| 1920 |
|
A year conventionally regarded as the beginning of the Art Deco era, the era between the two World Wars that left its mark (streamlining, angles, neon, etc.) on the look of many American cities. Among its iconic structures are New York's Rockefeller Center, Miami Beach Hotels, and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Urban Design |
| 1921 |
|
Congress passes the Budget and
Accounting Act establishing a Bureau of the Budget (forerunner of the
Office of Management and Budget) for the purpose of centralizing and
enhancing the efficiency of its financial processes. The same act sets
up the General Accounting Office (GAO) to serve as the government's auditor
of executive accounts. Landmark Laws |
| 1921 |
|
New Orleans designates
the Vieux Carre Commission, the first historic preservation commission in
the U.S. Conservation &
Environment |
| 1922 |
|
J.C. Nichols Country Club Plaza, a group of leased stores planned as a unit and under single ownership is created in the vicinity of Kansas City, Missouri. Urban Design |
| 1922 |
|
Los Angeles County Regional Planning
Commission created. First of its kind in the United States. (Hugh Pomeroy,
head of staff.) History of Planning Profession
Regional Planning |
| 1922 |
|
Inauguration of Regional Plan of
New York under Thomas Adams. Regional
Planning |
| 1922 |
|
Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon.
The first decision to hold that a land use restriction constituted a taking.
The U.S. Supreme Court (Justice Brandeis dissenting) noted "property
may be regulated to a certain extent, [but] if regulation goes too far it
will be recognized as a taking," thus acknowledging the principle of
a "regulatory taking." Landmark Laws |
| 1923 |
|
Ground broken for construction of Mariemont,
Ohio, in suburban Cincinnati. Mary Emery was its founder and benefactor;
John Nolen, the planner. Some of its features (short blocks, mixture of
rental and owner-occupied housing) foreshadow the contemporary New Urbanism
movement. Planned Communities |
| 1924 |
|
The Fairway Farms experiment, funded
by the Spellman Foundation, begins with the purchase of nine farms in Montana.
Its purpose is to demonstrate, with the aid of scientific planning, the
viability of the family farm on the high plains. Economic
Development Regional Planning |
| 1924 |
|
U.S. Department of Commerce under
Secretary Herbert Hoover issues a Standard State Zoning Enabling Act. Landmark Laws |
| 1924-28 |
|
Sunnyside Gardens, a planned neighborhood
designed by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright, is built by City Housing Corporation
under Alexander Bing in Queens, New York. Planned
Communities |
| 1925 |
|
Publication of "Regional Plan"
issue of Survey Graphic, influential essays on regional planning
by Lewis
Mumford and other members of the Regional Planning Association of America
(e.g., Catherine
Bauer). Landmark Publication
Regional Planning |
| 1925 |
|
Cincinnati, Ohio, becomes first
major American city officially to endorse a comprehensive plan. (Alfred
Bettman, Ladislas Segoe). History of Planning Profession |
| 1925 |
|
Ernest Burgess's "Concentric
Zone" model of urban structure and land use is published. Landmark Publication |
| 1925 |
|
In April, The American City Planning
Institute and The National Conference on City Planning publish Vol. 1, No.
1 of City Planning, ancestor of present-day Journal of the American
Planning Association. Landmark
Publication History of Planning Profession |
| 1926 |
|
Village
of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co . Constitutionality of zoning upheld by
the U.S. Supreme Court. (Case argued by Alfred Bettman.) Landmark
Laws |
| 1928 |
|
U.S. Department of Commerce under
Secretary Herbert Hoover issues a Standard City Planning Enabling Act. Landmark Laws History of Planning Profession |
| 1928 |
|
Benton MacKaye, known as Father of the
Appalachian Trail, publishes The New Exploration: A Philosophy of Regional
Planning Landmark Publication Regional Planning |
| 1928 |
|
Robert Murray Haig's monograph "Major
Economic Factors in Metropolitan Growth and Arrangement" is published
in Volume I of The Regional Survey of New York and Its Environs.
Viewed land use as a function of accessibility. Landmark
Publication Regional Planning |
| 1928 |
|
Construction of Radburn,
New Jersey, begun. Planned community inspired by Howard's Garden City
concept and designed by Stein and Wright. A forerunner of the New Deal's
Greenbelt towns. Planned Communities |
| 1929 |
|
Architect Robert H. H. Hugman presents a plan to the civic authorities of San Antonio for the redevelopment of the San Antonio River, the seed of the city's famous Paseo del Rio (Riverwalk). Urban Design |
| 1929 |
|
Clarence
Perry's monograph on the Neighborhood Unit is published in Volume VII
of The Regional Survey of New York and Its Environs. Landmark
Publication Planned
Communities |
| 1929 |
|
A Wisconsin law, possibly the
first instance of rural zoning, authorizes county boards "to regulate,
restrict and determine the areas within which agriculture, forestry and
recreation may be conducted."
Landmark Laws |
| 1929 |
|
Stock market crash in October ushers
in Great Depression and fosters ideas of public planning on a national scale.
Economic Development |
| 1931 |
|
Building the City, the last and
summary volume of the multi-volume Regional Plan of New York, is published
and gives rise in the pages of The New Republic (June-July 1932)
to a famous argument between Thomas Adams and Lewis Mumford regarding the
value of that plan and the meaning of metropolitan planning. Landmark
Publication Regional Planning |
| 1931 |
|
National Land Utilization Conference
convened in Chicago. Three hundred agricultural experts deliberate on rural
recovery programs and natural resource conservation. Conservation
& Environment |
| 1932 |
|
In The Disappearing City, Frank Lloyd Wright elevates America's penchant for urban sprawl into a design principal. He calls it Broadacre City. Landmark
Publication Urban Design |
| 1932 |
|
Federal Home Loan Bank System established
to shore up shaky home financing institutions. Housing |
| 1932 |
|
Reconstruction Finance Corporation
established at the outset of the Great Depression to revive economic activity
by extending financial aid to failing financial, industrial, and agricultural
institutions. Economic Development |
| 1933 |
|
Franklin Delano Roosevelt becomes
president. The New Deal begins with a spate of counter-depression measures. |
| 1933 |
|
Home Owners Loan Corporation established
to save homeowners facing loss through foreclosure. Housing |
| 1933 |
|
The National Planning Board established
in the Interior Department to assist in the preparation of a comprehensive
plan for public
works under the direction of Frederick Delano, Charles
Merriam, Wesley Mitchell. Its last successor agency, the National Resources
Planning Board, was abolished in 1943. Conservation
& Environment History of Planning Profession |
| 1933 |
|
Civilian Conservation Corps established
to provide work for unemployed youth and to conserve nation's natural resources.
Conservation & Environment |
| 1933 |
|
Federal Emergency Relief Administration
set up under Harry Hopkins to organize relief work in urban and rural areas.
Landmark Laws |
| 1933 |
|
The
Tennessee Valley Authority, a public corporation with some of
the freedom of a private corporation, is created to provide for the
unified and multipurpose rehabilitation and redevelopment of the Tennessee
Valley. Senator George Norris of Nebraska fathered the idea and David
Lilienthal, "Father
of Public Power," serves as its long-term director. Regional Planning Landmark
Laws Economic
Development |
| 1933 |
|
The Agricultural Adjustment Act
is passed to regulate agricultural trade practices, production, prices,
supply areas (and therefore land use) as a recovery measure. |
| 1934 |
|
American Society of Planning Officials
founded, an organization for planners, planning commissioners and planning-related
public officials. History of Planning Profession |
| 1934 |
|
National Housing Act. Established
FSLIC for insuring savings deposits and the FHA for insuring individual
home mortgages. Housing Landmark
Laws |
| 1934 |
|
Taylor Grazing Act is passed, its
purpose to regulate the use of the range in the West for conservation purposes.
Conservation & Environment Regional
Planning Landmark Laws |
| 1934 |
|
"Final Report" by the
National Planning Board on its first year of existence. Includes a section
entitled "A Plan for Planning" and an account of the "Historical
Development of Planning in the United States." The latter views American
planning history in the context of U.S. political and economic history.
Landmark Publication |
| 1934 |
|
The Securities and Exchange Act establishes
the Securities and Exchange Commission and inaugurates some regulatory
control over the stock and bond markets to prevent another crash like that
of 1929. Landmark Laws |
| 1935 |
|
Resettlement Administration established
under Rexford Tugwell, Roosevelt "braintruster," to carry out
experiments in land reform and population resettlement. This agency built
the three Greenbelt towns (Greenbelt, Maryland; Greendale,
Wisconsin; Greenhills, Ohio) forerunners of present day New Towns: Columbia,
Maryland; Reston, Virginia; etc.) Planned Communities Landmark
Laws |
| 1935 |
|
Publication date of Regional
Factors in National Planning by the National Resources Committee, a
landmark in regional planning literature. Landmark
Publication Conservation & Environment Regional
Planning |
| 1935 |
|
Soil
Conservation Act. Congress moves to make prevention of soil erosion
a national responsibility. Conservation & Environment Landmark Laws |
| 1935 |
|
The Historic Sites, Buildings and
Antiquities Act, a predecessor of the National Historic Preservation Act,
passed. Requires the Secretary of the Interior to identify, acquire, and
restore qualifying historic sites and properties and calls upon federal
agencies to consider preservation needs in their programs and plans. Conservation
& Environment Landmark
Laws |
| 1935 |
|
Social Security Act passed to create
a safety net for elderly. Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor and first
woman cabinet member, was a principal promoter. Landmark
Laws |
| 1935 |
|
Congress authorizes construction
of the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River in Central Washington State.
Finished in 1941, it is the largest concrete structure in the U.S. and
the heart of the Columbia Basin Project, a regional plan comparable in
its scope to TVA. The project's purposes are irrigation, electric power
generation and flood control in the Pacific Northwest. Economic
Development Regional
Planning Conservation & Environment Landmark Laws |
| 1936 |
|
Hoover Dam on the Colorado River
completed. Creates and sustains population growth and industrial development
in Nevada, California, and Arizona. Economic
Development Regional
Planning |
| 1937 |
|
Our Cities: Their Role in the
National Economy. A landmark report by the Urbanism Committee of the
National Resources Committee. (Ladislas Segoe headed research staff.) Landmark
Publication History of Planning Profession |
| 1937 |
|
U.S. Housing Act (Wagner-Steagall).
Set the stage for future government aid by appropriating $500 million in
loans for low-cost housing. Tied slum clearance to public housing. Housing
Landmark Laws |
| 1937 |
|
Farm Security Administration established,
successor to the Resettlement Administration and administrator of many programs
to aid the rural poor. Landmark Laws |
| 1938 |
|
The American Institute of Planners,
the planning field's professional organization, states as its purpose: "...
the planning of the unified developoment of urban communities and their
environs, and of states, regions and the nation, as expressed through determination
of the comprehensive arrangement of land uses and land occupancy and the
regulation thereof." History of Planning Profession |
| 1939 |
|
Homer Hoyt's influential "sector
theory" of urban growth appears in his monograph, The Structure
and Growth of Residential Neighborhoods in American Cities. Landmark Publication Housing |
Printer-Friendly Format
