ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the origins of Greek town planning and to analyse its development. The establishment of the new cities could be achieved without the problems which restricted a more methodical approach to development in the towns from which the colonists had come. The origins of Greek planning remain a source of endless debate and controversy. Undoubtedly the Near East remains the most likely area from which the Greeks developed regular town planning. Inspired by the quest for land, seeking new markets and raw materials, or merely due to disillusionment with conditions at home, the Greeks established new, permanent settlements throughout the Mediterranean and along the Black Sea coast from the eighth century bc onwards. Not every Greek colony throughout the Mediterranean and the Black Sea was regularly planned. The principles of the town plan of Megara Hyblaea were refined into a standard urban design in the subsequent centuries in Greek colonies throughout the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.