Robert Moses was a highly tenacious and successful city planner for New York city for nearly half a century. He was less an ideologist and more of a master builder. He masterminded the great modern day metropolitan parkways and bridges, built New York city like their was no tomorrow, instigated land preservation for parks. instrumented the removal of slums and implemented the program of urban renewal in New York, ruthlessly. He successfully achieved his goal of knitting Manhattan and its surrounds together during the 1930's and 40's which led to high substantial economic growth however some questioned his antipathetic approach in doing so. During the Great Depression, New York became a city filled with unemployed workers, slums and high levels of poverty. He was also responsible for the establishment of Long Island State Park Commission and the State Council of Parks. Robert Moses, along with his collaboration with New York mayor at the time Fiorello La Guardia instrumented high profile public works projects such as building many swimming pools which led to high levels of job growth, which also coincided with President Roosevelt's New Deal. His core idea was the development of New York to facilitate the automobile. It was no doubt that his vision for a more modern city through bridges, parkways and tunnels makes him, in my opinion, the greatest planner of the 20th century. His great works include the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, the Cross County Parkway, Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts, Shea Stadium, two hydroelectric dams and Jacobs Beach. He also oversaw over 2 million hectors of park preservations within the state of New York. In total he built a staggering 13 bridges and 35 highways. His vision of modern city planning has highly influenced many metropolises around the United States and the rest of the world.
The proposed and controversial Manhattan express way which was never implemented.
Robert Moses - The great Urban Planner of the 20th Century
References
Did Robert Moses Ruin New York City? - Barrons.com. 2014. Did Robert Moses Ruin New York City? - Barrons.com. [ONLINE] Available at:http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052748704759704577271393988247900.html. [Accessed 03 March 2014].
Slums and City Planning - Robert Moses - The Atlantic. 2014. Slums and City Planning - Robert Moses - The Atlantic. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1945/01/slums-and-city-planning/306544/. [Accessed 03 March 2014].
UC Berkeley. (2009). Planning Past and Future: Early 21st Century Reflections. [Online Video]. 22 October. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V63cTMbrHE. [Accessed: 03 March 2014].
Robert Moses to me is a great example of how hard it is while building plans to accommodate for all changes in technology etc. In this case the car. He also highlights the importance of public spaces in cities, which improve quality of life and employment opportunities.
ReplyDeleteAlthough he is ciritisized in various aspects, what he did was supported then. And the population and area his plan covered was huge - beyond the human scale anyway. It is important to recognise what is believed to be "most important" in terms of quality of life changes over time. It was absolutely "economiy" in Moses's time but it is different now.
ReplyDeleteI think Moses did a great job developing a lot of community areas and infrastructure for new York, but he figured out no matter how hard you try you can't facilitate for the motor vehicle.
ReplyDeleteBear in mind that there was less understanding of implications of city overcrowding and the surrounding environment however he was a genius extended far beyond quantity. Moses had a rare ability to see a city as a complex organism of simultaneously moving, interconnected parts. The startling quantity of roads, parks, bridges, playgrounds, and housing that he built were astonishing – and much of it of extremely high quality.
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