A sound understanding of how our built environment came about constitutes a core competence in any architectural training and professional experience. The history of urbanism on the European continent, in particular, constitutes a fundamental basis for thinking about the city today. This textbook offers a synthetic, chronological and illustrated overview of the essential ideas, protagonists and paradigms that dominated the theory and practice of urbanism on the European continent from Antiquity to the present day. It is conceived as a series of modules, each covering a distinctive period, discussing the general cultural context and illustrating key planning concepts, patterns and typologies by means of case studies and information boxes. Directly derived from the authors’ longstanding research and teaching practice, this book gives a critical and contemporary perspective on the established canon and stimulates innovative pedagogic approaches. The dynamic and expandable digital learning environment includes case studies, additional information and audiovisual illustrations.