Housing and Planning: A Century of Social Reform and Local Power

Abstract

Problem: From the antislum crusades of the Progressive Era to the idealistic regional planning and public housing movements of the New Deal, the postwar urban renewal controversies, and recent attempts at integrating suburban America, housing advocates have pressed urban planners to take up the moral challenges of their profession. Many planners, especially since the 1960s, have met the challenges by embracing social goals. Yet, time and again, major efforts for social change have been defeated or diluted, sometimes with the very planning tools that were created for reform purposes. Purpose: I aim to explore the relationship of housing reform to the field of urban and regional planning over the last century and understand why housing and planning reformers have been unable to achieve their goals. Methods: I survey and synthesize secondary and primary sources on the history of housing reform and the planning profession in the United States. Results and conclusions: Over the last century local property owners, business leaders, and political officials have exploited the framework of the American political system to appropriate or defeat idealistic housing and planning schemes. Whether the reform was zoning, garden cities, public housing, urban renewal, or the integration of suburbs by income and race, parochial interests have deterred or diverted policies for their own ends. The weak point in carrying out progressive goals has been the inability to overcome local opposition. Takeaway for practice: Successful implementation of social housing and planning programs in the United States depends on recognizing the ways that local prerogatives have undermined reform efforts in the past and organizing support for them at the local level in the future. Research support: This work was supported by the MacArthur Foundation and the Ford Foundation.