A Tribute to Donald Appleyard

A Tribute to Donald Appleyard Identity, Power, and Place: A Review of Donald Appleyard's Unfinished Manuscript M a n y o f us feel the loss a n d the tragic i r o n y t h a t D o n a l d A p p l e - yard's death s h o u l d have been caused by a careening a u t o m o b i l e , the very device w h o s e r a t i o n a l c o n t r o l he h a d so l o n g been a d v o c a t i n g . A n d since at his death he was at the h e i g h t o f his powers, our feelings are h o n e d t o a sharper edge. possibilities, a n d speak passionately a b o u t the city, as he d i d i n K e n d a l l Square, C a m b r i d g e ; San D i e g o ; Reno; a n d D o d o m a i n Tanzania. H e c o u l d be a b s o l u t e l y r i g o r o u s , t o u g h - m i n d e d , a n d realistic, as w h e n he c o n d u c t e d t h e B A R T analyses o r considered the p o l i t i c s o f c i t y streets. F o r m e r students remember his t e a c h i n g ; colleagues k n o w his s k i l l as an a d m i n i s t r a t o r . He was modest, eager t o learn f r o m others, possessed o f a self- deprecating h u m o r , a n d passion­ ately and absolutely d e t e r m i n e d . Kevin Lynch and others Donald Appleyard W i t h a l o n g creative r e c o r d b e h i n d h i m , he was m o v i n g i n n e w direc­ t i o n s , b l o o m i n g before o u r eyes. H e w e n t steadily, t h r o u g h o u t his career, f r o m one a c c o m p l i s h m e n t t o the n e x t , a n d yet, f o r a l l his p a t i e n t , precise, a n d t h o r o u g h m e t h o d s o f w o r k , he was e n d o w e d w i t h an astonishing creativity, a f o u n t a i n o f ideas a n d o f h u m a n w a r m t h . I w i l l pass l i g h t l y over his extensive o u t p u t a n d his s u b s t a n t i a l achieve­ ments i n e n v i r o n m e n t a l d e s i g n — w o r k t h a t is already k n o w n a n d h a v i n g an effect. H e advanced f r o m early interests i n city images t o careful studies i n G u a y a n a a n d later i n San Francisco, w h i c h made clear the diverse images t h a t are held by various g r o u p s , h o w c i t y f o r m affects those images, a n d h o w t h a t k n o w l e d g e can be a p p l i e d t o m a k i n g an e n v i r o n m e n t h u m a n e . H i s early studies o f the v i e w f r o m the r o a d led t o a far m o r e careful analysis o f the i n n e r - c i t y street system i n B o s t o n , thence to the creation o f the E n v i r o n m e n t a l Simulation Laboratory, and then to his seminal studies o f street livability, w h i c h b r o u g h t e n v i r o n m e n t a l q u a l i t y t o bear d i r e c t l y o n p u b l i c policy. D o n a l d c o u l d fantasize, i m a g i n e n e w D o n a l d made bridges: between u r b a n design a n d social sciences, between the w a y people perceive and value t h e i r setting a n d the professional process o f its design. He was an activist, a teacher, a researcher, and a h u m a n i s t . H e was interested i n the l i v a b i l i t y o f streets and n e i g h b o r h o o d s , i n the c o n t r o l o f local traffic, i n c o n s e r v a t i o n , i n the p e r c e p t i o n o f place, i n the c o m m u n i t y , i n s u p p o r t i n g the p u b l i c life. H e h a d l e c t u r e d i n dozens o f countries i n E u r o p e a n d the T h i r d W o r l d , h a d a great store of friends, and was i n t i m a t e w i t h the n e w advances i n c i t y p l a n n i n g t h r o u g h o u t the w o r l d . B u t i f his base for 15 years was Berkeley, his second h o m e was B o s t o n . H i s articles a n d reports m a k e a l e n g t h y list. H i s b o o k s deal w i t h c i t y perception, city conservation, and the management o f traffic. T h e list seems t h a t o f a m a n just c o m p l e t i n g a full career. Yet those w h o k n o w h i m saw h i m i n the very act o f flowering: i n v i t e d t o Greece Places/ Volume 1, Number 1