Grid-planned city
Ciudad planificada en retícula
- Date
- c. 2600 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, Pakistan
- Credited to
- Indus Valley Civilisation
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Orthogonal street layout oriented to the cardinal points, regular blocks, a raised citadel and lower town, repeated across dozens of Indus settlements. It implies prior design and an authority capable of enforcing it.
It is debated whether the Indus layout is strictly a 'grid' or only approximately orthogonal; early planning also existed in Egypt (Kahun, c. 1900 BCE) and Mesopotamia (Habuba Kabira).
What it led to
- Urban planning as a discipline, with design preceding construction
- Cultural homogeneity across a territory of over a million km2 with no evidence of kings or armies
- An (independent) model for the Hippodamian, Chinese and Roman grid
Built on
- Standardized fired brickc. 2600 BCE
- Practical geometry and land surveyingc. 2500 BCE
- Standardised brick
- City of Uruk