The changing appreciation of Patrick Geddes: a case study in planning history

Abstract

This paper analyses the seemingly unified perception of Patrick Geddes, an important member of the Town Planning Movement and a profound founding father of the discipline. A critical reading into the appreciation of Geddes as a planner shows that it nevertheless altered considerably over the years. Identifying four major periods in which ‘Geddes appreciation’ changed considerably, I claim that these periods reflect an agreed periodization of modern urban planning, and that variations in the way Geddes has been appreciated over the years mirror changing notions in planning in general. Tracing changes in the perception of Geddes as a planner further raises questions regarding the history of planning itself: Who tells planning history? How do planners interpret past achievements and failures? What do planners today think about their predecessors, and why does it change along the years? By providing a thorough review of Geddes' planning historiography, I thus present his ongoing investigation as a case study of planning history. I claim that reading Geddes' history through the changing context of town planning reflects most of all the periodical disciplinary agenda within which histories were written, finally advocating a contemporary, critical discussion of the historiography of town planning itself.