The 17-18th Century industrial revolution triggered massive urbanization that pushed discussions on the need for technological expansion to the city management systems. For instance, during the first ever American Urban Planning Conference, in 1898 New York, a notable central issue of concern was how to manage horse manure effectively.
Since horses were the major transportation modes, and there were no clear, or easy answers on how the horse waste could be managed effectively. A few decades down the line, horses are no longer an issue of concern & are now luxury couriers.
The biggest contrast for urban planning has always been about making beautiful people versus beautiful cities. With increased interest in Urban Planning, Harvard University set up the Harvard Urban Planning School in 1898, which graduated the first cohort of the Urban Planning Profession. The professionals from Harvard were then hired by various city councils creating the first bunch of professionals fully dedicated to city planning and design. The key principle that guided the need for urban planners was “you can’t separate the design of the land from the design of the city.”
The advent of city-size planners created an environment in which cities made their own master plans. For instance, Harland Bartholomew consultants made master plans for entire communities in cities such as Columbus, New Jersey, and Memphis in the United States.
In the UK, the Milton Keynes community was developed in the 1960s as means to cater for the congested London city. It involved setting out several villages into a planned urban area, an alternative life to London. The idea was deeply unpopular at the time of the Milton Keynes project commencement, dubbed as waste of agricultural land, but currently, Milton Keynes is one of the finest pieces of urban planning, a residence of over 200,000 people and the seat of MK Dons – one famous club in England.
One notable challenge with the early models of city planning is that it was made for zoning based on classes and racial separation. Cities were divided with beautiful spaces for the desirables, but poor planning for the poor, which over time made it hard to promote better, cleaner and morally uplifting cities even as populations increased.
The poor planning model was chiefly the main challenge with urbanization, whereby more efforts were made to appease the rich but no plans were made to effectively cater for the poor. The end result: growth of slums, land grabbing, homelessness, and unchecked development that affects many large cities today.
Nonetheless, there are cities which have set the bar for longevity in their urban planning systems such as Copenhagen in Denmark, Beijing China, Brasilia – Brazil, Chandigarh, India and Singapore. Many of these cities have a long term urban planning model even older than the current city residents, and earmark the genius of planning in developing sustainable cities.
Learn more: Abuja, the only Master Planned capital city in Africa – and other Master planned cities in the world
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