Leonardo da Vinci proposed an ideal city with separate levels for pedestrians and vehicles.
He developed the idea after epidemics and overcrowding made urban sanitation a major concern in Renaissance Milan. His plans separated upper-level pedestrian routes from lower-level roads used by carts and transport. The designs also considered canals, drainage, access, and the movement of goods.
Leonardo’s ideal city was not a single fully specified blueprint for one confirmed construction project. It was a group of urban-planning studies aimed at reducing congestion and improving public health. The concept is therefore an invention in planning and infrastructure rather than a machine with one finished form.
The separated circulation is sometimes confused with modern multi-level roads or underground transport. Leonardo’s proposal was centuries earlier, but its concerns—traffic separation, sanitation, and efficient movement—remain recognizable in contemporary city planning.