Components and elements of a city

Ancient Cities Present Cities Future Cities

Social and cultural - pedestrian streets

- small and less developed as transport such as bicycles, bullock cart, chariots, coaches are used

- people gather in homes / gardens of homes therefore no parks

- open theatres and arenas like ancient Greeks

- places of worship – beautifully ornamented and built as the link between the ruler and divinity such as Angkor Wat

- walls of temples or palaces are usually sculptured with historical events, artefacts, cosmology designs or faces of deities

- tall towers, covered galleries, chambers, porches and courtyards on different levels linked by stairways

- the place where people come together to enjoy the city and each other such as grand central parks and squares to small local neighbourhood parks

- landscape where the green part of the city that weaves throughout in the form of urban parks, street trees, plants, flowers and water in any forms. For example grand parks such as Central Park in New York to small intimate pocket parks

- resemble the origin of its occupants such Chinatown in America with its pagodas and decorated with lanterns and carvings of calligraphy

- tall towers are linked by lifts as well as stairways for emergency purposes

- bearing in mind the number of people to accommodate

- the standard and pace at which the city has to be developed

- to meet the needs of the cultural sensitivity (such as places of worship, weddings, gatherings, etc.) of the people intend to live in this city

Economic - no tall buildings / skyscrapers but majestically design buildings

- quick set up stalls

- homes are usually made with natural resources such as bamboos, timber or bricks as they lead an agricultural lifestyle

- barays are built for transportation, bathing and drinking

- local businesses and entrepreneurship shape the design of the buildings such offices, shopping complexes, factories or workshops

- buildings shape and articulate shape by forming the street walls of a city

- well-designed buildings or groups of buildings work together to create a sense of space such as Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur

- the different uses of land – for residential purposes, commercial purposes and industrial enterprise will determine the designs of the buildings

- the construction of transportation and communication system will be adjusted to space available

Environment - a lot of bridges and narrow roads used by chariots / coaches and pedestrians

- lots of greenery

- designed for civil defence / military such as British palaces surrounded by moats, tunnels in Vietnam or the barrier on the boundaries to separate and protect the country such as the Great Wall of China

- water supply via water wheels or dug up wells

- streets are the connections between spaces and places. The pattern of the street networks is part of what defines a city and what makes a city unique. Street range from Grand Avenues such as Champ-Elyses in Paris and small, intimate pedestrian streets

- transport connects the various parts of cities and helps shape the cities such as roads, highways, rails, bicycle lanes, airports and pedestrian networks. All these form the total

- the extent of space that has to be preserved for various purposes such as public spaces, open spaces, agricultural, recreation spaces, facilities such as schools, parks, playgrounds and shopping complexes

- practices of green engineering in construction of buildings and homes

- windmills to generate energy to mill grains therefore no air pollution

- canals and waterways used for tranportation

movement system of a city whether it is friendly or hostile to pedestrians. The best cities are the ones that elevates the experience of the pedestrians while minimizing the dominance of the private automobiles

- underground tubes, shinkansen or bullet train rails built to transport people to work in cities but they reside in suburban areas such as in London, Tokyo or Shanghai

- building structurally built to withstand to a certain extent of the natural disaster such as earthquake in Japan

- island linked bridges or expressway such as in Hong Kong

- canals and waterways used for tourism purposes