Page:John Nolen--New ideals in the planning of cities.djvu/44

NEW IDEALS IN THE PLANNING OF simple methods whole masses of data, and so illuminate the material of the civic survey. Where graphic means are not employed, the statistical tables, no matter how complete or valuable, are apt to receive little attention.

A somewhat specialized form of local survey, but closely connected with city planning, is the industrial survey. With the increase in the activities of chambers of commerce and boards of trade there comes a demand from the business men for reliable information with regard to what may be done in the way of bettering industrial and living conditions.

The advantages of an industrial survey are the following: (1) It gives accurate information with regard to the city's industries; (2) the reasons for and against certain industries in a given city; (3) the education of the people of the community with regard to their own industries; (4) the existing industries which are most susceptible to expansion.

One of the chief functions of city planning is to estimate and provide for the future of cities. In the attempt to do this with reasonable success, the local survey contributes the most valuable basis. It gives the increase of population, the growth of building operations, the distribution of building permits, the range of land values, the various successive stages of development of lots and blocks, the volume and increase of traffic at selected points, the comparison of methods and costs of one city with another, etc. These are the facts which a trained and experienced planner can use to discover the operating causes and the probable future conditions of a given city. With these as a basis, it is possible to outline a policy and a program of development and construction that ought to prove a valuable guide for a period of at least twenty or twenty-five years.

Among the best publications dealing with the local survey may be mentioned: "The City Survey Preparatory to Town Planning," by the Sociological Society, London, England;