[excerpt] My subject is the problems inherent in the creation of a new capital city and their solutions. My analysis and presentation will be as of a general case of interest to all of us, and by way of illustration I shall take the example of Islamabad, the new capital of Pakistan, which was conceived in 1959, planned from 1959 to 1963, and which entered the implementation phase in 1961. The question should be examined as a case of more general interest, because in the field of human settlements we are inclined to attach too much importance to some existing example and tend to imitate it, whereas what is important are the underlying principles that have led to a specific solution - a solution in some ways coincidental, as it represents the application of principles of general validity to specific (coincidental) features of nature.
I am taking a specific example also so as to illustrate the general problem we are facing, for without the specific we cannot easily demonstrate the practical importance of our general theories. Islamabad has been chosen since, to the best of my knowledge, it demonstrates in actual practice, and in the best possible way, the implementation of my analysis.
In our generation, up to the end of this century, we are going to build many new cities and capitals, and we must develop a systematic approach and look at it as both theory and practice. I hope that this article will help us to begin such a discussion.
© Doxiadis Associates/Liverpool University Press