THE NEED FOR PLANNING
Early American cities were relatively compact by today’s standards. Their land areas were limited primarily by
how far people could walk in going about their daily activities. As time progressed, urban populations surged
due to industrialization and immigration. As city centers became overcrowded, housing conditions declined,
sanitary systems were rendered inadequate, and there was a lack of parks and open space. Some cities turned
into very unpleasant and unhealthy places to live.
In the 1880’s with the coming of mechanized transportation (chiefly the electric trolley on rails), many people
moved to cleaner, less congested suburban areas. Land speculation flourished and urban sprawl went
unchecked. Sprawl intensified when automobiles became widely available. The development of the automobile
was paralleled by advancing techniques in road construction, bridge building, tunneling, reinforced concrete
construction, fireproofing and electric elevators. Cities not only expanded farther out, but also grew upward.
By the beginning of the twentieth century, civic leaders perceived the need for improving their urban
environments. City planning, which had existed for centuries, took on added importance in what became known
as the “City Beautiful” movement. The City Beautiful movement stressed public works and civic improvements
as a way of making cities more livable.
About the same time, city development plans gained prominence. City plans evolved into “comprehensive
plans”: expressions of community goals and values covering the planning needs of both public and privately
owned land.
The comprehensive plans contain public proposals and policies addressing the numerous components of an
urban area’s physical development. These public proposals and policies are a rational response to the problems
inherent in urbanization.