Urban Planning in Berlin, London, Paris and Chicago 1910 and 2010

City Visions 1910 | 2010
Introduction p. 2
The exhibition City Visions 1910 | 2010 is a celebration
of the anniversary of the General Town Planning
Exhibition. It compares two key moments in time:
The years around 1910 and 2010.
1910
The planning exhibition of 1910 presented the
summation of contemporary urbanist thought and
knowledge. It was the first time that an exhibition
had given a comprehensive account of the reality
of the built environment of metropolitan areas
in the industrial age. The aim was to find solutions
‘for the demands of traffic as well as beauty, public
health and economic efficiency’. The main message
was that the problems of large cities could only
be overcome with a multi-disciplinary approach.
2010
A hundred years later today’s agenda in the post-
industrial metropolis is determined by a sustainable
design approach. The big themes have remained
the same to some degree; their context has changed
dramatically, however. A new understanding of urban
development is finding its way into town planning
strategies, which are often broad in approach and
controversial in design. At the same time new problems
that threaten the integrity of cities are emerging
such as a dramatic weakening of the influence
of the public sector, the encroachment of private
companies on the public realm and new forms of
social polarisation as a result of de-industrialisation
and immigration.
Introduction p. 3
Berlin | Paris | London | Chicago
The exhibition concentrates on Berlin, Paris, London
and Chicago, four outstanding metropolitan cities,
whose approaches to town planning attracted a lot
of attention in 1910 as it does today.
Berlin
In 1910 Berlin was trying to find answers to the
challenges of unplanned growth in the industrial age.
100 years later Berlin is considered a model city of
the post-industrial society.
Paris
Paris in 1910 was characterised by the big plans
and visions of Eugène Hénard. Today’s Grand Pari(s)
initiative marks an era of a new national urban
development policy.
London
Previously Greater London was the birthplace of the
Garden City Movement, which aimed to decentralise
the metropolis in an orderly way. Today it has
become the model of a renaissance of urban centres.
Chicago
In Chicago the world famous plan of Daniel H. Burnham
was introduced in 1909. This aspired to enhance
a city seen as lacking in beauty. Chicago Metropolis
2020 presents itself as a new strategic plan to
develop a sustainable metropolitan region.