Table of Contents

Contents: 1 Introduction: Urban Planning in the American PastPART I Antecedents of City Planning 2 Sanitary Reform and Landscape Values, 1840-1900 3 Civic Art, 1890-1900PART II The Birth of an Ideal 4 Tha Nation's First Comprehensive City Plan, 1900-1902 5 The Origins of the City Beautiful, 1897-1902 6 The Birth of the City Planning Ideal, 1902-1903 7 The New Planning Ideal and the Public Interest, 1902-1904 8 The Outburst of Great Civic Schemes, 1902-1905PART III The Pioneer Planners and Their Plans 9 City Beautiful Planning: Dreams and Reality, 1905-1909 10 City Beautiful Planning: A Transistional Art, 1905-1909PART IV A New Field of Public Endeavor 11 The Social Progressive Challenge, 1909 12 The Birth of City Planning, 1909-1910 PART V The Problem of Workability 13 An Elusive Quest, 1911-1917 14 Opportunistic Interventionism, 1911-1917 15 Epilogue: American Urban Planning as a Fragmented Art

Promotional Information

Peterson has given us a first-rate account not just of the City Beautiful Movement, but of planning in the U.S., one of the best I have read. He shows his mastery of presenting material in a concise, straightforward manner that is also engaging, filled with nuance, and rich in its depth. -- Richard Longstreth, George Washington University

About the Author

Jon A. Peterson is a professor of history at Queens College, City University of New York.

Reviews

No understanding of early twentieth-century political and cultural history will be complete without this thorough account of the Progressive Era's most visible legacy. Journal of American History The rise of city planning in the United States was tied to several issues and movements that long have concerned historians of environmentalism. Peterson's outstanding account of the birth of city planning therefore ought to be part of all future discussions of environmental activism in the period before World War I. -- Adam Rome Environmental History In this clearly written, meticulously researched, and profusely illustrated monograph, Peterson describes the birth, growth, and decline of city planning in the US. Choice A terrific book, absolutely essential reading for students and scholars of U.S. planning, urban, and Progressive Era history. -- Christopher Silver History: Reviews of New Books A masterpiece, impeccable in its research and brilliant in its interpretation... an authoritative reference for planning history and a basic resource for planning theory. -- Eugenie L. Birch Journal of Planning Education and Research Taken as a whole, this careful work should please anyone seeking both an aesthetic and social justice perspective. Scholars owe Jon Peterson many thanks for this definitive history of modern American city planning's birth in the Progressive Era. -- John L. Hancock Planning Perspectives Delightfully well written and soundly researched, The Birth of City Planning is essential reading for anyone wishing to gain insight into how we think about American cities. -- Steven J. Hoffman Urban History An excellent piece of research and constitutes a significant contribution to the literature in this field. -- Carlos Nunes Silva Material Culture