This paper deals with the interacting aspects of urban development and building regulations in the Netherlands. Two towns are placed in context and compared, both of them known for their systematic lay-out: the small town of Elburg, which was founded as a new town in the 14th century, and Amsterdam, which became one of the largest European towns during the Dutch Golden Age. Over the long term, the development of urban practice and building codes shows more continuity than is generally assumed. Maybe the main difference between medieval and early modern urbanism lies in the amount of archival material on which we base our ideas on planning, not in the motives and methods of planners. In most towns building regulations were first issued in reaction to environmental problems and disastrous events, such as floods of fires, but also to create regular, functional cities. At a later stage we see the role of building codes changing from reactive to pro-active.

In Late Antiquity, many laws were issued to regulate complex social and economic matters, including the control of real estate, construction, and the management of private buildings. A new building practice and culture of re-use gradually became predominant in a changing society. The present essay compares this legislation with the archaeological evidence in order to ascertain the characteristics of the process, assess the contribution of the ruling classes, and distinguish different building procedures in urban areas.

As a part of the Ottoman modernization process, new regulations and institutions for urban management started to be established in Istanbul. This paper handles the 18th century as an initial period for these urban reforms and studies how the built environment was regulated at the time. The regulations of 18th century which were based on the occasion of natural disasters and public dispute will be evaluated via official archive documents and narratives. 18th century Istanbul’s general urban fabric was formed with organic narrow streets and small timber houses. With the ethno-religious diversity embedded to this picture, the city had a complex and fragile character. Numerous fires causing massive destructions raised a need for precautions. Several orders related to construction systems, building height, size of building elements like eaves and projections were issued. On the other hand, the fact that urban constituents like ownership were not defined clearly in the modern sense made public dispute very common. Apart from the complexity of the built environment, most of the conflicts arose from the social structure of Istanbul which was comprised of various ethno-religious groups. There was a clear distinction of Muslims and non-Muslims in the urban realm as they had different building regulations, until the issuing of the Tanzimat Firman. The regulations of the 18th century was based on cases, rather than being comprehensive generalized rules for the urban fabric and thus had a more proscriptive nature rather than prescriptive.

Assistance in the organization of international workshop on the sources (textual and visual/architectural) and methodologies that can be used for the study of good governance in the late medieval city.

In this article we attempt to sketch a few main lines of development in the design and building practice in the cities of Holland over an extended period from the fourteenth to the nineteenth century. In examining the leading public works of civic architecture, the authors aim to trace the most significant transformations through the centuries, in the belief that organizational changes can best be explained by reference to shifts in the demand for building work. The emphasis lies on church building in the fifteenth century and on the municipal building industry in later centuries, because these activities showed a high degree of organization. The article will be published in two consecutive issues of OverHolland, in which we will discuss the periods of growth and contraction in the demand for building work, in chronological order. Each of the two parts will begin with a brief introductory section presenting the periods and major themes to be examined. In part I, which covers the period from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century, Hurx begins with the boom in the construction of city churches in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Van Essen then describes how city authorities assumed increasing responsibility for public works in the fifteenth and particularly the sixteenth century. Part II will begin with an examination of the massive increase in the scale of building work in the seventeenth century, stemming from the explosive growth of a number of cities. In this section, Van Essen will describe the development of the office of the stadsfabriek into a largescale municipal construction company. In the second section of part II, Medema will discuss the reorganization of the building sector in the eighteenth century as a result of economic decline.

This paper discusses the development of legislation in the fields of urbanism and construction in Serbia and worldwide (England is used as an example). This development is viewed through characteristic periods and the enacted laws and regulations are systematized. The introduction of urban legislation is recorded in Serbia when the Construction Act of 1931 was enacted whereas in England it was the Town Planning Act of 1909.

European Association for Urban History, 15th International Conference on Urban History Cities in Motion, Antwerp 2-5 september 2020 More information: https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/conferences/eauh2020/sessions/sessions-overview/session-type/specialist-sessions/# www. friarscity.eu Contact: friarscity@polito.it The purpose of the session is to study the urban, architectural, social and economic consequences that the arrival of the Mendicant Orders involved in the European cities of the Middle Ages. They are invited to present proposals of different historical disciplines (topics on built environment, on artistic and architectural history, on religious, economic, social subjects connect to urban history) aimed at investigating the theme proposed in the session. In particular, we believe it is useful to start a debate regarding some urban phenomena triggered by the convents of the mendicant orders and verify their actual consequences on the urban structure and architectural solutions adopted, starting from some specific cases. In this way, we aim to verify how a phenomenon on a European scale can interact with individual local cases, both in big cities and in small villages.

As urban communities in Western Europe mushroomed from the twelfth century onward, authorities promptly responded with a plethora of regulations to facilitate, at least in theory, the orderly cohabitation of dwellers within the city walls. Many of these rules concerned public health matters, such as the disposal of waste, the protection of water supplies, and the sale of wholesome foodstuffs. In some cases, sanitary regulations drew from Ancient Greek and especially Galenic medical theory, which stressed the importance of a hygienic environment in safeguarding the urban body from disease. The effective execution of such measures relied in part on the active engagement and compliance of the population. Shared assumptions regarding physical and spiritual well-being, social cohesion, neighbourliness, and economic prosperity, as well as the pursuit of ideals of urbanity, fed into communal efforts to police the environment, the behaviour of others, and the conduct of the self. Nonetheles...