Comprehensive Planning - History

History

During the earliest times of American history, cities had little power given to them by State governments to control land use. After the American Revolution, the focus on property rights turned to self-rule and personal freedom, as this was a time of very strong personal property rights. Local governments had simple powers which included maintaining law and order and providing basic services. Cities had little power, if any at all, to direct development in the city.

Cities began to focus on the provision of basic services during the 1840s at a time known as the Sanitary Reform Movement. During this time it became clear that there was a strong relationship between disease and the availability of a quality sewer system. Part of the movement included the development of sanitary survey planning to help bring sewer systems to infected parts of cities. From this planning also developed a new consciousness of townsite location. People began to understand the environmental and social impacts of building cities and developed ways in which to further lower the spread of deadly diseases. Frederick Law Olmsted was a firm believer in the relationship between the physical environment and sanitation, which helped lead to the development of grand parks and open spaces in communities to bring not only recreation, but sanitation as well. The Sanitary Reform Movement is seen by many as the first attempt at comprehensive planning, however it failed to be completely comprehensive because it focused on only one aspect of the city and did not consider the city as a whole.

During the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, cities began to urbanize at very high rates. Cities became very dense and full of disease. As a response to the over population and chaotic conditions, planning became a major focus of many large American cities. The City Beautiful movement was one of the many responses to the decaying city. The movement began in Chicago in 1890 with the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 and lasted until about the 1920s. The focus on the movement was the design and architectural characteristics of the city. Leaders of the movement wanted to push the vision of the ideal city, and demonstrate to the world what cities could look like if they were created to be works of art. The White City was created for the exposition which embodied the visions of the movement with neoclassical designed buildings set against landscaped streets. Visitors to the exhibition began to realize that cities could be much more than dirty, overcrowded places. The movement spread across the United States and influenced many major American cities.

In 1898, Ebenezer Howard published his book entitled "Tomorrow, a Peaceful Path to Reform," in which he developed the idea of a Garden City. This city was a planned development which included different land uses and community services. The communities were to be surrounded by a green belt and included many open spaces and parks within the city. These cities were designed to be completely self-sufficient and focused on decreasing the negative impacts traditional cities had on people's lives. Although these cities were considered to be utopian ideas, two cities were eventually built in this vision, Letchworth and Welwyn, England. The vision of Ebenezer Howard greatly impacted the idea of city planning in the United States for decades and helped in the development of the idea that cities must be planning comprehensively for growth.

After the turn of the Twentieth Century, American cities began to see the need for local development and growth plans. Influential in this planning was Daniel Hudson Burnham who re-created the city plan for Washington, D.C. created by Pierre Charles L'Enfant in 1791. The original plan called for grid iron laid streets crossed by diagonal boulevards, squares, plazas, parks, monuments, and sculptures. However, over time this plan was largely ignored and the city had developed against L'Enfant's vision. Burnham was instrumental in recreating the city plan and helping to return the city to its once intended form. In 1903, Burnham helped create the city growth plan for the city of Cleveland, Ohio and in 1906 he created the city plan for San Francisco, California. Although these were all city development plans, it was not until 1909 when Burnham created the city plan for Chicago that his plans were comprehensive. The plan of Chicago is known today as the first comprehensive plan and it began a movement of comprehensive planning that emphasized planning as a way to not only make cities more beautiful, but to function better as well.