What real effect can an American City Planner have? Is it neive to think that a good planner can encourage good design or is do politics play too great a role to have any tangible repercusions?
Obviously there are historical precedents of Robert Moses (though not officially a city planner) and Edmund Bacon come to mind (we can debate the benefits of their influence). For instance, what role did the City Planner play in Portland or San Diego that led to their recent successes in multi-family design? Or was that just luck that the architects & developers in those cities were proposing better projects? And if the planner did have an effect in say, Portland, did it arise out something decades ago, like their Urban Growth Boundary.
It would seem that City Planning is very much a long term game (longer than architecture) and that the decisions being made now won't be fully understood for many years.
With respect to Portland, I think you're right: their policies on urban growth bounds and light rail are/were terrific.
Also should consider geography (ie: portland/manhattan both surrounded by rivers)
I'm interested in the role of Democracy in this situation. Can 'success' in this city be attributed to a population willing to accept/support these conditions? Would communities in other areas of the country be succeptable to such initiatives? Could a forward thinking planner have gone into Vegas or Calgary 10-20yrs ago and have produced different urban/suburban conditions?
That's what I'm really trying to get at. What kind of influence can a forward thinking planner have? Are the good planners just the ones who have a willing/like minded population? This is a very complicated balance (a nature vs nurture type of idea) that can't be summed up easily or maybe at all. I think what would illuminate the question are examples of progressive urban planners in America and what policies initiatives they are emloying or trying to employ.
"Urban planning" as a field encompasses a wide range of activities, of course, including economics, public policy, regulation, and public works.
At least two major activities important to city-building come to mind. One is the design and implementation of massive public works --highways, bridges, utilities and other infrastructure --of the kind associated with Moses in NYC. These might come under the heading of "proactive" planning projects undertaken by the public authority itself.
Another major activity is regulatory and "reactive" --building and zoning codes which shape most urban development in proposals emanating from the private sector. These rules constitute what urban designer Jonathan Barnett calls "designing cities without designing buildings," and, though piecemeal in application, have a tremendous aggregate effect on the built environment. Form-based zoning codes constitute a newer (some would say progressive) tactic in planning better, more attractive cities.
Jul 28, 06 7:51 pm ·
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City Planning
What real effect can an American City Planner have? Is it neive to think that a good planner can encourage good design or is do politics play too great a role to have any tangible repercusions?
Obviously there are historical precedents of Robert Moses (though not officially a city planner) and Edmund Bacon come to mind (we can debate the benefits of their influence). For instance, what role did the City Planner play in Portland or San Diego that led to their recent successes in multi-family design? Or was that just luck that the architects & developers in those cities were proposing better projects? And if the planner did have an effect in say, Portland, did it arise out something decades ago, like their Urban Growth Boundary.
It would seem that City Planning is very much a long term game (longer than architecture) and that the decisions being made now won't be fully understood for many years.
Hmmm.You'r right.
Are you suggesting that Moses was good for NY?
With respect to Portland, I think you're right: their policies on urban growth bounds and light rail are/were terrific.
Also should consider geography (ie: portland/manhattan both surrounded by rivers)
I'm interested in the role of Democracy in this situation. Can 'success' in this city be attributed to a population willing to accept/support these conditions? Would communities in other areas of the country be succeptable to such initiatives? Could a forward thinking planner have gone into Vegas or Calgary 10-20yrs ago and have produced different urban/suburban conditions?
No, I don't think Moses was good for NY.
That's what I'm really trying to get at. What kind of influence can a forward thinking planner have? Are the good planners just the ones who have a willing/like minded population? This is a very complicated balance (a nature vs nurture type of idea) that can't be summed up easily or maybe at all. I think what would illuminate the question are examples of progressive urban planners in America and what policies initiatives they are emloying or trying to employ.
"Urban planning" as a field encompasses a wide range of activities, of course, including economics, public policy, regulation, and public works.
At least two major activities important to city-building come to mind. One is the design and implementation of massive public works --highways, bridges, utilities and other infrastructure --of the kind associated with Moses in NYC. These might come under the heading of "proactive" planning projects undertaken by the public authority itself.
Another major activity is regulatory and "reactive" --building and zoning codes which shape most urban development in proposals emanating from the private sector. These rules constitute what urban designer Jonathan Barnett calls "designing cities without designing buildings," and, though piecemeal in application, have a tremendous aggregate effect on the built environment. Form-based zoning codes constitute a newer (some would say progressive) tactic in planning better, more attractive cities.
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