This thesis is a study of four cities and their city-plans. The purpose of the paper is to understand similarities and differences between cities in northern Greece during the Classical period. This is done with a comparative method and Kevin Lynch’s theory of the image of the city. The method and the theory are the foundation for the study. The research question used to be able to fulfil the purpose of the paper is Which similarities and differences exist in the construction of Classical cities in northern Greece and why does these similarities and differences exist? The general plans of the chosen cities are studied, not individual buildings and remains. Aspects such as roads, the placement of city walls, agora, public buildings, and residential areas are compared in the paper. The four cities that were studied in the paper were Amphipolis, Olynthus, Pella, and Thasos. All located in Macedonia or on Chalcidice and Thasos. They were selected based on a few criteria. All were known cities from the Classical period, had been excavated to quite a large extent and were not only religious places or burial grounds. The cities are not exact copies of each other. Olynthus and Pella are built after the Hippodamian plan, but Amphipolis and Thasos are built over time with an organic city-plan. Buildings, structures, and central places are the same in the different cities but how the cities are structured and how buildings are placed vary. The terrain, the landscape, traditions, philosophical ideas could all be part of the cause why the four compared cities have been structured differently. The land the cities have been built on vary which affect how a city can be planned and built. The result of the thesis is that the cities in northern Greece have similarities in what types of buildings and structures can be found in them. How the city is structured and organized are the differences in the city-plans and to which degree depends on multiple factors.

The aim of this essay is to investigate the theories of city planning that existed during Greek, Hellenistic and Roman period. Vitruvius, Aristoteles and Hippodamos had thoughts about the placement of the city, the street networks organization and individual buildings proportion, function and neighbors. Aristoteles angle of incidence is pragmatic and social aspects. Vitruvius emphasizes health aspects and the individual buildings with regard to durability, expediency and beauty. Hippodamos view on how health aspects should be regarded aligns with Aristoteles and stresses an equal distribution of the urban land. Gerasa is investigated in relation to these template city qualities and results show that it does not consistently overlap or deviate. To add a further perspective it is put in relation to Pompeji and they are compared with the theories.  Questions: 1. What is laid out by Aristoteles, Vitruvius and Hippodamos about a city's ideal placement and internal structure and design? 2. How does the remains from the excavated cities Gerasa and Pompeji relate to these theories?  Method: The Theories on city planning were searched and assembled from literary sources. Then a comparison was made between all the three parts of Gerasa, Pompeji and the ideal cities.