Ideal cities

Chaux, Salem and Salt Lake City – ideal cities of the 18th and 19th century

This research wants to analyze three newly built cities which aim to not only control a territory or satisfy citizens’ needs, but to also create a social system, determining the ways in which citizens relate.

The three analyzed cities are:

-Chaux, France (est. 1775): Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Sénans, created following a plan by Claude-Nicolas Ledoux to create a city besides a new salt factory.

-Salem, North Carolina (est. 1766): City of the Moravian Church, a Christian branch which fled from Europe and moved around the Eastern United States until settling in this city.

 -Salt Lake City, Utah (est. 1848): City of the Mormons – officialy Church of the Latter-Day Saints – which fled west to create their own city.

In these cities, the process of settlement, its geometry and sizing, and its execution are analyzed.