the City Edge

The Walled Edge
the earliest cities had no need for walls.
Most of the time, the natural
topography of the land was defense
enough. Border cities had some sort of
fortifications but otherwise, walls were
more a matter of allegiance than
defense.
The walls were dispensed with when
the political power was strong and
wanted to show off its glory by their
removal, such as the Ottoman empire.
In absence of their own defenses,
settlements depended on a central
fortified zone, to escape to when in
danger. Other means were to build the
outermost houses in a tight ring of
walls with a windowless periphery.
The presence of a definite physical
boundary limited the city‟s expansion,
also it made it effective in protecting
market privileges.
THE CITY EDGE
The Catal huyuk, Turkey.: note the tight
clustered formation of houses with one continuous
wall
The Chaco culture, New Mexico. Urban form as
measure of defense