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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 January 2009
The present war will leave architects unexpected and wonderful opportunities for replanning our cities and making them more worthy of the name ‘city’. The impressive schemes already laid before the public show that they intend to be ready when the moment comes. They will produce something better than a formless huddle of shops and slums or a wide but still formless expanse of suburbs. A more organic structure will be their object, built round a vital centre. In achieving this the creators of the new towns will be guided first and last by the needs and ways of life of those who will have to live in them. These will not be sacrificed to tradition or to artistic fancy. There will be no meaningless imitation and no appeal to precedent unless it is based on similar ways of life and similar ideas. For these reasons one hesitates to turn to classical precedents; but perhaps there is something in the ancient Greek city, the polis, which is not altogether foreign to the modern spirit, and arising out of this, elements in its architectural form which are applicable to modern needs.
The city in the best sense of the word was a Greek creation. The polis was a compact community in which life was so organized that each citizen could get the greatest benefit from his membership. It was not so large that he was completely swallowed up, but it was sufficiently large for him to enjoy a rich and full political and economic, social and intellectual life.
page 13 note 1 Wiegand, T., Priene, Berlin, 1904Google Scholar; Schede, M., Die Ruinen von Priene, Berlin and Leipzig, 1934Google Scholar; see also Haverfield, F., Ancient Town-Planning, Oxford, 1913, p. 43Google Scholar; Von Gerkan, A., Griechische Städteanlagen, Berlin and Leipzig, 1924, pp. 94–104CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Robertson, D. S., Greek and Roman Architecture, Cambridge, 1943, p. 189Google Scholar; Greece and Rome, Oct. 1939, Pl. LI.Google Scholar
page 15 note 1 Alternatively, modern constructional methods could dispense with outer supports; this would give greater openness and better lighting.