New York University
Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service
Dr. Shlomo Angel
Fall 2008
History and Theory of Planning: Course Syllabus
P11.2660.001
Instructor:
Office/Home Address:
Telephone:
E–mail:
Teaching Assistant:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Dr. Shlomo Angel, Adjunct Professor of Urban Planning
284 Lafayette Street, Apt. 3B
New York, NY 10012
212-925-9055
solly.angel@gmail.com
Eric Goldwyn
917-952-1961
eric.goldwyn@gmail.com
Objective:
This course is a general introduction to the theory and practice of urban planning. It
aims to acquaint students with the historical antecedents of modern town planning, to
introduce them to planning problems and strategies in a wide range of cities and
countries, and to engage them in discussion of a wide range of planning issues.
Through readings of a broad range of texts in the field, lectures by the instructor, class
discussion, and the presentation of case studies by students and guest lecturers, students
are introduced to the successes and failures of the urban planners in the past, to what we
now know about cities and about how to plan and manage them, and to the challenging
agenda facing urban planners today.
Course Description:
The course is designed as a lecture–seminar course. Participants in the course will meet
once a week on Monday evenings, 6:20–8:00pm., and on three occasions on Monday
evenings, 8:10pm-9:50pm as well, in Room [to be announced] at the Silver Center (corner
of Waverly Place and Washington Square East). Altogether, there will be 14 meetings,
starting on the 8th of September and ending on the 8th of December 2008. Generally,
each meeting will focus on one theme (see Tentative Course Schedule below). Students
will be expected to read any two of the assigned articles for the week before coming to
class. The instructor will introduce the theme in a lecture, and selected students will
prepare case studies related to the lecture topics and present them in class. The lecture
and case study presentation will be followed by a class discussion.
Course Requirements:
There are three requirements for completing the course: (A) Required readings and
diary; (B) preparation (and presentation) of case studies; and (C) a final research paper.
History and Theory of Planning, Fall 2008: Course Syllabus
A. Required Readings and Diary: Students will be required to read two articles of their
choice among the assigned readings each week, in preparation for attending class.
There will be 60-100 pages of readings each week. Students will be expected to write a
200-word response on each of the articles they read. The response should not be a
summary of the article, but an opinion piece. It should convey what the student
understood to be the main thrust of the article, whether the student agreed or not, how it
connected to the student experience or other knowledge, and whether the student found
it relevant and useful and why. Diaries could also include other entries: reactions to
material presented in class, as well as other thoughts about the class subject matter. On
four occasions during the term [22 Sept, 20 October, 17 November, and 8 December]
students will email their diaries to the teaching assistant, Eric Goldwyn, who will read
them, comment on them, grade them, and return them in approximately one week. The
diaries will comprise 25% of the course grade.
B. Preparation (and Presentation) of Case Studies: All students are expected to
prepare a case study PowerPoint presentation, but not all students will be able to
present their case studies in class. Two students will be assigned to each case study. All
in all, there will only be 12 case study presentations in class. The remaining 8 case
studies will be uploaded on the course blackboard for other students to read at their
leisure. Case study presentations will focus on a particular topic and its manifestation in
a particular city or region. They are expected to include basic information on the city, as
well as empirical research results on the topic being explored. They are expected to be
15-20 minutes long PowerPoint presentations [approximately 20-25 slides]. Case studies
presentations (in class or on Blackboard) will comprise 25% of the course grade.
The case studies that will be presented in class are:
1. Baron Haussman and the Reconstruction of Paris;
2. The impact of central planning on the shape of Moscow;
3. Brasilia - A utopian vision put into practice;
4. The Toronto urban grid and public transit system;
5. Morris, the Erie Canal and the 1811 New York Plan;
6. Does the absence of zoning in Houston make a difference?;
7. Anti-poverty programs in Curitiba, Brazil;
8. The success of public housing in Singapore;
9. Kelo v. the City of New London: The Use and Misuse of Eminent Domain;
10. Portland’s Urban Growth Boundary;
11. The Baan Mankhong Slum Upgrading Program in Thailand; and
12. Climate Change and the future of the Eastern Seaboard.
2
History and Theory of Planning, Fall 2008: Course Syllabus
The nine case studies that will not be presented in class but will be uploaded to
Blackboard should be self-explanatory, as they will not be accompanied by a verbal
presentation. They should be uploaded not later that the due date given below. They
are:
13. Is there a future for public transport in Atlanta? [Due 6 Oct.];
14. Improving inner-city competitiveness: Porter’s Work in Chicago [Due 20 Oct.];
15. Environmental justice: Waste management in New York City [Due 10 Nov.];
16. Metropolitan Government: The rise and fall of the Greater London Council [Due
10 Nov.];
17. Forging a city identity: Lessons from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao [Due 20
Oct.];
18. The Low-Income Housing Delivery system in Zhengzhou, China [Due 27 Oct];
19. Restrictive covenants in Seattle residential neighborhoods [Due 6 Oct];
20. Attracting the creative class: Lessons from Pittsburgh [Due 20 Oct.]; and
21. The impact of planning restrictions on housing prices in California [Due 27 Oct.].
C. Final Research Paper: Students will also be required to write one final research
paper (5,500 to 6,000 words) and to bring a hard copy of the paper to the last class period
[not later than 8:00pm, 8 December 2007]. Student should also email a copy of the
research paper to the teaching assistant by that time. Those who are unable to attend the
last class should email the paper to the instructor and the teaching assistant by that time
as well. The paper can be on any topic related to the themes discussed in the course. It
should explore a well-defined thesis, and be well-researched and well-written.
Students are expected to select their topic, to discuss it with the instructor by email or
during office hours, and to send a one-page outline of their paper by email to the
teaching assistant not later than 3 November 2007. The final research paper will
comprise 50% of the course grade.
Readings:
The Course Reader, containing copies of all the readings for the course, can be
purchased at the New University Copy Center, 11 Waverly Place. The readings will also
be available on Blackboard.
Office Hours:
The instructor will meet students, by appointment only, at the Wagner School’s Puck
Building’s second floor lobby. Please e–mail to solly.angel@gmail.com to arrange for an
appointment. Appointments will generally be held on Monday afternoons, 4:30–6:00
3
History and Theory of Planning, Fall 2008: Course Syllabus
p.m. The teaching assistant will also meet students by appointment. Please email to
eric.goldwyn@gmail.com to arrange for an appointment.
4
History and Theory of Planning, Fall 2008: Course Syllabus
Tentative Course Schedule
Monday
8 Sept.
Monday
15 Sept.
Monday
22 Sept.
6:208:00pm
6:208:00pm
6:208:00pm
Monday
29 Sept
Monday
6 Oct.
Monday
6 Oct.
6:208:00pm
8:109:50pm
Monday
13 Oct.
Monday
20 Oct.
Monday
20 Oct.
6:208:00pm
8:109:50pm
Monday
27 Oct.
Monday
3 Nov.
Monday
3 Nov.
Monday
10 Nov.
6:208:00pm
8:109:50pm
6:208:00pm
Monday
17 Nov.
Monday
24 Nov.
6:208:00pm
6:208:00pm
Monday
1 Dec.
6:208:00pm
Monday
8 Dec.
6:208:00pm
Period 1: The Emerging Urban Agenda - An Introduction
Case study (film): Robert Moses and the Planning of New York City
Period 2: Urban planning in historical perspective
Case Study: Baron Haussman and the Reconstruction of Paris
Period 3: Urban planning theoryan overview
Case study: The impact of central planning on the shape of
Moscow
No Class
Period 4: Utopias as means of envisioning the city
Case Study: BrasiliaA utopian vision put into practice
Period 5: Urban public worksthe provision of infrastructure as a
public good
Case Study: The Toronto urban grid and public transit system
Columbus Day
No Class
Period 6: Improving the competitive advantage of the city
Case Study: Morris, the Erie Canal and the 1811 New York Plan
Period 7: The regulation of urban development
Case Study: Does the absence of zoning in Houston make a
difference?
No Class
Period 8: Tackling urban poverty
Case study: Anti-poverty programs in Curitiba, Brazil.
Period 9: Confronting the urban housing problem
Case Study: The success of public housing in Singapore
Period 10: Recycling the city
Case study: Kelo v. the City of New London: The Use and Misuse
of Eminent Domain
Period 11: Sprawl and the management of urban expansion
Case Study 11: Portland’s Urban Growth Boundary
Period 12: Encouraging people’s participation in decision-making
Case study: The Baan Mankhong Slum Upgrading Program in
Thailand
Period 13: The New Urbanism
Case Study (guest): Fourth Street, Berkeley, California, a guest
lecture by Denny Abrams, its developer.
Period 14: The challenges facing urban planning in the 21st
century
Case study: Climate Change and the future of the Eastern Seaboard
5
History and Theory of Planning, Fall 2008: Course Syllabus
Readings
There are, on average, 100 pages of required readings per week. Students are required
to read any two of the assigned articles before coming to class every week.
Period 1: The Emerging Urban AgendaAn Introduction
[An Excerpt on Robert Moses from the film “New York” [Ric Burns, 2003] will be shown
in class.]
Altshuler, Alan, 1965. “The Goals of Comprehensive Planning,” in Faludi, Andreas, A
Reader in Planning Theory, 1973, Oxford and New York: Pergamon Press, 193–209.
Fainstein, Susan, 2000. “New Directions in Planning Theory,” Urban Affairs Review, 35(4):
451-478.
Hall, Peter, 2002. “Chapter 11: The City of Enterprise,” in Hall, Peter, Cities of Tomorrow:
An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century, New
York: Blackwell, 379-403.
Albrechts, Louis, 1991. “Changing Roles and Positions of Planners,” Urban Studies, 28(1):
123 – 137.
Period 2: Urban planning in historical perspective
Hall, Thomas, 1997, “Chapter 2: From Hippodamus to Haussmann—Town Planning in a
Historical Perspective,” in Planning Europe’s Capital Cities: Aspects of Nineteenth–
Century Urban Development, London: E & FN Spon, 8–54.
Adams, Thomas, 1935. “Chapter 1: Ancient City Planning,” in Adams, Thomas, Outline
of Town and City Planning, New York: Routledge, 33-77.
Mabin, Alan and Smit, Dan, 1997. “Reconstructing South Africa’s Cities? The making of
urban planning 1900-2000,” Planning Perspectives, 12:193-223.
Kostof, Spiro, 1991. “Chapter 1: Organic Patterns,” in Kostof, Spiro, The City Shaped,
Boston: Bulfinch Press, 43-93.
Period 3: Urban planning theoryan overview
Klosterman, Richard, 1985. “Arguments For and Against Planning,” Town Planning
Review, 56(1): 5-20.
Hayek, Freidrich, 1946. “Chapter 5: Planning and Democracy,” and “Chapter 6:
Planning and the Rule of Law,” and “Chapter 7: Economic Control and
Totalitarianism” in Hayek, Freidrich, The Road to Serfdom, London: Henley, 42-75.
Rittel, Horst, 1973. “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning,” Policy Sciences, 4: 155169.
6
History and Theory of Planning, Fall 2008: Course Syllabus
Lindblom, Charles E., 1959. “The Science of ‘Muddling Through,’” in Faludi, Andreas,
ed., A Reader in Planning Theory, 1973, Oxford and New York: Pergamon Press, 151–
169.
Downs, Anthony, 1957. “Chapter 4: The Basic Logic of Government Decision-Making,”
in Downs, Anthony, An Economic Theory of Democracy, New York: Harper and
Brothers, 51-73.
Period 4: Utopias as means of envisioning the city
Benevolo, Leonardo, 1967. “Chapter 1: Nineteenth Century Utopias,” in Benevolo,
Leonardo, The Origins of Modern Town Planning, translated from Italian by Judith
Landry, Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 39–84.
Hall, Peter, 1985. “Utopian Thought: a Framework for Social, Economic, and Physical
Planning,” in Alexander, Peter and Gill, Roger (eds), Utopias, New York:
Duckworth, 188-194.
Le Corbusier, 1929. “A Contemporary City,” reprinted in LeGates, Richard T. and
Frederic Stout, eds., The City Reader, Second Edition (1996), London and New York:
Routledge, 336–343.
Howard, Ebenezer, 1965 (1898), “Chapter 1: The Town–Country Magnet,” “Chapter 8:
Pro–Municipal Work,” and “Chapter 9: Some Difficulties Considered,” Garden Cities
of Tomorrow, Cambridge MA:” MIT Press, 50–57, 104–117.
Mannheim, Karl, 1946. “Chapter 4: The Utopian Mentality” in Mannheim, Karl, Ideology
and Utopia, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 173-236.
Period 5: Urban public worksthe provision of infrastructure as a public good
Crain, W. Mark, and Oakley, Lisa, 1995. “The Politics of Infrastructure,” Journal of Law
and Economics, 38(1): 1-17.
Spann, Edward K., 1988. “Chapter 1: The Greatest Grid: The New York Plan of 1811,” in
Schaffer, Daniel (ed), Two Centuries of American Planning, London: Mansell
Publishing, 11-39.
Altshuler, Alan A. and José A. Gómez–Ibañez, 1993. “Chapter 6: Does Development Pay
its Own Way?” in Altshuler, Alan A. and José A. Gómez–Ibañez, Regulation for
Revenue: The Political Economy of Land Use Exactions, Washington DC: The Brookings
Institution, 77–96.
Estache, Antonio, 2001. “Privatization and Regulation of Transport Infrastructure in the
1990s,” The World Bank Research Observer, 16(1): 85-107
Period 6—16 October
Budds, Jessica, 2003. “Are the debates on water privatization missing the point?
Experiences from Africa, Asia and Latin America,” Environment and Urbanization,
15(2): 87-114.
7
History and Theory of Planning, Fall 2008: Course Syllabus
Period 6: Improving the competitive advantage of the city
Porter, Michael E., 1996. “The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City,” in LeGates,
Richard T. and Frederic Stout, eds., The City Reader, Second Edition, London and
New York: Routledge, 278–291.
Jessop, Bob and Sum, Ngai-Ling, 2000. “An Entrepreneurial City in Action: Hong
Kong's Emerging Strategies in and for (Inter)Urban Competition,” Urban Studies,
37(12): 2287 – 2313.
Florida, Richard, 2005. “Chapter 2: Cities and the Creative Class,” in Florida, Richard,
Cities and the Creative Class, New York: Routledge, 27-45.
Head, Keith & Ries, John, 1996. "Inter-City Competition for Foreign Investment: Static
and Dynamic Effects of China's Incentive Areas," Journal of Urban Economics, 40(1):
38-60.
Period 7: The regulation of urban development
Benevolo, Leonardo, 1967. “Chapter 2: The Beginnings of Town–Planning Legislation in
England and France,” in Benevolo, Leonardo, The Origins of Modern Town Planning,
translated from Italian by Judith Landry, Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 85–104.
Fischel, William, 1990. Do Growth Controls Matter? Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, 1-58.
Sass, Tim and Pogodzinski, J.M., 1991. “Measuring the Effects of Municipal Zoning
Regulations: A Survey,” Urban Studies, 28(4): 597-621.
Payne, Geoffrey and Majale, Michael, 2004. “Why Regulate: The Pros and Cons of
Regulation,” in Payne, Geoffey and Majale, Michael, The Urban Housing Manual:
Making Regulatory Frameworks Work for the Poor, London: Earthscan, 35-47.
Pendall, Rolf and Puentes, Robert, 2006. “From Traditional to Reformed: A Review of
the Land Use Regulations in the Nation's 50 largest Metropolitan Areas,” Brookings
Institution Research Brief, 1-39. Available at:
http://www.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060802_Pendall.pdf.
Period 8: Tackling urban poverty
Brueckner, Jan, Thisse, Jacques-Francois and Zenou, Yves, 1999. “Why is central Paris
rich and downtown Detroit poor? An amenity-based theory,” European Economic
Review 43: 91 – 107.
Satterthwaite, David, 2001. “Reducing urban poverty: constraints on the effectiveness of
aid agencies and development banks and some suggestions for change,” Environment
and Urbanization, 13(1): 137-157.
Wegelin, Emiel, ”Urban Poverty Reduction Options at Local Level in a Globalizing
world,” in Baud, I.S.A. and J. Post, eds., Realigning Actors in an Urbanizing World:
8
History and Theory of Planning, Fall 2008: Course Syllabus
Governance and Institutions from a Development Perspective, Aldershot: Ashgate, 349372.
Fay, Marianne and Opal, Charlotte, "Urbanization without Growth: A Not-SoUncommon Phenomenon" (November 1999). World Bank Policy Research Working
Paper No. 2412. Available online at: http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2000/09/01/0
00094946_00082205414671/Rendered/PDF/multi_page.pdf.
Period 9: Confronting the urban housing problem
Turner, John C., 1967, “Barriers and Channels for Housing Development in
Modernizing Countries,” Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 33(3) May, 167–
181.
Pugh, Cedric, 2001. “The Theory and Practice of Housing Sector Development for
Developing Countries, 1950–99,” Housing Studies, 16(4): 399-423.
Hardoy, Jorge E. and David Satterthwaite, 1989. “1. The Legal and Illegal City,” in
Hardoy, Jorge E. and David Satterthwaite, eds., Squatter Citizen, 12-36.
Quigley, John, 2000. “A Decent Home: Housing Policy in Perspective,” BrookingsWharton Papers on Public Affairs, 1-47. Available at:
http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/brookingswharton_papers_on_urban_affairs/v2000/2000.1quigley.pdf
Period 10: Recycling the city
Bertaud, Alain, and Bertrand Renaud, 1997, “Socialist Cities without Land Markets,”
Journal of Urban Economics 41: 137–151.
Brand, Stewart, 1994. “Chapter 12: Built for Change,” in Brand, Stewart, How Buildings
Learn, New York: Viking, 190-209.
Jussi, Jauhiainen, 1995. “Waterfront redevelopment and urban policy: The case of
Barcelona, Cardiff and Genoa,” European Planning Studies, 3(1): 3-25.
McCarthy, Linda, 2002. “The brownfield dual land-use policy challenge: reducing
barriers to private redevelopment while connecting reuse to broader community
goals,” Land Use Policy, 19: 287-296.
Godfrey, Brian, 1997. “Urban Development and Redevelopment in San Francisco,”
Geographical Review, 87(3): 309-333.
Period 11: Sprawl and the management of urban expansion
Jackson, Kenneth T. 1985. “Chapter 2: The Transportation Revolution and the Erosion of
the Walking City,” in Jackson, Kenneth, Crabgrass Frontier: The Suburbanization of the
United States, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 20-44.
9
History and Theory of Planning, Fall 2008: Course Syllabus
Bruegmann, Robert, 2005. “Chapter 1: Defining Sprawl” and “Chapter 2: Early Sprawl,”
in Bruegmann, Robert, Sprawl: A Compact History, Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 17-32.
Weitz, Jerry and Terry Moore, 1998. “Development inside urban growth boundaries:
Oregon's empirical evidence of contiguous urban form,” Journal of the American
Planning Association, 64(4): 424-40.
Glaeser, Edward L. and Matthew E. Kahn, 2003. “Sprawl and Urban Growth.” Harvard
Institute of Economic Research (HIER), Discussion Paper No. 2004, Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University, published in Henderson, J. V., and J. F. Thisse, eds.,
2004, Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Vol. IV, Chapter 56, Elsevier:
Amsterdam. Available at:
http://post.economics.harvard.edu/faculty/glaeser/papers/Sprawl_and_Urban_G
rowth.pdf
Burchfield, Marcy, Henry G. Overman, Diego Puga and Matthew E. Turner, 2004. “The
Determinants of Urban Sprawl: Portrait from Space,” unpublished manuscript, 7
October.
McGee, Terry, 1991, “The Emergence of Desakota Regions in Asia: Expanding a
Hypothesis”, in N. Ginsburg, B.Koppel, T.G. McGee, eds., The Extended Metropolis:
Settlement Transition in Asia, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 3-25.
Period 12: Encouraging people’s participation in decision-making
Davidoff, Paul, 1965. “Advocacy and Pluralism in Planning”, in Faludi, Andreas, A
Reader in Planning Theory, 1973, Oxford and New York: Pergamon Press, 277–296.
Racelis, Mary. 2003.”Begging, Requesting, Demanding, Negotiating: Moving Toward
Urban Poor Partnerships in Governance.” Paper presented during the World Bank
Urban Research Symposium, Washington, D.C., December 15-17, 2003, 1-20.
Van Wicklin III, Warren and Finsterbusch, Kurt, 1989. “Beneficiary Participation in
Development Projects: Empirical Tests of Popular Theories,” Economic Development
and Cultural Change, 37(3): 573-593.
Angel, Shlomo, 1983. “Upgrading Slum Infrastructure: Divergent Objectives in Search
of a Consensus,” Third World Planning Review, Vol. 5, No. 1, February, 5–22.
Baum, Howell S., 1998. “Ethical Behavior in Extraordinary Behavior; It’s the Same as All
other Behavior,” in Journal of the American Planning Association, Autumn, 411–423..
Period 13: The New Urbanism
Jacobs, Jane, 1961. “Chapter 3: The uses of sidewalks: contact,” in Jacobs, Jane, The Death
and Life of Great American Cities, New York: Random House, 55-73.
Kunstler, James Howard, 1996. “Home from nowhere,” The Atlantic Monthly, 278(3): 4358.
10
History and Theory of Planning, Fall 2008: Course Syllabus
Ross, Andrew, 1999. “Chapter 1: Homeward Bound,” and “Chapter 13: Learning from
Celebration,” in Ross, Andrew, The Celebration Chronicles: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit
of Property Value in Disney’s New Town, New York: Ballantine Books, 1-20 and 299323.
Sitte, Camillo, 1986. “Introduction” and “Chapter 1: The Relationship Between
Buildings, Monuments, and Their Plazas,” and “Chapter 2: That the Center of Plazas
Be Kept Free,” in Collins, George, Camillo Sitte: the birth of modern city planning, New
York: Rizzoli, 141-169.
Rowley, Alan, 1996. “Mixed-use Development: ambiguous concept, simplistic analysis
and wishful thinking?” Planning Practice and Research, 11(1): 85-90.
Period 14: The challenges facing urban planning in the 21st century
Kunstler, James Howard, 2005. “Chapter 7: Living in the Long Emergency, in Kunstler,
James Howard, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the
Twenty-First Century, New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 237-279.
Glaeser, Edward L. and Shapiro, Jesse M., 2002. “Cities And Warfare: The Impact Of
Terrorism On Urban Form,” Journal of Urban Economics, 2002, 51(2): 205-224.
Gaspar, Jess, and Glaeser, Edward, 1998. “Information Technology and the Future of
Cities,” Journal of Urban Economics, 43: 136-156.
Nicholls, Robert J. 1995. “Coastal Megacities and Climate Change,” GeoJournal, 37(3):
369-379.
* * *
11