We like to movement, movement.

This weeks reading ‘Modernism and Early Urban planning’ by Richard T. LeGates and Frederic Stout was about the several influential movements that have ultimately shaped the entire profession of planning.

As the Great Depression emerged in the early 1930’s, planning issues changed from city plans, zoning, and traffic patterns to dealing with affordable housing and modeling transportation systems.  This then gave planners a larger scale to operate including; neighbourhood, city, region, state and nation.

Photo showing The Boathouse, Birkenhead Park, cheshirenow.co.uk

Central Park, New York, http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/central_park/

The Park Movement was the first response to the social dislocations and industrial urbanism, which was concerned with providing the poor and working class with healthy open spaces in heavily congested cities.  Joseph Paxton was engaged to lay out the first urban garden, complete with recreational areas, which was to be open to the public.  This park was opened in 1847 and is called ‘Birkenhead Park’.

However, Fredrick Law Olmsted led the way with his masterpiece creation of Central Park for the citizens of New York.  Not only did it provide open space and recreational facilities, it functioned as an essential part of the great Croton Reservoir system that provided fresh water to the whole of Manhattan.

Letchworth, http://static.nai.nl/regie/historisch/pix/letch_poster.JPG

The unified vision of reintegrating urban and rural - city and country, came from Ebenezer Howard.  Inspired by the Utopian theories, Howard wanted to create green-framed, planned, economically self-sufficient communities that comprised of proportionate precincts of residences, industry and agriculture.  Letchworth began construction in 1903 and became the first official garden city.  

The City Beautiful Movement that began in the 1890's was concerned with creating beautiful, spacious and orderly cities that contained healthy open spaces and showcased public buildings.  Following this movement was 'The City Scientific' which concentrated on the scientific aspects rather than the aesthetics of cities.  

In the early years of Modernism Le Corbusier was known as the prophet of a higher, later stage of modernism, which still seems futuristic today.  Frank Lloyd Wright was also highly influential but is approach to modernism was completely opposite to Le Corbusier. Wright was the prophet of middle-class urban flight and automobile-based sprawl suburbia.

Canberra embraced the advent of the automobile and created a city based on the garden city and city beautiful movements whilst also remaining a city of modernism.

The question is; what movement is next?
As we move towards post-modernism; technological, environmental, economical and social aspects of the world continue to evolve rapidly.  The future is uncertain and therefore, what lies ahead is unknown.  What do you think?