The History of Urban Sprawl Criticism (suburban, planner, architect, major)

[knowledgeiskey]

Does anybody have resources of the first criticism of urban sprawl?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by knowledgeiskey

Does anybody have resources of the first criticism of urban sprawl?

Whatever that might be...
they'll probably be mistaken if for no other reason than not sticking
with the far more accurate term of SUBurban sprawl.

That example would probably start at about the early 50's with spots like Levittown

Originally Posted by wiki

Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses (e.g. stores and residential), and various design features that encourage car dependency.

hth

[Chango]

The "ticky-tacky boxes" statement from the 50's?

[MrRational]

Originally Posted by Chango

The "ticky-tacky boxes" statement from the 50's?

even if the song wasn't published until 1962

[Chango]

Originally Posted by MrRational

even if the song wasn't published until 1962

Make that the 60's then.

[tvdxer]

Jane Jacobs wrote a famous title called The Death and Life of Great American Cities in 1961 which set forth many of the principles today advocated by new urbanists and other opponents of suburban sprawl (density, mixed uses, etc.). Here is a link to the Wikipedia page describing her work: The Death and Life of Great American Cities - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .

I'm sure, though, that there was criticism before her book. However, major criticism of suburban sprawl did not seem to begin until the 1980's and 1990's, especially with the publication of Suburban Nation by Duany and Zyberk. The Congress for New Urbanism was founded in 1993; some developments (Seaside, Florida and Celebration, Florida) following new urbanist principles were built in the 80s and 90s.

Also, this excerpt from the Wikipedia page on new urbanism might be of interest to you:

"Although New Urbanism as an organized movement would only arise later, a number of activists and thinkers soon began to criticize the modernist planning techniques being put into practice. Social philosopher and historian Lewis Mumford criticized the "anti-urban" development of post-war America. The Death and Life of Great American Cities, written by Jane Jacobs in the early 1960s, called for planners to reconsider the single-use housing projects, large car-dependent thoroughfares, and segregated commercial centers that had become the "norm."
Rooted in these early dissenters, New Urbanism emerged in the 1970s and 80s with the urban visions and theoretical models for the reconstruction of the "European" city proposed by architect Leon Krier, and the "pattern language" theories of Christopher Alexander."

[nei]

The commentary on this photo of a neighborhood built in the 1920s /early 30s resembles later criticism of suburbia (I'm assuming it's critical of the monotony)

http://www.city-data.com/forum/membe...ge-li-ny-2.jpg

The neighborhood isn't really like modern suburbs but does have some parts in common (in its tract housing ness)

[wburg]

Do you mean social criticism about the banality of suburban life (like "Little Boxes") or criticism of suburban growth based on environmental grounds?

[Ohiogirl81]

People have been criticizing sprawl since the first farms were divided in the 1600s to make smaller farms. Everyone always wants to be the last to move into a neighborhood.