The Oglethorpe Plan: Enlightenment Design in Savannah and Beyond

by Thomas D. Wilson

The statesman and reformer James Oglethorpe was a significant figure in the philosophical and political landscape of eighteenth-century British America. His social contributions―all informed by Enlightenment ideals―included prison reform, the founding of the Georgia Colony on behalf of the "worthy poor," and stirring the founders of the abolitionist movement. He also developed the famous ward design for the city of Savannah, a design that became one of the most important planning innovations in American history. Multilayered and connecting the urban core to peripheral garden and farm lots, the Oglethorpe Plan was intended by its author to both exhibit and foster his utopian ideas of agrarian equality. In his new book, the professional planner Thomas D. Wilson reconsiders the Oglethorpe Plan, revealing that Oglethorpe was a more dynamic force in urban planning than has generally been supposed. In essence, claims Wilson, the Oglethorpe Plan offers a portrait of the Enlightenment, and embodies all of the major themes of that era, including science, humanism, and secularism. The vibrancy of the ideas behind its conception invites an exploration of the plan's enduring qualities. In addition to surveying historical context and intellectual origins, this book aims to rescue Oglethorpe’s work from its relegation to the status of a living museum in a revered historic district, and to demonstrate instead how modern-day town planners might employ its principles. Unique in its exclusive focus on the topic and written in a clear and readable style, The Oglethorpe Plan explores this design as a bridge between New Urbanism and other more naturally evolving and socially engaged modes of urban development.

Genres: History

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 19, 2012

Reviews

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s cool to read a book that is so affirming. Wilson illustrates multiple aspects of Savannah that make it an urban planning masterpiece:

1. It adapts traditional “town and square” development from Turin, Italy (possibly draws other inspiration from Zamosc, Poland) into the comprehensive Oglethorpe plan.

2. Savannah’s founder, James Oglethorpe, synthesized enlightenment ideals to construct an “agrarian utopia” populated by peoples of all religions, which is reflected in the numerous religious buildings in the city.

3. Savannah largely escaped slum clearance or highway installation programs of the 60’s, when other cities like San Francisco or New York struggled, keeping the urban core intact.

4. As one of the few pedestrian oriented cities in the South, Savannah’s Oglethorpe plan has been readapted to other outlying areas in the Low Country.

5. The Oglethorpe plan predates New Urbanist ideals by 300 years, yet illustrates all of those ideals fully.

I will highlight that the book doesn’t highlight Savannah’s particular architectural legacy or Savannah’s development outside of the historic center (which I think are equally, if not more, interesting). But ehh. I can forgive those oversights as Wilson’s “The Oglethorpe Plan” is a premier text on Savannah’s urban planning, and quite possibly the only one.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite what I was expecting. Definitely focused on details and often, it got rather repetitive.