Oglethorpe Plan

The multifaceted plan sought to achieve several goals through interrelated policy and design elements, including the spacing of towns, the layout of towns and eventually their surrounding counties, equitable allocation of land, and limits to growth to preserve a sustainable agrarian economy.

[1] The Oglethorpe Plan was an embodiment of all of the major themes of the Enlightenment, including science, humanism, and secular government.

At the heart of Oglethorpe's comprehensive and multi-faceted plan there was a vision of social equity and civic virtue.

Many of those ideals have been carried forward, and are found today in Savannah's Tricentennial Plan and other policy documents.

"[4] Benjamin Martyn, the trustees' secretary, wrote, "We are indebted to the Lord Shaftsbury, and that truly wise man Mr. Locke, for the excellent laws which they drew up for the first settlement of Carolina.

[6][7] Many prominent planners and urban theorists have commented on various attributes of the Oglethorpe Plan, particularly the layout of Savannah.

Here, in Savannah, the square by frequent repetition becomes an integral part of the street pattern and creates a series of rhythmically placed openings which give a wonderful sense of space in a solidly built townscape."

"—John W. Reps[11] Such comments nearly always apply to the ward layout found in the Savannah Historic District, where the city preserved and elaborated on the original town plan laid out by Oglethorpe.

The tything blocks contained ten houses, which was the basic organizational unit for administration, farming, and defense.

Oglethorpe's town plan was initially developed for Savannah, which grew largely in accordance with the original design.

[14] The city's modern street grid outside of the historic district follows much of the original system of rights-of-way established under the Oglethorpe Plan for the gardens, farms, and villages that made up the Savannah region.

Urban theorists have duly acknowledged Oglethorpe's remarkable design legacy in Savannah, but most have said little about the plan's larger purpose of fostering social equity.

In following this standard automobile traffic is naturally limited to speeds of about 20 mph (30 km/h), the threshold for pedestrian comfort in a mixed-modal, shared space environment.