What is City block?
[[File:Dresden_Überblick_9.jpg|thumb| Inner city block in [[Dresden]]]] [[File:Eixample aire cropped.jpg|thumb| The [[District of Eixample|Eixample]] in [[Barcelona]] : An example of a [[Neighbourhood|district]] that is predominantly characterized by closed blocks of houses]] A '''city block''' is a block of houses, in a built up area. Usually, it is delimited by [[road]]s, pathways, or by [[geographical]] features, such as a [[railway]] line or a [[river]]. It consists of several [[land lot]]s which are directly next to each other, and usually privately owned. [[File:Manhattan panorama under clouds.jpg|thumb|View of [[Manhattan]], the different land lots are clearly visible. ]] A city block is a typical form of inner-city design. Commonly, multi-storey [[Apartment building|apartment buildings]], [[semi-detatched house]]s, [[office block]]s, or mixed-use houses make up the elements of a city block. As all the houses touch each other, this is known as a closed form. In the [[suburb]]s, there is more space, and the buildings don't usually touch each other. This is known as an open form. In [[Europe]], cities have grown over centuries, and their layout is different from that of a [[planned city]]. As a result, the city block in a planned city also looks different. == Origin == The design of city blocks started with the emergence of cities, in the [[Middle Ages]]. Medieval [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] cities already used city blocks. The design can also be found in [[baroque]] inner cities, such as the Dutch Quarter in [[Potsdam]]. It is typical of [[Absolutism|absolutist]] [[Urban design|urban development]] and the [[tenement]] districts of major German cities that were built after 1870 during the Wilhelminian era. In response to the housing shortage of the 1920s, housing associations built apartment blocks with large [[courtyard]]s and small apartments. At the same time, however, city planners were also looking for alternatives to the [[perimeter]] block development that was common at the time. What they did