Cité Industrielle

Cité Industrielle, urban plan designed by Tony Garnier and published in 1917 under the title of Une Cité Industrielle. It represents the culmination of several philosophies of urbanism that were the outgrowth of the Industrial Revolution in 19th-century Europe.

The Cité Industrielle was to be situated on a plateau in southeastern France, with hills and a lake to the north and a river and valley to the south. The plan takes into consideration all the aspects necessary to running a Socialist city. It provides separate zones for separate functions, a concept later found in such new towns (see new town) as Park Forest, Ill., and Reston, Va. These zones—residential, industrial, public, and agricultural—are linked by location and circulation patterns, both vehicular and pedestrian. The public zone, set on the plateau much in the manner of the Hellenistic acropolis, is composed of the governmental buildings, museums, and exhibition halls and large structures for sports and theatre. Residential areas are located to take best advantage of the sun and wind, and the industrial district is accessible to natural power sources and transportation. The “old town” is near the railroad station to accommodate sightseers and tourists. A health centre and a park are located on the heights north of the city, and the cemetery to the southwest. The surrounding area is devoted to agriculture. The plan itself is clearly in the Beaux-Arts tradition, tempered by a natural informality possibly derived from the ideas of the Austrian town planner Camillo Sitte. The plan lacked jails, courthouses, and hospitals, as Garnier believed that they would not be necessary under Socialism.

Technical innovations, especially Anatole de Baudot’s work with reinforced concrete, were incorporated into the architectural specifications. The building designs in Une Cité Industrielle somewhat resemble the style of Frank Lloyd Wright. See also garden city.