Page:John Nolen--New ideals in the planning of cities.djvu/36

NEW IDEALS IN THE PLANNING OF Importance of planning, not merely for the routine requirements, but also for those, of the future; and the necessity, for reasons of economy as well as success, to coordinate the planning of the various features so that the improvements to be carried out will be well related, one to another, farseeing and permanent.

The city planning movement in the United States, and in the various cities which take it up, has usually three phases. There is first the propaganda, which expresses itself mainly in rather vague discussion. That is followed often by the preparation of a report and a general plan submitting more or less definite proposals based upon a preliminary study, and resulting as a rule only in tentative suggestions. Frequently as a direct result of this general planning, however, detailed plans and construction drawings for definite improvements follow. This third stage is apt to be somewhat ineffective, unless suitable local machinery is secured in the form of a planning board or city plan commission with some real power, and an appropriation with which to do its work.

An excellent outline of "How to Organize a City Planning Campaign," by Frederick Law Olmsted, has been published in The American City pamphlets. It gives the basic idea of city planning, the city plan office of the future, a city survey as the basis for a plan, and physical accomplishment as the final step. The American City has also published a list of American city planning reports printed from 1900 to 1914 inclusive. A valuable report on what has been accomplished has been published by the American Institute of Architects, under the title of "City Planning Progress."