If there can be only one person who can be credited for founding the field of land-use classifications, then it has to be Professor Albert Z. Guttenberg. His research into the language of planning lay the groundwork for one key planning concept, land use. It was not until his monograph for the August 1959 issue of the Journal of the American Institute of Planners entitled " A Multiple Land Use Classification System " that the modern planning profession has had a precise way of dealing with land uses. Since then his research led to may other aspects of land-use including the development of the major component dimensions of land use.

For understanding and explaining urban land-use and urban structure as multi-dimensional phenomena, Guttenberg's work was a significant leap for urban and regional planning. It was the first clear conceptualization of the dimensionality of land use. It made possible many theoretical and practical advances in the profession. The LBCS model, which is conceptually based on Guttenberg's conceptual model of land use, is just the most recent of the practical applications that have their basis in multi-dimensional land use.

The project sponsors, staff, and members of the technical advisory panel owe their gratitude to his advice, counsel, and close involvement in the project even when parts of the LBCS model strayed from his concepts. Guttenberg's contribution to planning thought is fundamental, and perhaps history will regard this advancement as far reaching as the successful 1916 implementation of zoning.

Biography:
Guttenberg is professor emeritus of urban and regional planning at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the author of The Language of Planning. He continues his research in land-use and many other planning topics as well. His most recent teaching assignment was at the University of Rome in the summer of 1999, and in the past, also taught in various other universities in the US and Europe. He was a Guggenheim Fellow and a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution in 1970 and prior to 1964, he was a practicing planner in Pennsylvania, Maine, and Washington, D.C. After serving in the U.S. armed forces in Japan and other places, he graduated from Harvard College in 1948. He was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts.

References:
The following are some of Guttenberg's publications related to this topic. Complete annotations are available here .

Guttenberg, Albert Z. 1959. "A Multiple Land Use Classification System." Journal of the American Institute of Planners Vol. XXV No. 2. pp143-50.

----. 1965. New Directions in Land-Use Classification . Chicago, Illinois: American Society of Planning Officials.

----. 1967. The Social Evaluation of Non-Residential Land Use Substandardness Criteria . Urbana, Illinois: Bureau of Community Planning.

----. 1977. "Classifying Regions: A Conceptual Approach." International Journal of Regional Sciences 2, no. 1.

----. 1981. Uniformity and Flexibility in the Classification of Topographic Data. Proceedings. Montreux, Switzerland: International Congress.

----. 1993. The Language of Planning: Essays on the Origins and Ends of American Planning Thought. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.

Contact Information:
Albert Z. Guttenberg, FAICP
Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Department of Urban and Regional Planning
111 Temple Buell Hall, 611 Taft Drive
Champaign, Illinois 61820-6921 U.S.A.

E-mail: a-gutten@uiuc.edu