| 1901 |
|
The McMillan Commission is formed to update and complete L'Enfant's plan for Washington, D.C. Among its accomplishments is a legal 160 foot height limit to preserve the city's skyline. Urban Design |
| 1901 |
|
New York State Tenement
House Law. The legislative basis for the revision of city codes that outlawed
tenements such as the "Dumbbell Tenement." Lawrence Veiller was
the leading reformer. Housing
Landmark Laws |
| 1902 |
|
U.S. Reclamation Act. Created fund
from sale of public land in the arid states to supply water there through
the construction of water storage and irrigation works. Conservation & Environment Landmark
Laws Economic
Development |
| 1903 |
|
Letchworth constructed. First English
Garden City and a stimulus to New Town movement in America (Greenbelt Towns,
Columbia, etc.). Planned Communities |
| 1903 |
|
President
Theodore Roosevelt appoints a Public Lands Commission to propose rules
for orderly land development and management. Conservation & Environment Landmark
Laws |
| 1903 |
|
Principles of City Land Values,
a seminal work by Richard M. Hurd, propounds the primacy of economic factors
(accessibility, rent, "highest and best use") as determinants
of urban land use and structure. Landmark
Publication |
| 1906 |
|
Antiquities Act of 1906: First law
to institute federal protection for preserving archaeological sites. Provided
for designation as National Monuments areas already in the public domain
that contained "historic landmarks, historic and prehistoric structures,
and objects of historic or scientific interest." Conservation & Environment Landmark
Laws |
| 1907 |
|
Founding of New York Committee on
the Congestion of Population. Fostered movement, led by its secretary, Benjamin
Marsh, to decentralize New York's dense population. Housing |
| 1907 |
|
President
Roosevelt establishes an Inland Waterway Commission to encourage multipurpose
planning in waterway development: navigation, power, irrigation, flood control,
water supply. Conservation & Environment Landmark
Laws |
| 1908 |
|
White House Conservation Conference.
State governors, federal officials, and leading scientists assemble to deliberate
about the conservation of natural resources. Conservation
& Environment |
| 1909 |
|
Daniel
Burnham's Plan of Chicago, sponsored by the Commerical Club of Chicago,
is the first metropolitan plan in the
United States. (Key figures: Frederick A. Delano, Charles Wacker, Charles
Dyer Norton.) Regional
Planning |
| 1909 |
|
Possibly the first course in city
planning in this country is inaugurated in Harvard College's Landscape Architecture
Department. Taught by James Sturgis Pray. History
of Planning Profession |
| 1909 |
|
The First National Conference on City
Planning convenes in Washington, D.C., and brings together the leaders
of the housing and city planning movements. History
of Planning Profession Housing |
| 1911 |
|
Frederick Winslow Taylor publishes
The Principles of Scientific Management, fountainhead of the efficiency
movements in this country, including efficiency in city government. Landmark
Publication |
| 1912 |
|
Walter D. Moody's "Wacker's
Manual of the Plan of Chicago" is adopted as an eigth-grade textbook
on City Planning by the Chicago Board of Education. Possibly the first formal
instruction in city planning below the college level. Landmark
Publication History
of Planning Profession |
| 1913 |
|
A chair in Civic Design, first of
its kind in the U.S., is created in the University of Illinois's Department
of Horticulture for Charles Mulford Robinson, one of the principal promoters
of the World's Columbian Exposition. History
of Planning Profession Urban Design |
| 1913 |
|
The Federal Reserve Act creates the Federal
Reserve Commission as the nation's decentralized central bank to regulate
the national money supply in order to provide for economic stability and
growth. Landmark Laws Economic
Development |
| 1914 |
|
Flavel Shurtleff writes Carrying
Out the City Plan, the first major textbook on city planning. Landmark
Publication History
of Planning Profession |
| 1914 |
|
Panama Canal completed and opened
to world commerce. Economic
Development |
| 1914 |
|
Harland Bartholomew, eventually
the country's best known planning consultant, becomes the first full-time
employee in Newark, New Jersey, of a city planning commission. History
of Planning Profession |
| 1915 |
|
Patrick
Geddes, "Father of Regional Planning" and mentor of Lewis
Mumford, publishes Cities in Evolution. Landmark
Publication Regional
Planning |
| 1916 |
|
The Lake Forest (Illinois) Improvement Trust is established to build Market Square. It is reputed to be the first automobile-centered shopping district in the U.S. Urban Design |
| 1916 |
|
Nelson P. Lewis published Planning
of the Modern City. Landmark
Publication History
of Planning Profession |
| 1916 |
|
Nation's first comprehensive zoning
resolution adopted by New York City Board of Estimate under the leadership
of George McAneny and Edward Bassett, known as the "Father of Zoning." Zoning soon spreads nationwide and influences urban form and design by setting legal limits to allowable land use. Urban Design
Housing Landmark Laws |
| 1916 |
|
National Park Service established
with sole responsibility for conserving and preserving resources of special
value. Conservation & Environment Landmark
Laws |
| 1917 |
|
Durham, California, an experimental cooperative
agricultural colony is established under the California State Land Settlement
Act of the same year. Planned Communities |
| 1917 |
|
Frederick
Law Olmsted, Jr. becomes first president of newly founded American City
Planning Institute, forerunner of American Institute of Planners and American
Institute of Certified Planners. History
of Planning Profession |
| 1918 |
|
U.S. Housing Corporation and Emergency
Fleet Corporation established. Influenced later endeavors in public housing.
Operated at major shipping centers to provide housing for World War I workers.
Housing Landmark Laws |
| 1919 |
|
Three early unifunctional regional
authorities — the Metropolitan Sewerage Commission, the Metropolitan
Water Board and the Metropolitan Park Commission — combined to
form the Boston Metropolitan District Commission. Regional
Planning |
Printer-Friendly Format
