Volume 4, Number 9 · June 3, 1965
The City
By James Marston Fitch
The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States
by John W. Reps
Princeton, 574 pp., $25.00
Despite the fact that it carries us only up to 1910 or thereabouts, this is the most comprehensive history of American city planning yet produced. It suffers from the inevitable consequences of comprehensiveness—lack of any great depth; but that will be filled in, either from other specialized studies already extant or by subsequent research clearly indicated by this work itself. For the very great merit of Professor Reps's study is that it gives us, for the first time, a clear and coherent account of city-building in the New World. His material is chronologically organized: but this is not as simple as it sounds, for American theories of urban development have developed many odd twists, by-ways and cul-de-sacs. These are explored in fascinating detail.
Review, 2312 words
To read the full text of this piece, please choose one of the following options:
|
If you are already a subscriber to the Review's electronic edition, please sign in: |
To subscribe to the electronic edition, please press the button below. |
To purchase access to this article for $3, please press the button below. |