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The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City
Arguably the most influential document in the history of urban planning, Daniel Burnham’s 1909 Plan of Chicago , coauthored by Edward Bennett and produced in collaboration with the Commercial Club of Chicago, proposed many of the city’s most distinctive features, including its lakefront parks and roadways, the Magnificent Mile, and Navy Pier. Carl Smith’s fascinating history reveals the Plan ’s central role in shaping the ways people envision the cityscape and urban life itself.
Smith’s concise and accessible narrative begins with a survey of Chicago’s stunning rise from a tiny frontier settlement to the nation’s second-largest city. He then offers an illuminating exploration of the Plan ’s creation and reveals how it embodies the renowned architect’s belief that cities can and must be remade for the better. The Plan defined the City Beautiful movement and was the first comprehensive attempt to reimagine a major American city. Smith points out the ways the Plan continues to influence debates, even a century after its publication, about how to create a vibrant and habitable urban environment.
Richly illustrated and incisively written, his insightful book will be indispensable to our understanding of Chicago, Daniel Burnham, and the emergence of the modern city.
Smith’s concise and accessible narrative begins with a survey of Chicago’s stunning rise from a tiny frontier settlement to the nation’s second-largest city. He then offers an illuminating exploration of the Plan ’s creation and reveals how it embodies the renowned architect’s belief that cities can and must be remade for the better. The Plan defined the City Beautiful movement and was the first comprehensive attempt to reimagine a major American city. Smith points out the ways the Plan continues to influence debates, even a century after its publication, about how to create a vibrant and habitable urban environment.
Richly illustrated and incisively written, his insightful book will be indispensable to our understanding of Chicago, Daniel Burnham, and the emergence of the modern city.
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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July 23, 2009
The Plan of Chicago by Carl Smith (pp. 172)
The Plan of Chicago discusses the classic 1,650 page, two volume city planning document of the same name published by Daniel Burnham, Edward Bennett, and the Commercial Club of Chicago. Carl Smith tells the story of the over 300 individuals who came together over almost two decades to influence the growth and development of Chicago.
While only 172 pages and supported with numerous illustrations and turn of the century photos, Smith’s work is a dense read. The early chapters often read like Genesis as Harris tells of the city’s civic leader who came together to influence the content of the document.
Smith’s analysis of the primary work is interesting in its discussion of founding fathers such as Wacker, McCormick, and Moody. He clearly gets across the point that The Plan of Chicago isn’t a Burnham written document, but a Burnham influenced document that is the culmination of a group of men and some women who felt that the development of Chicago needed a guiding hand by those who had a shared interest in seeing it prosper.
What you won’t get out of this book is a solid understanding of how the original document resulted in the Chicago of today. Harris himself says this might be too daunting of a task, but would be interesting. He does go into the influence the document has had on later important Chicago planning works, but that’s largely contained in the last five pages.
The book is interesting probably only for the most hardcore lovers of Chicago architecture and history, but is most likely support reading for graduate students in Urban Planning fields.
The Plan of Chicago discusses the classic 1,650 page, two volume city planning document of the same name published by Daniel Burnham, Edward Bennett, and the Commercial Club of Chicago. Carl Smith tells the story of the over 300 individuals who came together over almost two decades to influence the growth and development of Chicago.
While only 172 pages and supported with numerous illustrations and turn of the century photos, Smith’s work is a dense read. The early chapters often read like Genesis as Harris tells of the city’s civic leader who came together to influence the content of the document.
Smith’s analysis of the primary work is interesting in its discussion of founding fathers such as Wacker, McCormick, and Moody. He clearly gets across the point that The Plan of Chicago isn’t a Burnham written document, but a Burnham influenced document that is the culmination of a group of men and some women who felt that the development of Chicago needed a guiding hand by those who had a shared interest in seeing it prosper.
What you won’t get out of this book is a solid understanding of how the original document resulted in the Chicago of today. Harris himself says this might be too daunting of a task, but would be interesting. He does go into the influence the document has had on later important Chicago planning works, but that’s largely contained in the last five pages.
The book is interesting probably only for the most hardcore lovers of Chicago architecture and history, but is most likely support reading for graduate students in Urban Planning fields.
December 30, 2019
The Chicago Tribune called this “a concise and readable introduction” the Chicago Plan. And I agree! I picked this up because I went to Chicago and was fascinated by the architecture, public buildings and civic planning that shaped the city. But unless you’re pretty interested in the intersection of commercial interests and ideas around what makes a city great, I wouldn’t recommend this. But if that does sound interesting, this is a good option, and has a ton of helpful photos and illustrations.
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November 7, 2013Chicago has dozens of neighborhood groups that try to nudge the course of development. A century ago there was "The Plan of Chicago," a coffee-table book produced by Daniel Burnham's architectural practice, funded by Burnham and a host of business heavyweights. It's comforting that community organizers now can speak with the same authority as those captains of industry once did with the Burnham Plan. But as a community volunteer who reads a lot of planning documents, I can't help but think that Burnham's authority to think big has been lost forever.
By 1909 fast-growing Chicago already was conjuring City Beautiful amenities from landfill and grappling with downtown gridlock, making the plan's six basic prescriptions inevitable -- lakefront improvements, highways, outlying rail yards, neighborhood parks, a traffic grid and civic amenities. Carl Smith casts the 1909 plan as both bigger and smaller than its legend: a seminal urban planning document spread by modern marketing and taught in the public schools, yet blinkered on social welfare issues and unable to deliver on its grand proposals.
Yes, the civic center that Burnham envisioned is instead an expressway interchange. But the leafy boulevards of the Chicago Plan continue to be civilizing, resilient influences, even as their wide streets fill with frat-bar cafe tables. If the Commercial Club's present-day Metropolis 2020 is a shadow of its Plan of 1909, it may be because its backers follow a different vision of enlightened self-interest, money and politics.
By 1909 fast-growing Chicago already was conjuring City Beautiful amenities from landfill and grappling with downtown gridlock, making the plan's six basic prescriptions inevitable -- lakefront improvements, highways, outlying rail yards, neighborhood parks, a traffic grid and civic amenities. Carl Smith casts the 1909 plan as both bigger and smaller than its legend: a seminal urban planning document spread by modern marketing and taught in the public schools, yet blinkered on social welfare issues and unable to deliver on its grand proposals.
Yes, the civic center that Burnham envisioned is instead an expressway interchange. But the leafy boulevards of the Chicago Plan continue to be civilizing, resilient influences, even as their wide streets fill with frat-bar cafe tables. If the Commercial Club's present-day Metropolis 2020 is a shadow of its Plan of 1909, it may be because its backers follow a different vision of enlightened self-interest, money and politics.
October 2, 2009
The book was ok for me. It was interesting, though not fascinating. To me, the book seemed more like a book review, with a little bit of history and nice pictures injected into the text. I didn't learn anything new than what I'd seen and watched on WTTW. I guess I was looking for more details of the Plan, which I may have to read other books for. It did, however, made me appreciate a grand planning and ways to gain public support. Burnham and co. did think big!
Mumford observes, however, that despite the "ruthless overriding of historical realities" implicit in Burnham's famous quotation about making no little plans, " there was a measure of deep human insight" in it as well. Burnham's planning vision, whether sound or misguided, does in fact stir the blood because it so powerfully expresses the desire to able to reach beyond piecemeal solutions and act efficaciously and Americans realized that twentieth-century urban experience was fraught with limitations and contingencies, Burnham insisted that if we are just bold and brave and determined enough, it is possible to master time and space and make all things right. The Plan's very real historical appeal lies precisely in the fact that it proclaims history is no match for human will and cities can determine rather than merely accept their fate.
May 20, 2021
I was hoping for more of a breakdown of the plan, particularly a deeper dive on the seven overarching improvements and what the goals were for each of those sections. This book was more focused on everything else around the plan: Who were its creators and their backgrounds? How much money did it cost? What was the reception? How much work went into promoting the plan? What was the impact?
At the end of the day, it was a colossal undertaking that had more of an impact on the profession of city planning than it actually had on Chicago.
At the end of the day, it was a colossal undertaking that had more of an impact on the profession of city planning than it actually had on Chicago.
June 21, 2015
This is an efficiently well-written book that explains the 1909 Plan of Chicago's origins as both a response to its explosive 19th century growth and rosy expectations of future ascendance. Smith argues that the plan had important impact on the development of some of Chicago's most cherished urban features, helped launch the field of urban planning, and was the perhaps the crowning achievement of the legendary career of its central visionary, Daniel H. Burnham.
July 4, 2022
It’s good for the information.
My highlights are as follows:
Chicago’s spectacular development had resulted in “the chaos incident to rapid growth, and especially to the influx of people of many nationalities without common traditions or habits of life.” p. 1
Through the nineteenth century, Chicago’s population consisted overwhelmingly of those who, if not from somewhere else themselves, were children of parents born and raised in other places. pp. 6-7
emporium p. 7
Legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, reflecting on the Great Chicago Fire in the Nation shortly after the conflagration occurred, was only one of several observers who attributed the extent of the damage to hurried and sloppy building. p. 8
…temperance which comes from experience. p. 8
Chicago suffered from being a place where all too many people came to work and invest rather than to live, and this showed in the city they had built. p. 9
imperious p. 9
“This town of ours labors under one peculiar disadvantage: it is the only great city in the world to which all its citizens have come for the one common, avowed object of making money.” p. 9
… “the people of Chicago have ceased to be impressed by rapid growth or the great size of the city. What they insist [on] asking now is. How are we living?” p. 10
…Great Fire of 1666. p. 12
Leaders and members of such organizations were generally native born and well-to-do, and some of their ideas reflected their class prejudices as well as their concerns about urban design. They felt troubled by the presence and increasing political power of working-class immigrants, though they were aware that the economic vitality of the city depended on such people. p. 14
… City Beautiful movement… p. 14
Just as a bad urban environment brought out the worst in people forced to inhabit it, a grand one that expressed the values of civilization and order would inculcate these ideals and thus elicit the best. p. 15
… but also that a beautiful city would function more effectively than an unappealing one. p. 15
elitist top-down approach p. 15
…a desire to impose their own vision of an orderly metropolis on immigrants and workers in the hope of asserting social control. p. 15
obstreperous p. 19
trestle p. 24
… if Chicago became more beautiful, its wealthy residents would spend more of their money in their home city since they would no longer feel compelled to travel elsewhere to satisfy their desire to be in an aesthetically attractive place. p. 31
“keep our rich people and their money here, and to bring others.” … “I am for the improvement, heart and soul. I want no money nor place, but see clearly that the best welfare of the City demands that the town should immediately put on a charming dress and thus stop our people from running away, and bring rich people here, rather than have them go elsewhere to spend their money.” p. 32
“We are merged into nature and become part of her.” p. 33
… the key issue facing Chicago was no longer expansion but conservation, quality rather than quantity of life… “and the city which brings about the best conditions of life becomes the most prosperous.” p. 36
paucity p. 36
“The slum exists to-day,” … “because of the failure of the city to protect itself against gross evils and known perils, all of which should be corrected by the enforcement of simple principles of sanitation that are recognized to be just, equitable and necessary.” p. 36
cynosure p. 38
Chicagoans were living in rear tenements jammed into the back of lots meant for one building and in inhumanly overpacked multi-level structures. These people were assaulted by the stench of privies, animal manure, and garbage, while deprived of decent light, air, and plumbing. p. 46
privies p. 46
The public was clearly interested in “an orderly and beautiful development of cities”, and believed in the practical value of such development. p. 70
Jane Addams, with whom they also consulted… Small as her role was in shaping the Plan of Chicago, Addams was among the very few women who had any part at all in the preparation of the Plan. p. 78
“it is better to wait for years and have the best than to take something unfit and having to do the whole thing over again”. pp. 78-79
bagatelles p. 82
cogently p. 86
concentric p. 86
freight p. 86
thoroughfares p. 87
The Crerar Library p. 87
gravitas p. 87
ornate p. 88
tome p. 88
portentous p. 90
neoclassical p. 91
ostensible p. 91
hinterland p. 98
blight p. 99
bucolic p. 101
“He who habitually comes in close contact with nature,” the Plan observes, “develops saner methods of thought than can be the case when one is habitually shut up within the walls of a city.” p. 101
The discussions of slums and parks state the planners’ belief that a person’s surroundings significantly determine his or her behavior. p. 102
squalid p. 102
facsimile p. 104
replete p. 105
oar p. 107
laudatory p. 113
lampooning p. 114
bejeweled p. 115
Düsseldorf p. 116
winnowing p. 122
“the ultimate solution of all major problems of American cities lies in the education of our children to their responsibility as the future owners of our municipalities and the arbiters of their governmental destinies.” p. 125
Seine p. 130
Municipal Pier was named Navy Pier in the 1920s. p. 142
viaducts p. 143
impetus p. 146
colonnade p. 148
auspices p. 149
inimical p. 155
efficaciously p. 157
fraught p. 157
sprawling p. 157
blighted p. 160
facsimile p. 169
My highlights are as follows:
Chicago’s spectacular development had resulted in “the chaos incident to rapid growth, and especially to the influx of people of many nationalities without common traditions or habits of life.” p. 1
Through the nineteenth century, Chicago’s population consisted overwhelmingly of those who, if not from somewhere else themselves, were children of parents born and raised in other places. pp. 6-7
emporium p. 7
Legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, reflecting on the Great Chicago Fire in the Nation shortly after the conflagration occurred, was only one of several observers who attributed the extent of the damage to hurried and sloppy building. p. 8
…temperance which comes from experience. p. 8
Chicago suffered from being a place where all too many people came to work and invest rather than to live, and this showed in the city they had built. p. 9
imperious p. 9
“This town of ours labors under one peculiar disadvantage: it is the only great city in the world to which all its citizens have come for the one common, avowed object of making money.” p. 9
… “the people of Chicago have ceased to be impressed by rapid growth or the great size of the city. What they insist [on] asking now is. How are we living?” p. 10
…Great Fire of 1666. p. 12
Leaders and members of such organizations were generally native born and well-to-do, and some of their ideas reflected their class prejudices as well as their concerns about urban design. They felt troubled by the presence and increasing political power of working-class immigrants, though they were aware that the economic vitality of the city depended on such people. p. 14
… City Beautiful movement… p. 14
Just as a bad urban environment brought out the worst in people forced to inhabit it, a grand one that expressed the values of civilization and order would inculcate these ideals and thus elicit the best. p. 15
… but also that a beautiful city would function more effectively than an unappealing one. p. 15
elitist top-down approach p. 15
…a desire to impose their own vision of an orderly metropolis on immigrants and workers in the hope of asserting social control. p. 15
obstreperous p. 19
trestle p. 24
… if Chicago became more beautiful, its wealthy residents would spend more of their money in their home city since they would no longer feel compelled to travel elsewhere to satisfy their desire to be in an aesthetically attractive place. p. 31
“keep our rich people and their money here, and to bring others.” … “I am for the improvement, heart and soul. I want no money nor place, but see clearly that the best welfare of the City demands that the town should immediately put on a charming dress and thus stop our people from running away, and bring rich people here, rather than have them go elsewhere to spend their money.” p. 32
“We are merged into nature and become part of her.” p. 33
… the key issue facing Chicago was no longer expansion but conservation, quality rather than quantity of life… “and the city which brings about the best conditions of life becomes the most prosperous.” p. 36
paucity p. 36
“The slum exists to-day,” … “because of the failure of the city to protect itself against gross evils and known perils, all of which should be corrected by the enforcement of simple principles of sanitation that are recognized to be just, equitable and necessary.” p. 36
cynosure p. 38
Chicagoans were living in rear tenements jammed into the back of lots meant for one building and in inhumanly overpacked multi-level structures. These people were assaulted by the stench of privies, animal manure, and garbage, while deprived of decent light, air, and plumbing. p. 46
privies p. 46
The public was clearly interested in “an orderly and beautiful development of cities”, and believed in the practical value of such development. p. 70
Jane Addams, with whom they also consulted… Small as her role was in shaping the Plan of Chicago, Addams was among the very few women who had any part at all in the preparation of the Plan. p. 78
“it is better to wait for years and have the best than to take something unfit and having to do the whole thing over again”. pp. 78-79
bagatelles p. 82
cogently p. 86
concentric p. 86
freight p. 86
thoroughfares p. 87
The Crerar Library p. 87
gravitas p. 87
ornate p. 88
tome p. 88
portentous p. 90
neoclassical p. 91
ostensible p. 91
hinterland p. 98
blight p. 99
bucolic p. 101
“He who habitually comes in close contact with nature,” the Plan observes, “develops saner methods of thought than can be the case when one is habitually shut up within the walls of a city.” p. 101
The discussions of slums and parks state the planners’ belief that a person’s surroundings significantly determine his or her behavior. p. 102
squalid p. 102
facsimile p. 104
replete p. 105
oar p. 107
laudatory p. 113
lampooning p. 114
bejeweled p. 115
Düsseldorf p. 116
winnowing p. 122
“the ultimate solution of all major problems of American cities lies in the education of our children to their responsibility as the future owners of our municipalities and the arbiters of their governmental destinies.” p. 125
Seine p. 130
Municipal Pier was named Navy Pier in the 1920s. p. 142
viaducts p. 143
impetus p. 146
colonnade p. 148
auspices p. 149
inimical p. 155
efficaciously p. 157
fraught p. 157
sprawling p. 157
blighted p. 160
facsimile p. 169
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2011
I read this book after finishing The Devil in the White City to learn more about Burnham. I found this book interesting but a little dry.
July 23, 2019
The purpose of this book seems to be to describe the history and historical context of Burnham's 1909 Chicago plan. In the 1860s, planners took Paris apart and put it back together, destroying many streets, building many more, and creating the Paris we know today. Burnham and other supporters of the "City Beautiful" movement thought Paris looked pretty good compared to the fast-growing but dirty, congested and disorderly industrial cities of the late 19th century, and wanted American cities to look more like Paris. They worried that if Chicago and similar cities did not improve, capital would move elsewhere and the cities would decline. In particular, they focused on infrastructure such as parks and highways.
What was the agenda of the 1909 Plan? They wanted to expand Chicago's park system (especially near Lake Michigan), add a bridge to connect the north and south sides of town, widen a variety of streets, and move railroad stations away from the center of town. Although this book explains the pros and cons of some of these policies, I do wish it had been more detailed in this respect. For example, why did Burnham et. al. think wide streets were so desirable?
What was the agenda of the 1909 Plan? They wanted to expand Chicago's park system (especially near Lake Michigan), add a bridge to connect the north and south sides of town, widen a variety of streets, and move railroad stations away from the center of town. Although this book explains the pros and cons of some of these policies, I do wish it had been more detailed in this respect. For example, why did Burnham et. al. think wide streets were so desirable?
January 10, 2018
A must read for anyone interested in the growth of American cities and the rise of the urban planner. What intrigued me even more was the engagement by civic leaders in the development of "The Plan," a pioneering effort, published in 1909, to organise Chicago for economic growth and liveability. Businessmen contributed their time, led by architect Daniel Burnham, to create their vision for the city. Their descendants did the same thing when civic leaders came together to push through the Millenium Park project a decade leader. We could do with more enlightened self-interest as we flounder through public life today. Don't expect a literary masterpiece when reading this book. It is an academic study.
September 26, 2021
I don’t say this often, but - this is a must read for anyone who is interested in Chicago, history, or city planning / urban design.
A fascinating and digestible analysis of Chicago’s ails in the 19th century, and how a band of business leaders came together as civic leaders and transformed the built environment into a city to be admired.
Author provides an objective analysis and offers up multiple viewpoints, ultimately letting the reader take a step back and decide for themself the ultimate impact of Daniel Burnham, the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the Chicago Plan not just on this city, but on others across the globe.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A fascinating and digestible analysis of Chicago’s ails in the 19th century, and how a band of business leaders came together as civic leaders and transformed the built environment into a city to be admired.
Author provides an objective analysis and offers up multiple viewpoints, ultimately letting the reader take a step back and decide for themself the ultimate impact of Daniel Burnham, the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the Chicago Plan not just on this city, but on others across the globe.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
June 12, 2022
I ordered a copy of the original Plan of Chicago and found it fascinating, but overwhelming. I enjoy having that behemoth for its maps, explanations, and history. Other than that, it’s largely unreadable. This is the solution to my casual curiosity about the rebuilding of Chicago after the fire. All of the information I wanted was served up in smaller bites in this book. If you love Chicago and enjoy the history, you’ll love this book!
August 7, 2020
A nice recount of the 1909 Plan of Chicago. Less about the specific details of Daniel Burnham's plan, and more about the history behind, development of, and promotion and implementation of the plan. Lots of historical images make it an easy and enjoyable, yet very informative book. Almost like a museum exhibit in book form. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in cities.
May 27, 2025
Urban planning is something I’m very fascinated with, and with my ties to the city of Chicago this was an interesting read. The book itself was a dense read and honestly was kind of boring. I did like reading names and places and seeing how some of that stuff is implemented in present day Chicago but there is some imagination required.
September 25, 2018
I read this as part of the course that I am helping to teach and was surprised by how interesting and readable it is. A fast, photo-filled overview of how Chicago came to be as it is today. Also, why we have streets named Wacker and not named Pine.
August 25, 2022
Neat stories, photos, and designs. I wish there was more about how the plan was implemented or at least how it influenced the way Chicago is today. They got there in the second to last chapter, but a lot of the rest of the book focused on how they marketed the plan.
October 24, 2024
Worth reading and I learned some stuff. Good context in general for this era of Chicago and how the plan is important. But ultimately kind of shallow across the board, and not my favorite writing. A little booster-ish at times
February 24, 2019
don't recommend
January 17, 2021
Sometimes tedious, I enjoyed the last two chapters the most.
November 10, 2022
Can there be a better book on this historical topic? Carl Smith knocked it out of the park. Excellent read!
June 22, 2007
(Full review can be found at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com].)
It's simply impossible to understand the importance of architect Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago without first looking at some pre-Plan statistics: for instance, the fact that from 1840 to 1900, the population of the city grew from 5,000 to over two million; that by then the city limits stretched over 180 square miles, including 3,000 miles of streets and 1,400 miles of alleys; that barely half of those streets were paved, and less than a tenth of the alleyways; that the city was still employing over 30,000 gas streetlamps by the turn of the century, with electricity still being relatively rare and expensive; that its citizens consumed half a billion gallons of water a day, all of it coming from Lake Michigan, the same place the city was dumping most of its garbage; that apart from the downtown Loop, the vast majority of the city's buildings were still constructed out of wood, as were most of the sidewalks; that in its poorest neighborhoods, population density was sometimes over 300 people per acre (versus the 10 per acre of the upper-class neighborhoods); that there were no zoning laws in those days, making it perfectly legal (for example) to construct a slaughterhouse next door to a residential neighborhood; that the city had no real sewage system to speak of, no park system, no library system, only the most rudimentary of school systems. When people referred to the "cesspool of urban living" in those days, they weren't joking; like most other big cities during the height of the Industrial Age, Chicago in the 1800s was a veritable petri dish of smog, filth, disease and danger.
It was a combination of these factors, in fact, that led to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, in which a third of the existing city was burnt beyond recognition, including the entire downtown business district; but those blowhard Chicagoans, God bless their stubborn souls, weren't about to let a little thing like their city burning to the ground get in the way of their plans, and it was in the shadow of these events that the Commercial Club of Chicago first decided to take on the challenge of rebuilding the city, of transforming it into something no one had ever seen before. There was a lot of that going on in those days, as a matter of fact -- between the City Beautiful movement of the late 1800s, the Progressive social reformers, the brand-new academic field of "city planning," and all those high-minded private civic organizations that existed back then, practically everyone and their mother had a plan for how to rebuild Chicago, with all of them vying not just for the public's attention but also the official support of the city government. And thus did the club hire Burnham to make them their own plan; and as traditional lore has it, was met with crowning enthusiasm and the warm handshake of the city council, leading to the quick implementation of most of its recommendations.
Ah, but according to historian Carl Smith in his wonderful new The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City, how we traditionally think of the Plan and its implementation couldn't be further from the truth of what actually happened: that the plan itself was much more controversial than history now remembers, that its inspiration came much more from a desire to keep the city's wealthy elite happy than from any high-minded civic ideals, and that indeed the Plan would never have been adopted by the city in the first place if not for the spectacularly expensive public-relations campaign the Commercial Club waged for decades, including literally throwing local politicians out of office who wouldn't support it...
It's simply impossible to understand the importance of architect Daniel Burnham's 1909 Plan of Chicago without first looking at some pre-Plan statistics: for instance, the fact that from 1840 to 1900, the population of the city grew from 5,000 to over two million; that by then the city limits stretched over 180 square miles, including 3,000 miles of streets and 1,400 miles of alleys; that barely half of those streets were paved, and less than a tenth of the alleyways; that the city was still employing over 30,000 gas streetlamps by the turn of the century, with electricity still being relatively rare and expensive; that its citizens consumed half a billion gallons of water a day, all of it coming from Lake Michigan, the same place the city was dumping most of its garbage; that apart from the downtown Loop, the vast majority of the city's buildings were still constructed out of wood, as were most of the sidewalks; that in its poorest neighborhoods, population density was sometimes over 300 people per acre (versus the 10 per acre of the upper-class neighborhoods); that there were no zoning laws in those days, making it perfectly legal (for example) to construct a slaughterhouse next door to a residential neighborhood; that the city had no real sewage system to speak of, no park system, no library system, only the most rudimentary of school systems. When people referred to the "cesspool of urban living" in those days, they weren't joking; like most other big cities during the height of the Industrial Age, Chicago in the 1800s was a veritable petri dish of smog, filth, disease and danger.
It was a combination of these factors, in fact, that led to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, in which a third of the existing city was burnt beyond recognition, including the entire downtown business district; but those blowhard Chicagoans, God bless their stubborn souls, weren't about to let a little thing like their city burning to the ground get in the way of their plans, and it was in the shadow of these events that the Commercial Club of Chicago first decided to take on the challenge of rebuilding the city, of transforming it into something no one had ever seen before. There was a lot of that going on in those days, as a matter of fact -- between the City Beautiful movement of the late 1800s, the Progressive social reformers, the brand-new academic field of "city planning," and all those high-minded private civic organizations that existed back then, practically everyone and their mother had a plan for how to rebuild Chicago, with all of them vying not just for the public's attention but also the official support of the city government. And thus did the club hire Burnham to make them their own plan; and as traditional lore has it, was met with crowning enthusiasm and the warm handshake of the city council, leading to the quick implementation of most of its recommendations.
Ah, but according to historian Carl Smith in his wonderful new The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City, how we traditionally think of the Plan and its implementation couldn't be further from the truth of what actually happened: that the plan itself was much more controversial than history now remembers, that its inspiration came much more from a desire to keep the city's wealthy elite happy than from any high-minded civic ideals, and that indeed the Plan would never have been adopted by the city in the first place if not for the spectacularly expensive public-relations campaign the Commercial Club waged for decades, including literally throwing local politicians out of office who wouldn't support it...
December 15, 2017
Nice quick read... my graduate school professor and supervisor gave it to me as a present nearly 10 years ago. It's a step by step detailed account of how the Plan of Chicago came to be. Even though I only lived in Chicago for 2.5 years, it always had a special connection to me personally... even before I lived there it was the ideally planned city and inspired me to choose my profession. The multifaceted strategy to build public and private support for Daniel Burnham's vision is really ground zero for understanding successful American city planning.
November 28, 2009
When Nate gave this book to me and I started reading it, I realized that this wasn't the text of THE plan of Chicago, but a kind of paraphrasing of it, and I said to Nate "why can't I just read the real thing." Well, one reason is it's a huge honking book, that's why. But I was definitely glad because this short and sweet book, filled with pictures, covers the history of Daniel Burnham, and what led up to the plan, as well as (my favorite part) the actual changes made in the city, after the plan was published. It seems that with the turn of every page I found some new thing that I had never known before, about a place I know so well.
I recommend it to anyone interested in city planning, but more so to the people who know and love Chicago as I do!
I recommend it to anyone interested in city planning, but more so to the people who know and love Chicago as I do!
March 2, 2008
An interesting follow up for anyone who read "Devil in the White City." Daniel Burnham (the primary planner of the Columbian Exposition of 1893) drafted a comprehensive plan for improvements to the city of Chicago. There are several things that are remarkable about the plan, but I thought it was fascinating that this was a privately-funded plan.
The book itself is too dry and academic for my tastes. I wish the book explored more of the implementation of the plan itself. But otherwise, if you've read "Devil in the White City" and want to learn more about Burnham's work and his genius, this is a good place to start.
The book itself is too dry and academic for my tastes. I wish the book explored more of the implementation of the plan itself. But otherwise, if you've read "Devil in the White City" and want to learn more about Burnham's work and his genius, this is a good place to start.
August 18, 2011
I like moving through Chicago with some background about why and how buildings, trains, and streets were constructed. This book did not give me that history. The book missed exciting opportunities to draw parallels between Chicago of the late 1800s/early 1900s and today, characterize Burnham and others realistically as opposed to iconic men of History, describe "City Beautiful" and other intellectual movements, and comment on prevailing sexism, racism, and classism logics. Instead, the book spends too much time with redundancy and inflating the egos of long-dead city planners. I was looking to learn more WHY and HOW, but the book only told me WHAT, which is totally boring.
November 9, 2009
This fall's One Book, One Chicago selection.
An interesting book that tells the story of the creation of The Plan of Chicago (often referred to as the Burnham Plan), describes the Plan itself, and discusses the impact it had on Chicago city planning.
I found it dense in spots, and when I didn't have personal knowledge of the area of the city that was being discussed, I got a little lost, but it's worth it for the accompanying art alone--illustrations from the Plan, and pictures of Chicago over the years. I'll be interested to see what other Chicagoans thought of it.
An interesting book that tells the story of the creation of The Plan of Chicago (often referred to as the Burnham Plan), describes the Plan itself, and discusses the impact it had on Chicago city planning.
I found it dense in spots, and when I didn't have personal knowledge of the area of the city that was being discussed, I got a little lost, but it's worth it for the accompanying art alone--illustrations from the Plan, and pictures of Chicago over the years. I'll be interested to see what other Chicagoans thought of it.
August 19, 2011
Interesting and thorough, if somewhat dry. An obvious choice for anyone who loves Chicago and/or urban planning. I think I would have liked it more if Smith sprinkled in more "and you can see the effects of this today..." explanations throughout the book rather than saving it to the last couple chapters. Very nice to have the illustrations and photos. It was fun to see what they thought chicago would look like and how it actually turned out. Grant park? Got it! Giant domed building at Congress and Halsted? Not so much.
May 15, 2008
Being a Chicago girl, I am addicted to learning more about the city. In 1909 Daniel Burnham published a book called The Plan of Chicago. This book is by Carl Smith and talks about that book, why it was needed and what came out of it.
I thought it was really interesting to see many of the proposals at the turn of the century alive and well today.
There are tons of cool city pictures from the book itself as well as photographs taken at various times.
I thought it was really interesting to see many of the proposals at the turn of the century alive and well today.
There are tons of cool city pictures from the book itself as well as photographs taken at various times.
March 8, 2009
Though the title screams beach read!, this slim history of the Plan of Chicago and its primary mustachio'd planner, Daniel Burnham, is a densely packed account of an era's mindset, aesthetic, ideals and flaws. Equal parts repetitive and educational, it's a must-read if you want a better look at one of Chicago's defining documents and an example of big plans stirring major blood. Plus it's 75% cheaper than a reproduction of the actual Plan of Chicago and has pretty pictures!
February 7, 2010
The Fall 2009 "One Book One Chicago" pick. We're celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Burnham Plan for making Chicago a livable city, notably by turning the lakefront into open parkland for all. After multiple library renewals, finally made the effort to finish this. It was rather boring in sections, with lots of mundane detail on the committees. The last two chapters about how the plan was promoted and which parts of the plan were actually implemented were the most interesting.
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