Planning History

Question 1

What was the significance of the Land Ordinance of 1785?

Answer 1

Ordinance of 1785. Provided for the rectangular land survey of the Old Northwest. The rectangular survey has been called “the largest single act of
national planning in our history and … the most significant in terms of
continuing impact on the body politic” (Daniel Elazar).

Question 2

When was the first “model tenement” built in Manhattan?

Answer 2

1855

Question 3

What was the Homestead Act and when was is passed?

Answer 3

1862 Homestead Act opened the lands of the Public Domain to settlers for a nominal fee and five years residence.

Question 4

When did the New York Council of Hygiene of the Citizens Association mount a
campaign to raise housing and sanitary standards?

Answer 4

1864

Question 5

When and where did the first major tenement house law restrict physical conditions?

Answer 5

1867, New York

Question 6

What city in what year began prohibiting specific obnoxious uses in certain districts beginning the land-use zoning in the U.S?

Answer 6

1867 San Francisco

Question 7

What was the Dumbbell Tenement and when was it introduced?

Answer 7

1879 so called because of its shape. A form of multifamily housing widely built in New York until the end of the century and notorious for the poor living conditions it imposed on its denizens (lack of light, air, space).

Question 8

When was Pullman, Illinois built?

Answer 8

1880-84 Building of Pullman, Illinois, model industrial town by George Pullman.

Question 9

When was ‘How the Other Half Lives’ published?

Answer 9

1890 How the Other Half Lives (Jacob Riis) is published; a powerful stimulus to housing
and neighborhood reform.

Question 10

When did the US federal government officially recognize the problems associated with slums?

Answer 10

1892 First U.S. federal government recognition of the problems of slums and cities (a
survey).

Question 11

When was the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago?

Answer 11

1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago commemorating the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the New World. A source of the City Beautiful Movement and of the urban planning profession.

Question 12

When was ‘Tomorrow A Peaceful Path to Real Reform’ published and by whom?

Answer 12

1898 Ebenezer Howard publishes Tomorrow A Peaceful Path to Real Reform, start of
Garden City movement. Reissued in 1902 as Garden Cities of Tomorrow.

Question 13

When did the first state court support ordinances restricting building heights?

Answer 13

1899 First state court support of ordinance/act restricting heights of buildings.

Question 14

When was the New York State Tenement Law passed? Who was the leading reformer?

Answer 14

1901 New York State Tenement House Law. The legislative basis for the revision of
city codes that outlawed tenements such as the “Dumbbell Tenement.”
Lawrence Veiller was the leading reformer.

Question 15

When was Letchworth constructed? What was the significance?

Answer 15

1903 Letchworth constructed. First English Garden City and a stimulus to New Town
movement in America (Greenbelt Towns, Columbia, etc.).

Question 16

When was the first local Civic center plan developed? In which American city?

Answer 16

1903 First local “civic center” plan developed for Cleveland, by Daniel H. Burnham.

Question 17

When was the first application of ‘City Beautiful’ principles applied to an American city? Which city?

Answer 17

1906 First application of “City Beautiful” principles to a major American city – Burnham’s Plan for San Francisco

Question 18

When was the first comprehensive city survey completed on an American city? Which city?

Answer 18

1907 First comprehensive city survey, Pittsburgh.

Question 19

When was the first official, local, and permanent planning board established? In which American city?

Answer 19

1907 First official, local, and permanent planning board (at Hartford,
Connecticut).

Question 20

When and where was the first national city planning conference held?

Answer 20

1909 First National Conference on City Planning in Washington, D.C.

Question 21

When and where was zoning first used in the US to restrict future development?

Answer 21

1909 First American use of zoning to restrict future development. Los Angeles creates multitude of zones.

Question 22

When and where did the first state enabling act pass?

Answer 22

1909 First State Enabling Act passes (Wisconsin).

Question 23

What was the first metropolitan regional plan in the United States? Who authored it?

Answer 23

1909 Plan of Chicago— first metropolitan regional plan in U.S. (Daniel Burnham).

Question 24

What was the first American test if the neighborhood idea?

Answer 24

1910 First American test of neighborhood idea - Forest Hill Gardens, Long Island, N.Y.

Question 25

What was the first major American textbook on planning? When was it published?

Answer 25

1913 First major American textbook on planning - Flavel Shurtleff’s Carrying Out the City Plan.

Question 26

What was the first private planning consulting firm? When and where was it established?

Answer 26

1913 First private planning consulting firm, created in N.Y.C. by George B. Ford and Earnest P. Goodrich (Technical Advisory Corporation).

Question 27

What was the first state to institute a mandatory referral of subdivision plats? In what year was it instituted?

Answer 27

1913 New Jersey

Question 28

What was the first state to make planning required for local governments? When was the mandate passed?

Answer 28

1913 Massachusetts

Question 29

Where and when was the first full time municipal planner employed?

Answer 29

1914 Harland Bartholomew, at Newark,

New Jersey.

Question 30

What was the first state to require mandatory referral of subdivision plats in extraterritorial areas? When was this mandated?

Answer 30

1915 California

Question 31

When did Patrick Geddes write Cities in Motion? What was the significance?

Answer 31

1915 creating the foundation for regional

planning theory.

Question 32

When was the National Park Service established? What was/is its mission?

Answer 32

1916 National Park Service established with sole responsibility for conserving and
preserving resources of special value.

Question 33

When was the country’s first comprehensive zoning ordinance passed? Where?

Answer 33

1916 Nation’s first comprehensive zoning resolution adopted by New York City Board
of Estimates under the leadership of George McAneny and Edward Bassett, known as the “Father of Zoning.”

Question 34

When was Planning in the Modern City published? By whom?

Answer 34

1916 Nelson P. Lewis published Planning of the Modern City.

Question 35

When was the first federal-aid highway act passed?

Answer 35

1916

Question 36

When was the first regional functional authority plan adopted? Where?

Answer 36

1916 First regional functional authority plan adopted - Miami Conservancy District,
Ohio.

Question 37

When did three groups - the. Metropolitan Sewerage Commission, the Metropolitan Water Board and the Metropolitan Park Commission-combined to form the Boston Metropolitan District Commission.

Answer 37

1919

Question 38

When was the first parkway in America completed and where?

Answer 38

The Bronx River Parkway, NY 1919

Question 39

What was the first statewide citizens organization in support of planning? When was it formed?

Answer 39

1919 First statewide citizens organization in support of planning - Ohio Planning Conference.

Question 40

What was the first historic preservation committee in the United States? When and where was it formed?

Answer 40

1921 New Orleans designates the Vieux Carre Commission, the first historic preservation commission in the U.S.

Question 41

When was the inauguration of the Regional Plan of New York under Thomas Adams?

Answer 41

1922

Question 42

When was the creation of the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission?

Answer 42

1922. It was the first of its kind.

Question 43

Where and when was the first auto oriented shopping center built?

Answer 43

1922 First suburban auto-oriented shopping center, “County Club Plaza” in Kansas City, Missouri.

Question 44

Through which department and under which president did the US issue the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act?

Answer 44

1924 U.S. Department of Commerce under Secretary Herbert Hoover issues a Standard State Zoning Enabling Act.

Question 45

Which American city was the first to officially endorse a comprehensive plan? In what year?

Answer 45

1925 Cincinnati, Ohio, becomes first major American city officially to endorse a comprehensive plan. (Alfred Bettman).

Question 46

What model of urban land planning did Ernest Burgess publish and when?

Answer 46

1925 Ernest Burgess’s “Concentric Zone” model of urban structure and land use is published.

Question 47

What American city was the first to adopt the first comprehensive plan (through a planning board)?

Answer 47

1925 Cincinnati.

Question 48

Which state sponsored the first public subsidy for housing?

Answer 48

1926 First public subsidy for housing, State of New York.

Question 49

What was the significance of Village of Euclid v Ambler Realty?

Answer 49

1926 Supreme Court upholds constitutionality of comprehensive zoning (Village of Euclid v. Amber Realty Co.).

Question 50

What was the Standard City PlanningEnabling Act? When was it established?

Answer 50

1928 U.S. Department of Commerce under Secretary Herbert Hoover issues a Standard City Planning Enabling Act.

The SZEA had nine sections. It included a grant of power, a provision that the legislative body could divide the local government’s territory into districts, a statement of purpose for the zoning regulations, and procedures for establishing and amending the zoning regulations. A legislative body was required to establish a zoning commission to advise it on the initial development of zoning regulations.

Question 51

When and where was the first “new town” built?

Answer 51

1928 First “new town” built (Radburn, N.J.).

Radburn, a planned community, was started in 1929 by the City Housing Corporation from the plans developed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright. The concept of the “new town” grew out of the older planned communities in Europe and the work of Ebenezer Howard and Patrick Geddes. The intent was to build a community which made provisions for the complexities of modern life, while still providing the amenities of open space, community service and economic viability.

Question 52

What was the significance Clarence Perry’s monograph on the Neighborhood Unit? When was it published?

Answer 52

1929 Clarence Perry’s monograph on the Neighborhood Unit is published in Volume
VII of the Regional Survey of New York and Its Environs.

The neighbourhood unit was conceived of as a comprehensive physical planning tool, to be utilised for designing self-contained residential neighbourhoods which promoted a community centric lifestyle, away from the “noise of the trains, and out of sight of the smoke and ugliness of industrial plants” emblematic of an industrialising New York City in the early 1900s.[2][8]

Question 53

When was the US stock market crash? What was the impact on planning?

Answer 53

1929 Stock market crash in October ushers in Great Depression and fosters ideas of
public planning on a national scale.

Question 54

When was the National Land Utilization Conference? Where did it convene? What was the significance?

Answer 54

1931 National Land Utilization Conference convened in Chicago. Three hundred
agricultural experts deliberate on rural recovery programs and natural resource conservation.

Question 55

When was FDR inaugurated? What was the significance on planning?

Answer 55

1933 FDR inaugurated. New Deal begins with a spate of counter-depression
measures.

Question 56

When was the Federal Emergency Relief Administration set up? What was the significance?

Answer 56

1933 Federal Emergency Relief Administration set up under Harry Hopkins to
organize relief work in urban and rural areas.

Question 57

When was the Home Owners Loan Corporation established? What was the significance?

Answer 57

1933 Home Owners Loan Corporation established to save homeowners facing loss
through foreclosure.

Question 58

When was the Tennessee Valley Authority established? What was the significance of it?

Answer 58

1933 The Tennessee Valley Authority is created to provide for unified and multipurpose rehabilitation and redevelopment of the Tennessee Valley, America’s most famous experiment in river-basin planning. Senator George Norris of Nebraska fathered idea. America’s first large-scale
regional program in integrated economic, social, and physical development planning by the federal government.

Question 59

When was the first US National Planning Board established?

Answer 59

1933 First U.S. National Planning Board created (abolished as the National Resources Planning Board in 1943).

Question 60

When was the National Housing Act established? What is/was the significance?

Answer 60

1934 National Housing Act. Established FSLIC for insuring savings deposits and the FHA for insuring individual home mortgages

Question 61

When was the American Society of Planning Officials founded? Who was the first president

Answer 61

1934 American Society of Planning Officials (ASPO) founded (Alfred Bettman, is the first president).

Question 62

In what year was the first US federally housing for the general population built?

Answer 62

1934 First U.S. federally built housing for the general population

Question 63

When was the Resettlement Administration established? By whom? What was the significance of the Administration?

Answer 63

1935 Resettlement Administration established under Rexford Tugwell, Roosevelt
“braintruster,” to carry out experiments in land reform and population resettlement. This agency built Greenbelt, Maryland and Greenhills, Ohio
- forerunners of present day New Towns: Columbia, Maryland and Reston, Virginia, etc.

Question 64

In what year were the first federally built greenbelt towns during peacetime?

Answer 64

1935-37 First U.S. federally built new towns in peacetime: the “greenbelt” towns.

Question 65

What was the significance of the US Housing Act of 1937?

Answer 65

1937 First major federal legislative commitment to public housing, U.S. Housing Act of 1937.

Question 66

What was the significance of Homer Hoyt’s “sector theory” of urban structure?

Answer 66

1939 Homer Hoyt’s influential “sector theory” of urban structure appears in his
monograph, The Structure and Growth of Residential Neighborhoods in American Cities.

Thesector model, also known as theHoyt model, is amodelof urban land use proposed in 1939 by land economistHomer Hoyt. It is a modification of the concentric zonemodelof city development. The benefits of the application of thismodelinclude the fact it allows for an outward progression of growth.

Question 67

When was the ACPI renames the American Institute of Planners (AIP)?

Answer 67

1939 ACPI renamed American Institute of Planners (AIP).

Question 68

What was the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act? When was it passed?

Answer 68

1944 Serviceman’s Readjustment Act (“GI Bill”). Guaranteed loans for homes to veterans under favorable terms, thereby accelerating the growth of suburbs.

Question 69

When was the first State Redevelopment Act passed? In which state?

Answer 69

1945 First state redevelopment act passed - Pennsylvania

Question 70

When did the construction of Park Forest, Illinois and Levittown, New York begin?

Answer 70

1947 Construction of Park Forest, Illinois, and Levittown, New York, begun

A house could be built in one day when effectively scheduled. This enabled quick and economical production of similar or identical homes with rapid recovery of costs. StandardLevittownhouses included a white picket fence, green lawns, and modern appliances. Sales in the originalLevittownbegan in March 1947.

Question 71

What was the first American city to adopt a comprehensive plan following WWII? When?

Answer 71

1948 First American city to adopt a new comprehensive plan following World War II,
Cincinnati.

Question 72

What was the significance of the 1949 Housing Act?

Answer 72

1949 Housing Act (Wagner-Ellender-Taft Bill). First U.S. comprehensive housing legislation. Aimed to construct about 800,000 units. Inaugurated urban redevelopment program.

Question 73

When was the National Trust for Historic Preservation created?

Answer 73

1949 The National Trust for Historic Preservation is created and chartered by
Congress.

Question 74

What was a significant portion of the US House Act of 1949?

Answer 74

1949 First U.S. federal urban redevelopment (clearance program) in U.S. House Act of
1949.

Question 75

What was the decision in Berman v Parker? What year was the trial held?

Answer 75

1954 In Berman v. Parker, U.S. Supreme Court upholds right of Washington, D.C.
Redevelopment Land Agency to condemn properties that are unsightly, though non-deteriorated, if required to achieve objectives of duly established area redevelopment plan.

Question 76

When and where did the Council of Government movement begin?

Answer 76

1954 The Council of Government movement (COG’s) begins in the Detroit area. It
soon spreads nationwide.

Question 77

What was significant in the House Act of 1954?

Answer 77

1954 First U.S. federal conservation and rehabilitation program, and first federal 50/50
funding for preparation of general plans (“701”) in U. S. House Act of 1954.

Question 78

What book published in 1960 by Kevin Lynch defines basic elements of a city’s “imageability” (paths, edges, nodes etc.)?

Answer 78

1960 Image of the City by Kevin Lynch

Question 79

What state becomes the first to institute statewide zoning? In what year?

Answer 79

1961 Hawaii becomes first state to institute statewide zoning

Question 80

When was The Life and Death of Great American Cities published? By whom? What was the significance?

Answer 80

1961 The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs, includes a critique of
planning and planners.

Question 81

In what year did the first US federal housing subsidy program begin?

Answer 81

1961 First U.S. federal housing subsidy program [“221-d (3)”].

Question 82

In what American city was the first zoning ordinance featuring flexible controls (such as FAR) introduced? In what year?

Answer 82

1961 NYC.

Question 83

When was Columbia, MD built? What planning features were highlighted in the development?

Answer 83

1963 Columbia, Maryland, a new town situated about halfway between Washington and Baltimore, featuring some class integration and the neighborhood principle.

Question 84

When was the Civil Rights Act passed? What did the Act pronounce?

Answer 84

1964 Civil Rights Act outlaws discrimination based on race, creed, and national origin
in places of public accommodation.

Question 85

What book did TJ Kent write in 1964?

Answer 85

1964 T.J. Kent writes The Urban General Plan.

Question 86

When was the US Department of Housing and Urban Development established? Who was the first secretary?

Answer 86

1965 First Secretary of new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development— Robert C. Weaver.

Question 87

When was the National Historic Preservation Act passed? What did it establish?

Answer 87

1966 National Historic Preservation Act passed. Establishes the National Register of Historic Places and provides, through its Section 106, for the protection of preservation-worthy sites and properties threatened by federal activities. This act also creates the national Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and directs that each state to appoint a State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO).

Question 88

What program did the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act launch in 1966?

Answer 88

1966 “model cities” program, an interdisciplinary attack on urban blight and poverty. A centerpiece of President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” program.

Question 89

In what year did Ian McHarg publish Design with Nature? What was the significance of the book?

Answer 89

1969 Ian McHarg publishes Design with Nature, linking planning to the natural environment.

Question 90

What did the National Environmental Policy Act require? When was it established?

Answer 90

1969 National Environmental Policy Act requires an “environmental impact statement” for every federal or federally aided state or local major action that might significantly harm the environment.

Question 91

When was the Federal Environmental Protection Agency established? Why was the agency established?

Answer 91

1970 Federal Environmental Protection Agency established to administer main provisions of the Clean Air Act (1970).

Question 92

When and where was the first major introduction of the transfer of development rights?

Answer 92

1971 Chicago.

Question 93

What was the significance of Golden v Planning Board of New York? In what year was the case tried?

Answer 93

1972 In Golden v. Planning Board of Ramapo, New York high court allows the use of performance criteria as a means of slowing community growth.

Question 94

When was the first federal revenue sharing program established?

Answer 94

1972

Question 95

When was the first national land use legislation introduced? Was it later aborted?

Answer 95

1972 First national land-use legislation introduced (aborted).

Question 96

When and where was the first rapid transit system built?

Answer 96

1972 First rapid transit system built for fast center-to-center service begins service (BART— Bay Area Rapid Transit). San Francisco Bay Area.

Question 97

What did Senator Jackson propose in 1972?

Answer 97

1972- Senator Jackson proposes national land-use legislation to protect natural resources and undeveloped land.

Question 98

How did the Housing and Community Development Act change grants? In what year?

Answer 98

1974 The Housing and Community Development Act replaces the categorical grant
with the block grant as the principal form of federal aid for local community development.

Question 99

When did the American Institute of Planners (AIP) and American Society of Planning Officials (ASPO) merge to become American Planning Association (APA)?

Answer 99

1978

Question 100

What did the Penn Central Transportation Co v City if New York uphold? In what year?

Answer 100

1978 Penn Central Transportation Co. v. City of New York, 438 U.S. 104 (1978): U.S. Supreme Court upholds New York City’s Landmark Preservation Law as applied to Grand Central Terminal. In this landmark decision, the Court found that barring some development of air rights was not a taking when the interior of the property could be put to lucrative use.

Question 101

What was the first state to institute statewide zoning? When?

Answer 101

1978 Hawaii

Question 102

In which year did the Reagan Revolution begin? What did it feature?

Answer 102

1980 “Reagan Revolution” begins. Planning profession challenged to adapt to a new (counter-New Deal) policy environment: reduced federal domestic spending, privatization, deregulation, etc. Phase-out of some earlier aids to planning (e.g., sewer grants) and planning programs (e.g., “Title V Regions”).

Question 103

What was the outcome of the case heard in 1983 that focused in Mt. Laurel New Jersey?

Answer 103

1983 In a case focusing on Mt. Laurel, New Jersey, the New Jersey Supreme Court rules that all 567 municipalities in the state must build their “fair share” of affordable housing. A precedent-setting decision against racial segregation.

Question 104

What was the outcome of the First English Evangelical Lutheran Church v Los Angeles County? In what year was the trial held?

Answer 104

1987 First English Evangelical Lutheran Church v. Los Angeles County, 482 U.S. 304 (1987), was a 6-3 decision of the United States Supreme Court. The Court held that the complete destruction of the value of property constituted a “taking” under the Fifth Amendment even if that taking was temporary and the property was later restored.

Question 105

What was significance of the Nollan v California Coastal Commission case?

Answer 105

1987 In Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, it finds that land-use restrictions, to be valid, must be tied directly to a specific public purpose.

Question 106

What was the significance of the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act? What year was it passed?

Answer 106

1991 Passage of Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) includes
provisions for a National Scenic Byways Program and for transportation enhancements, each of which includes a historic preservation component. Congress passes the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), the first federal transportation law to mandate planning

Question 107

What was the significance of the Lucas v South Carolina Coastal Council case? What year was it tried?

Answer 107

1992 In Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, the U.S. Supreme Court limits local and
state government’s ability to restrict private property without compensation.

Question 108

What was the significance of the Dolan v City of Tigard case? What year was the case tried?

Answer 108

1994 In Dolan v. City of Tigard, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that a jurisdiction must show that there is a “rough proportionality “ between the adverse impacts of a proposed development and the exactions it wishes to impose on the developer.

Question 109

What did President Clinton do in the year 2000 regarding national monuments?

Answer 109

2000 President Clinton Creates eight new national monuments in five western states.
Canyons of the Ancients (Colorado); Cascade-Siskiyou (Oregon); Hanford Reach (Washington); Ironwood Forest Grand Canyon-Parashant, Agua Fria (Arizona); Grand Sequoia, California Coastal (California). He also expanded one existing national monument in California (Pinnacles).