6. The city may be the unplanned product of the interaction of successive generations with the environment, or it may be the result of intentional activity with a specific end in view. We hear of ancient cities springing up at the will of an emperor bent on glorifying his name. There are cities in America that are the premeditated product of individuals or corporations bent on creating an adjunct to a factory. There are capital cities in America owing their existence to the decisions of a legislature. The planned city differs from the “natural” city not only in its structural form but in its functional aspects and its capacity for growth. Probably no planned city can grow into a metropolis if it does not somehow find for itself an important function in world-economy and earn its place in the competitive process.
Aurousseau, M. “Urban Geography: A Study of German Towns,” Geog. Rev., XI (October, 1921), 614–16.
A review of a German work (Geisler, Walter, “Beiträge zur Stadtgeographie.” Zeitschrift der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde, Nos. 8–10 [Berlin, 1920], 274–96). Shows the influence of the old town plan on the development of the modern city. (II, 2, 3; III.)
Bodine, H. E. “Study of Local History Teaches Value of City-Planning,” American City, XXV (September, 1921), 241–45.
Cushing, C. P. “Rambler on the Standardized City,” Travel, XXIX (July, 1917), 40.
Ely, Richard T. “Pullman: A Social Study,” Harper’s New Monthly Magazine, LXX (December, 1884), 453–65.
While more of a general survey than a special study of the influence of the city plan upon the actual growth of the city, it does show some disharmonies arising out of the attempt to control a planned urban project in the face of growth and unexpected complications. (IV, 4; VII, 3; IX, 1.)
Ormiston, E. “Public Control of the Location of Towns,” Econ. Jour., XXVIII (December, 1918), 374–85.
Shows some of the abortive attempts to establish towns in unfavorably situated environments. Suggests public control as a possible preventive measure, if based on thorough study of all factors involved in the possibilities for growth and development. (III, 2, 3, 4; IV, 6.)
Whitbeck, R. H. “Selected Cities of the United States,” Jour. Geog., XXI (September, 1922), 205–42.