The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City (Chicago Visions and Revisions)

by Carl Smith

book data

36 ratings, 3.61 average rating, 9 reviews (more data...)

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5		13%
4		38%
3		41%
2		5%
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published

2006 by University Of Chicago Press

binding

Hardcover, 184 pages

isbn

0226764710 (isbn13: 9780226764719)

description

Arguably the most influential document in the history of urban planning, Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago, coauthored by Edward Bennett and produ...more

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06/22/07

Jason Pettus rated it:

Read in June, 2007

(Full review can be found at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

It's simply impossible to understand the importance of architect Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago without first looking at some pre-Plan statistics: for instance, the fact that from 1840 to 1900, the population of the city grew from 5,000 to over two million; that by then the city limits stretched over 180 square miles, including 3,000 miles of streets and 1,400 miles of alleys; tha...more (Full review can be found at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)

It's simply impossible to understand the importance of architect Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago without first looking at some pre-Plan statistics: for instance, the fact that from 1840 to 1900, the population of the city grew from 5,000 to over two million; that by then the city limits stretched over 180 square miles, including 3,000 miles of streets and 1,400 miles of alleys; that barely half of those streets were paved, and less than a tenth of the alleyways; that the city was still employing over 30,000 gas streetlamps by the turn of the century, with electricity still being relatively rare and expensive; that its citizens consumed half a billion gallons of water a day, all of it coming from Lake Michigan, the same place the city was dumping most of its garbage; that apart from the downtown Loop, the vast majority of the city's buildings were still constructed out of wood, as were most of the sidewalks; that in its poorest neighborhoods, population density was sometimes over 300 people per acre (versus the 10 per acre of the upper-class neighborhoods); that there were no zoning laws in those days, making it perfectly legal (for example) to construct a slaughterhouse next door to a residential neighborhood; that the city had no real sewage system to speak of, no park system, no library system, only the most rudimentary of school systems. When people referred to the "cesspool of urban living" in those days, they weren't joking; like most other big cities during the height of the Industrial Age, Chicago in the 1800s was a veritable petri dish of smog, filth, disease and danger.

It was a combination of these factors, in fact, that led to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, in which a third of the existing city was burnt beyond recognition, including the entire downtown business district; but those blowhard Chicagoans, God bless their stubborn souls, weren't about to let a little thing like their city burning to the ground get in the way of their plans, and it was in the shadow of these events that the Commercial Club of Chicago first decided to take on the challenge of rebuilding the city, of transforming it into something no one had ever seen before. There was a lot of that going on in those days, as a matter of fact -- between the City Beautiful movement of the late 1800s, the Progressive social reformers, the brand-new academic field of "city planning," and all those high-minded private civic organizations that existed back then, practically everyone and their mother had a plan for how to rebuild Chicago, with all of them vying not just for the public's attention but also the official support of the city government. And thus did the club hire Burnham to make them their own plan; and as traditional lore has it, was met with crowning enthusiasm and the warm handshake of the city council, leading to the quick implementation of most of its recommendations.

Ah, but according to historian Carl Smith in his wonderful new The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City, how we traditionally think of the Plan and its implementation couldn't be further from the truth of what actually happened: that the plan itself was much more controversial than history now remembers, that its inspiration came much more from a desire to keep the city's wealthy elite happy than from any high-minded civic ideals, and that indeed the Plan would never have been adopted by the city in the first place if not for the spectacularly expensive public-relations campaign the Commercial Club waged for decades, including literally throwing local politicians out of office who wouldn't support it...(less)

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03/06/09

Larissa rated it:

Though the title screams beach read!, this slim history of the Plan of Chicago and its primary mustachio'd planner, Daniel Burnham, is a densely packed account of an era's mindset, aesthetic, ideals and flaws. Equal parts repetitive and educational, it's a must-read if you want a better look at one of Chicago's defining documents and an example of big plans stirring major blood. Plus it's 75% cheaper than a reproduction of the actual Plan of Chicago and has pretty pictures!

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06/23/09

Mike Mazza rated it:

Read in June, 2009

An interesting way to begin to understand why the best city in the world is the way it is...

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05/01/08

Leahc rated it:

bookshelves: chicago, nonfiction

Read in May, 2008

Being a Chicago girl, I am addicted to learning more about the city. In 1909 Daniel Burnham published a book called The Plan of Chicago. This book is by Carl Smith and talks about that book, why it was needed and what came out of it.

I thought it was really interesting to see many of the proposals at the turn of the century alive and well today.

There are tons of cool city pictures from the book itself as well as photographs taken at various times.

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07/08/08

Matico added it

Useful as an introduction to the subject, though lacking the comparative material that would make the story really interesting and valid as historical research. A quick, light read.

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01/27/08

Michael marked it as to-read

bookshelves: to-read

As the centennial of the 1909 Plan of Chicago approachs, reading this should help get a headstart on the upcoming festivities and related monkey-wrenching projects.

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