Table of contentsIntroductionHow utopia is defined/describedEbenezer HowardLe CorbusierSoria Y MataPatrick GeddesFrank Lloyd WrightCommon themesAfrican utopiasEko Atlantic, NigeriaHope City, GhanaKonza Technology City, KenyaKigali, RwandaCommon themesSimilarities and differences between planning utopias and African utopias: SimilaritiesDifferencesConclusionIntroductionUtopia: “an imagined place or state of things in which everything is perfect”. I will explain how Howard, Le Corbusier, Soria Y Mata, Patrick Geddes and Frank Lloyd Wright defined “utopia” as their ideal place or state of life. I will also describe African utopias. After describing the utopias and then comparing the different definitions given by architects, urban planners and sociologists and those of African utopias, the aim is to give the similarities and differences which will show why these plans were made. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"? Get the original essay How utopia is defined/described Ebenezer Howard The editor of Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to True Reform in 1898, better known as the name of Garden Cities of To-demain. He experienced the pollution, traffic jams and societal upheavals of the modern industrial city. Howard's ideas on urban reorganization, spatial zoning, the inclusion of nature in cities, the green belt and the development of a new self-sustaining community outside the crowded city center, laid the foundation for the entire tradition of modern town planning. He described his plan as a kind of human community based on the "city-country magnet", where we have the best of both worlds, the city magnet which represents the modern city combining workplaces and services, and the opposite campaign magnet. with natural elements representing rural districts. As its concentric ring diagram shows, Central Park lies in the center of the Garden City with significant communal buildings and surrounded by a "Crystal Palace" ring of retail stores. The entire city is to be surrounded by a permanent agricultural green belt and the new towns are to be connected to the central “social cities” by a system of rail lines. The city and the countryside are two magnets that attract people towards them. There are not just two alternatives, but a third which is being introduced where all the active and bustling city life will take place with all the appeal and pleasure of the countryside. Showcasing a natural movement of people from crowded cities to the most expensive countries on earth. Country Towns are freed from the disadvantages of each. (Howard, 1902)Le CorbusierDesigner of the “Radiant City” which was to be a straight and orderly city for the future, it was not only a more balanced urban environment, but also a thorough social improvement. Le Corbusier's design of the ideal city was inspired by the way the organs of the human body work, working together to function. The main tactic was to generate vertical buildings and leave plenty of common open space between them for people to use and enjoy. Horizontal areas would be traffic passages and public scenes with abundant greenery. Cyclists, motorists, pedestrians and community transport have been distributed on different routes to get around. In the center, the residential area is separated from the commercial areas by a business district connected by underground transport. The apartments would have a view of public spaces. Corbusier designed urban villages in the sky. (Curtis, 2006)Soria Y Mata« Soriatheorized a single developed strip of no more than 500 meters wide, with a dominant tramway and roadway and residential and commercial plots on either side of agreed size and separated by smaller streets, at the connections of which there would be kiosks and shops, and in the center of which there would be schools, hospitals, courtrooms. No point in the city would be more than a few hundred yards from the countryside. (Collins,1959)Patrick GeddesPatrick Geddes believed that every city had its own soul and therefore its own identity and unique character. He criticized the consolidation of other cities into one. He also believed that cities should develop naturally instead of creating a rigid form. He was against the mass planning approaches used by the utopias, because he believed the plans had almost nothing to do with the people who lived in those cities. Geddes said the grid street layout has done more harm to the city than it has improved it. To implement a geometric plan, it is necessary to demolish many houses and shops that obstruct the large monumental buildings, which then violates the spirit of the city. (Lesser, 1974) Frank Lloyd Wright His utopian plan to create the perfect community: The Broadacre City. Wright predicted that densely populated cities would soon begin to disappear, absorbed into a new city invisible as it spread across the entire country. His plan was therefore to redistribute the population across the continent. “He proposed retaining the full diversity of urban life, scattering factories and skyscrapers across the landscape, creating regional markets and local centers of culture, entertainment and education. His plan also provides for a diversity of lifestyles: a minimum of housing on one-acre plots, small and large apartment buildings. Broadacres is a town, he insisted; telecommunications and the convenience of road transport have changed the scale by which we must measure proximity. (Dougherty, 1981) Broadacres where men use machines to improve their freedom. Common Themes The utopias that were safely planned or declared as the planners' ideal cities all had the best interests of the people at heart, as planned for the people. Autonomous cities, advanced in everything and in all things. Most have a better and efficient transportation system, including a tree-lined one, solving the problem of overcrowding in cities by planning elevated apartments, common kitchens and laundry facilities, creating socialization in the community. Most city planners wanted to conserve greenery, thereby making the city ecologically sustainable. Separate the industrial from the residential. African utopiasEko Atlantic, Nigeria “Eko Atlantic City is a 10 square kilometer city built as an extension of Victoria Island. The city provides premium accommodation for 250,000 people and employment opportunities for another 150,000 people who will travel to and from the city daily. » (Lemanski and Oldfield, 2009). The development of the city has a positive environmental impact, as it counteracts erosion.Hope City, GhanaHope is a technology-planned city. This is a major mixed-use development, incorporating high quality housing, corporate, leisure, retail, hospitality, educational, social and recreational uses. A city in which different functions, different social classes and different tastes meet. This tactic will activate social interactions and less solidified socialization between people. The city is developed to be ecologically sustainable and socially attractive. Konza Technology.