Medieval insights for modern urban planning
In his PhD research, historical geographer Marcel IJsselstijn developed a new approach that improves our understanding of how medieval cities were planned. He hopes it will help archaeologists, urban planners and designers address contemporary challenges. ‘This method makes it easier to assess risks.’
For his dissertation (PhD defence on 4 June), IJsselstijn explored the origins and development of medieval cities. For a long time, it was thought that there were broadly two types of city: meticulously planned cities developed top-down by rulers, and cities that grew gradually and ‘organically’ from the bottom up. This distinction is too simplistic. ‘The model is appealing because it is simple, but it doesn’t reflect the complexity of how cities actually developed’, says IJsselstijn.
How do people use the space?
His new model does not start from the physical form of a city, but from the people who shaped it. Who were they, and what functions did they assign to a place? Which activities needed to be concentrated? Economic functions played a crucial role, but religious, administrative and defensive functions also influenced the spatial development.
‘Churches, monasteries, markets, ports, town halls and defensive structures all shaped the way a city grew. For me as a geographer, it ultimately comes down to how people use space, and how that space influences human behaviour.’
Painstaking work
For his research, he systematically analysed archaeological data from Amsterdam, Utrecht and Den Bosch. He combined this data with historical maps, written sources and physical geography. He then translated all the information into new maps, which he drew himself. ‘It was painstaking work’, he says with a laugh.
His fascination with medieval cities began during his studies. ‘I come from Rotterdam, a really modern city without a historical centre. When I went to university in Utrecht, I was struck by the historic centre with its canals and churches. It’s so special to walk through places where people have lived and worked for more than a thousand years.’
Lack of overview
In 2014, a Dutch Research Council (NWO) grant enabled him to conduct five years of PhD research in Leiden. One question that stayed with him throughout was: ‘Why is the vast amount of archaeological knowledge about cities so rarely brought together? Archaeologists conduct excavations, publish reports and generate an incredible amount of knowledge, but an overarching synthesis is often lacking. We move from one project to the next, without really bringing all the information together.’
IJsselstijn now works for the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, having completed his dissertation alongside his job and family life. ‘It felt like running an academic marathon. You know you’re starting something hard, but you don’t know how hard it will actually be and whether you’ll make it to the finish.’
What lies beneath the ground?
Now he’s crossed the finish line, IJsselstijn believes the model is valuable not only for historical understanding but also for practical applications today. Municipalities can use the maps to refine archaeological research agendas and prediction maps, which is particularly useful for construction projects in historic city centres. ‘If you want to build in a city centre, you need to know as accurately as possible what lies beneath the ground. This method makes it easier to assess those risks.’
He hopes that urban planners and designers will draw both knowledge and inspiration from the past. ‘Medieval urban planners often made clever use of the existing landscape. That really appeals to me. I’d like to share these insights and hope that my knowledge of the past can contribute to solutions for today’s spatial challenges.
PhD ceremonies are held in the Academy Building and are open to the public. They are also streamed live.