Responsible Planning at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

During the last two decades, however, this situation has gradually been changing. Today, responsible planning architects do not want to risk placing buildings in a city without regard to their implications for the whole community. This concern for community planning came about in several ways, but primarily because it has been demonstrated that our cities are obsolete and impractical. There is hardly a large city anywhere in the world that has not embarked on a replanning of its facilities. This, I believe, is the area in which architects have the most to contribute. I would like to conclude this brief review of architecture, engineering, and urban planning with a quotation from John Dewey: "Man's importance is in how he changes the environment for the next generation."

The effectiveness of planning boards has grown since 1940 both in influence with politicians, who are responsible planning for the management of cities, and in legal fact. Court decisions in favor of zoning, of housing, and of parking authorities, and recently of redevelopment acts (to be discussed later) have given them increasing power over a widening sphere. On the social side the so-called neighborhood concept has been one of the chief developments. This idea was first clearly formulated by Clarence Perry and is based on planning neighborhoods within existing communities, each neighborhood to be centered around the school and to consist of a population large enough to support it.

The real task of the planning board therefore should be—and is, in those communities where planning is taken seriously—to serve as a research arm to the executive. "Pure" planning, planning according to theory, is a practical impossibility, for every executive decision is weighted by many factors of politics, expediency, finance, and local pressure. A conscientious executive and legislative body, nevertheless, can be assisted greatly in making decisions, if presented with the full implications, city-wide, of the alternatives.