Planning Principles and History

Question 1

Nation’s first historic commission - when and where?

Answer 1

1924 New Orleans

Question 2

New Urbanism

Answer 2

Pedestrian scale facades, variety of housing types, multi modal transportation gridded street pattern

Question 3

NY Tenement House Law

Answer 3

1901 reform law aimed at improving living conditions in NY tenement buildings. Improved light and air quality, external windows, courtyards, ventilation, indoor toilets, fire safety.

Question 4

McMillan Plan

Answer 4

1902 plan to redesign national mall and determined locations of the Lincoln memorial and other buildings. Daniel Burnham. First expression of city beautiful movement.

Question 5

Early City Planning Commission

Answer 5

1902 Cleveland. “Board of City Planning for Ohio Cities” - Daniel Burnham, John Carrere, Arnold Brunner. Not technically a planning commission but acted like one with power to give advice about city planning improvements.

Question 6

Construction of Letchworth

Answer 6

1903 - Letchworth, England. First “garden city” based on the principles of Ebenezer Howard. Focused on creating self contained communities with residences, industry, and agriculture, surrounded by undeveloped green areas.

Question 7

Public Lands Commission

Answer 7

1903 appointed by Theodore Roosevelt and I study public land policy and laws for open range and federal lands. Fronted by Gifford Pinchot. Made recommendations for use of public lands for grazing and timber purposes, many of which were controversial with livestock, lumber, and mining interests.

Question 8

Antiquities Act

Answer 8

1906 Theodore Roosevelt signed the Antiquities Act into law to preserve archaeological sites on public lands. Authorized the president to protect landmarks and objects of historic significance by designating them as national monuments. Devils Tower in Wyoming was the first monument protected under the act.

Question 9

NY Congestion Committee

Answer 9

1907 Florence Kelley and Mary Simkhovitch founded to look for solutions for overcrowding in poor parts of the city.

Question 10

First Official City Planning Commission

Answer 10

Hartford, CT 1907 - makes recommendations about the planning and zoning of a city or town to the local council.

Question 11

NY Congestion Exhibit

Answer 11

1908 - Museum of Natural History. Florence Kelley, Lillian Wald, Mary Simkhovitch, and Gaylord White believed that congestion was the primary cause of problems with housing, child labor, and poverty. Exhibit toured the country pushing city administrators to launch commissions to look into congestion.

Question 12

Ford Launches Model T

Answer 12

1908 - affordability opened up car ownership to a much wider range of Americans and spurred the country’s car culture. Planners had to find a way to fit more cars on roads and in communities.

Question 13

Forest Hills Gardens

Answer 13

1909 - First planned “garden suburb” in the US. Mixed income housing surrounded by green spaces. Frederick Law Olmstead Jr planner, Grosvenor Atterbury architect. Became a victim of popularity, highest priced enclaves in Queens NY.

Question 14

First Course in City Planning

Answer 14

1909 Harvard College

Question 15

First National Planning Conference

Answer 15

1909 Benjamin Marsh, Washington DC led directly to the creation of the American City Planning Institute in 1917

Question 16

Plan of Chicago

Answer 16

1909 Daniel Burnham - first comprehensive metropolitan plan in the US. Three years of research into how city growth and infrastructure impacted its residents. Plan concentrated on physical improvements: new parks, lakefront upgrades, civic and cultural centers, and transportation development.

Question 17

Manual of the Plan of Chicago

Answer 17

1911 Walter Moody distributed to schools in Chicago. Focused on the development of the 1909 plan of Chicago, the city’s history, and its transportation problems. Six editions published through 1924. First initiative to educate children about planning.

Question 18

Early Vision of Zoning

Answer 18

1913 - NY, MN, WI, IL separately allowed some cities to create residential districts where no manufacturing or commercial establishments could operate.

Question 19

Carrying Out the City Plan

Answer 19

1914 Flavel Shurtleff - first text on the legal framework for city planning

Question 20

First Municipally Employed Planner

Answer 20

1914 - Harland Bartholomew, Newark, NJ

Question 21

Cities in Evolution

Answer 21

1915 Sir Patrick Geddes. Pushed for “constructive and conservative” changes to improve a community, rather than sweeping, monolithic plans, which he believes were much less destructive to neighborhood life and would do a better job at preventing congestion.

Question 22

Comprehensive Zoning Resolution

Answer 22

The 1916 Zoning Resolution by George McAneny and Edward Bassett as a response to concerns about overdevelopment in NYC. Divided city into zones based on primary activity in the area and created building height and setback guidelines for each zone. First city wide zoning code in US.

Question 23

National Park Service

Answer 23

August 15, 1916 - Woodrow Wilson signed bill creating National Park Service within US Department of the Interior. Original 35 national parks and monuments to more than 400 parks today.

Question 24

American City Planning Institute

Answer 24

1917 - Frederick Law Olmstead Jr as first president. Later became the American Institute of Planners.

Question 25

Majority of Americans Live in Urban Areas

Answer 25

January 1, 1920 - more than half of the population was living in urban areas

Question 26

Proposal of Appalachian Trail

Answer 26

October 1921- Benton McKaye published article in The Journal of the American Institute of Architects

Question 27

Country Club Plaza

Answer 27

1922 - JC Nichols established Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, MO. First car oriented shopping center. Included gas stations and free parking. Also one of the first shopping centers to be located outside a downtown business district.

Question 28

Standard State Zoning Enabling Act

Answer 28

Feb 10, 1922 - model law developed to help states create zoning restrictions in their jurisdictions. Still provides institutional structure for planning and zoning in many states.

Question 29

Standard City Planning Enabling Act

Answer 29

1927 - help states understand the organization and powers of city and regional planning commissions, the making of city and regional plans, and controlling the layout of new subdivisions.

Question 30

Herlihy Plans Boston

Answer 30

1923 Elisabeth May Herlihy guided Boston in adopting its first comprehensive zoning ordinance, making her one of the first women to be seen as an expert in planning.

Question 31

Formation of RPAA

Answer 31

1923 Regional Planning Association of America. Worked together on creative planning projects such as the prototype communities of Sunnyside Homes, Queens, and Radburn, NJ.

Question 32

First Comprehensive Plan

Answer 32

1925 - Cincinnati was first American city to have a Comprehensive Plan approved by City Council. Includes factors like schools and play yards, garbage and refuse disposal, ways to finance improvements, and other municipal issues.

Question 33

First State Level Land Use Plan

Answer 33

1925 - NY State Housing and Regional Planning Commission.

Question 34

Construction of Radburn NJ Begins

Answer 34

1928 - adapted the British garden city concept to American legal and social standards. Innovations included the separation of automobile traffic, the use of the superblock to cluster different types of housing around parkland, and creation of a community organization to handle some municipal functions.