The Evolution of the Ideal City

Abstract

The 20th century consists of technological improvements and societal changes due to industrialisation and the two World Wars. Architects, urban planners, artists, critics, and other professions sought to create a better future using different themes and available technologies to visualise an ideal city based on their ideals about people’s needs. This research focused on Van den Broek and Bakema’s ideal city and how it emerged over the course of the 20th century. The study investigated how the ideal city developed in their work from 1900 until 1965. The research identified that Van den Broek and Bakema’s ideal city was formed through thoughts and outcomes discussed during meetings within different modernist groups. The period after World War II had a significant influence on how people perceived the world and how the living environment should operate. Van den Broek and Bakema attempted to combine these aspects in creating their ideal city, emphasising the importance of interactions and social communities through transitions between different layers in the living environment to counter individualism. The study also revealed that Van den Broek and Bakema’s approach was in line with the principles of De Stijl, the C.I.A.M., and Team 10 which are discussed during this research.