Page:John Nolen--New ideals in the planning of cities.djvu/19

CITIES, TOWNS AND VILLAGES

Physical facts, however, are not the only important ones. Business and social conditions, past, present and future, also affect the city plan. One of the first questions to ask is: Upon what does the particular city under consideration depend for its existence? Is it primarily industrial, commercial, educational, residential, or governmental? Or, in what proportion is one or another of these phases dominant? The answers to these and similar questions affect every physical feature of the city plan, determining street widths, transportation facilities, the use of water frontages, the character of housing, and so on. Then in the study of business and social .conditions, the attempt should be made to forecast future requirements, and so far as possible, to provide for them. These conditions must be looked at attentively. Facts and figures must be gathered patiently, their significance must be understood and interpreted, and their tendencies