City Planning Instruction in the United States: The Pioneering Days, 1900-1930

Abstract

The first course of instruction in city planning in the United States was given in 1909. The following two decades constituted a major formative period for city planning education; during this period an interplay of personalities, ideas, events, and institutions shaped the concepts in our present-day training of city planners. The history of this period deals with the smuggle to gain recognition of the need for specialized training. Among the important touchstones from which one can piece together this history are the forerunners and their various interests in the subject; their effect on students; the reaction of other, older professions; the response of institutions to this idea of new courses and new degrees; and the amount and kind of city planning practice at the beginning of the twentieth century.