ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Grid plan

Hey kiddo! Have you ever seen a big city on a map or from an airplane? You might have noticed that some cities have streets and buildings that are arranged in a very organized way with straight lines running north, south, east, and west. This is called a grid plan.

Basically, a grid plan is a way of designing a city by dividing the land into a series of equal-sized squares, like a checkerboard. Each square is called a block, and the streets and buildings are aligned along its edges.

Picture the checkerboard you have at home, but instead of colors in it, you have roads and buildings. Every street goes in one direction, like up and down or left and right, and every block has its own unique identification number.

This type of city design is very helpful because it makes it easy for people to find their way around. You can know that a certain street is in a certain direction, and you can count the blocks to find a specific building.

Grid plans can be found in many cities around the world, such as New York, Chicago, and Barcelona. They are popular because they make it easy for people to navigate the city, which makes it easier for emergency services like ambulances and police to respond quickly in case of an emergency.