Ideal town
Ideal town was a Renaissance concept developed by Italian polymath Leon Battista Alberti, author of ten books of treatises on modern architecture titled De re aedificatoria written about 1450 with additions made until the time of his death in 1472. Alberti's architectural theories concerned the planning and building of an entire town as opposed to individual edifices for private patrons or ecclesiastical purposes.
Alberti insisted on choosing the location of the town first, followed by careful setting up of the size and direction of streets, then location of bridges and gates, and finally a building pattern ruled by perfect symmetry. One of the more prominent examples of a town modelled on this theory was Zamość founded in the 16th century by the chancellor Jan Zamoyski. At present, it is a World Heritage Site in Poland.
