The New Exploration: A Philosophy of Regional Planning

by Benton Mackaye

A classic in many planning curricula, this is a 1991 reprint of the 1928 work by the originator of the Appalachian Trail and a founder of The Wilderness Society. The New Yorker in a 1989 series by Tony Hiss-analyzing attempts to control growth and preserve the environment-called it a long-lost classic. This edition includes the 1962 introduction by legendary social critic Lewis Mumford, a close MacKaye associate, and a foreword by planner David N. Startzell, executive director of the Appalachian Trail Conference since 1986.

284 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Jack Kerby-Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fun read... lacks evidence to support the philosophy, and definitely has all of the tropes of 19th century white male entitlement.
BUT, Benton Mackaye envisioned the highway-oriented world of nowhere that we live in today before the turn of 20th century. Definitely a must-read for urban planning enthusiasts.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give MacKaye massive props for being a deep, high-level thinker, a good writer, and, obviously, the father of the Appalachian Trail. I drop him points, though, because I'm not really convinced of his theories. His distinctions between an indigenous and metropolitan world, and between "true" urbanity and metropolitanism seem more subjective than objective*. His notions of an "indigenous" culture aren't sufficiently distinguished from nostalgia, and whether a particular development reflects urbanity or metropolitanism seems dependent more on how an individual responds to it than on anything intrinsic to the development. Consequently, his suggestions on how to plan regionally against creeping metropolitanism seem faulty. Indeed, one of the major problems with mid-20th century planning was indeed this impetus to strictly separate uses. Efforts to rectify this trend have yet to catch up with the ongoing inertia toward maintaining it.

*I wonder what he thought of Robert Venturi!