I came across this map of Vienna in 1769 (the city was then capital of the Hapsburg empire), i.e. almost a century after the major siege and battle of 1683 and almost a century before final removal of the city walls. It shows an inner district (perhaps a mile in diameter), surrounded by severe fortifications (the walls not round, but springing back-and-forth), followed by empty terrain perhaps a few hundred meters wide (obviously also an important means of defense), and then by an already dense ring of what may be called the suburbs.
BTW, here is a map of Prague also from 1769 and by the same artist, Joseph Daniel von Huber. This one evidently caused empress Maria Theresa to commission the similarly detailed depiction of Vienna.
My question is this: was this a typical layout for capital cities in the 18th century? E.g. would Paris, or for that matter Istanbul or Beijing have shown a similar overall layout (with local allowances for geography in the shape of rivers, etc.) and with similar maps available?
