The American City: What Works and What Doesn't
Garvin has served on various urban planning and development commissions in New York City and has taught an American cities course at Yale for nearly 30 years. He brings both working and teaching perspectives to this lively, well-illustrated, multidisciplinary history of two centuries of city planning. Garvin analyzes more than 250 projects and programs in 100 cities, assessing, as his subtitle indicates, what works and what has failed. The main thrust of much of Garvin's well-reasoned and carefully documented overview is a defense of urban planning; he believes that controversies over unsuccessful redevelopment projects have generated cynicism and negativity out of proportion to the facts. Many plans have succeeded in cities such as Chicago, Pittsburgh, Portland, and Charleston, and Garvin is eager to identify and celebrate them. He evaluates parks, monumental public structures (e.g., libraries, museums, and convention centers), and large-scale redevelopment projects. Garvin also discusses subsidized housing, planned communities, suburban development, rehabbing, and historic preservation. This is a vital resource for everyone interested in cities.Donna Seaman