62 



THE THEORY OF CITY DESIGN. 



By G. H. Knibbs, f.r.a.s., 

 Lecturer in Surveying, University of Sydney. 



[Read before the Royal Society of N. S. Wales, September 4, 1901. .] 



1. Introductory. 



2. General idea of a city. 



3. Radial street-system. 



4. Position of radial centres. 



5. Combination of radial and rectangular street systems. 



6. Curved streets. 



7. Cardinal direction of rectangular streets. 



8. Width of streets. 



9. Localisation of the various types of street. 



10. Grade and cross-section of streets. 



11. Engineering features of streets. 



12. Size of blocks between streets. 



13. Height of buildings. 



14. Theory of aspect. 



15. The aesthetics of design. 



16. Sites for monumental buildings and monuments. • 



17. Treatment of streets from the standpoint of aesthetics. 



18. Public parks and gardens. 



19. Hygienic elements of design. 



20. The preliminaries of design. 



21. Conclusion. 



1. Introductory — The duty of designing and setting out an 

 important city, 1 is one which, in the near future and in the 

 ordinary course of things, will be cast upon the Commonwealth 

 of Australia. An elaboration of the principles which should 

 govern the design of such a city, and a statement of the several 

 matters which call for systematic consideration in connection 

 therewith, is therefore not inopportune. Neither is it of small 

 moment. Such an office as the creation of a capital city, practi- 

 cally unhampered by any conditions of existing settlement, and 



1 The Federal Capital. 



