Building the Planning Consensus: The Plan of Chicago,Civic Boosterism,and Urban Reform in Chicago, 1893 to 1915

Since its publication in 1909, Daniel Burnham's Plan of Chicago has been criticized for its lack of attention to social issues and for the failure of subsequent reconstruction projects to live up to the ambition of the plan. These criticisms assume that the Plan of Chicago was insufficiently progressive, or they evaluate the Plan by reference to the successes and failures of subsequent decades of urban reconstruction in Chicago. This article argues that the key to understanding the Plan of Chicago is to place it in its historical context. Burnham's Plan of Chicago was an expression of the tradition of Chicago civic boosterism and earlier city‐building practices as much as it was of the nascent profession of city planning. Finally, while the Plan did neglect housing, poverty, and other social questions, it did possess a social vision based on civic inclusivity, rather than economic inclusivity. The Plan can be read as a reform document based on the assumption that physical environment shapes individual character and social relationships. It assumed the creation of a unified and harmonious physical city would produce a contented and productive citizenry. In short, the Plan of Chicago deployed a transformative vision in the service of conservative goals.     

The myths of the Chicago School

Reconstructions of ‘Chicago School’ sociology perpetuate certain myths about the nature and style of the sociology carried out at the University of Chicago. These views have been analysed and four elements have been identified. These are that Chicago sociology was reformist in orientation, atheoretical, ethnographic and influenced by the pragmatism of G.H. Mead. These elements of myth are scrutinised in terms of their genesis and substance.     

芝加哥商学院的学府气质

在新加坡的克里门苏大道上,坐落着一座古朴的中式院落。这个被称为唐佑宁府邸的建筑,据说是一个中国商人在19世纪建造的,如今,这座新加坡“古董”级的宅院已经成为芝加哥大学商学院亚洲分院的校址。“我们的一个校友是新加坡的地产大亨,他买了这栋房子让我们用做亚洲分院的校址