Scotland]
UK Model Villages, Garden Cities and New Towns
(this links to a Keyhole Markup Language file that opens in Google Earth to see aerial photos of the places.) {{DEFAULTSORT:Planned Community Planned communities,