How can the Hellenistic city be described?

The Hellenistic city: sanitary, orderly, well-organized, esthetically unified; but grossly inferior in its capacity for fostering creative activity” may well reflect the stages of growth of the city but lacks the individualized touch of the less planned city and does not imitate utopia. Development of the long avenue and open arcades attempted to fashion a new aesthetic plan and was later used in American cities in their gridiron plan. The streets were therefore used as a replacement of the function of the parks and garden open spaces. Even the later developments of Hellenistic cities still didn’t incorporate the open courts or gardens that were a feature of European cities. It is significant that the width of the streets was widened to facilitate transport and larger numbers of people highlighting that connectivity was of importance. This movement largely ignored the two architectural features of perspective and the long axis but merely offered more of the same as the occupants traveled the length of the arcade.

Urban space is “all types of space between buildings in towns and other localities.”

In Figure 3 it can be observed that the space in the city of Belfast’s, St Anne’s square is designed to entice the user into the various building such as the MAC whereas the space in the city of London’s Hyde Park is designed to do the opposite. The intent of architect Peter Zumthor in designing the walled garden was so that the “double-framed structure could offer a beautiful experience of tranquillity and intimacy”.