City plans from the Ancient Age in Asia minor

AbstractDuring the ancient age, a city (polis) was a small state which commanded thewhole area where it was located. The heart of this state was constituted by anindependent centre which was defined as ?city state? and had a geographicalintegrity. The scope of this master?s dissertation covers the formation of theconcept of the city, the evolution of the city planning, and the plans of theantique cities in Asia Minor. In addition, the thesis includes examples fromcities outside Asia Minor in order to emphasise the similarities and differences.The first part of the masters dissertation contains the objective of the study, itsscope, and, its methodology. Although the evolution of the city plan during theantique age displayed a basic continuity, the development of many Helen citieswas considerably slow. So, in this section, the journey of city planning duringthe Helen historical periods is analysed as well. This section also includes aninvestigation to explore the contributions of the Roman Period to the antiqueage city planning and an examination of the city infrastructure.The style of city planning and its technique are signs of the level of civilisation.The second part of this thesis attempts to demonstrate, using Asian Minor cityexamples, the long and complex process in Helen city planning. With these cityexamples, Helen societal living and the process of its historical evolution arereflected upon. The cities which are taken into consideration under the sectiondevoted to ?Asian Minor City Planning? are examined by dividing them intoregions. Amongst the main objectives of this study, the analysis of the city plansin Asia Minor during the antique era and their casting in an orderly manner arerealised in this section. In the third and the last section, carefully chosen cityexamples with clear cut plans from outside Asia Minor are given. The mainsources of this dissertation are the ?The City in the Greek and Roman World?and ?How the Greeks Built Cities? books that are written by E.J. Owens andR.E. Wycherley respectively. Both books describe the shape of the Helen city,and the position of certain elements within the city. Another main source bookfor this study is F. Haverfield?s ?Ancient Town - Planning? that includesexplicit statements on the evolution of the Helen city. Despite the fact thatHaverfield?s 1913 dated book is not considered as a contemporary source, itscontent is in parallel with the aim of this dissertation. While discussing cityplans in the other parts of the thesis, various sources are also referred, and theimportance of the Ancient Age Asia Minor City planning in the history ofcivilisation is underlined.