Premessa

The European City in the 14th century Developments, monuments and urban extension International Conference Cagliari, December 9 & 10, 2005 Urban development in Italian and other European cities during the 14th century is the theme of the conference which focuses on major cities, analysing especially urban extension, the laying of new roads (also extra-mural), the planning of city walls and churches, the building of monuments with a specific urban function (the city gates, the residences and squares of the ruling classes), administration and legislation. The purpose of the study of these phenomena is to better understand the planning process, the significance of these interventions and the intentions of those that commissioned the work, which were more than often aimed at extending the influence of the upper classes within large but already well-defined and consolidated urban centres. In a more innovative century, compared to the most important period of urban development in Europe seen during the 13th century, new cultural needs brought medieval investigation to an end and in the wake of the Great Plague heralded the arrival of the Renaissance. The themes central to the conference include: * The clearing of urban areas and their modernization * Main urban highways, squares and territorial infrastructure * City gates, walls and "larger than life" monuments * Planned extensions * The laying of streets outside the city * The improvement of maze-like urban environments, for example in the Jewish and the Moorish quarters * Academic essays, the design and theory behind the conception of the city * Urban aesthetic