The Doug Allen Institute

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This is the first lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series. It begins with a simple question—"What is a city?"—which leads to surprisingly complex answers.

The third lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series explores the ancient cities of the Aegean and Mediterranean world. Lecture 03 traces the foundation of Minoan cities on Crete and Greek cities at Mycenae and elsewhere. It concludes with the Late Bronze Age Collapse and transition to Classical Greek cities.

The fourth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series introduces the Classical Greek city of Athens and explores how urban spaces, such as the Agora, provided a foundation for Greek and Western politics, culture, and institutions.

The fifth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series continues the exploration of the Greek Agora and how this formed a new kind of political space that would influence Western cities for centuries. This lecture highlights places and institutions in Athens, Greece, the influence of Hippodamus of Miletus, and the expansion of Greek planning into Mediterranean colonies.

The sixth lecture (in two parts) in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series begins to the question "why Rome?" What is the importance of this Italian city that has influenced Western cities for two millennia? This lecture explores the Roman influence on European and African cities, the founding cultures and myths of Rome, and the ancient foundations of the city.

The sixth lecture (in two parts) in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series begins to the question "why Rome?" What is the importance of this Italian city that has influenced Western cities for two millennia? This lecture explores the Roman influence on European and African cities, the founding cultures and myths of Rome, and the ancient foundations of the city.

The seventh lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series continues to explore the importance of Rome and Roman culture on Western cities. This lecture starts with early Rome — key landmarks, institutions, and infrastructure — and expands that template into the Roman founding and administration of cities across Italy and the Mediterranean world.

The eighth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series expands Roman town planning from the city of Rome to the larger commonwealth. The lecture explains the concept of a "city" in the Roman mind, the template of Roman town planning, the classification of cities in the Roman world, and the relationship between Roman cities and counryside, with examples from Ostia and Pompeii. This lecture also explores Roman housing styles and measurements.

The ninth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series concludes the early history of Rome and addresses how the city becomes a filter through which later Western civilization is filtered. The lecture begins in the development of late Republican Rome — the Palatine palaces, fora, markets, and theaters — and then explores the Imperial era and fragmentation of the Roman empire. The lecture concludes with an examination of Roman Constantinople and the rise of Islamic cultures.

The tenth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series discusses the origins of European Medieval cities and the impact of the fall of the Roman Empire. This lecture explores the influence of Roman town founding on later city development and AEJ Morris' classification of Medieval city types.

The eleventh lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series continues the discussion of Medieval European cities, specifically focusing on their functions and forms with the reemergence of trade. The lecture continues AEJ Morris' classification of city types as well as Medieval city components — streets, walls, gates, churches, castles, and agricultural territory.

The twelfth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series continues the examination of Medieval era cities in Africa and Arabia. It compares and contrasts African and Arabian cities to European cities — including similar forms, functions, and processes — and explores examples including Sana'a, Timbuktu, Ghat, Jerusalem, Damascus, Marrakesh, Fes, Cairo, Aleppo, Jeddah, Djenne, etc.

The thirteenth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series explores the transition from the ancient and Medieval worlds through the Renaissance to the modern era. This pivotal lecture both condenses and expands many critical ideas in the course, primarily the idea that Medieval scholars, artists, and merchants rediscovered the Classical treasures of Rome and reinterpreted many elements — architecture, ideal city form, art, and institutions — to become the modern Western world.

The fourteenth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series is a seminal moment that addresses the shift from the Ancient and Medieval worlds to the Modern world via the Italian Renaissance. This lecture explains the evolving political, exemplified in Siena, and economic, shown by Florence, frames in Italy and their influence on the concepts of the Ideal City. The lecture also explores the invention of Perspectival Space in art history and its influence on architecture and urban design.

The fifteenth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series continues the Italian Renaissance and Europe's transition into the modern world. It concludes the previous lecture's discussion of Florence's early Renaissance works, including the Uffizi and Ponte Vecchio, before returning to Rome to see Michelangelo's Campidoglio and the impact of the Reformation on that city.

The seventeenth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series expands developments of the Renaissance by moving from Italy to France. The lecture explores Paris from ancient history to the dawn of the modern era, focusing the emergence of the royal places under the Bourbon monarchs and the expansion of Renaissance ideals.

The eighteenth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series continues to explore the development of Renaissance principles in France. The lecture finishes a discussion of Paris' royal places. It then moves to the Chateau d’ Richelieu and Versailles as examples of new French "villas" that incorporated and advanced emerging city ideals and new urban forms.

The nineteenth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series continues the discussion of Louis XIV and Andre Le Notre's development of Versailles, France. It discusses the history of Paris and Versailles as capitol cities, the relationship of Versailles in the regional landscape, the Italian Renaissance and Rome's influence on the palace and grounds, and a diagrammatic dissection of the Versailles' grounds.

The twentieth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series travels from Europe to cities in the Islamic World. It explores pre-Islamic, Islamic, and planned cities in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. The lecture also describes unique elements of Islamic cities, including caravanserai, bazaars, baths, and housing, especially in Sana'a, Yemen.

The twenty-first lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series addresses London, England, and that city's pattern of residential squares. It resumes the discussion of Europe in the Renaissance-era, but explores the differences that made English and British urban patterns unique.

The twenty-second lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series crosses the Atlantic Ocean from European and Old World cities to the establishment of New World colonial cities. It concludes Lecture 21 with a discussion of London's residential squares, primarily Bedford Square, and the importance of that tradition on British and American cities.

The twenty-third lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series continues the story of colonial cities in the Americas. It concludes Lecture 22's examination of colonial enterprises and influence of French trading routes and settlements on North America, especially New Orleans.

The twenty-fourth lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series continues to explain the conceptual differences of Streets. Doug introduces the concept of streets while explaining its origins. He goes ahead to explain the difference between roads and streets while referencing to their nomenclature-history.

City of the Dreadful Night, the 26th lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series captures the time period of urban development between te 1700s and 1800s. A transition form traditional forms of urban design to a railway dependent urban form.

Reactionary Tactics I - the 29th lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series continues to discuss the evolution of urban areas. Comparing and contrasting the early developments between Amsterdam and New York / Manhattan, Doug walks us through the the beginnings of the idea of suburbs and their eventual spread throughout the western world.

The 29th lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series explores reactions to the industrial city of the 19th Century, specifically the development of residential suburbs. This lecture includes the introduction of Fredrick Law Olmsted's new "parkway" streets in Boston and his development of Riverside, Illinois, and the emerging planned garden suburbs in the United States.

The 34th lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series examines the transition between late 19th Century and early 20th Century American cities. It details the development of Modernism, the introduction of automobiles in cities, and advancement of planned cities. The lecture explores a number of American and international cities but focuses primarily on Radburn, New Jersey, and that city's influential plan.

The 35th lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series traces the expansion of regulatory frameworks in the 20th Century. It beings with the Zoning Enabling Statute and early foundations of urban planning in the United States and then walks through the key legal cases of Euclid v. Ambler and Nectow v. Cambridge, focusing on the differences between application and constitutionality of laws

The 38th lecture in Doug Allen's History of Urban Form series brings the timelines and lessons of the course up to the modern day. It describes the Congress for the New Urbanism and larger New Urbanist movement as a reaction to the 20th Century's Athens Charter and CIAM.