Blog 6: Urban Planner

Many of the urban planners that were presented today intended to cater to certain groups; the ones I resonated the most with and found the most compelling and influential seemed to be those who catered towards pedestrians over cars. Jane Jacobs is a great example of someone who aligned with this thinking. I feel that plans that are made for the citizens themselves are more cohesive than those made for new technology, and Jacobs' accessibility to cyclists depicts this.

To me, it also seemed like the most successful and impactful planners focused on integrating nature into their design, which went hand in hand with pedestrianization. Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk exemplifies this in her Seaside, Florida plan, where she used rows of trees beside sidewalks as a natural form of shade for pedestrians. Her plan for this city also created 'new urbanism' and reverted to traditional ideas that were becoming less and less prevalent with the rise of modernism and the uniformity we see today. She insisted that each house looked different and that neighborhoods were walkable.

Regarding city plans, urban planners tended to have an organized grouping of buildings and areas. They also had many parks and attributes of such which increased human activity.

Finally, Kevin Lynch was also one of the more influential planners through his plan of Los Angeles. He set a precedent with the path system seen there and connected the inner workings of a city in a new way. I believe that his work can still be seen and applied today, making his impact everlasting.