Urban Morphology Three Colonial Cities. Boston Philadelphia

Urban Morphology

Three Colonial Cities

Boston

Philadelphia

Plan Influences - New England

Organic: “unplanned,” develops over time in response to functional needs of community, influenced by topography

Bastide: European new towns; egalitarian assignment of land; orthogonal plan

Plan Influences – Mid-Atlantic

Speculator’s Model – grid-plan

(London’s West End with square)

London Rebuilt (City of London)

Leicester Square

Philadelphia’s Elfreth’s Alley

Southern Economy

Agriculturally based plantations

Weak town system

Southern Colonies -- Annapolis

Southern Plan Influences

English Renaissance in America

(Georgian Style)

Grand lay-out: circles & squares

Town served social & political functions

State House

Grand Residences

Shiplap House

City Docks

Three Models in Colonial America

Organic, functional [Boston]

American Grid – Land Speculator’s Model

[Philadelphia] English Renaissance

[Annapolis]