NORTH AMERICA

SUBMITTED BY:

KHUSHBOO ZEHRAB.ARCH IV TH YR

TOWN PLANNING

INTRODUCTION

The City Beautiful Movement was a reform

philosophy concerning North

American architecture and urban planning that

flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the

intent of

using beautification and monumental grandeur

in cities. The philosophy, which was originally

associated mainly with Chicago, Detroit, and

Washington, D.C. allegedly promoted beauty

not for its own sake, but rather to create moral

and civic virtue among urban populations .

The City Beautiful advocates sought to improve their city through beautification, which

would have a number of effects:

social ills would be swept away, as the beauty of the city would inspire civic loyalty and

moral rectitude in the impoverished.

American cities would be brought to cultural parity with their European competitors

through the use of the European Beaux-Arts idiom .

a more inviting city centre still would not bring the upper classes back to live, but

certainly to work and spend money in the urban areas.

•Origins and impact

The philosophy began in the United States in response

to crowding in tenement districts, a consequence of

high birth rates, increased immigration and

consolidation of rural populations into cities. The

philosophy flourished for several decades, and in

addition to the construction of monuments, it also

achieved great influence in urban planning that

The City Beautiful movement advocated for sizable public investments in

monumental spaces, street beautification, and classical architecture. Today,

economists and policymakers see the provision of consumer leisure amenities as a

way to attract people and jobs to cities. But past studies have provided only indirect

evidence of the importance of leisure amenities for urban growth and development.

In this article, Jerry Carlino uses a new data set on the number of leisure tourist visits to

metropolitan areas to examine the correlation between leisure consumption

opportunities and population and employment growth in metropolitan areas during

the1990s. His study suggests that leisure amenities are important for an area’s growth,

even after controlling for other characteristics, such as climate or proximity to a

coast.

PHILOSOPHY

THE MALL,WASHINGTON D.C

CAPITOL BUILDING,DENEVER

endured throughout the 20th century, in particular in regard to the later creation of housing projects in the United States.

The particular architectural style of the philosophy borrowed mainly from the

contemporary Beaux-Arts and neoclassical architectures, which emphasized the necessity

of order, dignity, and harmony.

HISTORY

The City Beautiful Movement, lead by the

middle and upper classes, was meant to deal

with these rising issues of sanitation, crime,

and over-population of cities. In the height of

the Gilded Age, these reformers felt the best

way to deal with these issues was through

consumption and creation of beauty. They

felt that classic beauty of the city would inspire

feelings of civic loyalty and moral rectitude in

the impoverished that would help to lower

crime rates. Uncultivated backyards and

vacant lots were seen as eyesores

(Basset,1981). In fact, some kitchen gardens

nourishing the poor were “improved” or

destroyed to be replaced by elegant and

classic-style parks and promenades (Williamson).

The 1890s and early years of the

twentieth century were a turning point

in American society. From 1860-1910

the US population jumped from 31.4

million to 91.9 million. That means that

over this span of forty years the

population tripled in size. Urban

centers especially felt a strain as 46%

of the population lived in urban

areas. Cities stretched to

accommodate these millions and

deteriorated in the process. As the

destitute crowded cities, living in back

alleys and crowded apartments, the

upper classes moved out of the city

centers to the peaceful retreat of the

countryside. The advent of urban rail

systems and roadways allowed for this

upper-class migration to the

suburbs. Those elite who stayed in the

city were surrounded by poverty and

feared for their safety, many city-

dwellers were desperate for money

and food. In the center of

Washington, D.C., 18,978 people lived

in 303 alleys surrounding upper-class

townhouses (Rose).

ARCHITECTURAL IDIOMS DURING CITY BEAUTIFUL MOVEMENT

World Columbian Exposition

The first large-scale elaboration of the City Beautiful occurred during the World Columbian

Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. The planning of the exposition was directed by

architect Daniel Burnham. The exposition displayed a model city of grand scale, known as

the "White City", with modern transport systems and no poverty visible. The exposition is

credited with resulting in the large-scale adoption of monumentalism for American

architecture for the next 15 years.

Louisiana Purchase Exposition

The popularization begun by the World Columbian Exposition was increased by

the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. During 1901 the commissioner of architects

selected Franco-American architect Emmanuel Louis Masqueray to be Chief of Design of

the fair. he designed the following fair buildings in the prevaling Beaux Arts mode: the

Palace of Agriculture; the cascades and colonnades; the Palace of Forestry, Fish, and

Game; the Palace of Horticulture; and the Palace of Transportation; all of which were

much emulated for civic projects across the United States

MC MILLIAN PLAN (WASHINGTON D.C)

The McMillan Plan was an

architectural plan

for Washington, D.C.

formulated in 1902 by the

Senate Park Improvement

Commission of the District

of Columbia. The

commission was named for

its chairman, Senator

James McMillan of

Michigan.

An early use of the City Beautiful ideal with intent of creating social order by

beautification was the McMillan Plan, named for the Michigan Senator James McMillan,

which developed from the Senate Park Commission's redesigning of the monumental

area of Washington, D.C.

The Washington planners, who included Burnham, , visited many of the great cities

of Europe with the intent of making Washington monumental and gardened like the

European capitals of the era and creating a sense of the legitimacy of government

during a time of social disturbance in the United States. The essence of the plan

surrounded the United States Capitol with monumental government buildings to replace

"notorious slum communities". At the heart of the design was the creation of the National

Mall and eventually included Burnham's Union Station.

Axial plan of The Mall, Washington, D.C.: the Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial extend the central axis

DENVER (UNITED STATES)

In Denver Mayor Robert W. Speer endorsed

City Beautiful planning, with a plan for a

Civic Center, disposed along a grand

esplanade that led to theColorado State

Capitol. The plan was realized partly, on a

reduced scale, with the Greek

amphitheater, Voorhies Memorial and the

Colonnade of Civic Benefactors, completed

during 1919. Monuments and vistas were an

essential feature of City Beautiful urban

planning: in Denver, Paris-trained American

sculptor Frederick MacMonnies was

commissioned to design a monument

marking the end of the Smoky Hill Trail.

RIVER INTERSECTION BY DANIEL BURNHUM

CAPITOL BUILDING IN DENEVER

BURNHAM PLAN, CHICAGO

It was the first comprehensive plan for the growth of a large American city. An outgrowth

of the City Beautiful movement, the plan included ambitious proposals for the lakefront

and river and declared that every citizen should be within walking distance of a park. the

plan’s focus on big infrastructure improvements served a rapidly growing city .

The 1909 Plan of Chicago of 1909 was co-

authored by Daniel H. Burnham and Edward

H. Bennett. Popularly known as the Burnham

Plan, it featured waterfront parks and

prominent civic buildings, applying the

principles of the City Beautiful Movement.

Influence in other citiesThe philosophy's success in Washington, D.C. is credited with influencing subsequent plans

for beautification of many other cities, including Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Des

Moines, Montreal, Denver, Madison ,New York City (notably the Manhattan Municipal

Building), Pittsburgh ,San Francisco , and the Washington State Capitol Campus in

Olympia and the University of Washington's Rainier Vista in Seattle.