Origins of the urban development of Pondicherry according to seventeenth century Dutch plans.

The modern plan of Pondicherry shows a large town in gridiron plan which obviously was extended to its present form through controlled urban development. French historians feel that the plan should be considered as an achievement of 'the French mind'. But the plans of 1693 show that, in François Martin's settlement, the streets or lanes were following an irregular pattern, without any shape or symmetry, whereas, in the plans drafted in 1694, during the Dutch occupation, one finds the design of a large new town, with a very regular geometric layout, rectangular blocks of houses, separated by straight streets, intersecting at right angles. This great urban project of the Dutch company was adopted by the French who systematically carried out the extensive straightening out of streets into a planned grid, during the first half of the 18th century.