In the BC era, how did different cities use architecture and urban planning to make their lives easier? What did these spaces have in common? Were there outliers that seemed super different from other cities?

The architecture of the ancient world often reflected the immediate practical needs facing a given people and could exhibit variability both with the architecture of other civilizations and even internally across space and time. For example, in the Bronze Age, the two civilizations who are said to have given rise to the city-states of the Greek world were the Minoans (circa 3000 BCE–1450 BCE) and the Myceneans (circa 1450 BCE–1100 BCE). Though these people spoke a similar language and were culturally related, their architecture was completely different from one another.
The Minoan capital of Knossos was a palace-centered polity, meaning that all activity in the city, from commerce and trade to political elections to entertainment, took place in a centrally-located palace complex. The Minoans, isolated as they were on the island of Crete and in no immediate danger of foreign invasion, dispensed with the need for strong fortification, and one of the most striking features of the palace at Knossos was its lack of walls. Instead, Minoan architects devoted themselves to embellishing the palace walls with ornate frescos of Minoan games and religious icons. Furthermore, Minoan weaponry was almost always ceremonial and was typically used to decorate the chambers of the palace complex.
The Mycenean architecture was of a different composition. A war-like people, the Myceneans, in contrast to the Minoans, felt the need to heavily secure their cities with high walls and thick, bronze gates. The most famous of these walls, located at the Mycenean capital of Mycenae on the Greek mainland, were famously called the “Cyclopean Walls” because they were reported to be as tall as the mythical Greek Cyclops. Furthermore, a second inner set of walls, which were themselves enclosed within the Cyclopean walls, defended the Mycenean throne room. The need for such extensive fortification reflected the militant milieu that the Myceneans found themselves in, open as they were to invasion both from the sea and from Asiatic barbarians on the mainland.
In both the Minoan and Mycenean case, the architecture is a good reflection of the way of life and the immediate needs of the community.