URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING HISTORY.docx

URBAN AND REGIONAL P LANNING HISTORY AND PRINCIPLES  April 8, 2016 

This is the sixth part of the EnP board review series. I’m series.  I’m going  going to provide a timeline and discussion on urban and regional planning history. This lengthy part 6A post is going to cover the subject on history and principles. As much as this is the most enjoyable part of the review (it is for me, anyway), only a mere portion of this may crop up in the exam.

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Tips Cluster the contributions according to their similarities, don’t memorise one by one. It’s what I already did for this post, so you don’t go back and forth on sudden, familiar terms. Repeatedly read through the timeline to appreciate the development of urban planning.  Names are important, dates are for reference. Works are for deeper appreciation. Principles matter the most. I’m linking linking the names of the urbanists to the most concise biographies I can find online. Refer to those for backgrounders, and to this post p ost for their roles in urban and regional planning history. Let’s start with the Ancients. ~~~

 First off: The Fertile Crescent and Ancient Egypt. These civilisations started started the spread of urbanisation. I will start with Mesopotamia, which dates all the way back to 10,000 BC. Mesopotamia (presently Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Turkey, and Iran) (10,000 BC BC –   –  7th  7th century AD)

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Is the scope of the Tigris-Euphrates river systems. Water was the basis for the earliest urban development.

The Fertile Crescent was called so because of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates and their adjoining water bodies. 

A major civilisation was Sumer, and the people created 15 city-states. These cities used water canals and stones for their boundaries, and had a temple in its centre, dedicated to a patron god/dess.

The Ziggurat (temple) of Ur (one of the city-states) showed how religion was very important to the early civilisations. Source:  purpleteal.wordpress.com

The ancient city-state of Ur. Observe how agricultural spots are present in the far north of the city, and that the temple and special houses for leaders, which are the source of power, are protected inside the walls, surrounded further by a moat. There is only a drawbridge to connect this special area to the surrounding houses. Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com Ancient Egypt (3,000 –  (3,000 –  300  300 BC) 

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The power of and respect for religion extended ex tended all the way from the earliest of Mesopotamia all the way to the Egyptian Eg yptian civilisation. Ancient Egyptians worshipped their kings as gods, and once they died and were buried, lived forever. Thus the monumental monu mental temples, mortuaries, and tombs. The pyramids The  pyramids were constructed in capital cities, tying the power with the largest settlements. The city of the dead is called a necropolis .

The temple of Hatsephsut (left) and the Pyramids of Giza (right) are examples of how the ancients worshipped their buried kings. These grand tombs also exhibited perfect symmetry. Sources: Wikipedia and cdni.condenast.co.uk  ~~~

 Ancient Greece spanned three centuries (8th to 6th centuries BC). It saw the flourishing of  philosophy, art, and science in Classical Greece. Religion and politics directed movements and development during this time. Ancient Greece is an influence to the Roman Empire and eventually Western Civilisation.

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Hippodamus of Miletus (498-408 BC) “Inventor / father of formal city planning” Made the Hippodamian Plan or the grid city to maximise winds in the summer and minimise them in winter. This shows his geometric, arranged style in design Also worked on the Piraeus Port and Alexandria

 Piraeus grid. Source: museumofthecity.org  The grid pattern was adopted worldwide. Satellite images give us appreciation:

Grids have their pros, such as the ease of mobility and administrative organization, but are also criticised for lack of identity, and in some cases, lack of liveability. In the book Image book Image of the City,, Kevin Lynch pointed out three observations about the grid of Los Angeles City. To quote: City  As the core of a metropolis, central Los Angeles is heavily charged with meaning and activity, with large and presumably distinctive buildings, and with a basic pattern: its almost regular grid of streets. Yet a number of factors operate to result in a different, and less sharp, image than that of Boston. First is the decentralisation of the metropolitan region, whereby the central area is  still by courtesy, “downtown,” but there are several other basic cores to which people are oriented. The central area has intensive shopping, but it is no longer the best shopping, and  great numbers of citizens never enter the downtown area from one year to the next. Second the  grid pattern itself is an undifferentiated matrix, within within which elements cannot always be located with confidence. Third, the central activities are spatially extended and shifting, a fact which dilutes their impact.

Plato (428-347 BC) In his Dialogue, Plato established one of the oldest environmental law principles and an economic idea: The Polluter Pays Principle . It states: “If  any  any one internationally pollutes the water of another, whether the water of a spring, or collected in reservoirs, either by poisonous  substances, or by digging, or by theft, let the injured party bring the cause before the wardens of the city, and claim in writing the value of the loss; if the accused be found guilty of injuring the water by deleterious substances, let him not only pay damages, but purify p urify the stream or the cistern which contains the water, in such manner as the laws… laws… order  order the purification to be made by the offender in each case.” This principle is reflected in our Philippine environmental laws. For example, in the Environmental Code (Presidential Decree 1152), Section 20 discusses clean-up operations with regard to water pollution:  It shall be the responsibility of the polluter to contain, remove, and clean-up water pollution incidents at his own expense. In case of his failure to do so, the government agencies concerned

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 shall undertake containment, removal, and clean-up operations and expenses incurred in said operations shall be against the persons and/or entities responsible for such pollution.

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Aristotle (384-322 BC) Aristotle, in his distinction of corrective and distributive justice, justice, provided the foundation for the concept of intergenerational equity  by stating that “Human “Human well-being  well-being is realised only  partly by satisfying whatever people’s whatever people’s preferences  preferences happen to be at a particular time; it is also necessary for successive generations to leave behind sufficient resources so that future  generations are not constrained in their prefer ences.” ences.” This is what is referred to as ‘for our children’s children, and their children.’ (Source: An Introduction to Sustainable Development) Development) Intergenerational equity is an approach of the United Nations for sustainable development, climate justice and solidarity. ~~~

The Roman Empire ( 29 29 BC –  BC –  393  393 AD )  ) excelled  excelled in military science and engineering. This is reflected in their designs and inventions, which wh ich were built to ease transport and enhance enha nce military movement and strategies. The City of Rome, the Imperial City The city was a military camp or castra castra,, and had grand walls for protection Rectangular and grid-iron street patterns were used

 Source: the-colosseum.net  

 Notable infrastructure: The Forum, the Appian Way (Roman road or via appia), appia), the Basilica, arches, the Colosseum, and so on. The significance of all these infrastructure is, aside from reflecting the Roman culture and needs, these were carried on to be used by the next civilisations, even to the present time.

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More notably, the Romans were heavily dependent on water  from  from the Tiber River, thus the engineered sewerage, canals, hydraulics, and the Aqueduct.

The Roman Aqueduct. Source: roman aqueducts.info 

Despite the excellence in physical planning, en gineering and architecture, the downfall of Rome came from mostly socio-political reasons. The Vikings destroyed the Aqueduct, which cut the city’s lifeline. Religious divisions, absence of military discipline, murder, and citizen unrest also brought about instability which eventually led to the fall of Rome. ~~~

The Medieval Period or the Middle Ages

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Cathedral Cities Focal point of radial city growth was the cathedral or any similar monumental structure Retained the walled city from Roman practice The enclosure of the cities posed problems for growing popu lations because of the limited resources, epidemics, and generally unhealthy environment.

 Munich, Germany Germany on Google Maps. Maps. Notice how growth growth radiated from the  Frauenkirchee or Cathedral of Our Dear Lady (centre).  Frauenkirch (centre). It is also “walled” if you look at at the street perimeter. ~~~

The Renaissance Period Settlement growth during the renaissance is very similar to that of the middle ages, so it was also radial  in pattern. th e renaissance period, calling for accessibility and easier Commerce was a driving factor of the mobility. This led to the development of plans that follow the topography of an area.

 Radial growth with with fingers in Venice. Venice. Take note of how the settlements settlements conform to topography. The radial pattern that Venice exhibits is the star-shaped urban form. Doesn’t this look familiar–  on a 20-million population scale? But this one o ne is a combination of star growth and really bad sprawling.

You can see the “fingers” of the settlements in Santa Rosa, Dasmarinas, and Tanza (south), and in Bulacan, Rodriguez, and Binagonan (northeast). Anyway, this star is characteristic of what Leone Battista Alberti (1404-1472) came up with in his study of architecture. With principles from Plato and Aristotle, he wrote the De Re Aedificatoria,, which contained ten books of planning and design principles. Aedificatoria As I said, the growth of commerce played pla yed an important role in the different renaissance cities. Try to find the similarities in the following maps of Florence, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, and Vienna.

plannin g, so I’m devoting a part to have a closer look at the city. cit y. Paris is a hallmark in European planning, Georges-Eugène Haussmann (1809(1809-1891)’s 1891)’s work on the renovation of Paris P aris is a distinguishable accomplishment in planning. In his plan, the Arc de Triomphe became the center of twelve avenues, radiating outward, connecting to the city. Baron Haussman also assured green spac es by lining the avenues with trees and b y using pocket parks all around the city. To date, this planning design is still used for the development of other cities, making Paris the best planned city.

 Arc de Triomphe. Triomphe. Source: travellingandfood.com

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The City Beautiful Movement (1800s to mid 1900s) 1 900s) emphasised beauty and aesthetics in design. Think monuments, great and grand buildings, parks, parks, perfect landscapes and lakes, and circular road systems.

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Daniel Hudson Burnham (1846-1912) Called the Father of American City Planning He designed the World’s World’s Columbian  Columbian Exposition, Exposition, together with Frederick Law Olmsted and John Wellborn Root. The plan for the expo was the first comprehensive planning document in the US.

The World’s Columbian Exposition. Source: radford.edu 

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He gave the famous quote: “Make “Make no  no little plans; they have no magic to stir men`s blood and  probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are  gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever- growing insistency. insistency. Remember that our  sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty.” His plans include Chicago (the greatest feat; was described as “Paris on a Prairie”), San Francisco, Cleveland, and locally, Manila and Baguio.

 Burnham’s plans for Chicago Chicago (left), Manila (centre), (centre), and Baguio Baguio (right).  Sources: wikimedia.org  and  and burnhampi.files.wordpress.com

Canberra, Melbourne, and Washinton DC are cities that reflect the City Beautiful movement. Sources: edu-geography.com, central equity.com.au, cdn.boulevards.com 

Sir Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928) Wrote the book Garden book Garden Cities of Tomorrow. Tomorrow. The book was first printed printed as “Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Reform” in 1898, and was reprinted as Garden Cities of Tomorrow To morrow in 1902. Howard addressed the population and pollution that came about during the industrial revolution by creating garden cities.

The concept of the three magnets, an illustration of the garden city, and the diagram of how the plan will work. Source: scodpub.wordpress.com 

Howard’s umbrella concept was to create a 5,000-acre 5,000-acre central city of 58,000 people with 1,000-acre garden cities of 30,000 people p eople (each) surrounding it so that anthropogenic activities and growth would be controlled. (If 1 acre = 0.4 hectares, then the central city would be about 2,000 has. and the garden city would be 400 has. That’s like a city as big as Marikina surrounded by garden cities as big as UP Diliman. Those would be really reall y dense

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cities.) These cities had greens and spaces all over, and would be connected by roads and railways for mobility. The logic behind it was the three magnets, where he gave value to the relationship between town and country (in Philippine terms, urban and regional areas). Unwin, who The garden city was continued by Howard’s followers, among followers, among them Sir Raymond Unwin, was the architect-planner for Letchworth for Letchworth,, Sir Frederic James Osborn, Osborn, who championed garden cities, and Louis de Soissons, Soissons, who was the architect for Welwyn for Welwyn.. Unwin also wrote the  book Nothing  book  Nothing Gained by Overcrowding.

Here’s how the garden cities actually look like:

 Letchworth, the first first Garden City. (Hertfordshire, (Hertfordshire, United Kingdom) Kingdom)  Sources: cashewnut.me.uk  and  and letchworth.com

Welwyn Garden City. Sources: cashwenut.me.uk  and  and medias.photodeck.com

 gre eenb nbe elt ltss in  London’s Greenbelt, as shown in Unwin’s Unwin’s plan, and plan, and together with other gr  Britain. Sources: Sources: mediaarchitecture.at , theplanner.co.uk , and rtpilondoncalling.wordpress.com  / Wikipedia.  Here‘ s an interesting article that shows the greenbelt as a social  space.  space.

 Read about the garden city movement in detail in detail in another post by post by the SCOD Public Blog. Charles Edouard Jeanneret, known as Le Corbusier (1887-1965) Corbusier (1887-1965) Created the Radiant City, where he designed very heavily with cubist aesthetics . With the objective to decongest an entire city, he sought to house 3 million people in 60-storey  buildings, box-type houses, and orderly and rational city blocks. While this plan was modernist or futuristic and very aesthetic, it was critiqued to be socially disadvantageous and unrealistic for settlements because there were too many standards that c atered to what was only temporary. It also became a planning paradox in the sense that congestion was being solved by more congestion. Le Corbusier also wrote the books Urbanisme and The City of Tomorrow and Its Planning .

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 Le Ville Radieuse or the the Radiant City. Sources: Sources: adsttc.com and rosswolfe.wordpress.com Between Ebenezer Howard’s garden cities and Le Corbusier’s radiant city, the former was favored. It also paved the way for new towns, where social and community issues were addressed. The separation of people and cars also came into play, as well as the separation of homes from factories.

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Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) Champion and proponent of urban decentralisation , and involved communities in his plans

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Designed the Broadacre City , a 1,000-hectare city complete with socio-economic amenities. This planned city included social services in the forms of schools, trains, and museums, as well as employment in the forms of markets, offices, nearby farms, and industrial areas. The one big criticism on this plan was that Wright included a helicopter  in  in it.

The Quadruple Block Plan (left) and the Broadacre City (right).  Sources: mediarchitecture.at  and  and metropolismag.com 

Henry Wright (1878-1936) and Clarence Stein (1882-1975) These two go together because of their plan of Radburn of Radburn,, a garden city in New Jersey. Radburn was designed to separate vehicles from pedestrians. It also used the concept of a superblock and exhibited cul-de-sacs (meaning dead ends).

 Radburn’s gardens and paths. paths. Also, the plan showing showing the separation of people people from cars. Sources: Wikipedia and  flickr.com, 

The superblock was created by Henry Wright. This was a series of homes surrounded by green pathways.

The superblock. The cul-de-sacs (those little circle dead-ends), the garden walkway or “green island”  in  in the middle, and the thoroughfares are very obvious from this  perspective. Source: Source: pinimg.com 

Clarence Stein, on the other hand, initiated plans to produce greenbelt resettlements all o ver the US. He wrote the book Toward New Towns for America.

These are the resettlement towns with garden city themes. (Left) Sunnyside Gardens,  NJ, (centre) Chatham Village, Pittsburgh, and and (right) Baldwin Hills, LA. LA.  Sources: queensnyc.com,  pittsburghartplaces.org , amoeba.com 

Clarence Perry (1872-1944) Perry made the concept of the neighbourhood unit . Similar to the superblock, it is bounded  by major streets and caters to its community with with a church, a school and shops. This concept highly values open spaces. This unit is very small, at only 200 sqm. up to 2 sqkm.

The neighbourhood unit. Source: Wikipedia

~~~ The Regional Planning Movement

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Sir Patrick Geddes (1954-1932) Introduced the notion of region and became the Father of Regional Planning. This came up from his being a biologist, sociologist, and geographer all at the same time; he dissected  the  the  planning environment by analysing the occupational activities, used observation observation,, and combatted the gridiron tradition with “conservative “conservative surgery”  surgery” in planning. He came up with the Valley Section, shown below.

The Valley Section. This shows the major occupations per area. Source: spur.org 

Yes, the Valley Section is exactly what we’re using us ing in land use planning today. That’s the ridge-to-reef transect. Source: HLURB CLUP Guidebook Vol. 1 

Also introduced the term conurbation , which means “an aggregation of continuous network of urban communities.” Or simply, “A large area co nsisting of cities that have grown so that there is very little room between them.” (Merriam (Merriam Webster) This is what it looks like:

Tel Aviv’s conurbation conurbation.. Source: israel.travel 

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Geddes emphasized the relationships of people and cities, thus the city-region  term. He also used the rational planning method of Survey Analysis Wrote the book Cities in Evolution I found an online presentation all about Patrick Geddes, his works, and real life situation of his works. Here it is:

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Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie (1879-1957) Created the post-war plans for London, and combatted sprawling by resettlement Made the London Country Plan (1944) and the Greater London Plan (1943)

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The Abercrombie Plan. Source: thesemaphoreline.wordpress.com If you zoom in to the legend, this is what’s written:

 Read more about the Abercrombie Plan in another blog by blog by Sam Hind at thesemaphorline.wordpress.com. Lewis Mumford (1895-1990) A historian-sociologist who studied cities and architecture From his 23 books, the most prominent in city planning is The City in History, History, which pointed out how technology and nature could be harmonious. This also gave the concept of an organic city and rationalised how planning has various disciplines . Mumford was friends with City Beautiful advocates Frank Lloyd Wright, Clarence S tein, and Frederic Osborn. Mumford and Wright exchanged transatlantic letters on professional and  personal matters.

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One of Wright’s letters to Mumford. Source: news.rracution.com

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Benton McKaye (1879-1975) Originator of the 3,500 km Appalachian Trail in the eastern US

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Was a forester and conservationist, and co-founded the Wilderness Society. Society. He championed regional conservationism

The Appalachian Trail extends from Georgia to Maine. It is the home to at least 2,000  plant and animal animal species. Millions of people people take a shot at this hike-only hike-only trail.  Sources: atc.civicore.com  and daveallenphotography.com Several of our great urban thinkers were good friends and colleagues. And it was from there that they created the Regional Planning Association of America, America, with Clarence Stein as the founder. The group meticulously assessed the city, shared kn owledge and ideas, and rallied political action. The RPAA lasted ten years (1923-1933).

The RPAA group. From left to right: Clarence Stein, Benton McKaye, Lewis Mumford,  Alexander Bing (a real estate developer), and Henry Henry Wright. Sources: personal.umich.edu , Wikipedia, ak-cahce.legacy.net , boiseplanning.wordpress.com

The City Functional Movement

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Edward Bassett (1863-1948) Urban planner and lawyer who was the Father of American Zoning. He was the first to usezoning as a means of implementing land use in New York. He wrote books about zoning. Also coined the term freeway  and parkway Don Arturo Soria y Mata (1844-1920)

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Made the concept of the Linear City, City, which has many parallel and specialised functions.

Ciudad Lineal. Source: Wikipedia 

The linear city gears away from the usual cent ric urban forms. The lines help control the expansion of a city.

 Linear growth. growth. Source: prezi.com  Here’s a Prezi presentation Prezi presentation on Arturio Soria y Mata and his work on the linear city.

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Tony Garnier (1869-1948) Garnier (1869-1948) Followed Soria y Mata’s linear city and created the concept of a linear, industrial city. He envisioned the plan to cater to 35,000 residents, and followed the principles of function, greeneries, open space, and exposure to the sunlight. The industrial city is linked by circular patterns He also already used the concept of zoning and labeled spaces into leisure, industry, work, and transport.

Une Cite Industrielle. Sources: aria.archi.fr  and  and s-media-cach s-media-cache-ak0. e-ak0. pinimg.com  pinimg.com  

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Thomas Adams (1871-1940) As an architect, he worked primarily on low-density residences or garden suburbs Founded the British Town Planning Institute, became the Town Planning Advisor to the Local Government Board, then moved to Canada and yet again became an adviser to the Commission of Conservation Wrote the book Rural book Rural Planning and Development  Pushed for planning legislation by mandate, local plans, zoning, building regulations, and recognised the responsibility of a licensed or professional planner. (This stems all the way to our present laws.) ~~~ City Efficient Movement

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Constantinos Apostolos Doxiadis (1914-1975) Jumping some millennia after ancient Greece, another Greek planner-architect, best known as Konstantinos, studied the science of human settlements, known to us today as ekistics . This  branch of science is vast and looks into the culture, economies, and society in varying scales, let’s zone in on the principles most used in the practice of urban design and estate planning.

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Following the Greek grid and the principles of ekistics, this was how Konstantinos designed Islamabad:

 Source: skyscrapercity.com

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Francis Stuart Chapin (1888-1974) As a sociologist and educator, he stressed the importance o f quantifying social  activities in an evolving city through statistics . He was the first to write the textbooks on u rban and regional planning:

 Source: Amazon Amazon Let’s go to a couple of economic and transport concepts, as these had these had lots to do with this movement. But to relate that to how ho w the movement is called – city city efficient –let’s  –let’s state the premise that human activity (employment, settlement, transport, traffic, and mobility) follow land use. Just so we’re all on the same page, and we know why this suddenly this suddenly crops up here. Ira Lowry 

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Published A Model of Metropolis, Metropolis, which is a computer model for spatial organization of anthropogenic activities in a metropolitan area. The model generates an assessment that can be the basis for urban policy decisions. Lowry worked with Robert Garin on a model. mod el. This model came up after a series of research on land use and transportation. Population densities, transport zones, and land use forecast techniques were already being done.

The Lowry Model. Source: Wikipedia 

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The model became a tool for urban and regional planning. Simply, it looks at the relationship and logic to the spatial arrangement of human activities. In this model we learn about gravity modelling  (in transport planning, trip distribution ), which means, in English, the farther the distance, the more interaction declines. That’s also more commonly known to us as distance decay. Other concepts that are part of the “social physics” include agglomeration economies, economic equilibrium, … But we’ll get to that in the next nex t post. Let’s continue to the dawn of the automobile and its and its effects. ~~~ Urban Renewal

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William Levitt (1907-1994) Father of American Suburbia / The King of Suburbia / The Inventor of the Suburb Mass produced houses that were affordable Suburbanization  was also when people put the car on the pedestal. This created gated subdivisions that catered to people with cars. As a result, urban sprawl  became a disease. (Check out how bad in this other blog post. post.)

This is what a sprawl looks like. Such a terrible waste of space. Eden Prairie, Florida, US. Source: twisted sifter.com This socio-geographical disease was coupled with po llution, rapid population growth rates, and many more urban problems, which led to the Urban Renewal Movement.

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Catherine Bauer Wurster (1905-1964) Wurster (1905-1964) An advocate of social and public housing. She authored the American Housing Act of 1937 and was an adviser to five presidents. Wrote the book Modern book Modern Housing  She also worked with Lewis Mumford Robert Moses (1888-1981) Known as the Master Builder of New York, because of his plans that had parkways, expressways, and housing development all over the city

 Moses’ proposed Lower Lower Manhattan Expressway. Expressway. 

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The catch with Moses’ grand masterplans is masterplans is that they require the destruction of existing communities and neighbourhoods to be built. This was an irony in doing supposedly public works. The urban renewal under Moses was also done through gentrification , which means that renewal and rebuilding for for investments and “improvements” really displaced the poorer residents. This was a problem of social exclusion , which is, in fact, just a step beyond racism. Social exclusion drove away the poor, black neighbourhoods, and the “smaller” people of the community. Robert Moses was one of the most controversial figures in the history of urban planning. I’m leaving some articles on the matter: 5 things in NYC we can blame on Robert Moses The legacy of Robert Moses Tracing the legacy of a controversial c ontroversial master builder 

The problem of social exclusion gave gav e rise to Advocacy and Equity Planning , where planners advocated for and sided with those who were socially excluded. Paul Davidoff (1930-1984) Davidoff (1930-1984) Father of Advocacy Planning. He paved p aved the way to stand against the destructive effects of urban renewal

Wrote the famous article Advocacy and Pluralism in Planning  Here is a good read on Advocacy Planning. Saul David Alinsky (1909-1972) Founder of modern community organizing Wrote the book  Rules  Rules for Radicals Worked with the poorer communities, and influenced neighbourhood organisations Sherry Arnstein (d. 1997)

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Social and health worker Published an article on the ladder of citizen participation , which gave not only a voice but  power to the citizens. This addressed how citizens were being victimised, and led the way to  participatory planning.

 Eight rungs on the ladder of citizen participation. participation. Source: lithgow-schmidt.dk  ~~~ New Urbanism

Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) “Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.”  —  Jane  Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

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An urban activist who was strong and vocal v ocal against urban renewal; she fought for new urbanism Wrote the powerful book T he D eat ath h and and L i fe of of G r eat Amer Amer i ca can n Ci C i ties, which was an open attack on urban renewal. In this book she provided insight into the decline of neighbourhoods in New York, and gave a voice to how planning should be for all  people,  people, including thriving slums and the communities that were thought to be eyesores to a city, and which were scheduled for destruction to build to build Robert Moses’ expressways. Her book and activism led to the eventual fall of urban renewal towards city diversity , mixeduse, dense neighborhoods, and vibrant communities. Also wrote the book The Economy of Cities

 Here’s a cool graphic novel novel panel  panel I found portraying portraying the face-off between Jane Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses. Source: planetizen.com

 From the graphic graphic novel Robert Moses: Master Master Builder of New York City. City.  Source: archdaily.com  Read more about the fight between urban renewal and new urbanism here here.. ~~~ Environmental Planning

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Rachel Louise Carson (1907-1964) A marine biologist Wrote the powerful book  Sile  Si lent nt Sp Spri ri ng, a haunting compilation and narrative of research about the detrimental and even lethal effects of pesticides and fertilisers on the living environment. This book launched a global environmental movement . (It will also scare the hell out of you when you read it. It changed many aspects of my lifestyle.)

 Read more about her life and her writings here here.. She’s called to be the “best nature writer of the century.” Ian McHarg (1920-2001) Was called an “architect who valued a site’s natural features” (New York Times) Transformed efforts of traditional planning into environmental planning  by using the technique of sieve mapping  or overlay, which took into account the varied features of the environment.

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 Sieve Mapping. Mapping. Source: saylordotorg.github.io

Wrote the book  Design  Design with Nature, Nature, which triggered responsible planning of landscapes, respecting natural features Laid the foundation for Geographic Information Systems (GIS) .  A timeline of GIS history may be found here, as created by GIS Lounge. ~~~

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Here’s a presentation I delivered on history, principles, and theo ries, covering this post. Feel free to share:

I hope you enjoyed that as much as I did writing and researching on it.

Let’s Let ’s keep going.