Urban Thinkers That Changed Our View Of The City

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 by Branden Klayko.

As we continue to grapple with the changing notions of the city and what it means to be urban, it’s also important to take a look back at the iconic figures who have shaped these views throughout the 20th century and beyond. Earlier this month, Planetizen released its list of the top 100 urban thinkers based on an informal poll of its readership. Most of the big names are there and most had a substantial impact on the built environment, our views about it, and even how Louisville evolved over time.

Here’s a rundown of a few of the urban visionaries who, either directly or indirectly and for better or worse, have some sort of connection to Louisville’s built environment. One massive oversight we spotted was the omission of Louisville’s native urban pioneer and recent Athena Medal recipient Grady Clay. Clay has done a great deal to advance urban issues in Louisville and abroad and even coined the term “new urbanism” decades before the Charter of the New Urbanism.

[ 1 ] Jane Jacobs – We’ve mentioned Jane before for including Louisville in her epic book Death and Life of Great American Cities (thanks to the help of Grady Clay). She was also an early pioneer in grassroots opposition to urban renewal and highway building campaigns.
[ 2 ] Andrés Duany – Duany is a prominent New Urbanist and one of the founders of the Congress for the New Urbanism. He designed prominent towns such as Seaside, Florida and Kentlands, Maryland in addition to Norton Commons here in Louisville.
[ 4 ] Frederick Law Olmsted – Olmsted’s impact on Louisville is undeniable and goes without stating. The Father of Landscape Architecture designed many parks and parkways here along with Central Park in New York City and his masterpiece Prospect Park in Brooklyn.
[ 6 ] Daniel Burnham – Planner of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, a fair credited with bringing neo-classicism to prominence. Burnham also designed the Starks Building on Fourth Street and Muhammad Ali Boulevard.
[ 24 ] Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk – Founding partner in Duany-Plater-Zyberk with her husband Andres Duany and influential New Urbanist whose firm designed Norton Commons.
[ 31 ] Bruce Katz – Proponent of regionalism and an urban thinker at the Brooking’s Institution who frequently studies Louisville and offers advice on policy for the city.
[ 36 ] Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. – Olmsted’s son who took over the family landscape architecture practice and continued to design many parks and landscapes throughout Louisville.
[ 48 ] Thomas Jefferson – The third president also had a keen interest in architecture and planning. He designed a city plan for Jeffersonville, but the plan incorporating diamond-shape blocks with parks at each intersection was never adopted.
[ 54 ] Frank Lloyd Wright – prominent American architect whose urban ideal was Broadacre City, a low-density pattern that closely resembles contemporary suburbs. Wright’s protege and son-in-law William Wesley Peters designed the Kaden Tower near Dutchman’s Lane based on plans by Wright.
[ 63 ] Wendell Berry – Little introduction needed for the famous Kentucky writer who espoused the virtues of local economies, sense of community, and connection to place among other things.
[ 65 ] Rem Koolhaas – Dutch architect and founder of Office for Metropolitan Architecture. OMA was the firm commissioned to design Museum Plaza before the New York office split and came under the direction of Joshua Prince-Ramus.
[ 66 ] John Gilderbloom – Professor at U of L’s graduate program in Urban & Public Affairs and director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Neighborhoods. Author of Promise and Betrayal on how U of L has helped to revitalize the Russell neighborhood in Louisville.
[ 67 ] Walter Kulash – Transportation engineer who is a pioneer in livable traffic design for walkable communities and forefront engineer for traffic calming street design. Kulash was responsible for the feasibility study for the 8664.org campaign that showed how an urban boulevard could handle traffic in Louisville.
[ 68 ] Donovan Rypkema – A principal at a real-estate and economic development consulting firm in Washington DC, Rypkema is a strong proponent of the economic value of historic preservation as a means to improve local economy and sustainability. He frequently lectures in Louisville on such topics.
[ 98 ] John Norquist – Former mayor of Milwaukee who successfully removed a portion of elevated highway from that city. Currently, Norquist is the president of the Congress of the New Urbanism and has spoken at several events organized by the 8664.org campaign in Louisville.

Check out the complete list of urban thinkers from Planetizen on their web site.

If you’re interested in reading up on some other great urbanists, here are a few of my recommendations from the Planetizen list that are worth checking out:

Christopher Alexander – A Pattern Language and A Timeless Way of Building
Kevin A. Lynch – The Image of the City
Lewis Mumford – The City in History
Leon Krier – prominent, though largely theoretical, New Urbanist. Anything you can find is worth looking at.
William H. Whyte – Social Life of Small Urban Places and City: Rediscovering the Center
Camillo Sitte – City Planning According to Artistic Principles
Janette Sadik-Khan – New York Transportation Commissioner responsible for creating innovative bike and pedestrian infrastructure in the city. Read more from Forbes.
Colin Rowe – Collage City