town planning: see city planning.

town, in the United States. In the New England states the town is the basic unit of local government. The New England town government's unique feature is the town meeting, much praised as a nearly pure form of democracy. At the annual meeting of voters, town officers are elected and local issues such as town tax rates are decided. Elsewhere in the United States the term town has little political use, signifying only a place incorporated as a town or simply a population center. However, township has legal meaning—a geographical division of the county, established in land surveys and usually made up of 36 sections, each with roughly an area of 1 sq mi (2.6 sq km). Except in the Middle Atlantic states, townships are seldom units of local government.

ghost town, term for any once flourishing American community that has been abandoned, generally for economic reasons. While most of the towns have little or no population, they often contain old buildings, which may serve as tourist attractions. Many, such as Virginia City, Nev., were gold-mining towns hastily built during a boom. When the gold strike ended, the itinerant prospectors left. Ranking with the largest and most interesting Western ghost towns are Silver City, Idaho; Elkhorn, Mont.; Bodie, Calif.; and St. Elmo, Colo. Other ghost towns were former milling centers, railroad connections, or oil-well communities. In Texas several ghost towns were originally settled by European exiles who emigrated to the United States following the 1848 revolutions. Some, such as Burning Bush, Tex., were religious havens. Many deserted areas of towns have been restored to their original appearance; notable examples are Denver, Colo., Mystic, Conn., Williamsburg, Va., and Harpers Ferry, W.Va.

Stone Town, Zanzibar: see Zanzibar, city.

Spanish Town, city (1991 pop. 110,379), SE Jamaica, on the Cobre River. It is the commercial and processing center of a rich agricultural region, as well as the main rail and highway communications hub for traffic to and from Kingston (the capital) and other parts of Jamaica. Founded c.1525 and formerly called Santiago de la Vega, Spanish Town was Jamaica's leading city after the destruction of Port Royal by earthquake in 1692, but only until Kingston became the capital in 1872.

Road Town, capital, main port, and largest town (2000 est. pop. 8,000) of the British Virgin Islands. It is situated on the S coast of Tortola Island on the deeply indented Road Bay. Tourism, boat chartering, and offshore banking are important contributors to its economy. Among its notable sites are the old prison and post office buildings, the botanic garden, and Forts Burt, George, and Charlotte.

George Town, town (1989 pop. 12,921), capital and administrative center of the Cayman Islands, in the West Indies. A major offshore banking and business center, it is the site of several hundred banks. In addition, many companies have subsidiaries there because of the substantial tax advantages. Tourism, including skin diving and duty-free shopping, is also economically important.

Cape Town or Capetown, city (1991 pop. 854,616), legislative capital of South Africa and capital of Western Cape, a port on the Atlantic Ocean. It was the capital of Cape Province before that province's subdivision in 1994. The city lies at the foot of Table Mt. (c.3,570 ft/1,090 m) and on the shore of Table Bay. Cape Town is a commercial and industrial center; oil refining, food, chemical, and fertilizer processing, and the manufacture of automobiles, leather and plastic goods, and clothing are the chief industries. An important port, Cape Town exports mainly gold, diamonds, and fruits. With one of the world's largest drydocks, ship repairing is an important industry. Much of the former dock area is now a commercial and tourist waterfront area with museums, craft markets, and restaurants.

Cape Town was founded in 1652 by Governor Jan van Riebeeck as a supply station on the Dutch East India Company's sea route to the East. In 1795 the British occupied the city. It was returned to the Dutch in 1803 but recaptured in 1806 by the British, who established Cape of Good Hope Colony with Cape Town as capital. When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, Cape Town became its legislative capital and Pretoria its administrative capital.

Cape Town's attractions include the Castle, a fortress dating from 1666; the Dutch Reformed church (begun 1699); Old Town House (1755), which contains a museum of 17th-century Flemish and Dutch paintings; and botanical gardens and an aquarium. Cape College for Advanced Technical Education is in Cape Town; nearby is the Groote Schuur estate, which includes the prime minister's residence and the Univ. of Cape Town. The city has an international airport. Robben Island, a former political prison, is offshore.

Boys Town, village, Douglas co., E Nebr.; inc. 1936. The noted community was founded in 1917 by Father Edward J. Flanagan (1886-1948) for homeless or abandoned boys. The village is governed by the boys themselves and maintained by voluntary contributions. Girls were admitted for the first time in 1979.

Programs pursued as a means of improving the urban environment and achieving certain social and economic objectives. Evidence of urban planning can be found in the ruins of ancient cities, including orderly street systems and conduits for water and sewage. During the Renaissance, European city areas were consciously planned to achieve circulation of the populace and provide fortification against invasion. Such concepts were exported to the New World, where William Penn, in founding the city of Philadelphia, developed the standard gridiron plan—the laying out of streets and plots of land adaptable to rapid change in land use. Modern urban planning and redevelopment arose in response to the disorder and squalor of the slums created by the Industrial Revolution. The urban planner best known for his transformation of Paris was Georges-Eugène Haussmann. City planners imposed regulatory laws establishing standards for housing, sanitation, water supply, sewage, and public health conditions, and introduced parks and playgrounds into congested city neighbourhoods. In the 20th century, zoning—the regulation of building activity according to use and location—came to be a key tool for city planners. Seealso Pierre-Charles L'Enfant.

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Legislative assembly of a U.S. town in which all or some voters are empowered to conduct the community's affairs. Town meetings first took place in New England in the colonial era and are still largely a New England phenomenon, partly because the region's towns tend to hold powers that are granted to counties elsewhere. The meetings are normally held annually. Executive authority is usually held by a three- or five-member board. Open town meetings, which are widely regarded as an exceptionally pure form of democracy, allow all registered voters to vote on articles listed on the agenda, or warrant; representative town meetings allow only elected members to vote.

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Form of urban planning designed to relocate populations away from large cities by grouping homes, hospitals, industry and cultural, recreational, and shopping centers to form entirely new, relatively autonomous communities. The new-town movement was anticipated by the Utopian Ebenezer Howard in the early 20th century (see garden city). The first official new towns were proposed in Britain's New Towns Act of 1946. The idea found favor in other countries, especially in the U.S., Western Europe, and Soviet Siberia. New towns outside Britain often failed to incorporate enough of the mixed-use atmosphere that gives a town vitality. A dramatic increase in commuting and use of the car obviated the need for new towns to be so self-contained.

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Afrikaans Kaapstad

City (pop., 2005 est., urban agglom.: 3,103,000), legislative capital of the Republic of South Africa. It is also the capital of Western Cape province. Located on Table Bay, Cape Town has long been an important regional port. The first settlement at Table Bay, it was founded in the 17th century by the Dutch navigator Jan van Riebeeck for the Dutch East India Company, and it soon served as a stopover for ships plying the Europe-to-India route. It was under Dutch rule intermittently until it was taken by the British in 1806. Today it is a commercial and cultural centre. Seealso Pretoria; Bloemfontein.

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