| 7. American Planning History:
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Laurence C. Gerckens, founder of The Society for American City and Regional Planning History, has written several excellent articles for the Planning Comm'rs Journal, including "The Promise of America." His Planning ABC's, an alphabetic look at planning topics from a historical perspective, can be read online on the PlannersWeb.
Planning historian John W. Reps, on his Web pages Urban Planning, 1794-1918, provides a thoughtful anthology of articles & papers related to the early development of planning and zoning in the United States and Europe. If you ever wanted to find out, for example, what planners had in mind when they "invented" zoning, here's the place to look.
The Library of Congress' American Memory Historical Collections is enormous, but worth getting to know as a resource. You can learn about the development of towns & cities across the country. Take a look, in particular, at the wonderful collection of photos from the Detroit Publishing Company, and at the collection of "birds-eye" view panoramic maps popular in the late 19th century (your city may well be included).
Sponsored by the Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, the New Deal Network offers a fascinating and comprehensive array of documents & photos from the New Deal years. Citizen planners can gain insights into some of the planning programs policies that had a profound impact on America's development, such as the Federal Housing Administration, rural electrification, the Tennessee Valley Authority, the Works Progress Administration, and the greenbelt towns.
The Public Buildings: American Images section of the PlannersWeb provides a tour of public buildings. The web pages are divided into categories, such as libraries, courthouses, post offices, and so on, and include old, linen postcard images and text.
A nice feature of the American Planning Association's web site is Pathways in American Planning History -- chronologies organized by "theme" (for example, key housing milestones). Some links are provided to additional information. |
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Take a break from your Web research
-- try our online jigsaw puzzles
Subscribe to the Planning Comm'rs Journal, called "the most valuable publication for the citizen commissioner" * and "the 'must have' publication for planning commissioners and elected officials" ** * William E. Moore, Jr., Director, Virginia Citizens Planning Association **Connie Cooper, FAICP, Past National President of the American Planning Ass'n |
