agora
a public place for business and recreation; a marketplace

amphitheatre
level ground surrounded by rising slopes; a semicircular rising gallery in a theatre

architect
person who designs buildings or other complex structures, prepares plans and supervises construction

axial
around or about an axis (a link between two or more places)

Baroque
exuberant and ornate artistic style of the 17th and early 18th centuries

basilica
an oblong hall or building used as a law court or assembly hall in the Roman empire. The basilica form was adopted as an appropriate style for a Christian church after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire in the fourth century, and again in the Renaissance, for example, St Peter’s basilica in Rome.

boulevard
a broad street with rows of trees planted along it

circus
a circle or ring; a road forming a closed loop; an open (mostly circular) area in a town where streets converge; a circular range of houses

City Beautiful
architectural and town planning style of the early 20th century that advocated the treatment of a city as a work of art

classical
referring to the culture, art and architecture of ancient Greece and Rome

colonnade
a series of columns placed at regular intervals supporting a horizontal structure or roof

court
a clear space enclosed by walls or buildings

engineer
person who designs, constructs and maintains works of public utility such as roads and bridges

freeway
a large road uninterrupted by cross streets, allowing higher traffic speeds

Garden City
town planning movement of the early 20th century, founded by Ebenezer Howard, and promoting the idea of separating residential and industrial/commercial areas with bands of parkland

highway
a broad roadway linking towns and cities

industrial revolution
rapid development of industry in the early 19th century through the introduction of machines – as work became concentrated in factories, industrial towns grew around them

landscape architect
person who designs the location of buildings, roads, and walkways, and the arrangement of flowers, shrubs, and trees. Landscape architecture was pioneered by practitioners such as Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed New York’s Central Park, to integrate open space with the built environment of a major city.

megalopolis
a very large city, or a group of cities that has merged into one

metropolis
the chief city of a country; a large busy city

obelisk
a four-sided stone pillar set up as a monument or landmark

organic city
a city grown from a small settlement, not built to a plan

parkway
a highway that passes through open spaces (and in Australia, bushland, for example the Tuggeranong Parkway in Canberra)

plane table
a drawing-board mounted on a tripod so that survey data can be obtained and plotted in the field

Renaissance
revival of the art and literature of classical Greece and Rome, beginning in Italy in the 14th century

ringstrasse
(German) literally ‘ring road’ – a road encircling a city

suburb
residential area within the boundaries of a town or city

surveyor
person who measures and maps land or a building site to establish boundaries, identify topographical features, and estimate labour and costs involved in planned work

town planner
person who designs the layout of towns and cities

urban
pertaining to a city or town

ziggurat
a stepped tower or pyramid of ancient Mesopotamia