ABSTRACT
Architect Eliel Saarinen writes in The City: Its Growth, its Decay, its Future that a “city is an open book in which to read aims and ambitions” (Saarinen 1965: ix). Italian, French, Japanese, American and other cities reveal the underlying framework of the respective social, cultural and political systems. The unique qualities that differentiate squares and housing types in Paris, London, Tokyo or Tunis indicate the underlying philosophies of each city.
