Remembering Planning Leader David Wallace

My belief that all planning, including physical planning, is a problem-solving process is consistent with my attitude toward life.

David A. Wallace, AICP (1918-2004)
Urban Planning/My Way

David A. Wallace, AICP, a leader in the planning profession, died Monday, July 19, 2004, at the age of 87.

In an illustrious career that spanned the second half of the 20th century, David Wallace established a model strategy for overall redevelopment of downtown Philadelphia, headed a team that planned a revitalization strategy for Baltimore's ailing central business district, devised Baltimore's Inner Harbor Master Plan, and prepared a master plan for the then-moribund Lower Manhattan district in response to the 1970 erection of the World Trade Center. Wallace also taught planning and urban design at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Fine Arts and at the University of Chicago.

"David Wallace's contributions to the art and science of planning were monumental," noted APA Executive Director Paul Farmer. "His legacy is the type that we all hope to leave for America's cities and the planning movement. Millions annually will benefit from his work in Baltimore and other places without ever knowing his role, while thousands of planners will remember Wallace as they benefit from leadership that has forever enriched our profession."

"David Wallace was a giant in his field," said Gary Hack, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania's School of Design. "The work he did on the Inner Harbor in Baltimore was a model of how cities should revitalize their waterfronts."

In 2003, APA honored Wallace's sustained contribution to the profession of planning by bestowing upon him its Distinguished Leadership Award for a Professional Planner. Click here to read about that award.

More recently, APA's Planner's Press published Wallace's memoir, Urban Planning/My Way, which traces his relationships with many of the 20th century's best-known urban planners and examines the challenges of successful, large-scale urban development using case studies from Wallace's fascinating career.

Click here for a list of Wallace's many writings, with links to full Planning magazine articles on his life and career.

"Without question, his leadership in the renewal of Charles Center and Inner Harbor set a standard of professional achievement which led to his later work that benefited cities across the land," said G. Holmes Perkins, professor emeritus of Architecture and Urbanism at Penn.

"Those of us who worked with him learned not only of the depth of his skill, but also of his worthwhile determination not to yield his positions in the face of opposition," wrote Walter Sondheim, former Chairman of Baltimore's Urban Renewal and Housing Commission. "He usually prevailed because of his own insistent confidence in his well considered stand. ... I feel confident in characterizing him as an outstanding credit to his profession and a contributor of inestimable value to the civic constellation."

Contributions to the David A. Wallace Fellowship in City and Regional Planning may be sent to:

Office of the Dean
University of Pennsylvania School of Design
102 Meyerson Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6311

For additional information, please call 215-898-8738 or e-mail converse@design.upenn.edu.