Monday, May 4, 2009

The Story of Sprawl: A resource




A clever new polemic submitted to the Congress for the New Urbanism has earned first place in that organization's 2009 video contest, video above.


In planning circles, it is fashionable to debate the merits or drawbacks of the spread of suburban living that happened in the 20th century. What isn’t up for debate is that it happened- that from the early '40s until the beginning of the 21st century, the American pattern of development changed radically.

This 2-disc set is an unprecedented visual document of how sprawl happened, told through a series of historic films ranging from 1939's The City, created by famed planner Lewis Mumford, to No Time For Ugliness from 1965, produced by the American Institute of Architects.

From Planetizen: The story on DVD