Utopian City

Utopia meaning

OG: nowhere bc perfect doesn’t exist/Now: perfect

Utopian city era

Very late 1800s and beginning of 1900s

riis impact

inspired privileged industrialists to raise standards of labor and living through how the other half lives

city beautiful movement

neoclassical public buildings with romantic landscapes (Burnham, Olmstead)

Utopian city movement

more parks and greenspace, parkways, social reform through beautification, decentralized

utopian city and city beautiful connection

utopian city sought social reform and improved living; city beautiful and garden cities were the means to achieve that

Garden City

Began in England, circular, self-contained towns, social equity (Howard)

Modernist City

Later adaption of Garden City; car centric; lose small town feel (Corbu and Wright)

Important Utopian City projects

Wright Broadacre, Corbu Radiant City (universal blueprint) and Voisin, Howard Hempstead and Letchworth,

Governance in Utopian cities

transparent and equitable

Commonalities amongst all Utopian movements

they all failed bc they were too expensive and didn’t solve environmental and social ills

Utopian city motivations

social and environmental ills, need for sanitation, parks/greenspace, density and pollutants