Make No Small Plans?

The 1909 Plan of Chicago was a magnificent plan created by Daniel Burnham. His quote, “At no period in its history has the city looked far enough ahead…” truly demonstrates the strong connection he had with Chicago.  Burnham’s claims here are justified because he mentions that “before any particular plan can be carried out, a still larger conception will being to dawn, and even greater necessities will develop.” Even though Burnham created this grand plan, changes were made to it and not everything that Burnham envisioned for Chicago was implemented due to his death. Other individuals took over his plan and it made how they think that Burnham would have wanted it but obviously not exactly.

It may seem as though Burnham did not take parks into consideration because of how the city of Chicago looks today. During our walking tours, I noticed that parks were not really distributed well. Most of the time we see Chicago as this city encompassed with gigantic office and apartment buildings. However, I do not believe that this was because of Burnham. One of Burnham’s main goals was to create an outer park system which would preserve forest as park land. While reading the novel by Carl Smith, I did feel as though Burnham put a huge emphasis on parks and he kept talking about how parks were good for the mind, soul, and body. Burnham believed that it was essential to have a great park system in order for people to not lose their minds. I believe that there a huge amount of parks in Chicago not because of Burnham but because of the individuals who carried out Burnham’s plan after his death. Those who carried out Burnham’s plans probably found other things to be more important than parks. I do believe that parks are important not only for children but for young and older adults. I mean it is refreshing to be able to just go to a park and just relax from the hectic and chaotic life of Chicago. I do believe that more parks need to be added to Chicago.

Furthermore, another challenge that that is facing Chicago is public housing. Burnham’s original plan focused on implementing highways, railways, parks, and museums, which are all great aspects of Chicago; however, the plan does ignore public housing. Even though many Chicagoans raised the issue of public housing to Burnham and his people, it was not paid much attention. Burnham was so concerned with making sure that Chicago would become this unique, striking city that he really misses out on making sure that housing is affordable to people who actually live in the city. One of Burnham’s major critics, Mumford, said that the plan had “no concern for the neighborhood as an integral unit, no regard to family housing…” Burnham did have good intentions in wanting to make Chicago more appealing; however, he wants led to a rise in land value which resulted in many families not being able to afford living in their homes. By rising land value in certain parts of Chicago people who cannot afford the rise are forced to move and this is what segregation is. Families with low income move to areas where other families with low income live and they develop their own sense of “community” and become segregated from the rest of the Chicago. I do not see this as a positive thing, only worse things can come from this.

Even though Burnham did many wonderful things for the city of Chicago, there still needs a lot more to be done today and for the future. Planners need to realize that there are people with low incomes that live in Chicago and they aren’t going anywhere. Affordable housing, more public parks, and traffic are the main issues that need to be addressed. I’m not saying these are the only issues; there are many, many issues that Chicago is facing and will face in the future if things do not change.

"Urbanism As A Way Of Life"

Before reading Wirth’s article, I had not given much thought to the kind of characteristics that are associated with a city and why this is might be important to study.  Wirth says that in order for a community to be recognized as a city it must contain three major characteristics: a large population size, high population density, and social heterogeneity. When Wirth includes a large population size in his definition, I immediately recognize how this still holds true today by just looking at Chicago.  Wirth’s mentioning of a high population density and social heterogeneity play a significant role in creating the city of Chicago.  I do believe that his definition still holds true today; however he does lack to include other important features that create a city today.

Wirth states that a city is heterogeneous; however he does not expand on this particular characteristic. He does not emphasize enough the ways in which people are truly segregated in a city. Wirth mentions that people become segregated due to differences in race, language, income, and social status; however he does not acknowledge that people are sometimes segregated not because of their own choices. I may be way off here but I do believe that those in charge of making the city look appealing has an effect on how people perceive certain parts of the city to be.  What I mean by this is if one travels from the North side of Chicago to the South side, one can visually see the differences of the city by the buildings and the accessories located on them. Last winter during a Verandah course with Dr. Geraty, I noticed that the northern parts of Chicago were encompassed with many, many lights and other Christmas decoration. As our class moved past the Loop, we noticed that the further south we went the less lights and Christmas decorations we saw. The further south we went the less appealing the city looked. I do believe this is an important feature to discuss because if certain parts of a city look less glamorous than others, then people are less likely to travel to those areas.  

Another significant feature that needs to be a part of Wirth’s definition is how a city is more likely to be in the public limelight than a small town/ suburb is. Media outlets tend to claim cities to be dangerous and a place where those with children should not be living in. They also tend to highlight certain parts of a city where individuals should never find themselves at. By perpetuating these messages through television, internet, and radio many individuals come fear those certain parts of a city and never go there. I do believe that this is unfair and damaging to a neighborhood because it creates and maintains the stereotypes associated with a particular neighborhood, which may not even be true at all. Media outlets are a major characteristic of a city prividing both positive and negative perceptions. 

However, Louis Wirth’s article is a very intriguing and makes me think about all the other cities in the world.  I do believe that his writing is a bit vague; however, the article does cause great discussion and debate of what characteristics are associated with a city.