The city has historically been conceived as a project, with a sense of duty to be: it is the prefiguration of a reality that emerges from the negation of the pre-existing city. The city anticipates a desired future from an ideal perspective that tends to overcome the existing structural or particular challenges of the present. It can be argued that this proposition represents the historical trajectory of urban thought on a planetary scale. Therefore, the prospective dimension of the city constituted a central dynamic in urban theory throughout history, leading to the emergence of planning as a key approach.
The history of the city as a project is the core of the first volume in this two-part contribution. It presents an overview of diverse city projects that have been pursued throughout history, providing a framework for exploring new perspectives of urban development. The cities profiled and analyzed here reflect a living catalog of initiatives that can inform promising directions. More than a compilation, this volume compares and critically assesses these historical projects to provide a grounding for the contemporary advances presented in the second volume.