A Brief History of U.S. City Planning

Summary

This video explores the evolution of city planning in the United States, from pre-European settlements to modern challenges. It covers the impact of the Industrial Revolution, the rise of suburbs, and the influence of key movements like City Beautiful and Garden Suburb. The narrative delves into the historical significance of urban renewal, zoning, and the role of planners in shaping cities. It also touches on the societal issues of segregation, displacement, and the environmental shifts that have defined urban landscapes over time.

Takeaways

• 🏰 Pre-European settlement cities like Cahokia and Pueblo culture cities were impressive and well-planned.
• 📜 The Law of the Indies by the Spanish introduced one of the first European planning systems in the New World.
• 🌐 The 1600s saw the founding of major US cities like New York, Boston, Charleston, and Philadelphia.
• 🏙️ The Land Ordinance of 1785 by Thomas Jefferson aimed to create a nation of farmers, reflecting the predominantly rural US population at the time.
• 🏭 The Industrial Revolution led to rapid urbanization, with cities growing fast due to technological innovations and job opportunities.
• 🚽 Sanitation reform in the 1840s introduced self-cleansing sewer systems to combat disease and improve living conditions.
• 🏡 Housing reform followed, with laws like New York's Tenement House Act of 1901 addressing overcrowding and improving living standards.
• 🏛️ The City Beautiful movement, exemplified by the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition, aimed to improve cities through aesthetics and grand designs.
• 🚗 The advent of the automobile and electric streetcars led to the growth of suburbs and changed the urban landscape.
• 🛣️ Federal Government zoning and planning acts in the early 20th century regulated suburban development and introduced minimum standards.
• 🏗️ Urban renewal and freeway construction in the mid-20th century led to the displacement of communities and the rise of suburban sprawl.

Q & A

What was the significance of the Law of the Indies in the context of city planning in the United States?

The Law of the Indies was one of the first examples of European planning in the New World. It laid out requirements for the location, design, and layout of new cities, such as having a central square, which influenced the planning of cities like Santa Fe.

How did the Industrial Revolution impact city planning in the United States?

The Industrial Revolution led to a rapid growth of cities as people moved to urban areas for work in factories. This resulted in overcrowding, poor sanitation, and disease, necessitating urban reforms such as the implementation of sewer systems and housing reforms.

What was the role of Frederick Law Olmsted in the development of urban park systems in the United States?

Frederick Law Olmsted was a notable landscape architect who designed some of the first comprehensive urban park systems, including Central Park in New York City, to provide fresh air and green spaces for urban residents.

How did the City Beautiful movement influence city planning?

The City Beautiful movement, inspired by the White City at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, promoted the idea of improving cities through monuments, slum clearance, and neo-classical architecture. It influenced city planning by emphasizing aesthetics and grand designs.

What were the key outcomes of the first city planning conference in 1909?

The first city planning conference in 1909 marked the coalescence of city planning into a distinct profession. It featured debates between social reformers and technical/aesthetic planners, leading to a more organized approach to urban living improvements.

How did the advent of the automobile change urban development patterns in the United States?

The automobile allowed people to commute further out to homes in the suburbs, leading to suburban development and a shift in city planning focus towards accommodating cars and creating suburban communities.

What was the impact of the Great Migration on city planning and urban demographics?

The Great Migration, which saw over six million African Americans move from the south to northern cities, led to significant demographic shifts and increased segregation in cities. It also influenced city planning as it highlighted the need for housing and infrastructure to accommodate this influx of people.

How did urban renewal and freeway construction contribute to the decline of some city neighborhoods?

Urban renewal and freeway construction often involved the destruction of historic neighborhoods and the displacement of residents, particularly poor and minority groups. This led to the decline of some city neighborhoods and contributed to urban sprawl.

What was the significance of Jane Jacobs' fight against the Lower Manhattan Expressway?

Jane Jacobs' fight against the Lower Manhattan Expressway was a pivotal moment in urban planning history. It represented a shift towards community-driven planning and marked a rejection of top-down planning approaches that often ignored the needs of local residents.

How did the 1970s mark a turning point in city planning philosophy and practice?

The 1970s saw a decline in top-down planning and a rise in community involvement and environmental considerations in city planning. The era marked a turning point where planners became more specialized and focused on undoing some of the harm caused by previous decades' urban development practices.

Outlines

00:00

🏙️ Early City Planning in the United States

This paragraph discusses the origins of city planning in the United States, highlighting the indigenous cultures like the Pueblo and Mississippian, which built significant cities such as Cahokia. It then covers the influence of European settlers, particularly the Spanish with the Law of the Indies, and the establishment of cities like St. Augustine and Santa Fe. The paragraph also touches on the English and French contributions to city founding along the Atlantic seaboard, leading to a period of rapid urban growth in the 19th century due to industrialization. The challenges of this growth, such as overcrowding and poor sanitation, led to early planning initiatives focused on health and housing reforms, including the implementation of sewer systems and urban park systems like Central Park.

05:03

🚗 The Impact of Automobiles on Urban Planning

The second paragraph delves into the transformative effect of the automobile on urban planning. With the advent of the Model T, the ability for people to live in suburbs and commute to work changed the landscape of cities. Planners began to see suburban development positively, leading to the establishment of zoning laws and other regulatory measures to manage growth. The paragraph also discusses the rise of the Garden Suburb movement, which advocated for more thoughtful suburban design, exemplified by communities like Radburn, New Jersey. It also touches on the Great Migration, the movement of African Americans to northern cities, and the resulting segregation and urban challenges. The era saw the development of regional planning and the influence of figures like Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, as well as the negative impacts of urban renewal and freeway construction on communities.

10:06

🛠️ The Evolution of City Planning in Response to Social Changes

The final paragraph addresses the evolution of city planning in response to social changes and critiques. It discusses the decline of top-down planning approaches in the 1960s and 1970s, as residents and activists, including Jane Jacobs, began to challenge urban renewal and freeway projects that disregarded community input. The paragraph highlights the shift in planning focus towards community engagement and the influence of new environmental regulations on the planning process. It also covers the rise of smart growth measures, the critique of Euclidean zoning, and the push for transit-oriented development. The paragraph concludes by acknowledging ongoing urban challenges such as gentrification, car dependency, and racial and income segregation, setting the stage for future planning efforts.

Keywords

💡City Planning

City planning refers to the process of designing and managing the use of space within urban environments. It involves strategic decisions regarding land use, transportation, infrastructure, and community services. In the video, city planning is central to understanding the historical development and transformation of American cities, from pre-European settlements to modern urban landscapes. The script discusses various planning initiatives, such as the Law of the Indies and the City Beautiful movement, which have shaped the physical and social fabric of cities.

💡Law of the Indies

The Law of the Indies was a set of regulations established by the Spanish monarchy in the 16th century to guide the establishment and layout of new cities in their colonies. It mandated specific design elements, such as a central square, which influenced the planning of cities like Santa Fe. The video uses the Law of the Indies as an early example of European influence on city planning in the New World, highlighting the historical continuity of planning principles.

💡Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period of significant economic and social change during the 18th and 19th centuries, characterized by the shift from agrarian economies to industrial ones. In the video, the Industrial Revolution is noted as a catalyst for rapid urbanization in the United States, leading to overcrowding and poor living conditions in cities, which in turn necessitated various planning and reform initiatives.

💡Sanitation Reform

Sanitation reform refers to the improvements made to public health and cleanliness in urban areas, particularly in response to the unsanitary conditions that arose during the Industrial Revolution. The video discusses the implementation of self-cleansing sewer systems in the 1840s as a key example of sanitation reform, which was essential for addressing the health hazards posed by overcrowded cities.

💡Housing Reform

Housing reform pertains to the changes and regulations implemented to improve living conditions in urban areas, especially in response to overcrowded and unsanitary housing. The video cites the Tenement House Act of 1901 in New York as a significant housing reform, which mandated better living conditions, such as separate bathrooms and improved fire safety, reflecting a broader movement to address the poor housing conditions of the era.

💡City Beautiful Movement

The City Beautiful movement was an urban planning approach that emerged in the late 19th century, emphasizing the importance of aesthetics and monumental architecture in city design. The video highlights the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, known as the White City, as a template for this movement. It reflects a shift in planning philosophy towards creating more visually appealing and symbolically significant urban environments.

💡Zoning

Zoning is a land use regulation method that divides a city into designated areas for specific purposes, such as residential, commercial, or industrial use. The video discusses the adoption of zoning ordinances as a key planning response to the unregulated suburban development, providing cities with the authority to control growth and development patterns, while also noting its potential as a tool for exclusion.

💡Garden Suburb

A garden suburb is a type of planned residential community that emphasizes green spaces, pedestrian-friendly design, and a harmonious blend of housing with nature. The video mentions Radburn, New Jersey, as a famous example of a garden suburb, designed to provide a more livable alternative to the sprawling, car-centric suburban developments of the time.

💡Urban Renewal

Urban renewal refers to the large-scale redevelopment of urban areas, often involving the demolition of older buildings and the construction of new housing and infrastructure. The video critiques urban renewal efforts, such as the Housing Acts of 1949 and 1954, for displacing communities and replacing historic neighborhoods with modernist high-rises that often failed to maintain their intended quality.

💡Jane Jacobs

Jane Jacobs was an influential urban activist and author known for her critique of top-down planning and her advocacy for community-based, bottom-up approaches to urban development. The video discusses her role in stopping the Lower Manhattan Expressway project and her influential book, 'The Death and Life of Great American Cities,' which challenged modernist planning principles and contributed to a shift in urban policy.

💡Smart Growth

Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation strategy that encourages compact, walkable, and transit-oriented development to reduce urban sprawl and promote more sustainable and equitable cities. The video touches on smart growth measures, such as urban growth boundaries and transit-oriented development, as part of a broader shift in planning philosophy towards more sustainable and inclusive urban environments.

Highlights

Pre-European cities like Cahokia were already impressive urban centers.

The Spanish introduced the Law of the Indies, one of the first European planning systems in the New World.

English and French founded cities like New York and Boston along the Atlantic seaboard in the 1600s.

The Land Ordinance of 1785 by Thomas Jefferson aimed to create a nation of farmers rather than urban centers.

19th-century technological innovations led to rapid urbanization and overcrowding.

Mid-1800s cities faced severe sanitation issues and constant disease threats due to poor waste management.

Sanitation reform in the 1840s introduced self-cleansing sewer systems to combat disease.

Frederick Law Olmsted designed comprehensive urban park systems like Central Park for fresh air and green space.

Housing reform in the early 20th century addressed overcrowded tenements and poor living conditions.

The City Beautiful movement, initiated by the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, aimed to improve cities through aesthetics.

City planning emerged as a distinct profession in the early 20th century, influenced by social reformers and City Beautiful designers.

The advent of electric streetcars and the Model T allowed for suburban development and changed city dynamics.

Federal Government developed zoning and planning acts to regulate suburban development.

Garden Suburb designers like Clarence Stein and Henry Wright introduced new concepts for suburban planning.

The Great Migration saw over six million African Americans move from the south to northern cities, leading to urban segregation.

Urban renewal and freeway construction in the mid-20th century led to the destruction of historic neighborhoods.

Activists like Jane Jacobs fought against top-down planning and urban renewal projects that ignored resident needs.

The 1970s saw a shift in planning with a focus on environmental concerns and community involvement.

Modern city planning includes smart growth measures, transit-oriented development, and a rejection of Euclidean zoning.

City planners today face ongoing challenges such as gentrification, high housing prices, and racial income segregation.

Transcripts

This video is brought to you by Skillshare. Visit the link in the description

for two months off a Premium subscription. This is a brief history of

city planning in the United States, but our story begins before the US existed.

Prior to European settlement, cities existed in the territory now known as

the U.S. The Pueblo culture built impressive cities, as did the Mississippian culture.

Cahokia is considered one of the largest pre-European cities north of Mexico.

The Spanish were the first European power to set up shop in what is now the U.S..

St. Augustine, Florida was founded in 1565. As the Spanish were founding other cities

in the U.S. Southwest , they also codified one of the first examples of European

planning in the New World, the Law of the Indies. The Law laid out the requirements for

locating a new city as well as its design and layout. Cities had to have a

central square. Santa Fe is a great example. The 1600s saw the French and English

join the Spanish in founding new cities, particularly along the Atlantic seaboard.

New York, Boston], Charleston, and Philadelphia were all founded in this period.

By the time the U.S. declared its independence, cities had popped up all

over the east coast and southwest. Some of the larger cities, like Boston were

starting to look quite urban, while others closer to the Appalachian

frontier were little more than forts to keep out the understandably unwelcoming native tribes.

The founding of the United States didn’t do much to create an urban nation.

The Land Ordinance of 1785, which begins the gridding of the American west,

was designed to create a nation of farmers. Its author, Thomas Jefferson, hated cities.

To be fair, at this point the U.S. population was 95 percent rural.

This rural emphasis was unfortunate, because shortly after the founding fathers signed the Constitution,

which doesn’t even mention cities, something big started happening.

In the beginning of the 19th century, technological

innovations such as the steam engine and power loom started transforming the economy.

Work that had been done by artisans in villages was now done

in factories by unskilled labor. New firms and factories would locate in

cities to find enough workers, and workers moved to cities to expand their options for work.

Cities started to grow, fast. People were moving to cities faster than housing

could be built, and many of the migrants couldn’t afford good housing anyway.

Workers also had to live within walking distance to work, as no

practical mass transit existed yet. Overcrowding became a serious problem.

Sanitation was terrible. Human waste was typically disposed of in an on-site septic tank

or cesspools. Cities smelled terrible. Disease was a constant threat. The smoke

coming from the factories added to the noxious environment. It’s really

important to understand that the city of the mid 1800s was not a nice place to be.

For many people it was their first experience with urban living, and it was

profoundly negative.Industrial revolution cities needed reform. Disease was literally a

life and death situation, so that came first. New gravity-based, self-cleansing

sewer systems came on to the scene in the 1840s. The implementation of a

comprehensive sewer system, designed to clear away waste, required a citywide

“sanitary survey” to understand the topography of the city as well as a

mapping of the cesspools, outhouses, and sources of waste. These surveys are one

of the earliest acts of planning in U.S. cities and by 1907 every major US city

had a sewer system. Sewers provided fresh air, and so too did some of the first

comprehensive urban park systems. Some of the most notable designed by

Frederick Law Olmsted, including Central Park. Housing reform followed sanitation reform.

The problem was brought to the fore by reformers and journalists like

Jacob Riis, whose photos published in the book, “How the Other Half Lived” exposed

the terrible conditions people lived in during the 1880s.

Tenements were claustrophobic and exceedingly overcrowded, filled with the

many immigrants from Europe coming to New York by the day. The Lower East Side

was almost certainly the most crowded neighborhood in the world at the time,

with over 1,000 people per acre. New York’s Tenement House Act passed

in 1901 and required a separate bathroom in each unit, courtyards, and improved fire

safety measures. Many other cities passed similar laws in the coming years.

These early initiatives to fix the industrial city focused on practical

social matters like health and housing. There were less-than-practical reformers too.

Some wanted to improve the city through monuments, slum clearance,

and neo-classical architecture. Let’s move the timeline to 1893,

he World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. The White City, chiefly designed

by architect Daniel Burnham. The White City became the template for

he City Beautiful movement, a not-so-good method of improving cities, but a pretty good

name for a city planning YouTube channel. Most of Burnham’s plans, like the one for

San Francisco, never panned out, but his plans for Chicago and the Washington Mal

were mostly completed as intended. At the beginning of the 20th century,

city planning coalesced into a distinct profession. Its roots were in the

drafting of new cities from the colonial era through the railroad towns

of the west, the social reformers of major cities, and the grand visions

of City Beautiful designers. These differing visions of city planning were debated at

the first city planning conference in 1909, with battle lines drawn between

he social reformers and the technical/aesthetic planners.

Planners, no matter their perspective, had begun to feel optimistic about urban living.

Electric streetcars were zipping through streets, and their speed and low fares

made it possible to build new housing on the periphery for the middle class,

easing overcrowding. Another transportation technology changed everything.

The Model T started rolling off of Ford’s assembly line in 1908.

Millions of the cars, and millions of other cars would be sold in the next

decade or two. Cars allowed people to commute further out into homes in

the suburbs and this radically altered cities. It’s a change similar

to the urbanization of the last century. Most planners of the time thought that

suburban development was a good thing. Cities were better than before, but what

could be better than living in larger homes in greener surroundings?

Enthusiasm about suburbs, combined with the poor quality of early suburb design

led to some key planning responses. First, the Federal Government developed a set

of standard zoning and planning enabling acts that cities could adopt.

These model acts gave cities the authority to do zoning, approve subdivision

street layouts, form planning commissions, and adopt master plans.

This added regulation and minimum standards to the development of the suburbs.

Zoning ordinances were around in the two decades before the model enabling acts,

promoted primarily by commercial interests trying to protect their land value

from new development that attracted immigrants and people of color.

Zoning, then, as it does now, can be useful or used as a tool of exclusion.

But the Supreme Court, in Village of Euclid vs. Ambler Realty,

found zoning to be constitutional, so it was here to stay.

Others saw the slapdash, speculative suburban development and believed there

was a better way. They were the Garden Suburb designers, notably Clarence Stein

and Henry Wright. Heavily influenced by Ebenezer Howard and the English Garden City designers,

they developed new concepts for the suburbs that promoted shared ownership

of common greenspace and separate circulation for pedestrians

that kept them away from cars. Their most famous community was Radburn, New Jersey, built in 1929.

This rapid growth outward created entire metropolitan regions,

and the notion of regional planning got its start in this era.

Notable regional plans and planners include Patrick Geddes and his ideas

about conurbations, the Regional Planning Association of America, with Stein and Wright

as members, and the publishing of the Regional Plan of New York and its Environs,

a landmark regional plan published in 1929. At the same time

people were moving out of the city in cars, others were moving in. It was one of

the most dramatic demographic shifts in US history: the Great Migration. This was

the migration of over six million African Americans from the south to

northern cities from about 1916 to 1970. In the years after the Civil War and emancipation,

80 percent of black Americans still lived in the rural south, but by 1970,

80 percent lived in cities, half of them in northern cities. For immigrants, cities

were a tool of assimilation and advancement, but for the millions of

black Americans who moved to cities to work in urban factories, they found

segregation instead. Cities during the 30s and 40s were already very different

than they were at the beginning of the century. Wealthy and middle class

families were leaving for the suburbs for new tract housing, leaving behind

poor and black families. At this time, most jobs and shopping was still done in the

central city, and these new commuters needed a way to go back and forth. Cities started

building freeways using state funding. To make room, they cleared

immigrant and black neighborhoods, citing slum clearance and upgrading.

The destruction of the city continued through urban renewal.

It’s a story told in three acts. The first is the Housing Act of 1937.

The act pitted public housing activists like Catherine Bauer against

commercial real estate interests who hated sharing the city with poor residents.

They wanted to replace slums with flashy real estate projects.

By the Housing Acts of 1949 and 1954, the real estate interests had won.

The public housing that did get built was intended for middle class families, built in

demolished black neighborhoods. Middle class whites didn’t move in,

and they became homes for poor, black families. The Housing Acts assumed that

middle class rents would pay for all maintenance and didn’t provide

Federal funding for upkeep. When poorer families moved in,

the buildings quickly deteriorated without Federal funding. The result was cities

bereft of historic neighborhoods, with bleak modernist towers in their place.

It should be pretty clear that many of the planning "solutions" to the problems of

the industrial city just created more problems themselves.

It was certainly clear to those who were displaced by freeways and urban mega projects.

In the 1960s and 1970s, urban residents began fighting back against

top-down planning that ignored the wishes of residents and

disproportionately hurt poor and minority groups. One of the most

prominent early battles is also one of the most famous—the battle over the

Lower Manhattan Expressway between Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses. Jacobs was an

activist and journalist living in Greenwich Village.

Robert Moses was New York’s master builder, responsible for the construction of many

bridges, freeways, and public housing projects. He was losing influence by the 1960s,

however, and Jacobs, along with other activists, manage to halt the

Lower Manhattan Expressway project. Jacob’s book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities,

is a critique of modernist planning and urban renewal and

became one of the most influential books on planning. Jacobs was not the only one

fighting against urban freeways and urban renewal. Residents of cities across

the US had had enough. Freeway construction was halted in San Francisco

and Portland. New metro systems in San Francisco, Atlanta, and Washington, DC were built.

These impressive victories could not stop urban renewal and freeway

construction entirely. The federal government still provided enormous sums

of money to cities to build more freeways as fast as possible, thanks to

the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956. This continued exodus was called white flight because,

for the most part, black families could not rent or own in the suburbs.

Restrictive covenants, racism in the real estate profession, and

redlining by banks meant that black families could not get mortgages, and even

if they could, they would not be told of listings in white neighborhoods.

This proved especially bad for black families, as jobs were now migrating to the suburbs,

in some cases in what are known as edge cities.

Many of these cities are only accessible by car, and located far from urban centers where black families lived.

The one-two punch of neighborhood-destroying urban renewal and

suburb-generating freeway construction began to slow down in the 1970s.

Urban renewal ended in 1973. Much of the interstate freeway network had been built by the

end of the 1970s, and new regulations made it much harder to build them through urban areas.

The revolts against top-down planning at the beginning of the 1960s

had become popular opinion by the 1970s, particularly with people

hostile toward government generally in the Vietnam and Watergate eras.

So-called “experts” were no longer trusted to know what was best for cities and people.

People decided that planners didn’t deserve the power they had, and there would be no more Robert Moseses.

At the same time, planning academics agreed with the people

and rebuked top-down planning. Marxist theorists began to explain urban

growth and change as movements of capital. Planning was a tool of capitalists.

Planning became a lonely profession without a direction.

The era of the master builder was over. What would become of planners? The evolved and specialized,

thanks in part to many new laws that gave planners something to do.

The Environmental Protection Agency was founded in 1970 and the Clean Air Act,

the Endangered Species Act, the Superfund Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act

all made city planning much more complicated,

as environmental concerns had to be considered with permitting new land uses.

City planners became local experts on an increasing number of federal and state

programs meant to minimize the negative impacts of new development.

The Federal Community Development Act of 1974 replaced urban renewal and provided grants

to communities to build and maintain a wide variety of projects, including

housing, public utilities, parks, and transportation. Planners had to develop

plans to apply for the community development block grants.

Transportation planning changed, too. The changes were slow, but transportation planners began

to think about all modes of transportation, not just the car.

The first bike lanes appeared in the 1970s. Cities began to invest in new light rail

lines in the 1980s. The federal government began to require better

regional transportation plans, as well. Planners became experts in all of the

technical aspects of the job, but they also became educators, facilitators, and advocates.

They lacked some of the raw power they had before, but still

pioneered new approaches to undoing some of the harm of the previous 60 years.

Some cities implemented new smart growth measures, including urban growth boundaries.

The practice of Euclidean zoning began to receive push back,

criticized for its use as a tool of exclusion and its promotion of car only development.

Cities encouraged transit-oriented development in the suburbs to

give residents an alternative to ever-increasing freeway traffic.

Urban challenges remain today. Gentrification and high housing prices are pushing

residents out of cities. Car usage is still incredibly high, even given what we

now know about their negative impacts. Cities are still segregated by race and income.

Self-driving cars could have far-reaching impacts, some we still can’t predict.

There will be lots for planners to do in the future, and they now have a rich

history to reflect on and learn from. Planners, as well as anyone else, can also

learn a lot from the more than 25,000 courses over at Skillshare. Skillshare is

an online learning community for creators, with more than 25,000 classes

in design, business, and more. I’m not sure if people know, but I don’t make YouTube videos full time.

I’m also a full-time PhD student, husband, and parent. I have a lot

going on, and I’m always looking for ways to be productive with my busy life.

I really enjoyed this Skillshare class on productivity by fellow YouTuber Thomas Frank.

With his help, I hope to keep myself organized and producing videos, even as we expect

the birth of my third kid! If you want to fuel your creativity,

curiosity, or career, give Skillshare Premium a try. The first 500 viewers who

use the link in the description will get a two month free trial of Skillshare Premium.

And if you decide you love it, an annual subscription is super affordable,

at less than 10 dollars per month. Go check it out now!

Thanks for watching, CC folks!