Responses to the Industrial City (cont.) Planning, Social Theory & Policy

City Beautiful Movement Goals “beauty, order, system & harmony” Middle & upper middle-class effort to refashion the city into beautiful, functional entities

Garden City Movement Eb. Howard’s: Garden Cities Concepts "To-morrow: A peaceful path to Real Reform” (1898)

Impact in Britain Letchworth: 1903 Welywyn: 1920

British New Towns Post World War II Britain Planning Act (1948): rebuilt & avoid excesses of American suburban growth Development Corps w/ direct Treasury finance By 1971 – 28 towns (1,415,000 people) - 182,000 new houses; - over 35 mil. Sq. ft. of new factory space

American Influence Design Implications – Radburn Plan Greenbelt Cities New Towns (?) – Reston, New York & Columbia, Maryland

Greendale WI 1938

LeCorbusier

Modernist Influence Public Housing

Modernist Influence Town Plans *Brasilia * Chandigarh

Social Science Chicago School & Human Ecology Park & Burgess – *Social Change (Deviance) *Ethnography *Ecology

Homer Hoyt’s Model

Assessing the “American Dream”

A Nation of Homeowners -? 1920 – 20% 1940 – 44% 1960 – 60% 1980 – 66% 2000 – 67%

Housing Market Industrial City – introduced generalized housing market Before Twenties Boom – Prior to economic boom, two-thirds of American population judged to be poorly served by private market (“the Housers”)

1920s – Changing Urban Form Streetcar Suburbs – radial development, lower density & greater dispersion In 1920s, for the first time, suburbs grew faster than the central cities – much faster Automobile’s contribution – “The city is doomed... We shall solve the city problem by leaving the city.” Henry Ford Policy related to home ownership...

’20s Streetcar & Automobile Suburbs “take-off”

Influence on the shape of the city – filling in the radius w/ lower densities Streetcar suburb – Av. Lot size 3,000 sf Auto suburb – Av. Lot size 5,000 sf Pop. Density fell from 20,000 sq. mile to 10,000 sq mile in auto suburb

Depression Era Impact i. Construction Industry – fell 95% (’28-’33) ii. Mortgage Defaults – by 1933, 50% technically in default

Responses Home Owners Loan Corporation (1933) Federal Housing Administration (1934) = Keynesian Suburbs

John Maynard Keynes

New Lending Practices FHA Insurance – eliminate banking risk Allowed financing of up to 93% of cost (instead of 50-75%) Repayment period extended from standard 10 years to years

Geography of Loans Race: Homer Hoyt’s 1933 analysis 1. English, Scotch, Irish, Scandinavian 2. North Italians 3. Bohemians or Czechs 4. Poles 5. Lithuanians 6. Greeks 7. Russian Jews 8. South Italians 9. Negroes 10. Mexicans

Geography of Loans City vs. Suburb: 1. Age of property 2. Rental Property vs. Home Owner FHA assessment practices – “redlining”