Question
Urban Planning
For the
most part, large-scale planning programs such as urban renewal were deemed as
failures by the late 1960’s. Critics of these large-scale projects have held
the modernist ideology as the primary source of the failure. Or more
explicitly, the underlying planning approaches of the modernist era. However,
the materials discussed in this Module complicate the dominant narrative
related to the failures of modernism and question its complete rejection as a
valid planning approach.
Has planning drifted too far
by distancing itself from its own modernist, reformist origin?
Why did Pruitt Igoe fail?
Why did Big Plans fail?
Should planning be done with
Big Plans?
for this week’s discussion
board, we would like for you to engage with the above questions and develop
your own position about how planning should engage, or not, with modernist
ideals.
1. Do you think that the
modernist movement has both positive and negative attributes, or do you see it
as an all-around failure or success? Why? Please cite at least 2 reasons to
defend your argument. You can cite something you learned from a specific course
module, video or find your own reference.
2. Based on the contents of
the modules, why do you think issues such as racism, poverty, and inequality,
were overlooked during the modernism era? Explain your reasoning.
Expert Solution
Urban planning has been
regarded as one of the most trivial professions of development. Unlike law or
medicine, the profession is not regarded as one of the society’s bedrock
professions. It is a minor field that has had a rough transition of
assimilation into academic institutions. It is true that planning has indeed
drifted too far from its modernist and reformist origin. City planning in the
United States has evolved from the landscape architectural profession to
accommodate personal needs of design and planning. In the past, planning was
tangible, grounded, and mainly revolved around the accommodation of human
needs. It was a means of systematically achieving adjustment in our cities
through social and economic trends that would bring a more efficient,
prosperous and equitable society.
The promise of Pruitt Igoe were
swiftly overtaken by a dark reality. Despite peaking in 1957, the buildings had
been denuded of majority of its residents, owing to the broken windows which
made it possible for them to see right through to the other side. Critics of
modernist architecture argued that the skip-stop elevators were wholly
unsuitable and ultimately dangerous (Campanella, 2011). Big Plans failed
because it has shallow and undisciplined in various respects. For instance, the
expertise on governance and international development, public policy and
economics, environmental impact hazard mitigation and community involvement
failed to address the core competencies related to placemaking and the physical
infrastructure. Planners need to cultivate a robust suite of skills to see the
bigger picture and understand the influence of social, economic, legal and
ecological factors in planning. I believe the modernist movement had positive
influence as well, since it enabled architectures and designers to understand
the value of social, economic and ecological forces in influencing sustainable
planning. such as racism, poverty, and
inequality,
References
Campanella, T. J. (2011). Jane jacobs
and the death and life of american planning. In Reconsidering jane
jacobs (pp. 141–179). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351179775-7
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