The Aztecs were the most urbanized of the ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica. The last in a long line of urban societies, they selected principles of city planning from an ancient Mesoamerican heritage and adapted these to their needs. Most Aztec urban centers were modest settlements best called towns, but the central capital Tenochtitlan was a huge metropolis of a different order.
Most Aztec towns were founded between AD 1100 and 1350 when the Aztec peoples immigrated into the central Mexican highlands. They established new settlements and dynasties leading to a system of autonomous city‐states. The construction of a royal palace marked the official founding of a new city or town, most of them city‐state capitals. In 1430, three Aztec peoples – the Mexica, Acolhua, and Tepanecs – formed a tributary empire, known as the Triple Alliance or the Aztec Empire. Two of their capitals, Tenochtitlan (Mexica) and Texcoco (Acolhua), became the preeminent cities of the Valley of Mexico. By the...
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Smith, M.E. (2008). City Planning: Aztec City Planning. In: Selin, H. (eds) Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4425-0_8512
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