Table Of ContentTHE ART
OF PLANNING
Selected Essays of
Harvey S. Perloff
ENVIRONMENT, DEVELOPMENT, AND
PUBLIC POLICY
A series of volumes under the general editorship of
Lawrence Susskind, Massachusells Illstilule of Teclmologlj
Cilmbridge, Mll551lc1ll1sells
CITIES AND DEVELOPMENT
Series Editor: Lloyd Rodwin, Massachusells Inslilule of TecJmologlj
Cambridge, MassllciIu5ells
CITIES AND CITY PLANNING
Lloyd Rodwin
THINKING ABOUT DEVELOPMENT
Lisa Peattie
CONSERVING AMERICA'S NEIGHBORHOODS
Robert K. Yin
MAKING-WORK
Self-Created Jobs in Participatory Organizations
William Ronco and Lisa Peattie
OTIES OF THE MIND
Images and Themes of the City in the Social Sciences
Lloyd Rodwin and Robert M. Hollister
NEIGHBORHOODS, PEOPLE, AND COMMUNITY
Roger S. Ahlbrandt, Jf.
HERE THE PEOPLE RULE
Selected Essays
Edward C. Banfield
THE ART OF PLANNING
Selected Essays of Harvey S. Perloff
Edited by Leland S. Burns and John Friedmann
Olher subseries:
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND PLANNING
Series Editor: Lawrence Susskind, Mllssllchusells Instilule of Technology
Cambridge, Massilchusells
PUBLIC POLICY AND SOCIAL SERVICES
Series Editor: Gary Marx, Massachusells Inslilule of Tedmo/goy
Cambridge, Masstlchusells
THE ART
OF PLANNING
Selected Essays of
Harvey S. Pedoff
Edited by
Leland S. Bums
and
John Friedmann
Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
PLENUM PRESS • NEW YORK AND LONDON
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Perl off, Harvey S.
The art of planning.
(Environment, development, and public policy. Cities and development)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. City planning-Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Urban policy-Addresses, essays, lectures. 3. Ur
ban economics-Addresses, essays, lectures. 4. Urban renewal-Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Burns,
Leland Smith. II. Friedmann, John. III. Title. IV. Series.
HT166.P389 1985 307.1'2 85-12470
ISBN-13: 978-1-4612-9515-0 e-TSBN-13: 978-1-4613-2505-5
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4613-2505-5
©1985 Plenum Press, New York
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1985
A Division of Plenum Publishing Corporation
233 Spring Street, New York, N.Y. 10013
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,
in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming,
recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher
Elson-Alexandre, Los Angeles, California
HARVEY S. PERLOFF
(1915-1983)
Acknowledgments
The editors wish to thank the following for permission to reprint copyrighted
materials in this book.
Chapter 1: From "New Towns Intown," in Journal of the American Institute of
Planners, May 1966, Vol. 32, pp. 155-161. Reprinted by permission of the Journal
of the American Institute of Planners.
Chapter 2: From "New-Towns-Intown in a National New-Communities
Program," in New Towns: Why-and for Whom?, edited by Harvey S. Perloff and
Neil C. Sandberg. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1973, pp. 159-178. Copyright
© 1973, Praeger Publishers, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Praeger Publishers.
Chapter 3: From "The Central City in the Postindustrial Age," in The Mature
Metropolis, edited by Charles L. Leven. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books,
1978, pp. 109-130. Reprinted by permission of Charles L. Leven and the
publisher.
Chapter 4: From "Using the Arts to Improve Life in the City," in Journal of
Cultural Economics, December 1979, Vol. 3, pp. 1-21. Reprinted by permission of
the publisher.
Chapter 5: From "A Framework for Dealing with the Urban Environment:
An Introductory Statement," in The Quality of the Urban Environment, edited by
Harvey S. Perloff. Washington, D.C.: Resources for the Future, Inc., 1969, pp.
221-239. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Chapter 6: From "Urban Planning and the Quality of the Urban Environ
ment," in The Political Economy of Environmental Control, edited by Joe S. Bain and
Warren F. Hchman. Berkeley, Calif.: Institute of Business and Economic Re
search, University of California, 1972, pp. 67-85. Reprinted by permission of the
publisher.
Chapter 7: From "National Urban Policy: Stage I: Building the Foundation,"
in Spatial, Regional and Populational Economics: Essays in Honor of Edgar Hoover,
edited by Mark Perlman, Charles J. Leven, and Benjamin Chinitz. New York:
Gordon & Breach, 1972, pp. 311-331. Reprinted by permission of the editors and
the publisher.
Chapter 8: From "Alternatives for Future Urban Land Policy," in
Modernizing Urban Land Policy, edited by Marion Clawson. Baltimore: The Johns
Hopkins Press for Resources for the Future, 1973, pp. 221-239. Reprinted by
permission of the publisher.
vii
viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Chapter 9: "Public Services and Social Priorities," in Puerto Rico's Economic
Future. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1950, pp. 378-394. Copyright
1950 by The University of Chicago. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Chapter 10: From "National Planning and Multinational Planning under the
Alliance for Progress," with Raul Saez, in Organization, Planning, and Program
ming for Economic Development. United States papers prepared for the United
Nations Conference on the Application of Science and Technology for the Bene
fit of the Less Developed Areas. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1962, pp. 47-54.
Chapter 11: From "Lagging Sectors and Regions of the American Econo
my," in Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, December 1959,
pp. 223-230. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Chapter 12: From "Natural Resource Endowment and Regional Economic
Growth," with Lowdon Wingo, Jr., in Natural Resources and Economic Growth,
edited by Joseph J. Spengler. Washington, D.C.: Resources for the Future, Inc.,
1961, pp. 191-212. Reprinted by permission of Lowdon Wingo, Jr., and the
publisher.
Chapter 13: From "Relative Regional Economic Growth: An Approach to
Regional Accounts," in Design of Regional Accounts, edited by Werner Hochwald.
Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press for Resources for the Future, 1961, pp. 38-
65. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Chapter 14: From "Key Features of Regional Planning," in Journal of the
American Institute of Planners, May 1968, Vol. 34, pp. 153-159. Reprinted by
permission of the Journal of the American Institute of Planners.
Chapter 15: From "Budgetary Symbolism and Fiscal Planning," in Public
Policy: A Yearbook of the Graduate School of Public Administration, edited by C. J.
Friedrich and Edward S. Mason. Cambridge, Mass.: Graduate School of Public
Administration, Harvard University, 1941, pp. 36-62. Reprinted by permission
of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Chapter 16: From "Fiscal Policy at the State and Local Levels," in Postwar
Economic Problems, edited by Seymour E. Harris. New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Co., 1943, pp. 221-238. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Chapter 17: From "Education of City Planners: Past, Present, and Future,"
in Journal of the American Institute of Planners, Fall 1956, Vol. 23, pp. 186-217.
Reprinted by permission of the Journal of the American Institute of Planners.
Chapter 18: From "The Evolution of Planning Education," in Planning in
America: Learning from Turbulence, edited by David R. Goldschalk. Washington,
D.C.: American Institute of Planners, 1974, pp. 161-180. Reprinted by permis
sion of David R. Goldschalk and the publisher.
Contents
I REVITALIZING CENTRAL CITIES 1
1. New Towns Intown 5
2. New Towns Intown in a National New-Communities Program 13
3. The Central City in the Postindustrial Age 29
4. Using the Arts to Improve Life in the City 47
II URBAN AND METROPOLITAN PLANNING AND POLICY 63
5. A Framework for Dealing with the Urban Environment 67
6. Urban Planning and the Quality of the Urban Environment 91
7. National Urban Policy: Stage I: Building the Foundation 105
8. Alternatives for Future Urban Land Policy (with Marion Clawson) 121
III REGIONAL PLANNING AND ANALYSIS 137
9. Puerto Rico's Economic Future: Public Services and Social
Priorities 141
10. National Planning and Multinational Planning under the Alliance for
Progress (with Raul Saez) 150
11. Lagging Sectors and Regions of the American Economy 159
12. Natural Resource Endowment and Regional Economic Growth (with
Lowdon Wingo) 166
13. Relative Regional Economic Growth: An Approach to Regional
Accounts 186
14. Key Features of Regional Planning 205
ix
x CONTENTS
IV FISCAL POLICY AND PLANNING 221
15. Budgetary Symbolism and Fiscal Planning 223
16. Fiscal Policy at the State and Local Levels 241
V PLANNING EDUCATION 257
17. Education of City Planners: Past and Present 261
18. The Evolution of Planning Education 308
VI STAGES IN A CAREER IN PLANNING: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
FRAGMENT 327
BIBLIOGRAPHY 353
INDEX 359
Introduction
The work of Harvey S. Perloff stands as a landmark in the evolution of Anglo
American planning doctrine. It is impossible to fully capture the essence of the
published work in a paragraph, page, or even an entire essay. Yet its highpoints
can be identified. His work was innovative, reformist, comprehensive, and ori
ented toward the future. In emphasizing the greater importance of people com
pared to things, Perloff repeatedly prodded planners to be concerned with
human needs and values. He was critical of the past. But inasmuch as he de
voted more effort to envisioning what could lie ahead than in recalling the past,
his work was markedly optimistic. He once admitted in writing to his "built-in
weakness for expecting rational, socially oriented solutions ultimately to win
out, no matter what the objective situation seems to be." To some the expecta
tion may be seen as naive; to others, as a faith in the wisdom of humankind to
take the best course. However received, Perloff's optimism served as a powerful
stimulant to keep moving ahead for the best that would come of it.
Institutions and the ways they should be shaped and reshaped were of
central concern, for institutions (though he rarely used the term) were the in
struments through which "knowledge was translated into action." Perloff was
constantly aware of the equity criterion as a norm against which decisions must
be assessed; those whom society had passed over were very much in his mind
and were central figures in his prescriptions for a better society.
Perloff's inventiveness manifested itself in many ways; innovations perme
ate his writing. Early on, there was the bold new experiment in planning educa
tion at the University of Chicago. As his autobiography recalls, "It must be
remembered that this was the first effort to base planning on the social sciences
and everything else was, in fact, invention." He was there to help structure
experiments when so little was given: on occasions like this, he was at his very
best. A review of his literary output uncovers other innovations as well: "New
Towns in Town" and the concept of amenity resources, to cite from a long list.
He invented the field of urban economics and was among the first to recognize
the importance of environmental planning. The field of development economics
owes him one of its pioneering studies. The list could easily be extended.
One can isolate many reasons why the future commanded Perloff's atten
tion, but only speculate on which of these were determining. His formative
years were lived during the Great Depression and World War II, two events that
everyone hoped would never again be repeated. They left deep imprints that
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