The Renaissance was witness to one of the first notions of "city planning", designing a city rather than allowing it to grow and develop naturally over time. Sforzinda was one of the first ideal cities designed in the 15th century by Antonio di Pietro Averlino. It's designed in an eight point star wall configuation inside of a cirular moat. Each point of the star was to have a guard tower and half the streets had canals for material transportation.

This design was a large departure from the crowded Medieval cities that had domiated Italy previously. Leonardo Da Vinci studied the designs for this city, which was never built, when developing his own take on the "ideal city".

Sources: “Sforzinda.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Oct. 2016, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sforzinda.

“The Ideal City.” The Ideal City - Leonardo Da Vinci - Museoscienza, www.museoscienza.org/english/leonardo/models/macchina-leo.asp?id_macchin....