Civilizing American cities
Subtitle: writings on city landscapes
By: Frederick Law Olmsted ; edited by S.B. Sutton.
Contributors: Sutton, S. B.
Edition: 1st Da Capo Press ed.
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 310
Subjects: City planning -- United States; Urban parks -- United States
Description: Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) designed New York City's Central Park, Brooklyn's Prospect Park, Chicago's South Park and Jackson Park, Montreal's Mount Royal Park, the park systems of Boston and Buffalo, and many others. But Olmsted's concerns extended beyond the hills and lakes, the flora and fauna of the park: he also designed parkways and neighborhoods, reshaping cities around their parks.

He thus reinvented the American urban landscape as a democratic outdoor setting that encouraged a new kind of participation in city life.

Olmsted was one of the most gifted of American writers of his generation: prior to designing Central Park, he had written five important books, including The Cotton Kingdom (an account of his travels in the slave states, also available from Da Capo Press); and his writings on American landscapes are unfailingly lively, eloquent, and passionate.

Civilizing American Cities collects Olmsted's plans for New York, San Francisco, Buffalo, Montreal, Chicago, and Boston; his suburban plans for Berkeley, California and Riverside, Illinois; and a generous helping of his writings on urban landscape in general. These selections, expertly edited and introduced, are not only enjoyable but essential reading for anyone interested in the history - and the future - of America's cities.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Originally published: Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 1971.