The Birth of City Planning in the United States, 1840-1917

This long-awaited book by Jon A. Peterson presents a sweeping narrative history of the origins of city planning in the United States, from its nineteenth-century antecedents to its flowering in the early twentieth century. Deeply researched, well-written, and engaging, the text is supplemented by an outstanding selection of historic plans, illustrations, and photographs. Topics covered in detail include the McMillan Plan for Washington, D.C. (the first comprehensive plan for an American city), the City Beautiful movement, the major planners -- Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., Charles Mulford Robinson, John Nolen, and others -- who led the planning movement; the ascendancy of a generalist approach to the shaping of the physical city, the role of the Progressive Era reform, and the emergence of city planning as a novel field of public endeavor. This book will appeal to students and scholars in urban studies, community planning, American history (the Guilded Age and Progressive Era), American studies, architectural and landscape history, as well as environmental and planning history, including practicing professionals in related fields.