It is undeniable that cities of the United States are designed to facilitate transportation by use of the automobile. As you all know, cars are a major source of pollution to our atmosphere, waterways, and natural habitats, emitting global warming , increasing traffic congestion, paving over farmland and wilderness, and depending on the volatile price of oil.”1 Now, to what do we owe America’s entrenched reliance upon cars? Well, many factors, one of which being city planning. City planning is inextricably linked to the environment, economy, and societal well-being. It covers everything from where businesses are located in relation to commercial retail and residential neighborhoods, to street connectivity and bike paths, or lack there of. Without city planning there would be no regulation over where we grew or how we grew. Let’s take a trip down memory lane to better understand the history behind city planning in the U.S. and explore the up-and-coming trends in planning today, effectively dissolving our tenacious dependence on cars.
City Planning Begins
The 19th century marked an era of change and innovation for the United States. What with the industrial revolution and discovery of gold, people from around the world found much promise in the New World. In just two decades, the U.S. grew by about 15 million people.2 As industry expanded, cities became dense with immigrants and ex-rural farmers who had heard of a better life, full of opportunities and chances. However, as cities continued to grow, “noise, traffic jams, slums, air pollution, and sanitation and health problems” grew with it, characterizing the typical American city.3 Overcrowding and government corruption lead to disorder, and without proper regulations, the cities of the U.S. took to unrest, violence, and disease. Something had to be done.
City Beautiful and Urban Renewal
While many wealthy folk had the means to move outside of the city into the suburbs, many immigrant populations and poverty-stricken Americans were forced to navigate the city chaos. In the 1920s, a planning movement, the city beautiful movement, gained considerable momentum as progressive social planners attempted to revive what were considered to be broken cities.4 The movement emphasized aesthetic appeal and fostered ideals of community morale by adorning cities with monuments and sculptures, wide boulevards lined with trees, grand vistas, and parks.5 Unfortunately the movement was halted by the Second World War, which was unimpressively followed by a new, less motivated movement known as urban renewal. Largely backed by federal dollars, many urban neighborhoods were razed. This was justified under the authoritative power of eminent domain, which allowed the government to take private property for public use.6;7 Many residents, if not all, “were neither consulted nor adequately compensated for being displaced” and were later moved back into mega-housing projects without a choice.8
The Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis, MO opened in 1954 and was demolished in 1975. 9
Suburbanization and Garden Cities
Meanwhile, many wealthy people flocked to the suburbs as transportation infrastructure—specifically the Interstate Highway System—facilitated the use of automobiles to and from the city centers.10 The phenomenon of suburbanization was attractive to many as it allowed people to escape from the congested and dirty urban areas. Coupled with the undeniable appeal of open space, privacy, and more land, it is understandable that suburbia, even still to this day, is so desirable.11 So began the effects of urban sprawl.
Similar to suburbanization were garden cities, or smaller, more compact and fully self-sustaining communities—not greater than 30,000 people within 6,000 acres—with a central hub point from which everything else extended.12 These organic designs were well connected with one main transportation route connecting the city’s fingers to the downtown center. It was envisioned to support and integrate all income levels and promote easy access to food, work, entertainment, and retail.13
Taken from British urban planner, Ebenezer Howard’s book, Garden Cities of To-Morrow,1902.14
At the time, fleeing the city seemed like the obvious—out of sight, out of mind. Just as obvious, suburbanization was, and still is, the driving force behind America’s love-hate relationship with cars. As road infrastructure expanded and more and more Americans owned not just one, but multiple cars, more and more people were enabled to escape city centers. Today, the sheer number of automobiles on the road, along with further development of natural spaces, poses a huge threat to the environment. Planners are being forced to find creative strategies to lessen the impact of urban sprawl by incorporating more sustainable concepts in their designs, emphasizing smart growth and new urbanism principals.
Smart Growth and New Urbanism
Smart growth focuses on managing growth so as to “preserve natural lands and critical environmental areas, protect water and air quality, and reuse already-developed land.”15 Different strategies include:
- repurposing existing infrastructure and utilizing vacant lands;
- implementing mixed land use in which homes, businesses, and commercial retail are well integrated so that everything is in one central location;
- promoting alternative modes of transit (such as walking and biking) by creating safe, compact neighborhoods;
- growing up instead of growing out; and,
- preserving open space, farmland, and natural beauty.16
Smart growth essentially increases density while also having needs met for all individuals by mixing business, residential neighborhoods, nightlife, and more. The New Urbanism movement is a perfect complement to smart growth as New Urban neighborhoods are designed around walking, bicycling, and public transportation.17 In addition to combating all the other negative effects, creating alternatives to cars allows residents to integrate exercise into their daily routine, to breathe less air pollution from cars, and to spend less of their income on cars or gasoline. Lastly, a central element of New Urbanism is to foster a sense of community. First, it does so by creating more public space such as boulevards, public parks, and other walking paths in which residents can encounter each other on a daily basis.18 Second, by making transportation between residential and commercial areas closer or accessible by public transportation, New Urban neighborhoods are much more economically accessible for those who cannot afford cars. Because of this, there can also be more racially and generationally diverse neighborhoods.19
So there you have it, city planning in the United States. As you can see, the ways in which a city is designed has a tremendous impact on environment, as well as the local economy and society. Looking back, we can attribute development of open space and our unrelenting reliance upon cars to urban sprawl. Thankfully, planners are taking a more sustainable approach to planning, playing a major role in lessening the human impact on the environment. Through various eco-villages and New Urban projects, we hope to see the growth of environmentally conscious communities throughout the United States.
