The City Assembled: An Introduction to Urban Design History and Theory
Camilo Lopez FAU School of Urban and Regional Planning Fall 2014
Abstract This paper assesses the performance of urban design theories in American cities. The report focuses on physical and social dimensions of the built environment and how that reflects into social behavioral patterns of individuals. This theme is important to the planning profession due to its intrinsic value on how policies are created and their repercussions in everyday life of Americans. The history of planning and urban design is depicted as an evolutionary profession that has built on top of a variety of theorist form architects, sociologist, journalist, and social activist. In general, studies of the assimilation of urban design have the ability to expand on the planning of healthy environments: physical, emotionally, and mentally.
Keywords Urban planning, Urban design, Theories, Evolution , Built Environment, Social perspective
This paper discusses the subject of urban design as a profession that should hold both theory and social perspectives as defined by Anne Vernez Moudon: " To build up actual knowledge in urban design, one should not look for the correct approach or theory, but should instead compile and assess all the research that adds to what the urban designer must be familiar with"..�Since the early 1950’s and 1960’s people have been talking more and more about Urban design, without knowing much how important would it be for us nowadays. The case of American cities in post war years developed an urban environment of decentralization and sprawl: which revealed inhumane living conditions of inner city America, creating what most planners refer to as "the donut effect" . Planners, architects and policy makers began to addressed these social issues through physical design elements: that resulted in development of city wide master plans and upgrading of newly zoning regulations with building guidelines. In years of growth American Cities fast paced development adopted widely accepted
theories on the subject of city building. The most common approach to planning and design by professionals derived from the concepts of Garden City, City Beautiful, and Le Corbusier's "Towers in the Park". These concepts illustrated and addressed specific issues that enable the elaboration of direct solutions. The subject of urban design was treated in residential, civic, and commercial utopias in the absence of a people's design. Therefore, in 1961 activists and writer Jane Jacobs put a halt to the preconceived notions of accepting these theories as absolutes. Mrs. Jacobs advocated for an integral design process of real people with real places. She viewed urban design as a "street ballet" in which every person take part of the show at any given time. The complexity of city building requires that planners, architects, and urban designers observe and acknowledge socioeconomic dimensions, as well as, physical structure.. The industrial revolution is considered as the first phase of urbanization and city growth in America. Cities transformed geographical structures, physical forms, and social paradigms during the time that people moved from rural (agriculture) to urban (manufacturing): that change our way of living. The US clean slate status enable the eruption of new cities with industrial fields that generated labor opportunities to locals and foreigners: Therefore, modeling American cities as control centers and economic powers. The short history of American architecture contributed to the fact of unlimited visions and design criteria's that generated "modern" urban environments. In the early 20th century, planners and policy makers let loose their personal ideals and preconceived concepts as guidelines in the process of city building. Designers, such as, Le Corbusier devoted most of his later years to develop new concepts of the cities of to-morrow: in which he developed the radiant city. That concept worked around the idea of segregating roads, pedestrians, and buildings. Le Corbusier honored cars as one of the greatest human inventions and a symbol of progress. However, little he knew that the solutions that seem rational in those times generated a counter effect today. Fordism years grew exponentially in car manufacturing and tenure: which resulted in more expressways and border vacuums. The shift in urban
form adopted solutions to house cars and their mobility, therefore creating large parking parks and wider streets. The social repercussions of these changes end the life of most urban environments in American cities. People developed an individualistic behavior that centralized on personal interests and disregarded communal cohesion. As cities shift in physical and social dimensions the need to provide regional planning solutions was indeed necessary. The industrial growth developed cities with factories that harm the environment. In addition, opportunity for labor prompted large amounts of immigrants to come to American cities: in which is called "The American Dream" even today. Mixing both large amounts of newcomers with factories caused a decaying effect on American industrial cities. As a response to these social and environment problems planners and activist adopted the garden city concept developed by Ebenezer Howard. The concept of the garden city was developed under similar circumstances in London's late 19th century. It induced integration of both the best of the country side with that of the city. Sir Howard saw the solution to industrial decay on the foundation of lowering densities, providing vast amount of green spaces, zone land uses, and an independent economy (Hall, 2002). In America sociologist Lewis Mumford took hold of Sir Howard's concept and applied it to American cities: especially in the north eastern cities, such as, New York and New Jersey. The concept dissolved and transformed itself from the original romantic ideals. In American cities it became the origin to what we know today as suburban development. These type of developments are based on sub-divisional blocks that provides low densities and vast amounts of green spaces: the typical residential units of suburban America. Mumford and the new planning association of America initiate an outreach to developed city and regional wide master plans. The group intended to bring order and welfare through development of new planned communities. The American concept of the garden suburban city is probably the most influential theoretical and practical concept that exist up to now.
During the same time, others ideas were proposed on how to develop a healthier societies using concepts of ancient cities. Differed from garden city the idea of city beautiful was developed under basis of monumental architecture. The movement of city beautiful is best attributed to Daniel Burnham's world's Columbia Exposition of Chicago in 1893 (Hall, 2002). Mr. Burnham took long trips to Europe ancient cities and delighted by order and civic pride that these cities evoked he saw an opportunity to generate that city character and high culture in limbo American Cities. The organization of those old cities were clever and functional, due to the fact that all important public/civic buildings, such as, city halls, cultural centers, governmental institutions and churches are located around central grandiose civic plazas and/or parks. While housing, restaurants and other kinds of non-civic buildings are located beyond the civic center: in close proximity for support purposes. City beautiful in a city wide perspective developed and enforced axial boulevards as main path connectors with symbolic character to the city. Moreover, axial boulevards created a street network of hierarchy with principal nodes where large amounts of people commute daily. The concept strictly focused on civic realm, therefore major critics opposed the movement's disinterest in other uses that are imperative to cities, such as, residential and industrial. Today we still see garden city beautiful concepts on most of our city's civic centers, cultural centers and commercial boulevards: in particular those places that are aligned with axial streets of activities, monuments of civic pride, landscape beautification, and classical monumental architecture. In search for a perfect place, as it has always been in part of our human nature to strive for ideals. Le Corbusier's evolutionary mind set saw an opportunity to develop what was then called the city of tomorrow: also known as "Plan Voisin", "The Radiant City", "City of Towers", and "Towers in the Park" . The Swiss-French architect with vast amount of designing background from his paternal clock work to the most extravagant city planning theories: elaborated controversial utopias. The concept of radiant city revolved around increasing densities, vast amount of green spaces, monumental edifices, and segregation of path usage (Hall, 2002). Le Corbusier the architect was fascinated with advancement in
technology and machine-like artifacts. He saw these elements as essential components of future generations. The architect designed high rise residential and office space towers as a response to maximize building footprints: therefore more green recreational spaces can be provided. Towers were intended to perform as machines for living: enhancing ideas of systematic routine-like clock mechanisms. People were to live in compact spaces that transformed from a variety of uses and provided all the essential components as if living in a single residential home. Le Corbusier the planner saw cars as essential components for progress of society. He honored advancement in technology and rejected all other anti-futurist manifestos. Radiant City planning concept based on providing car only paths below pedestrian realms. In addition to a centralized transit station that would radiated from the center core. This concept was highly rejected by vast amounts of professionals, however consciously or unconsciously we see today these concepts reflected in most of our central business districts: high rise buildings with office and residential uses. Moreover, the ideas of Le Corbusier developed into radiant garden city beautiful: what we know today as mixed use development. He strive for self sustaining edifices that would housed residential units, commercial units, office spaces, and recreational rooftops: in example, his famously Unite d'Habitation in Marseille, France. The lack of pedestrian scale design intentioned in Le Corbusier's city plan, in addition to integration of both car and pedestrian generated an unanticipated set of urban problems: such as creation of expressways and low income residential towers. In response to previously stated concepts, writer and social activist Jane Jacobs comes about as the hero of real communities with real lives. She was an American "housewife" that lived in Greenwich Village in New York City in 1960s (Wendt, 2009). Mrs. Jacobs was greatly frustrated and mad with all theoretical city planning ideals concepts that rejected a real social understanding. Her concept of building true neighborhoods, district, and cities as a whole was introduced in her famously work "The Life and Death of Great American cities". The books was "an attack on current city planning and rebuilding. It is also,
and mostly, and attempt to introduce new principles of city planning and rebuilding, different and even opposite from those now taught in everything from schools of architecture and planning" as stated in the introductory paragraph by Jacobs (Jacobs, 1961). She observed American cities as diverse urban ballets that required not orthodox master plans. instead she advocated for plans that come from real people in their real communities. Jacobs developed a sociological dimension for planners, architects, and other professionals to abide by in order to construct healthy humane communities. The concept of Jacobs neighborhood design proposed four criteria's: mixed primary uses, short blocks, building of various ages and sates of repair, and high dense concentrations. She introduced concepts, such as, "eyes on the streets" and "social capital" as elements that from a bottom-up approach would enhanced prosperity. Many thinkers aligned with Jacob's idea have propose different theories on how to deal with urban design, Some of these theories, proposed by the urban designers and thinkers like Donald Appleyard and Allan B. Jacobs, go from analyzing possible reasons that caused separation of cities by creation of suburban areas and the use of new technologies, to ideas on how to aid in the process of guiding people back to cities and urban areas (Appleyard, 1987). One of the most complete theory on my personal point of view was “the cause of sprawl� by Robert Bruegmann, for reasons that he exposed realist situations: he explained concepts from specific to general ideas, for example, he stated reasons of why people tend to sprawl considered anti-urban attitudes, racism, technology, economic factors, capitalism, and government intervention (Bruegmann, 2005). In addition, Robert Bruegmann mentioned the role that government has on development of cities is influential for the reasons of polity and bureaucratic interests. Robert Bruegmann argued that
governmental institutions fueled suburban America
accompanied by homeowners subsides, highway programs, infrastructure subsides and federal income tax deductions. In addition, politicians are most effective only in the course of their elected period. Moreover political workers are positioned in office by public votes, therefore politicians must pleased
major community stakeholders. The act of urban design and political intervention is highly linked, due to the fact that office officials are decision makers which defined public realm physical and social outlook. Urban design which entitles everything between buildings, therefore the playground for people and communities: assimilation of diverse social circumstances is indeed imperative. The practice of urban design is not a new conception: we can argue that urban design in some way or another have been around for hundreds of years without even having a terminology for this career. Many exponents of city building have wonder why and try to answer the question of urban design like Peter Webber who defines urban design as “the process of molding the form of the city through time� (Webber, 1994). As time transcends, urban designers, architects, and planners are flattering into a routine-like public work that performs under established accepted theories. It appears as if professionals and communities do not recognized the transcendental effects that every decision, design, and plan has on our "civilized" social paradigms. It is important to recognized that we shaped our cities; thereafter they shape us. For that reason we as professionals should hold both theoretical and social perspective when city building and more importantly ethical principles of equality.
Works Cited Appleyard, A. J. (1987). Toward an Urban Design Manifesto. Planner's Notebook , 112-120. Bruegmann, R. (2005). Sprawl: A Compact History. University of Chicago Press , 301-305. Hall, P. (2002). Cities of Tomorrow. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing. Jacobs, J. (1961). The Life and Death of Great American Cities. New York: Vintage Books a Division of Random House, Inc. Webber, P. (1994). What is Urban Design? London, England, United Kingdom. Wendt, M. (2009). The Importance of Death and Life of Great American Cities(1961) by Jane Jacobs to the Profession of Urban Planning. New Visions for Public Affairs , 1-23.