Marginal Lands and Suburban Nature: Open Space Planning and the Case of the 1893 Boston Metropolitan Parks Plan

Abstract

Soon after publication, the 1893 Boston Metropolitan Parks Report came to be regarded as a model plan for American cities. Little known to the public today, it is frequently cited by landscape and planning historians as a testament to the vision of “pioneer” landscape architect Charles Eliot and metropolitan planning advocate Sylvester Baxter. However, planning historians have overlooked key aspects of the plan and omitted significant details about the authors’ redevelopment and planning goals. I argue that Eliot and Baxter viewed open space planning as a means of combating slums and establishing a regionwide land use template for future growth.