Today I stood in the middle of Pienza, a small Italian town designed as the “ideal city.” Walking up and down the main street, I noticed the deliberate layout and architecture. Pienza is the definition of a compact city, and a vision of Renaissance intention. I was able to walk from end to end of the walls of the city in just a few minutes. There is no urban sprawl, and the close proximity seems to create a close community. There are also many mixed use spaces, as the same buildings are used for shops, restaurants and homes. Pienza feels like it was designed for human scale and pedestrians. I believe that Pienza was a model for sustainable design during the Renaissance, even if not done purposefully, and still continues to use many sustainable elements like limiting the need for motorized transportation, mixed use spaces, and compactness.
Swanson School of Engineering 