Coevorden is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands. The city was redesigned and altered according to Renaissance “Ideal City” design theory in the early seventeenth century by Maurice of Nassau. Coevorden undoubtedly is the result of the Italian city of Palmanova with streets laid out in a radial pattern within polygonal fortifications and extensive outer earthworks. The introduction of explosive shells, rifled borings (longer range), mortarts, and plunging fire technique rendered the intricate wall geometry obsolete. Today, much of the original wall and ramparts have been removed and has been bisected by railroad tracks.

Coevorden is an excellent example of what happens when infrastructure becomes obsolete in the face of massive urban change. Coevorden sits at the intersections of rivers and canals with modern highways encircling its suburbs; Palmanova sits in a plain, with the modern city sitting outside its contiguous borders. It is hard to judge which city is most “complete” as Coevorden has moved forward in progress while Palmanova is arguably stuck in the 16th century. I am inferring that Coevorden has prospered throughout the years to a degree which Palmanova hasn’t and as Bourtange, Netherlands certainly hasn’t. Just like Over the Rhine in Cincinnati, Ohio, the poorer areas are often the most unchanged throughout the years while districts with higher income and prosperity are a continual palimpsest of change.