Urban renovation in Italian ideal cities during the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Abstract

Renaissance meant a change in lifestyles, social customs and society’s way of thinking. This entailed a shift in the attitudes and behavior towards the layout of cities, which –mainly during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries in Italy– gave birth of several proposals for the design and development of a perfect city, known by the name of the Ideal City (Italian città ideale). These proposals were developed and studied by a group of humanist architects who defended the theory that such cities made up an urban body subject to planning in all its parts, and which could therefore meet military defense goals and improve poor sanitation conditions, borne by cities for a long time. The purpose of this article is to carry out a critical analysis of these proposals in order to achieve common and differentiating parameters.