MODERN CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE FRANK KOESTER UNIV. OF CALIF. LIBRAf^Y, LOS ANG£l.bb LIBRARY OF ARCHITECTURE AND ALLIED ARTS Gift of The Heirs of R. Germain Hubby, A. I. A MODERN CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE BY FRANK KOESTER Hydroelectric Developments and Engineering, $5.00 Modern City Planning and Maintenance, $6.00 Electricity for the Farm and Home, $1.00 Steam-Electric Power-Plants, $5.00 The Price of Inefficiency, $2.00 AN I-.AKIA Al'Pl.lC.A rK)N OK BASU; PHINCI I'LKS OF ClIA I'l.ANNlNd IN A SMALL TOWN The C.ilii Hall. W'eringerode. Germany (149S a.d.) on the open si/iiare doniinales (he other sirurliires and is the focal point of the principal streets, while the street at the side, being curved, adds individnaliti; and raricti/. and the fountain, si/ni- bolic of the city's water supply, serves as an embellishment MODERN CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE BY FRANK KOESTER CONSULTING CIVIC ENGINEER AUTHOR OF STEAM ELECTRIC POWER PLANTS HYDROELECTRIC DEVELOPMENTS AND ENGINEERING THE PRICE OF INEFFICIENCY ETC. NEW YORK McBRIDE, NAST AND COMPANY 1914 Copyright, 1914, by McBride, Nast & Co. Published. April, 1914 Drban rUsuiiafl iitxey /VA INTRODUCTION A MOVEMENT of the first importance and of great pro- portions is taking place among American cities, which while it has not attracted any very marked degree of attention on the part of the general public, is yet one which will have lasting consequences of the most beneficial character. This movement, the replanning of cities, has only begun to take shape in this country in the last few years, but already great progress has been made, and plans of the most elaborate and magnificent character have been proposed. The subject is one which is of such importance in the social, aesthetic and practical betterment of cities, that it is of vital interest not only to the city administrator, the engineer and the architect, but also to every citizen who has the advancement of his city's welfare at heart. One of the reasons which has retarded public interest in city planning lies in the fact that there is to be had very little information on the subject in a form generally available. While a considerable literature exists in French and Ger- man, principally in German, there is but little in English and what there is consists principally of a few books published of late years in England, having in view the object of adapting German practice to English conditions. The purpose of this volume is to present, in a concise and comprehensive form, the principles of the art of city planning as they have been developed in modern times. The covering of the subject in such a way in a single volume has not before been attempted, so that nowhere else is to be found the summarization of principles and practice as here presented. In addition to this statement of principles and practice, vi CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE this volume treats of numerous important factors in city plan- ning and maintenance not yet introduced in this country but which have stood the test of time and of practice abroad and which are certain to be adopted here sooner or later as have been many previous improvements. Among these factors are the zone system for purposes of regulating the height of buildings, block plans and traffic; dis- tinguishing features of cities; a new system communal industry to supplant the trusts; traffic facilities and regulation; harbor equipment for rapid transfer of cargoes, giving inland harbors the advantages of seaboard harbors; minimization of street excavation ; new systems of street illumination with high can- dle power units, both gas and electric; novel and effective methods of police and fire department signalling; electric machinery for street cleaning and fire fighting; combination municipal slaughter-house ice plant systems; utilization of waste exhaust steam for district heating and new methods of raising municipal revenues and dividend payments to citizens instead of tax collections. There are further treated a large number of novel details involved in city planning, maintenance and administration, which will prove useful in practice wherever introduced as they have been drawn from the experience of other cities both here and abroad and have proven of practical value. City planning is a subject of many ramifications and covers a much wider field than is generally supposed. It includes not only the aesthetic beautification of the city, but also the construction and co-ordination of all the ele- ments which go to make the modern city a practical operative mechanism. The planning of a city involves thus the numerous and highly important engineering features which make a city a habitable place and does not merely cover the design and layout of its streets and the more prominent buildings, but goes into every structural element, such as water supply, lighting, maintenance, traffic system, refuse disposal and all the factors which form a part of the completed city. These subjects are here treated in their more general phases only, INTRODUCTION vii since a detailed consideration would be beyond the limits of this volume. The engineering factors of city planning are of greater im- portance than the architectural and landscape factors as far as practical conditions are concerned, and the problems and actual work of city planning are greatly of an engineering nature. Operation and maintenance of a city cannot be accomplished in an efficient manner unless there has been engineering at the outset in the city's planning. An acquaintance with the principles of this art is neces- sary, not only for a proper understanding of the great move- ment which is beginning in the United States, but also to enable one to appreciate and to enjoy the work of civic architects and engineers wherever it is found. Indeed, no one who appreciates art in its various forms has fulfilled his duty to himself until he has become familiar with the princi- ples and practice of city planning, and one who has at heart the interest of the city cannot fail to find, in the art of city planning, an inspiration and a means of expression for his best activities. It opens a new vista of civic possibilities and has a direct and important infiuence on the life of every citizen. While city planning is a subject of the greatest antiquity and one the principles of which were well understood by the ancients, as is shown by the examples of Greek and Roman towns, and one which in mediaeval times was equally well under- stood, as is proven by such German towns as Rotenburg, Nuremberg, Cologne, Maintz, etc., yet modern city planning, in the sense in which it is now understood, dates from the period immediately subsequent to the Franco-Prussian War, and is of purely German origin. In 1874, the United Society of German Architects and Engineers laid down certain principles of city planning and gave the first organized impetus to the practice of the art. Since that time, the principles and practice of modern city planning have spread to other countries and the art has been so rapidly developed that it has now reached a definite viii CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE form and its engineering features have been reduced to a science. Its theory and principles are taught in university courses abroad and it is recognized as a leading and important study. The University of Berlin, for example, devotes a special faculty to the subject. The author, having had a long familiarity with both the practical and theoretical side of European practice, and dur- ing his residence in America the past twelve years, having kept actively in touch with American developments, enjoys an exceptional point of view, and is thus qualified to make his contribution to the subject in the form which now seems to be most needed. As the problem of every city is an individual problem and must be treated as such, a wide acquaintance and a thorough understanding of the entire field is necessary for the specialist, as otherwise plans may be developed on a scale too primitive and inadequate. Thus a thorough knowledge of the progress made abroad is a necessary part of the special- ist's equipment, and the work of city planning should only be entrusted to those who are thus qualified. It has been the aim to treat, in this volume, the problem of the American city. In doing so, the plans of the various American cities which are considering the subject, some fifty in number, have been examined and the leading features described or shown in illustration. The extent and ten- dencies of the movement are thus indicated. The courtesy of the various City Planning and Improve- ment Associations and Commissioners and Chief Engineers of Public Work of the various cities in supplying material is acknowledged with thanks and appreciation, as is also the similar kindness of a number of foreign cities and of promi- nent individual authorities abroad, including Professors Felix Genzmer, Joseph Brix, Peter Behrens, Rudolph Eberstadt, Bruno Mohring; Doctor Engineer Joseph Stubben and Chief Engineer Richard Peterson, all of Berlin; Architects Eugen Henard, Paris, and Max Stirn, Cologne; Professor Hans Poelzig, Breslau, and Professor H. Erlwein, Dresden, and INTRODUCTION IX further, the Deutsche Maschinenfabrik, Duisburg; the Allge- meine Electricitats Gesellschaft and the Siemens Schuckert Werke of Berlin. Acknowledgments are also due "The American City" and "The American Architect" in whose columns much of the material of this volume first appeared in the form of articles, including the principal parts of the author's addresses, pre- sented at the congresses for Civic Development, Municipal Administration, and the Progress of Urban Activities, Diissel- dorf, Germany, 1912 (Kongress fiir Stadtewesen), and Ghent, Belgium, 1913, (Congres International et Exposition de L'Art de Construire les Villes et de L' Organisation de la Vie Municipale) . FRANK KOESTER Hudson Terminal Building, New York City, March, 1914 CONTENTS PAGE Introduction v I What City Planning Is 1 II How TO Proceed in Re-planning A City 11 III The Civic Center 20 Federal, Municipal, Traffic, Social, Amusement, Educational and Shipping Centers. IV The Great Ground Plan 36 Zone or District Systems; Classificalion and Gradation of Districts; Individuality of Cities; Building Regulations. V Arterial Highways 55 Arrangement of Highways; Width of Streets; Cutting New Streets. VI Streets Up-to-date 67 Appearance of Streets; General Service Tunnel and Pipe Galleries; Street Fixtures; Safety Isles; Sidewalks; Police and Fire Alarm Systems; Shade Trees. VII Harbor Improvements 87 Harbor Improvements; Terminal Facilities; Water Gates; Canal Transportation. VIII Bridges and Bridge Approaches 98 Aesthetic Features; Co-operation of Engineer and Architect; Bridge Approaches; Various Types of Bridges. IX Traffic and Transportation 106 Electric Traction; Surface, Elevated and Subway Traffic; Statistics of Rapid Transit; Moving Platforms; Vehicular Traffic; Naming Streets. X Open Squares and Traffic Regulations 122 Traffic Distributing Squares; Transportation Terminal Spaces; Forecourts of Public Buildings and Entrance Spaces. XI Park Systems 139 Location of Parks; Small, Central and Rural Parks; Floral Parks and Gardens. Communal Ownership Parks; Athletic and Play Grounds. XII Civic Embellishment 149 Boulevards; Plazas; Parks; Terraces; Monuments; Fountains; Gates; Arches; Shade Trees; Bridges; Comfort Stations; Bay Fronts; Water Gates; Quays. xu CONTENTS PAGE XIII Building Regulations and Block Plans 166 Height of Buildings; Arrangement of Buildings; Proportion of Lot Built Upon; Gradation of Factories; Size of Apartments; Work- ingmen's Houses; Block Plans. XIV Garden Cities 183 Principles of Garden Cities; Workingmen's Colonies; Social Facili- ties; Surburban Gardening. XV Civic Culture 201 Schools; Churches; Theatres; Museums; Art Galleries; Libraries; Concert Halls. XVI Administrative Functions 206 Hospitals; Poorhouses; Lodging Houses and Rescue Homes; Or- phan Asylums; Homes for Widows and the Aged and Infirm; Police and Fire Departments. XVII Communal Industries 217 Municipal Markets; Co-operative Markets; Municipal Slaughter Houses and Ice Plants; Public Baths; Stimulation of the Co-opera- tion of Small Manufacturers; Central Manufacturing Plants for Co-operative Industries. XVIII City Construction and Maintenance 230 (A) Street Construction 230 Street Paving; Street Repairing; Municipal Paving Plants; Double-Decked Streets; Pipe Galleries. (B) Sewers 241 Systems of Sewers; Sewage Disposal Plants. (C) Care of Streets 245 How to Preserve Street Surfaces; Street Sanding; Street Flushing. (D) Street Cleaning 248 Hours for Street Cleaning; Methods of Street Cleaning; Garbage and Snow Removal. (,E) Refuse Disposal 254 Land and Water Dumping; Incineration of Refuse; By-Producls of Garbage and Refuse. (F) Water Supply 258 Purification Systems; Water Works; Water Distribution; Water Consumption. (G) Gas Supply 266 Coal Gas; Water Gas; By-Products; Gas Pressure; Gas Dis- tribution. (H) Electric Generating Plants 269 Steam- and Hydro-Electric Plants; Internal Combustion Engine and Combination Plants; Size nf Machinery; Electric Current Distribution; Central Station Service. (/) Electric Street Railways 275 Systems of Railways; Sub-Stations; Car Barns; Railway Equip- ment and Operation. XIX Valuation of Purlic Utilities 281 Basis for Valuation; Physical Factors; Equitable Adjustment; Con- fiscatory Valuation; Valuation in City Planning. CONTENTS xiii PAGE XX Financing Civic Improvements 287 Distribution of Costs; Excess Condemnation; Apportionment of Assessments; Commission of Assessment and Condemnation. XXI The Planning of Growing Towns 294 Planning Towns at the Outset; Cost of Town Planning; Necessity of Expert Knowledge; Principal Factors in Town Planning; Town Sites; Civic Improvement Associations. APPENDIX "Co-operation OF Engineer AND Architect in City Planning" 305 Author's Address delivered at the International Congress and Exposition for City Planning and City Maintenance, at Ghent, Belgium, 1913. The Executive Management of a City 318 INDEX 323 MODERN CITY PLANNING City planning determines the destiny of a city. It develops artistic taste, civic pride and patri- otism; it makes better citizens and artisans; it adds to health, comfort and happiness; it helps to increase the population and to produce industrial prosperity. City planning attracts industries, commerce and visitors; it produces better transportation facilities, improved hygienic conditions, and more adequate and less expensive living quarters and food supplies. City planning is a business proposition of the first importance. THE ILLUSTRATIONS City Hall Square, Wernigerode Frontispiece Forum, Pompeii Facing Page 4 Street of the Tombs, Pompeii 4 Markus Tower, Rothenburg 5 Gale of Victory, Munich 12 Porta Nigra, Trier (Treves) 12 Woolworth Building, New York 13 Justitz Palace, Munich 20 City Hall and Courts, St. Louis 20 Konigsberg, Square 21 Civic Center, Seattle 28 Civic Center, Ground Plan, Seattle 29 Zwinger, Dresden 34 Burgplatz, Vienna 34 City Hall, Munich 35 Place du Chatelet, Paris ■ 40 Rue de Rivoli, Paris 41 St. Michel Fountain, Paris 46 Flatiron Building, New York 46 Comfort Station, Providence 47 City Hall Plaza, Philadelphia 52 Watergate, Chicago 52 Princes Street, Edinburgh 53 Trafalgar Square, London 58 Market Plaza, Wiesbaden 59 Tauentzien Street, Berlin 68 Charles Gate, Munich 68 Gaiety Theater, London 69 St. Peter's, Rome 69 Double Arm Lamp Post 72 Double Arm Trolley Post 72 Single Arm Lamp Post 72 Newspaper Stand 73 Advertising Column 73 Municipal Clock 73 Friederich's Museum, Berlin 78 Central Park, New York, Illuminated 79 Public Library, New York, Illuminated 79 Twenty-Third Street, New York 84 Street Widening, New York 84 Barbarossa Plaza, Cologne 85 Maximilian Street, Munich 85 Harbor, Neuss 88 Harbor, Frankfort 88 Harbor, Hamburg 89 Harbor, Bremen 89 Docks, Hamburg 92 Chelsea Docks, New York 92 xvi THE ILLUSTRATIONS Air Ship Harbor, Potsdam 93 Water Front, Kiel 96 Jungfernstieg, Hamburg 96 Thames Embankment, London 97 Flhine Bridge, Bonn 100 Rhine Bridge, Cologne 100 Alexander Bridge, Paris 101 Spree Bridge, Berlin 101 Union R. R. Station, Washington 106 Grand Central Station, New York 106 Pennsylvania Station, New York 106 Railway Station, Cologne 107 Railway Station, Frankfort 107 Elevated Railway Station, Berlin 114 Elevated Railway, Berlin 114 Biilow Street Station, Berhn 115 Nollendorf Plaza Station, Berlin 120 Subway Kiosk, Buda-Pest 120 Votiv Church, Vienna 121 Augustus Square, Leipzig 126 Plaza del Popolo, Rome 126 Friederich's Plaza, Frankfort 127 Franzens Ring, Vienna 127 Brandenburger Gate, Berlin 134 Avenue of Victory, Berlin 134 Terrace, Sanssouci, Potsdam 135 Wilhehna, Canstadt 135 Palm Garden, Frankfort 140 Concert Salon, Gotenburg 140 Court Garden and Allee, Diisseldorf 141 Assembly Center, Philadelphia 146 Wilhelmina Sea Bridge, Scheveningen 147 Piazzetta, Venice 152 Harbor Gate, Lindau 152 Monument Light Columns, Berlin 153 River Promenade, Diisseldorf 153 Rothenburg, Herrengasse 158 Monument, Berlin, Illuminated 159 Unter Den Linden, Berhn, Illuminated 159 Bismark Monument, Hamburg 160 Bismark Monument, Berlin 160 Vblkerschlacht Monument, Leipzig 161 Hermannsschlacht Monument 161 Skyline, Cologne 168 Skyline, Bremen 168 Skyline, Hamburg 168 Munich, General View 169 Workingmen's Apartment Houses 174 Court of Workingmen's Houses 174 Residential Street, Berhn 175 Architecture of Large Manufacturing Buildings 178 Architecture of Large Drygood Store Buildings 179 Court of Workingmen's Houses ■ 188 THE ILLUSTRATIONS xvii Building for the Aged 188 Workingmen's Colony, Altendorf 189 City Theater, Frankfort 204 Opera House, Frankfort 204 Cathedral, Cologne 205 Gate to Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn 212 Gate to Cypress Hill Cemetery, Brooklyn 212 National Maine Monument, New York 213 Children's School Gardens, Lock Haven 220 Swimming Pool, St. Louis 220 Fairy Fountain, Friederichsheim 221 Municipal Abattoir, Dresden 228 Bush Terminal, Brooklyn 229 Terrace, Central Park, New York 234 Gateway, Sanssouci, Potsdam 235 Sicilian Garden, Sanssouci, Potsdam 235 Sunken Refuse Receptacle 248 Refuse Can for Street Sweepings 248 Refuse Collecting Cart 248 Refuse Destruction Plant, Hamburg • 249 Sewage Disposal Plant, Philadelphia 249 Waterworks, Peking 258 Waterworks, Leutzsch 259 Fountain Paolina, Rome 264 Fountain Trevi, Rome 264 Wittelsbach Fountain, Munich 265 Gas Works, Frankfort 274 Electric Generating Plant, Dresden 274 Water Tower, Stellingen 275 Water Works, Posen 275 Schloss Plaza, Berlin 282 Burg Theater, Vienna 282 Castle Square, Karlsruhe 283 Hall of Liberty, Regensburg 288 Bavaria, Statue, Munich 288 Emperor Welhelra L Monument, Bonn 289 Kyffhauser Monument, Harz Mountains 289 Naples, Italy 294 Workingmen's Colony, Alfredshof 294 Limburg-Lahn Valley 295 Coburg with the Veste 295 Harbor at Antwerp 306 Lift-Bridge, Duisburg-Ruhrort 306 Landwehr Canal, Berlin 307 Subway Station, City Park, Berlin 312 Bridge, James Park, Madison, N. J 313 Bridge, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco 313 Interior of Elevated Railway Station, Berlin 316 Interior of Subway Station, Berlin 316 Tivoli Hydro-Electric Plant, Rome 317 Grand Staircase to Statue of St. Gellfert, Buda-Pest 320 Garden Staircase, Buda-Pest 320 Fountain of Neptune, Firenze 321 DRAWINGS AND DIAGRAMS PAGE Forum, Rome, Plan 22 Forum, Pompeii, Plan 27 Civic Center, Hirschberg, Plan 33 Civic Center, Hirschberg, View 33 Cologne, Ground Plan 37 Mannheim, Great Ground Plan 39 Karlsruhe, Great Ground Plan 41 Washington, Great Ground Plan 43 Radial and Circumferential Streets 48 Delhi, India's Capital 50 Carberra, Australia's Capital 52 Waterways, Chicago 52 Street Profiles, Berlin 56 Street Profiles, Berlin 57 Cologne, Re-planning Streets 61 Approaches to Railroad Terminal, Berhn 63 Chicago, Great Ground Plan 65 Safety Isles 71 Harbor, Frankfort 95 Suspension Bridge, Berlin 101 Stone Arch Bridge, Berlin 101 Steel Arch Bridge, Berhn 101 Density of Population, Paris 108 Volume of Traffic, Paris 109 Volume of Traffic, Berhn 112 Rotherhithe Tunnel, London 118 Congested Street Traffic 124 Underground Street Crossings 125 Super-Imposed Street Crossing 128 Traffic Regulation. Columbus Circle, New York 130 Traffic Street Signs 132 Parks and Boulevards, Kansas City 137 Parks and Boulevards, Boston 144 Parks and Boulevards, Berlin 145 Gateway, Berlin, Proposed 151 Kings Plaza, Berlin 157 Diagram, Determining Width of Streets 167 Diagram, Balancing Low Buildings 167 Tall Buildings 171 Blocks for Garden Cities 176 Typical Open Block Plans 181 Liverpool Garden Suburb 184 Workingmen's Colony, Dahlhauser Heide 190 Garden City, Port Sunhght 193 English Workingmen's Home 196 Oscar Plaza, Berlin 202 Vend6me Plaza, Paris 203 Plan of the Cathedral, Ulm 204 Double Deck Business Street 237 DRAWINGS AND DIAGRAMS xix PAGE Double Deck Residential Street 239 General Public Utility Tunnel 241 Sub-Surface Draining of Streets 246 Draining Street Railway Rails 247 Metropolitan Subway, Paris 276 Elevated Railway, Berlin 277 Suspended Railway 279 Assessment of Seventh Avenue, New York 291 Tempelhofer-Feld 296 Two Ground Plans of City's Extensions 298 Suburban Colony, Ahrensfelde, Berlin 301 MODERN CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE CHAPTER I WHAT CITY PLANNING IS One of the most significant movements in the history of American cities is now beginning to manifest itself. It is the development of the science of city planning, so long neglected, with such costly results as are seen in the unneces- sary congestion and crowded conditions of some portions of cities and in the backward development of other portions; in the slums on the one hand and the inaccessible suburbs on the other, so characteristic of the majority of American and English cities. City planning is not only a question of engineering and architecture ; it goes more deeply into the lives of the citizens, affecting them in numerous ways with a degree of importance that can only be realized by those who have made a special study of the subject. The effect on its citizens of the building of a city in accordance with the highest principles of the art of city planning will be one of a remarkable betterment in their social, ethical and physical conditions. The superior appear- ance, beauty and harmony of the city will develop artistic taste and will result in increased civic pride and patri- otism. This in turn affects the character of the individual favorably, improving moral conditions. The better hygienic system of the well-planned city provides more light, purer air and more healthful and less expensive living quarters, affecting the whole lives of the citizens favorably. The improved plan of the city by providing safer and more direct means of transportation prevents accidents and saves enormous amounts of time. The conveniently located 2 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE parks, recreation places, public baths, gjonnasiums, with ready access to woodlands and athletic fields, provides in- creased opportunity for physical development. The proper location of municipal markets affords cheap and wholesome supplies of food. These factors, with convenient location of schools, libraries, churches and other structures of a public nature, all unite to place the life of the citizen on a higher plane. A greater sense of responsibility is instilled while the comfort and enjoyment of the individual is added to, and an increase of population of a higher character effected. While the movement in its present recrudescence is very recent, the art of city planning is one of the greatest antiquity. The remains of the earliest communal abodes of man, of however primitive a nature, show a certain definite arrangement. With the development of races, villages be- came towns and towns cities, continually on a larger scale, and it is undoubtedly true that the higher the degree of civilization of a people, the greater will be the size of its cities. The civilization of the Romans was largely expressed in the city of Rome, and the glories of ancient peoples generally were shown in their cities. In the art of city planning, genius has occasionally arisen, among the early masters being Merian and Canaletto, the former developing the general plan of the city, and the latter excelling in its interior arrangements. Sir Christopher Wren in 1666, after the great fire of London, had the genius to reconstruct the city on a plan that would have made it one of the most beautiful in the world, but he was ahead of his time and London was permitted to grow up into the disordered mass of streets and lanes that make it the greatest spot of confusion to-day on the face of the globe. L'Enfant, however, who planned the city of Washington, admittedly the most beautiful city in America and one of the most beautiful in the world, enjoyed the double good fortune of having the support of the founders of the republic and an unencumbered site upon which to build, while most city planners have had to reorganize existing cities. WHAT CITY PLANNING IS 3 Equally fortunate was Baron Haussmann who rebuilt Paris. He was given a free hand and a plan was developed, in which conceptions of order, convenience, variety and grandeur were not allowed to be interfered with by question of expense. Great avenues were cut through labyrinths of streets, and foul and congested districts were replaced with parks and spacious squares. Hundreds of millions were spent and Paris is still spending gladly and with a lavish hand for extensions of his plan. The early masters, however, did not impart their theory, leaving only their accomplished work as examples. Modern or practical city planning, therefore, is a new art, based upon principles, theories and practice only recently placed on a scientific basis. The modern masters are Reinhard Baumeister, the pioneer of the science of modern city planning, and Camillo Sitte, the formulator of its aesthetic principles, while Joseph Stiibben is the greatest of practical city builders. Their work is available in theory, design and practice and will serve for future emulation as it has served modern Germany so well, as the basis of her wonderful cities. In the scope of practical city planning are included the broadest principles and the fullest details. The leading elements are the plan of the city as a whole, the segregation in suitable districts of the different classes of the population, and their proper housing in classes of structures suited to their requirements, the arrangement of such classes of structures in groups and district units, and the placing of such groups and units in proper relation to the whole; the development of other classes of units, such as civic centers, parks, public squares, grounds, athletic and recreation fields and cemeteries, and their location with reference to their uses and nature; the supplying of the units with the facilities and the public structures necessary for the business to be trans- acted in them; the location in civic centers of buildings suited thereto, both as to their uses and their architectural characteristics; the arrangement of systems of transportation, the laying out of streams of traffic, location of railway stations and bridges and harbor facilities; the systematic 4 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE location of schools, libraries, churches, hospitals, institutions, theatres and other semi-public structures; the general hygienic design of buildings and the system of city sanitation and waste disposal; the laying out of adjoining lands, woods and fields for purposes of recreation, the artistic regulation of structures and street plans and the laying out of surround- ing territory, all in accordance with a settled plan, adapted to fulfdl in the best possible way the purposes intended and to take care of the growth of the city and prevent its ab- normal development. The planning of a city, like the planning of anything else, should be carried out with a view to the use which is to be made of it, and to adapt it best to that use, and in addition to make it as pleasing from an artistic point of view as possible. There should first be strength in the design and, if strength be economically manifested, the artistic enrich- ment of the design will be easily effected. In city building, the strength of its design may be indi- cated by its plan. Its streets and avenues should be broadly and firmly laid out, advantage taken of its natural site and a sense of unity caused to pervade the whole as a result of its unity in structure. Its design should not be crowded, or its streets narrow and haphazard, nor should they be through- out of such absolute uniformity as to destroy their individu- ality, and make the city merely a monotonous aggregation of streets, as is so often the case in American cities. A city should be planned and built with breadth of view and boldness of execution; it should be built for the future more than for the present, and its design should halt at no necessary elaboration nor consider expense. What the city is for should always be considered and the most economical and effective methods of reaching its aims should be adopted, yet the fact that it is not merely utili- tarian should not be lost sight of. A city should not only be a place of residence but an inspiration to its inhabitants and a worthy object of their civic pride. The city has a powerful psychological effect upon its inhabitants, and a beautiful city is not only a pleasure to the THE FORUM, POMPEII STREET OF THE TOMBS, POMPEII Examples of classic city planning ROTHENBURG ON THE TAUBER, MARKUS TOWER AND RODER ARCH A pirliircsiiur spol in the most picturesque of the old cities of Germany. Much Studied by modern city planners for secrets of charm and individuality WHAT CITY PLANNING IS 5 aesthetic sense, but a stimulus to right conduct. Mean deeds are most apt to be enacted in mean streets, and the plunderer avoids the stately square and broad avenue. A murderer seldom if ever seeks his victim on the steps of a capitol or in the corridors of a library or gallery. The basis of the design of the city is found in the pur- poses for which it is constructed, and these include: The housing of its inhabitants and their industries; The conveyance of supplies and materials of manufacture and manufactured products; The disposition of waste materials; The arrangement of the city in an accessible manner, with rapid and convenient means of transportation; The provision of facilities for education, assistance and recreation for the common use. These are the fundamental objects of the city, and cities exist because these objects can be more effectively attained when large numbers of people live in close proximity than when they are separated, for otherwise cities would never come into existence and the population would remain scat- tered on small farms. City building is, to a very great extent, an engineering undertaking. The architect and the landscape architect co- operate with the civil engineer, the electrical engineer, the mechanical and sanitary engineer in the construction of the city. Their work includes street construction, electric traction, surface, elevated and subway; city lighting, bridges, quays, docks, piers, harbors, and waterways, railway termi- nals, central light and power plants, electric current distribu- tion, gas and central heating plants, aqueducts and water filtration and distribution, sewage systems and garbage col- lection and disposal, slaughter houses and market places, public baths and recreation places and piers, heating, light- ing and ventilation of public and private buildings, tele- phone, telegraph, police and fire-alarm systems and numerous similar problems. The work of the engineer not only includes the building of the city, but extends largely into many of its operations, 6 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE such as the handhng of freight and traffic both on land and water, the operation of electric transportation systems, sur- face, elevated and subway; electric lighting, power, heating, and gas plants, water works, sewage and refuse disposal, street construction, and the operation of many of the en- gineering works which they are first called upon to con- struct. Thus the numerous and important problems of the city are calling forth a new and specialized form of engineering in America. It is customary to include the detail engineer- ing work of the city in the province, for the most part, of the civil engineer, who for such purposes is often called the municipal engineer. The field of engineering in the building and rebuilding of cities, however, is of a much more compre- hensive and fundamental character, and deserves a special designation, such, for example, as city or civic engineering. A special course of training for the civic engineer should be offered by universities and the civic engineer should make a thorough study of all the problems of the city. No greater field of usefulness is open to the engineer and the subject is one that demands the most exhaustive study. At the present time, a great awakening is taking place in the United States on the subject of city planning. The great benefits to be derived are beginning to be appreciated and civic pride is taking form in American cities. But at the same time many blunders are being made and great waste incurred by ill-advised plans of improvement. A commis- sion of prominent citizens is usually appointed, when the subject is taken up, and after a trip to Europe, they return with recommendations, which after being modified to allow a rich harvest of graft on the part of politicians, are finally put into effect with results such as could have been expected. Civic engineering, however, is not a subject to be so readily mastered. Its theory and practice require long and thorough study and experience, and a wide acquaintance with all that has been done abroad, particularly during the last thirty or forty years. The hasty remodelling of a city i WHAT CITY PLANNING IS 7 by a commission having only a superficial knowledge of the subject is hable to result in far more harm than good. To secure the best results in city planning, a competent civic engineer should be placed in charge of the work and be given sufTicient time to make a thorough study of the city and its needs from an expert and entirely disinterested point of view. He should, free from influences, evolve plans which will meet its requirements and enable it to develop along the best lines. This work, to be properly performed, must be done by an expert, and by one who has no personal interest whatever in the city. No commission of citizens can approach the matter without being swayed either by self-interest, personal considerations or prejudice, and cer- tainly few such commissions could be selected to contain civic engineers of approved qualifications. Although politicians come in usually for nothing but condemnation, which is too often richly deserved, there is no good reason why, if graft must exist, it should not ac- complish its purpose in an artistic manner. If selfish in- terests dictate a city's government, they certainly can find it just as lucrative to remodel the city on the right lines as on the wrong lines, thereby greatly increasing its prosperity and their own subsequent opportunities for activity. City planning, however, should not be and need not be a matter of politics. In Germany, any intrusion of politics in such a matter would be ridiculous, yet clever politicians can improve a city as lavishly, if not more so, and to better effect, than a misguided body of citizens after a cursory attention to the subject on a junket. In selecting a civic engineer, the city should by no means restrict itself to engineers residing in the city itself, for it is seldom that competent engineers can be obtained if this restriction is imposed. The city should endeavor to obtain the best and most competent civic engineer available, whether resident or not, and no hesitation should be had in going to other cities or even abroad to get the right engineer. Indeed the demand for competent men is so great that they command high compensation, which, however, is trivial in 8 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE comparison with the work to be accomplished. While any local engineer or architect will tackle the job of replanning the city, no greater mistake can be made than to place the work in such hands. The example of Washington should be followed, if neces- sary, the Continental Government not being misguided by false patriotism, but sending abroad for the French engineer L'Enfant. A number of conspicuous failures in city re- planning are already to be seen in the United States, where the work has been in charge of architects not competent to handle the problems. Every city, too, should have on file a comprehensive plan for its ultimate improvement. Practically all buildings be- come obsolete in thirty or forty years. With the ultimate city plan laid out, permits for new buildings would not be allowed which would interfere with the ultimate plan. Thus, in an automatic manner, the city would gradually shed its old structures, and presently appear in its permanent plan, with a minimum of expense and inconvenience. In addition, as many cities will undoubtedly be visited by great fires in the future, as in the past, every city should have on hand such a plan, so that in the event of a fire, the rebuilding of the burnt area could be immediately undertaken in accord- ance with the comprehensive, ultimate plan already evolved, instead of allowing the old sections to be rebuilt in the old way and with the old mistakes. Practical city planning is not only not necessarily a source of expense to the city, but is frequently a means of profit, conferring its benefits not only on the citizens directly, but often relieving them of a large part of the burdens of taxation. More important, however, is the great civic stimulus effected. The extent to which this goes is far more than is realized by the average observer. In Germany, where city planning has reached its highest development, the results are most remarkable. This is shown by a comparison of six cities in Germany, selected at random, with six cities in the United States, which had in 1880, approximately the same population. WHAT CITY PLANNING IS 9 Cincinnati has grown 16.1 per cent, 27.7 per cent and 42.8 per cent respectively in the three decades, while Bres- lau's growth has been 22.8 per cent, 54.9 per cent and 87 per cent during the same time. In the thirty years Buffalo has increased 173.4 and Cologne 254.6 per cent; New Orleans, 56.9 per cent and Dresden 147.1 per cent; Louis- ville 80.9 per cent and Hanover 146.2 per cent; Providence 113.9 per cent and Nuremberg 234.1 per cent, and Rochester 144.1 per cent and Chemnitz 237.1 per cent. The German cities have increased almost twice as rapidly as the American cities, and while all this increase is not due to city plannmg, a very considerable portion of it may be so ascribed. Mr. Frederic C. Howe, the eminent writer, in "City Building in Germany" in Scribner's Magazine of May, 1910, states: "I know of no cities in the modern world which compare with those which have arisen in Germany during the past twenty years. There are none in Great Britain, from which country ofTicial delegations are constantly crossing the North Sea to study the achievements of the German city. There are none in France, in which country the building of cities has made but little progress since the achievements of Baron Haussmann made Paris the beautiful city that it is. "Important as is the honesty and efTiciency of the Ger- man city, it is the bigness of vision, boldness of execution and far-sighted outlook on the future that are most amazing. The German cities are thinking of to-morrow as well as of to-day, of the generations to follow as well as the generation that is now upon the stage, Germany alone sees the city as the center of the civilization of the future, and Germany alone is building her cities so as to make them contribute to the happiness, health and well-being of the people. This seems to be the primary consideration. And it is unique in the modern world. "Far-sightedness characterizes Germany in all things. Alone among the nations of the earth, Germany is treating the new behemoth of civilization as a creature to be controlled, 10 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE and made to serve rather than to impair or destroy hu- manity. "The German city is being built on a scale of generosity which halts at no expense. Its public school buildings rival in splendor the best modern buildings of our great univer- sities. And the equipment is of the same order. I know of no public schools, even in New York and Boston, that seem as costly in their construction or more complete in every detail as those of half a dozen German cities. "The motive of all this beauty, harmony, business enter- prise and foresight is so obvious to the German that he cannot comprehend why it should be questioned. "Why does a merchant erect a fine store-room or build himself a mansion?" he asks. The German city thinks as an indi- vidual thinks about his business and his home. A finished city attracts people. It brings manufacturers and business. People choose a beautiful city as a place of residence. Vis- itors make pilgrimages to it. Well-educated children make better citizens, better artisans. The street railways, gas works, docks and other enterprises pay their way. They even make money. But more than this, they are a necessary part of the city and of course they should be owned by it. If it be suggested that all this is socialistic, the German business man shrugs his shoulders and says: 'It may be, but it is good business.' It is much better than good business, it is good statesmanship." The arrangement of traffic and canal systems, location of factories, the easy movement of products, the well-nourished condition and the ambition of employees, furnish a powerful impetus to industry. City planning justifies itself at every point, and America is waking up to it in a wonderful way. There are already some 100 cities adopting more or less comprehensive plans of city planning, and the number is constantly being increased. CHAPTER II HOW TO PROCEED IN RE-PLANNING A CITY To participate in the re-planning of a city is a civic duty of the highest character. As in no other way can a city be so greatly benefited, those who take part in such move- ments serve not only their own interests, but the interests of the whole public. The importance of city planning is so great, that once it is understood, it meets with unqualified public approval, and the strongest forces in a community are always in its favor. It is a movement, which as it proceeds, encounters less and less opposition, being at once a credit to the city and to its originators. It may well become an avocation of the greatest interest and absorption, and is one of the first importance, not only to the citizen but to the community. Often a single public-spirited citizen with very little expenditure of effort can initiate such a movement. At an informal dinner the subject may be brought up and the first steps taken, that is, to interest a few men of promi- nence in the idea. A committee may then be judiciously selected, of those who are willing to lend the weight of their names to the undertaking, while the active interest is still manifested by the originators. A permanent organization of some size is then formed, which may be known as a Civic Improvement or City Plan- ning Association. It should be representative of the most prominent members of the different professions and should include in its membership leading business men, bankers, lawyers, editors, architects, engineers, painters, sculptors, educators, clergymen, representatives of various public wel- fare societies, the mayor of the city, commissioners of public works, and leading representatives of outlying communities. 12 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE The newspapers will, of course, have been interested in the movement from the outset. The first step is to raise a fund for purposes of securing plans and meeting the expenses of the movement, and this may be accomplished either by an appropriation made by the municipal authorities, by donation from a philanthropist or by a general public subscription. It is advisable to have as great a general interest as possible created in the subject, as it will thus receive a degree of support which would not be accorded it were its activities confined to a limited number. One of the best means of arousing public interest in city planning is the giving of public lectures on the subject by experts. Such a lecturer should always be obtained whatever the plan followed, and the lecture should be accom- panied by illustrations of what has been done and is con- templated in other cities. It is possible, even, in some cases, to obtain moving pictures of cities noted for their design, such, for example, as the moving pictures of Washington. These give considerable added interest to the lectures, with- out involving much additional expense. A preliminary fund of from two to fifty thousand dollars, according to the size of the city, should be raised. A fund of fifty thousand dollars might profitably be expended as follows : Fee of expert $15,000 Surveying, engineering, estimates and office and field expenses 20,000 Rent, stationery, salaries, etc 7,000 Printing reports 3,000 Exhibition of plans 3,000 Meetings 2,000 The work of the expert is to supervise the whole under- taking, to conceive the design and develop the plan; to direct the work of the engineering staff and that of the ofllce as well. He is the directing head of the whole under- taking, and working in harmony with the commission, should have a free hand to develop the best possible plan. In cases where more than one solution of the problem of the city's GATE OF \ICTORY, MUNICH Erected to ttie Bavarian Army and modelled after the Triumphal Arch of Conslantine at Rome PORTA NIGRA, TRIER (TREVES), GERMANY Well preserved city gale of the Romans, dating from the second half of the third century, a.d. WOOLWORTH BUILDING (750 FEET HIGH) Seen from archway of Municipal Building, Sew York HOW TO PROCEED IN RE-PLANNING 13 re-planning is practicable, he should submit tentative plans for the further consideration of the commission and the public. The engineering cost includes estimates of the cost of re-planning, of the cost of civic centers, buildings, condemna- tion proceedings, new street plans and estimates of the prob- able cost of the entire work, in pursuance of the different schemes submitted. When the work of the expert has been completed, a public exhibition should be held of the drawings and plans, and they should be subjected to the criticism of the public at large and discussed in public meetings and in the press. The commission should then decide upon the plan to be adopted, and the work then should be actually undertaken. If the original appropriation is made by the city, the commission would at that time have been made a legal body and part of the city government, but if the original fund is raised in another manner, it is unnecessary for the commis- sion to become a legal body until the city actually under- takes the work, when a smaller board may be formed having the necessary legal powers to carry on the work, the original commission still existing as an informal body for sustaining public interest and advancing the cause. A good example of how such a body may be given legal power is to be seen in the city charter of Seattle, Wash. It is as follows: Article XXV "Section 1. That there be and hereby is created a commission to be known as a Municipal Plans Commission, which shall consist of twenty-one members. It shall be the duty of said commission to procure plans for the arrange- ment of the city with a view to such expansion as may meet probable future demands. These plans shall take into con- sideration the extension of the City and City works into adjacent territory; improvement and changes in public utilities and lines of transportation by surface, underground 14 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE and water; the location, widths and grades of arterial high- ways necessary for the best treatment of the city; the de- velopment of the water front with its sea wall and wharves; the location of public buildings and municipal decorations; and such further extensions of and additions to the park and boulevard systems of the City as it may, in conjunction with the Park Board, find advisable. "Section 2. The members of such commission shall be citizens of the City of Seattle and shall be chosen in the following manner, to-wit: Three shall be elected from the City Council by its members; one shall be elected from the Board of Public Works by its members; in the same way one member shall be elected from the King County Commissioners; one from the Seattle Board of Education and one from the Seattle Park Commission. The other members shall be appointed by the Mayor in the fol- lowing manner, to wit: Each organization hereinafter named shall nominate two of its members and the Mayor shall appoint one of the two so nominated. The interests repre- senting the water front owners, steam railway companies, street railway companies and marine transportation com- panies shall organize, respectively, by mass meetings, at which a chairman and secretary shall be elected, and such officials shall certify to the Mayor the two names elected at such meetings. The call for such meetings shall be given publicity in the press of the city. "The Pacific Northwest Society of Civil Engineers. "The Washington State Chapter of American Institute of Architects. "The Seattle Chamber of Commerce. "The Seattle Commercial Club. "The Manufacturers' Association. "The Central Labor Council. "The Seattle Clearing House Association. "The Seattle Bar Association. "The Seattle Real Estate Association. "The Carpenters' Union. "The Water Front Owners. HOW TO PROCEED IN RE-PLANNING 15 "The Steam Railway Companies. "The Marine Transportation Companies. "The Street Railway Companies. "In case of failure of any of said organizations or in- terests to nominate, then these members are to be appointed by the Mayor, and each shall be chosen for his known qualifications with respect to the interests which shall have failed to certify its nominations. "Section 3, Any member of such commission may hold any other oflTice whether federal, state, county or municipal or may be an employee of the city or of any other depart- ment, commission, board, bureau, institution or office of the city government, and by becoming a member of such com- mission, no person shall forfeit any other public office or employment which he may hold at the time he becomes a member. "Section 4. Before entering upon the duties of their office, all members shall qualify by taking the oath of office prescribed for city officials in the City Charter, and shall organize by electing a president and secretary. "Section 5. After the organization of such commission, any member except a state, county or city official, who shall be absent from the meetings of said commission for a period of more than thirty days, without being excused therefrom, shall ipso facto forfeit his oflTice; and any vacancies caused either by resignation, death or by reason of unexcused ab- sence, shall be filled by appointment in the manner provided for in Section Two (2) of this Resolution; such new com- missioner to be chosen to represent the same body as that represented by the one causing the vacancy. The failure of a city official to retain his office in the city government shall be considered a vacancy on said commission and his successor shall be selected as hereinafter provided. "Section 6. All members shall serve without com- pensation. "Section 7. There shall be furnished to said commission suitable quarters for the carrying on of its investigations, together with such engineering and clerical assistance as 16 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE may be necessary, and the commission shall, as soon as prac- ticable after its organization, employ one or more, but in no case to exceed three, men of national reputation, recog- nized as authorities in city planning to prepare a compre- hensive plan under its direction and subject to its approval and adoption, embracing in its scope the entire area of the city and such contiguous territory as is comprehended in Section One (1) of this Resolution. The final plans shall be submitted to the commission for approval, and shall be re- garded as approved, unless rejected by a two-thirds vote of said commissioners within thirty (30) days after the same shall have been filed with the commission. The Municipal Plans Commission shall hold regular meetings; at least one such meeting every two weeks. Upon the conclusion of sittings of said commission it shall submit its findings in full to the Mayor and the City Council of Seattle in printed form, together with plans. Said report shall be presented to the Mayor and City Council not later than September 30, 1911, and they shall cause the recommendations of the com- mission to be submitted to the people at the next general or special election. "Section 8. That if a majority of the voters voting thereon shall favor the adoption of said City Plan so re- ported, it shall be adopted and shall be the plan to be followed by all City officials in the growth, evolution and development of the said City of Seattle, until modified, or amended at some subsequent election. "Section 9. There is hereby created a fund to be known as 'Municipal Plans Commission Fund,' which shall consist of a tax levy to be made during the year 1910 as other taxes are levied, of one-fourth (%) of a mill on the dollar, but no other or further levy or payment into said fund shall ever be made. The Municipal Plans Commission shall have exclusive power to pay out moneys from such fund for any and all purposes specified in Section One (1) hereof, and shall, on or before the 10th day of August of the year 1910, prepare and submit to the City Council for approval and adoption, an estimate of the amount of money which may HOW TO PROCEED IN RE-PLANNING 17 be required for its purpose, in conformity with Chapter 138 of the Laws of State of Washington, Session 1909. "Section 10. All expenditures on account of work done shall be made upon vouchers approved by a majority vote of the Municipal Plans Commission and signed by its presi- dent and secretary. Each voucher shall, when accompanied by a detailed statement of such expenditures, be certified to the City Comptroller, and shall be paid by the Treasurer out of any money in the Municipal Plans Commission Fund not otherwise appropriated. Said commission may anticipate the revenues to be paid into said fund under the tax levy herein provided for, by the issuance of its warrants against said fund, to provide money for the necessary expenses of said commission prior to the availability of the funds to be raised by such levy. No expense against such fund shall be incurred after September 30, 1911, nor in excess of the levy provided, and any surplus remaining in said fund after said date not lawfully appropriated or obligated for shall be by ordinance transferred into the General Fund." An example of a very serious defect in city planning in a great many cities in the United States, is seen in paragraph ten, which provides that no expense shall be incurred after a certain fixed date. Such a provision brings the whole work to a stop at the fixed date, and subjects its continuance to the vicissitudes of politics, which may cause the abandon- ment of the entire project or a revising of the original plans for interested purposes. Such a commission should, in all cases, have power to continue the work uninterruptedly. After the plan is approved by a body that has final legal authority, the city appropriates the money, and the condem- nation of property and the actual work proceed. By a proper management of the condemnation proceed- ings, the cost of city planning can be greatly reduced or even be made a source of immediate, direct profit. This is accomplished by giving the city power to condemn not only the land actually needed for an improvement, but as much land adjacent as may be thought desirable. After the im- 18 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE provement is made the city re-sells the abutting property to private users at the prices which it then commands by reason of the improvement. The city thus often realizes in re-sales more than the cost of the lands and the improvement. Speculation in real estate, inflation of values and the enrich- ing of land-owners at the expense of the city as a whole is thus prevented. This is merely the direct benefit of city planning, and does not take into consideration the enor- mous benefits from increase of population, industry, and commerce and better living conditions, etc., as previously outlined. The greatest piece of city planning now in progress is in the city of Berlin. It has been going on for several years, and will involve before its completion, the expenditure of over 320,000,000 marks (^80,000,000). When it comes, however, to the expenditure of such great sums as this, a more complete organization is necessary. The main commission appoints sub-committees composed of engineers and architects, and such sub-committees have charge of different portions of the work. These committees include Plan and Scope, Streets, Public Buildings, Parks, Waterways, Piers and Docks, Water Supply, Sanitation and Drainage, Lighting, Public Baths, Athletic and Recreation Grounds, Municipal Traction, Tree and Floral Culture, etc. These divisions may be anticipated to a certain extent in the original organization of the City Planning Commission, so that when the final organization is effected, the duties of its various constituents are fairly well understood. The fact that a movement of this character is being undertaken by a city, gives it no small added prestige. The value to the city and the citizen which is had in a well- planned city begins to make itself felt even when the plans are only begun. Such a movement distinguishes a city as progressive and patriotic and brings about an entirely new attitude of thought, both of the citizen towards the city and of the citizens of other cities toward it. No work any more important or beneficial to a city can be undertaken by any public-spirited citizen, than to initiate HOW TO PROCEED IN RE-PLANNING 19 or participate in a city planning movement. The work done at such a time will remain as long as the city exists as the achievement of its founders, and will mark their genera- tion as one of progress and enlightenment. The present condition of most American cities, while de- plorable in itself, affords opportunities for the display of disinterested public spirit, which once taken advantage of, will occupy the field for all time. Paris, for example, can afford no opportunity for a second Haussmann or Washing- ton for a second L' Enfant. Yet abnost every American city is crying for some genius to come forward and reorganize its stupidly conceived and carelessly executed plan and for public-spirited citizens to initiate the work. This is just as important for the small city as the large one, and especially so for the small city which is growing rapidly. A proper plan, taking into consideration its possible future expansion, will stimulate its growth as nothing else can, and the development along the plan will save enormous expense later on. CHAPTER III THE CIVIC CENTER Federal, Municipal, Traffic, Social, Amusement, Educational and Shipping Centers The civic center is the heart of a city's design. It gives the city its vital individuality, and imparts a sense of unity and cohesion which cannot be obtained in any other manner. A city with a suitable civic center no longer gives the im- pression of being an accidental conglomeration of buildings; it becomes an organized whole and gains a new dignity and a new meaning. It is possible for every city to have a suitable plan, and every city, if it is not built on such a plan, should be re- planned and re-built. The lack of design is the outcome of carelessness and ignorance on the part of the city authorities of earlier administrations. The absence of such a plan is a detrunent and an injury to all who make the city their home. In many cities, however, the legacy of carelessness and incompetency proves too heavy to be lifted immediately, while in others the development of an elaborate system is beyond their financial resources. In every case, however, it is possible to adopt a plan which may, little by little, be carried into execution, with ultimately the greatest beneficial results. Not only motives of civic pride and patriotism go to make the civic center desirable, but also the strongest motives of social and municipal economy and efficiency. A civic center should contain, except in cities of large size where more than one center is required, the municipal and federal buildings, such as the city hall, court house, hall of records, post office, federal court building and various city departmental buildings. PALACE OF JUSTICE, MUNICH A well-located civic building CITY HALL AND MUNICIPAL COURTS, CIVIC CENTER OF ST. LOUIS KONIGSBERG, BISMARK's MONUMENT AND CASTLE Thrown into view by the curved street plan THE CIVIC CENTER 21 The civic center should, of course, have a central location and be readily accessible from all parts of the city and sur- rounding suburban districts. Several main arteries of traffic should radiate from the civic center, making it the center of the city's street plan, the keystone in the arch of its design. Such a civic center can scarcely be too large in area, and, however expensive this may prove as an initial outlay, it will be of the greatest ultimate benefit. The civic center should be of ample size for several im- portant reasons. The grouped buildings gain greatly in effect when seen from proper distances, and this stimulates the imagination and impresses the observer with the power and dignity of the city. The placing of the buildings thus upon a large open space enables them to appear to the best advantage, and they form a dignified and imposing whole. This is highly gratifying in a psychological sense, being the best expression of what a city is, the point at which man can get furtherest away from the isolation of rural life. In a civic center the spirit of collective life reaches its highest manifestation. It is thus far more than a mere collection of buildings around an open space, becoming a means of satisfying one of the strongest of human instincts, that of gregariousness. A civic center of large extent, in addition to its artistic and psychological effect, is of great value as a place for the assembling of large numbers of people on great public occasions. It is a central point for the reviewing of parades and for the reception of noted visitors to the city. The mistake most likely to be made in planning a civic center is to make it too small in area. The expense of a large center, though usually very great, is one that should be incurred as early as practicable in the existence of the city, for as the value of the ground increases constantly, it is an investment which never depreciates in value. It is a matter of wisdom for a city contemplating civic improvements to purchase the necessary land and lease it until the time comes for the actual re-building, ten or twenty years later. 22 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE With buildings grouped together in a civic center, a far more magnificent effect is produced than is possible with the same buildings isolated in different parts of the city. It is also vastly more convenient to have the city ad- ministrative buildings grouped in one place, as those having business with the different departments can transact it much more readily and without the waste of time that would be Fig. 1. GENERAL PLAN OF THE ROMAN FORUM IN THE TIMES OF THE C^SARS involved in travelling from place to place in the city, as is the case when such buildings are located at haphazard. There is, in fact, no valid argument against the formation of civic centers and everything in their favor. The reason they exist in so few American cities is largely because of lack of education on the subject, and the consequent ignorance of the advantages arising from this form of construction, for which architects and engineers are largely responsible. The political organization of cities has also had a share in this failure to have cities properly planned, since the work of city planning is one that requires years for its completion, and the constant changes of administration, with hostility in one to the achievements of the previous one, or of one of THE CIVIC CENTER 23 another party, has operated to the great disadvantage of American cities. Lack of appreciation of the beauties of architecture has also contributed to the present heterogeneous aspect of our cities, and ignorance of their art on the part of architects has been largely responsible for this. Anybody who can draw a few lines on paper is at liberty to set himself up as an archi- tect, and real study of this great art is much neglected, so much so in fact that the average citizen could by no means name three of the leading architects of the country. The proper location of the civic center is as important as its size and arrangement, and in selecting its location, a long look into the future should be taken. Even at the expense of some present inconvenience it should be placed near what will be the center of the city, when it reaches a certain growth. The location of the civic center may thus give direction to the growth of the city which might otherwise develop along lines of least resistance or as encouraged by real estate speculators. The civic center should be so placed as to be easily acces- sible to all parts of the city, and if necessary, new avenues and streets should be cut through to afford the proper approach. It should be conveniently placed with reference to transportation lines, but no transportation line should penetrate it, passing at most along the sides. Nor should traffic from bridges, elevated stations, subways, ferries or railway stations be discharged directly into the civic center, such terminals being more advantageously placed adjacent to it. It should not, thus, be an artery of traffic, but so to speak, the center of the whirlpool of the city's transpor- tation. The buildings to be included in a civic center should be the city hall, court house, hall of records, post office and federal court, custom house, administrative buildings for the various city departments, and possibly some buildings of a commercial character, either in the civic center or adjacent thereto and contributing to its general effect, such as a chamber of commerce, banks, and life insurance buildings. 24 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE The leading principle of the design of a civic center is that one of the buildings should dominate the rest. This should usually be the city hall or court house. The other buildings should be in character and style related to the dominant building, but not of such size or outline as to detract from its importance, as it should be, in an artistic sense, protective of the others. Another important principle of the civic center is balance, the buildings being so propor- tioned and placed with reference to each other, that their masses and outlines produce a pleasing effect. The design of a civic center is indeed an artistic problem of the first magnitude, in which the principles of art are manifested on a great scale. It is a painting with the sky and the city as a background, a sculpture in masses, and it should have unity, strength, feeling, completeness, balance and splendor. The art of the civic architect is thus one in which the greatest talents may find opportunities for expression not obtainable in any other art. In cities of considerable size, it is advisable to have additional civic centers to supplement the principal center. Such additional centers may be of a somewhat different character. For example, there might be a federal center, containing the post office, custom house and federal court house. Other centers might be a traffic center, a social cen- ter, an educational center, an amusement center and a shipping center. In cities of very large size, a third class of centers, more numerous, and of a composite character could be provided. A traffic center would be composed of one or several of the railway terminals. These should be located in near proximity, on civic center lines if it is not feasible to have a union station, so that a ready transfer of passengers may be accomplished. In the traffic center should also be located terminals of the street railways and also, particularly, termi- nals of suburban electric lines. A center of this kind is of the greatest utility and convenience, and is especially of the greatest service to visitors, enabling them to find their way about without loss of time. The first impression of the THE CIVIC CENTER 25 visitor is that received from the traffic center, and from the means provided whereby he can conveniently reach his destination, which is not in reaUty the railway station, but the place in which he is to live. It is therefore important to have such a center properly arranged, and to so direct city traffic lines that all portions of the city are readily accessible from the traffic center. The social center should be located nearer the residential portion of the city, and should consist of museum buildings, art galleries, a library and an exhibition hall, suitable for expositions of various kinds. The buildings of the social center should be of a somewhat different character from the buildings of the municipal group, indicating their purpose by being less severe, and more delicate in architectural treatment. An amusement center of the proper kind is difficult to establish in America, owing to the fact that theatres are all private ventures. Abroad, the state and municipal owned theatres, and the ability of the cities to regulate the design of other buildings, enable such centers to be readily estab- lished. It is the practice in America to build theatres in the middle of blocks with but a narrow entrance facade on the street, or where the theatre has some street frontage, to confine it to a rather flat facade usually of an uninteresting design, with small stores along the street. One of the ugliest of amusement buildings in America is the Metropolitan Opera House, which should be the finest. While it occupies an entire block, it is of a barn-like appearance, houses a restau- rant and a bank on the Broadway front, has apartments to let and on the Seventh Avenue side is graced by a corru- gated iron lean-to, from which is suspended a canvas cur- tain, the recess thus formed being used to store scenery. Under proper regulations, the theatres of a city should be arranged around a square or in a well-planned district, and each should be an independent building of a design approved by an art commission prior to its erection. The amusement center might also contain restaurants, concert halls and lecture halls, all arranged on a definite plan and properly 26 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE related to each other. Suitable provision should also be made for the parking of automobiles during performances, and this regulation might even proceed to the time of dis- missal of the audiences, which could readily be varied within certain Ihnits, to prevent congestion in the streets, such as produces so much confusion, for example, in the New York City theatre district, which is in all respects a triumph of the haphazard, and a nightmare of the unregulated. In this district until recently, no restrictions other than those of a commercial nature have had any consideration, and the result is that the theatres are stuck anywhere that room can be found. The recent restriction is one relating to safety in case of fire, and is the requirement of a narrow alley all around a theatre, which makes the theatres even more unsightly than before. In illumination, huge and glaring electric signs have been permitted to litter the roofs of buildings having any position of advantage, and with unexampled effrontery, to make night hideous with their intermittent flashings of recom- mendations of various articles of commerce and trade. All this is an excellent illustration of the small consideration private enterprise has for public interest when it is allowed to have its own way. Instead of a stately and beautiful square with imposing structures, suitably illuminated, there exists a confused mass of buildings with theatres sandwiched into all sorts of corners, and a great number of obnoxious electrical signs stuck everywhere, each trying to be uglier and more annoying than its neighbor. This, the far-famed Great White Way, which might be more properly called a great blight way, yet all cities throughout the country, even to the smallest, are doing their best in imitation, strong in the belief that they are engaged in a most praiseworthy undertaking, and receiving no lack of encouragement in the good cause from the electric lighting companies and manufacturers of electric lamps. A theatre center might be encouraged in American cities, by a remission of taxation on buildings which when erected had the sanction of the Municipal Art Commission of the THE CIVIC CENTER 27 city. The reduction in running costs could be capitalized by the owners to enable them to produce a beautiful build- ing, which would still be able to compete with the uglier and Fig. 2. forum at pompeii /. Jupiler Temple; II. Market Hall for Household Goods; III. Court; IV. Temple of Vespasian; V. Market Hall for Woolen Goods; VI. Comitium; VII, VIII, IX. Administrative Offices; X. Basilica; XI. Temple of Apollo; XII. Market Hall. cheaper ones placed to utilize low-priced land. This would be a form of subsidy quite as useful as the present general subsidizing of churches by remission of taxation, a subsidy which enables churches to be placed to great advantage. An education center could be composed of a college or seminary, public high school, school administration building, a library and a medical college and hospital. The large universities of the United States with their grounds and 28 " CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE buildings are in effect education centers, and in their arrange- ment of buildings are considerably superior to most European universities. This is to be accounted for by the fact that commercial considerations do not enter into educational affairs. Columbia University in New York forms a notable educational center and if a broad avenue were cut through to relate it to St. Luke's Hospital and the now building Cathedral of St. John, this section of the city would be greatly improved and unified. New York University with its Hall of Fame and other buildings, on University Heights, is a further educational center of national importance enjoy- ing greater area than Columbia, though more distantly placed, while the College of the City of New York, though less extensive, is also a striking and admirable center. In this respect New York is fortunate, though in the location of its Public Library and museums, which are iso- lated and in gridiron blocks, it suffers from the stupidity of the originators of its street plan, which was modelled by city ofTicials then in charge, after a gravel sieve. Cities thus in which universities are located, and particu- larly cities which are capitals of states, have unusual possi- bilities, and may easily be made architecturally interesting, while other cities, devoted principally to commerce, have not the same occasion for striking buildings. An instance of this is seen in the dilTerence between Hartford and Bridgeport, in Connecticut, cities of nearly equal size, but of an entirely different appearance; the capitol building at Hartford and a fairly well arranged central portion being much more beautiful than the confu- sion of Bridgeport, or even New Haven, where the buildings of Yale University offer the only relief, and no very great relief at that. A civic center of the greatest utility is the shipping center, which for freight and produce compares with the trafTic center for travellers. A shipping center may be placed with advantage at the water front, and should contain railway freight terminals, piers and docks, municipal market houses, appraisers' stores, warehouses and buildings of a 3 — I C/^ a % 5 •§ ^ ft o 5 Ci, ^ ►II lip lit I Ik in jUUlJ >/x^=^ 7. riri r'''~'<\'~>- ' ^^l^ jU ;a iujrtiuUi/. iiiiUi^:- ^;4uuyuL^j pRCtE. ^T. IQDQOR /innfltiiDpi '^ '-A 1 ' "Mill l'^=i^'^ ^^'[l j/'- CIVIC CENTER PROJECT FOR THE CITY OF SEATTLE Part of the Great Ground Plan THE CIVIC CENTER 29 similar character. In planning a shipping center, it should be made spacious in the extreme, for convenience of drayage, as vehicular traffic becomes very quickly congested if suffi- cient street room is not provided. New York has an ap- proximation of such a center in West Street, a very wide thoroughfare upon which the North River piers abut, and near which is a large freight station. In a properly planned shipping center, the railroad tracks should go directly into the piers, for convenience of transferring freight, as will be further referred to. A division should be made between freight intended for use in the city itself and that which comes to the city as a point of distribution. This is a problem which very seriously affects cities which are railroad centers, and in Chicago such a division is proposed. In that city, the railroads run directly into the city and a great part of the tonnage is unloaded, taken to warehouses and stored until required for use in other cities. A great amount of freight also goes through the city without breaking bulk, the cars being switched from one railroad to another. This transfer of traffic occupies much of the capacity of the city's tracks and streets and causes great and unnecessary confusion. To avoid this and relieve congestion, it is proposed to establish a great freight and warehousing center southwest of the city, where transfer of freight cars from one railroad to another may be effected without delay and at little cost. As about 95 per cent of the freight traffic of Chicago is handled by rail and but 5 per cent by water, the location of such a center can with advantage be placed away from the lake front. An enormous saving will result to all concerned, the railroads transferring their cars with despatch, merchants and wholesalers loading and unloading by machinery where the work is now done by hand and the public being relieved of the noise, wear and tear and nuisance of much of the present street traffic, and the presence of large numbers of coal-consmning locomotives. ^Esthetic considerations do not, of course, enter so largely into the construction of a shipping center as they do in other 30 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE centers, the problem being more one of traffic engineering. The buildings, however, may profitably be designed along the lines that have proven efficient, and at the same time preserve a certain massiveness and sense of utility which will give the center its own unity and individuality. In addition to the principal centers thus outlined, another kind of center is of great utility, and this may be called a regional center, that is the center of a certain district or region of a city. Such centers tend to develop themselves under normal conditions, but not being planned in advance, their usefulness and attractiveness are far less than should be the case. Such regional centers should be located at different points throughout the city, at some distance from the main centers, and they should not be devoted to specific purposes, but should in effect be unified centers. Such a center would contain, for example, a court build- ing, a bank, a high school, branch library, theatre, museum, concert hall and other similar structures, arranged with reference to each other and with due allowance made for the future growth of the city. Civic centers, with such additional regional centers, serve to render knowledge of localities in a city easy of acquisi- tion. The child at school soon learns the location of the centers and each center, having its own individuality, is readily remembered. Strangers may similarly soon gain an acquaintance with the city. The psychological effect of civic centers is thus to give the city an individuality and to fix it in the mind as a well-ordered whole, instead of as an accidental conglomeration of buildings. The advantage of the planning of a city on the principle of civic centers is indeed so great, that no other kind of plan receives any consideration. The fundamental principle of city planning is the civic center, and when the center has been properly planned and placed, the remainder of the design is readily worked out. The enormous importance to a city of being properly planned may be appreciated by considering the beauties of THE CIVIC CENTER 31 the great cities of Europe: Athens, Venice, Florence, Rome, Nice, Vienna, Budapest, Dresden, BerUn, Munich, Diissel- dorf, Moscow, Antwerp, Paris, London and other noted places. Their fame is largely, if not wholly due, to the fact that they contain structures of beauty properly massed and grouped, and that their streets are laid out in an orderly manner. If the important buildings in those cities were isolated and unrelated, they would never have enjoyed the fame and dignity which their names imply. American cities, though not as old, are not inferior, in size, commerce or wealth, but who ever goes to Jersey City, a larger city than Diisseldorf; to Nashville, greater than Athens; to Detroit, with a larger population than Rome; to St. Louis, almost the equal of Budapest; to Chicago, greater than Vienna or Berlin; to Baltimore or Pittsburg, superior to Dresden; to Minneapolis, larger than Antwerp, or to any of a score of American cities, to see any sights worth seeing? American cities thus lack distinction and interest. With the exception of Washington and the skyscrapers of New York, no tourist ever seeks out an American city as a point of interest in itself. Finding nothing at home to interest them, American visitors flock abroad, while Europeans themselves, much greater travellers than Americans, are constantly visiting and studying their own cities. A great stream of travel would flow to America from abroad and an enormous and enlighten- ing amount of travel at home would result if American cities were worth seeing. Such travel is not only highly profitable to certain business interests of the cities visited but has a great educational effect on the travellers, who are better able to improve their own cities after seeing the accomplishments of others. With the exceptions noted, Washington and New York, and a few natural beauties, such as Niagara Falls, Mammoth Cave and Yellowstone Park, the traveller in America is utterly at a loss to know where to go to see any- thing worth while. Even the smallest cities abroad have their own city im- provement societies, whose business it is to make the city 32 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE and its environs attractive to visitors. Among minor cities in Germany which have been made highly attractive in this way are Essen, Duisburg, Dortmund and Barmen, all of which lie in the industrial district Rhineland-Westphalia, where city improvement would be the least expected. Many of the famous European cities have some dominant feature which is recalled when their name is mentioned, such as the canals of Venice, St. Peter's at Rome, the Kremlin at Moscow and Unter den Linden and the Brandenburgertor at Berlin, the Ring and the Prater at Vienna, the Louvre and Notre Dame at Paris, the Jungfernstieg at Hamburg, the Zeile at Frankfort, and Westminster Abbey and Hyde Park at London, which are notable examples, crystallizing, so to speak, the fame of the city. As in a civic center some one structure should be domi- nant, it is similarly desirable in a city to have some feature dominant and to devote the best energies of the city to its perfection. The city may thus gain distinction and fame more readily than by diffusing its energies. The civic center need not necessarily be the most noted feature of a city, as such centers will be more or less similar in all cities, though some may make the civic center the leading feature. Among other single features which may be made distinctive are bridges, water and land approaches, embankments, drives, great avenues, promenades, monu- ments, squares, residential streets, parks, parkways, gardens, special styles of architecture followed throughout a district, museums, street outlays, theatres, churches, memorials, uni- versities and the like. Many European cities of small size have some features which are in some cases of natural origin, and in others of historical interest. For example, a "dying lion" carved in the natural stone of the mountain side draws many to Lucerne, while the towns near which battles have been fought, or where noted men were born or are buried, are also points of great interest. Foreign cities are noted for special pursuits of their in- habitants in many cases, or of their products. The artists THE CIVIC CENTER 33 Figs. 3 and 4. civic center Proposed Plan for Hirschberg, Silesia 34 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE of Paris and Munich and in times past of Diisseldorf; the musicians of Vienna and Milano, the porcelains of Dresden, the vioUn makers of Mittelwalde, the toymakers of Nurem- burg, the cuckoo clocks of Freiburg, the passion play of Oberammergau and similar features have made those places famous. Perhaps the most striking example of the advertise- ment of a city by such a special feature is the last mentioned, the passion play at Oberammergau, which though it takes place but one in ten years, has made the village famous, and travellers from all over the world visit it to the great enrich- ment of its inhabitants. Bayreuth, similarly, has been made famous by Wagner, while Mecca has not only become famous in itself from sheltering the remains of a religious fanatic, but has made its name a synonym for such travels. The features of American cities which might be made objects of interest to travellers receive little or no attention. There are, for example, many tombs of former presidents which are utterly neglected. Various other features have been allowed to fall into obscurity which might be made of interest to visitors. It should be the object of the city improvement society to advance the interests of the city in every possible way and to utilize such special features for the purpose of ad- vertising the city, and when visitors arrive, to see that they meet with no obstacles in gratifying their desire to see the city. A number of American cities of lesser size have first-class attractions, such as the steel works at Bethlehem, and the furniture factories of Grand Rapids, which would be of in- terest to many foreign travellers just as the cuckoo clocks of Freiburg draw American visitors; while localities have been made famous by men, such as Menlo Park by Edison, East Aurora by Elbert Hubbard, who tried to steal some Ober- ammergau thunder by advertising the presentation of its passion play in that town; while monuments such as those of Henry Clay at Lexington, Ky., Washington's Monument at Washington, Grant's Tomb in New York and Bunker Hill at Boston are already famous. The city of Albany has THE ZWINGER, DRESDEN OUTER BURGPLATZ WITH THE NEW HOFBURG, VIENNA Striking examples of enclosed squares CITY HALL, MUNICH The focal point of several converging slreels THE CIVIC CENTER 35 recently scored strongly in respect of attracting visitors, through the erection of a building housing the Educational Administration of the state, which is claimed to be one of the ten most beautiful buildings in the world. American cities are, however, waking up, and in the next few decades, should make great progress. America's wealth is drawing great art treasures from Europe and in civic improvement her cities will in time outstrip the cities of Europe. The Pennsylvania Terminal and the New Public Library in New York, for example, are structures which no European city is likely to surpass, and the movement for civic improvement, which is now beginning in many of the greatest cities throughout the country, cannot fail to have the most profound and inspiring results. CHAPTER IV THE GREAT GROUND PLAN Zone or District Systems; Classification and Gradation of Districts; Individuality of Cities; Building Regulation The great ground plan of a city includes the whole lay- out of the streets, avenues, civic centers, parks, boulevards, piers, bridges, esplanades and grounds. In the planning of such a lay-out, the fundamental principle is that of the classification of districts according to their uses. The district units are to the whole city what the separate build- ings are to the civic center, and the principal problem of the planning of a city is to get suitable arrangements of districts. The whole purpose of city planning is to increase the health, comfort and convenience of the public, and in order to accomplish this, it is absolutely essential to have the districts properly arranged. In their planning the object is to give each man for his dollar the greatest value possible in housing and business convenience, proportionate to his income; that is to say, the man of small income must be given the same quantity of accommodations for the proportion of his income that he can devote to such purpose, as the man of large income; the only difference being in quality. Thus a mechanic, in renting a six-room house for his family, should not have to pay for it a greater proportion of his income than the higher salaried manager pays of his income in renting a six-room apartment for his family, the differ- ence in actual amount being represented by quality. The more numerous classes should always be able to ob- tain adequate quantities of whatever may be requisite to satisfy their needs, with only the expenditure of a fair pro- portion of their income. THE GROUND PLAN 37 Its classification must This can only be accomplished by the establishment of classified districts and a rigid enforcement of proper regula- tions. This is the real kernel of city planning, compared with which its architectural embeUishment is merely a polish- ing of the shell. Each city has its own problem, proceed in accordance with the results to be achieved and with the nature of its activities and business. For example, New York, with its varied industries and activities, needs a greater number of classifications and a greater flexibility in their appli- cation than Washington, which is more devoted to administra- tive and social purposes. Suitable laws must be enacted under which the necessary regu- lations can be carried out, and F'^. 5. ground plan of roman BUILT COLOGNE ON THE RHINE The Site of which is to-day occupied by the central portion of modern Cologne in which the same Street Scheme is pre- served and amplified, as is the case with many sites originally built on by the Romans in what is now Germany. through which citizens will be protected in their rights and prevented from interfering with the rights of others. Objectors to such regulations will be numerous, but it is only necessary to recall that in sporadic cases, such systems of regulation exist and are carried out with even greater severity than may often be necessary. On certain streets, for example, no commercial traffic is allowed, while on others no peddlers can sell goods. On the other hand, a millinery or similar establishment is at liberty at any time to move in and spoil a whole residential block, to be followed shortly by laundries and bootmakers. In the laying out of districts, the objects to be accom- plished are the providing of healthful living and working conditions, prevention of congestion, convenience of distribu- tion, suitable relation of the homes of the workers to their 38 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE places of employment, and the grouping together of those whose incomes and tastes are generally similar. In European districts, the classes of districts are often a dozen or more in number. The city of Karlsruhe, with a population of 135,000, has as many as sixteen classifications, ranging from high-class residential to detached suburban houses, and civic center to factory districts. Owing to the hitherto unregulated conditions, it would not now be practicable in most American cities to establish as many districts, or as close a classification. A workable classification for the average American city might be as follows: Residential District, Business District, Industrial District, Tenement District Warehousing District No. 1 Light Traffic, no stores No. 2 Medium Traffic, stores No. 1 Medium Traffic No. 2 Heavy Traffic No. 1 25 to 100 employees per establishment No. 2 Over 100 employees per establishment Stores and heavy traffic Heavy traffic In making such classifications, however, the city should not be divided in such a manner as to confine the poorer classes in the parts of the city remote from those in which the better classes are housed, as such residential restrictions would prove unpopular. The better plan is to have a gradual improvement of the residential sections from the extremity of tenements or low- priced cottages on one side to private residences with exten- sive grounds on the other; the poorer citizens thus not being compelled to live in a section of the city of a fixed character, but being able to move into better quarters from time to time as their means improved, forming new acquaintance- ships and gradually getting out of the reach of others, as by successive moves they come to occupy better quarters. In such an arrangement of the sections of a city into graded zones, the differences between one zone and the next THE GROUND PLAN 39 would not be great in degree. They should, nevertheless, be strictly adhered to, in order to preserve the character of the different portions of the city, and prevent undesirable changes, mostly due to the efforts of real estate speculators. In Germany, where city planning has developed into a science of the first importance, such regulations provide that Fig. 6. great ground plan of mannheim A plan which with its horseshoe has proven highly satisfactory. It offers a solution of street replanning for American cities with their gridirons, and has been followed in the proposed plans of Chicago and other cities. in certain zones, only buildings conforming to certain stand- ards shall be erected. Such regulations apply not only to residences but also to business buildings, and the business streets conform to their standards just as do the residential streets. In the laying out of German cities a spirit of adaptability prevails, which gives the cities variety, and at the same time effects the necessary regulation. Thus, for example, if there are a dozen kinds of classifica- tions prescribed, the city is not laid out rigidly into twelve parts and each part given a certain character, but each group of blocks of the city is considered and its future character 40 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE determined, it being set apart in accordance with the charac- teristics of one of the twelve kinds of classification, which may cause it to differ to a considerable extent from the ad- joining group of blocks. The dividing lines, however, be- tween classifications may occur even in a block, one side or end being developed in one way and the other in another way. Thus though there may be but twelve kinds of classi- fications, there will be many hundreds of small zones, ar- ranged to the best possible advantage but in all of only twelve kinds. The gradation of zones is consequently such that sharp lines of demarkation do not occur. In its general outlines, the planning of a city must follow certain artistic and engineering principles, but in addition, as has been noted, each city offers its own problems, which must be considered with the utmost care and solved with the aid of expert advice and experience. So many considerations of importance enter into the question of the laying out of a city, and in its reconstruc- tion, that it should not be undertaken without the assistance of the most competent civic engineers and architects. The principal units which must be considered in laying out the city's great ground plan, are the civic center section, the banking and office building section, the wholesale dis- trict, the manufacturing district, the warehouse district, retail stores, amusements, social centers, food products dis- tricts, terminals, miscellaneous industries, light and heavy, parks and recreation grounds and special school and college grounds, and in the remodelling of cities and the laying out of city blocks, these various constituents must be considered in their relations to each other. This involves various forms of communication, such as streams of traffic, land and water transportation, both of passengers and products, and a con- sideration of the sources of the city's raw materials and the methods whereby they are transported to and from the city. A seaport city or one on a river offers an entirely different problem from the inland city, drawing all its supplies by rail. The future expansion of a city is also one of the most ^ ^ - S 5 < ;- o' Q <-. ^ J s s ^ "^ ^ ^ § < Oh Q W K E Q Z < M 2 o H 5 H t. O z Q K THE GROUND PLAN 41 important problems of the civic engineer, and the most careful attention should be paid to the probable direction of its growth, the presence of natural obstacles and of na- tural incentives to growth. The problem of the civic engineer will be greatly sim- plified in this respect, if proper regulations are enforced, as growth along the most desirable avenues can then be stimulated, and the deflections incident to real estate speculation and other causes avoided. Presuming that the civic engineer is in position to plan the city with the assurance that regulations will be such Fig. 7. great ground plan, karlsruhe An exceptionally well-planned city, full of individuality and variety. The portion above the median line of the great circle is a forest park. The building regulations provide for sixteen zones. that the plan will be carried out; perhaps the most nearly ideal ground plan, from a theoretical point of view, is that in which the main civic center is placed in the center of the city, with concentric circumferential streets at intervals surrounding it, interconnected with radial, diagonal and transverse streets. Such a plan, which may be termed the circular plan, while showing up well on paper, is not without its serious disadvantages, and it does not work out in practice as satis- factorily as might be supposed. Circumferential streets become just as monotonous as straight streets, and to 42 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE relieve this effect, diagonal and transverse streets must be cut through, producing the necessary focal points, but at considerable waste of small irregular shaped spaces. The effect produced is of a city with little or no individuality. The circular plan is, so to speak, a machine-made plan, and its adoption would result in a sort of standardized city, all monotonously similar to each other. In order to have individuality of its own, a city must be composed of portions each of which has its own individual- ity. This individuality is dependent upon its street plan, its buildings, and the way in which they are arranged to strike the eye. In order that a portion of a city may have its own individuality, it must in some way be demarked from the remainder. Such demarkation cannot be accomplished when all the streets run to great lengths, as mere extent defeats the sense of unity, presenting so much for the eye to see and the mind to grasp that any feeling of individual- ity is lost. Streets should not, therefore, be of great and indefinite length. Even the most important avenues should run from one point to another, and not be extended out into the rural districts. Similarly, local streets should have definite limits, and their length should be less if they are narrow than if they are wide. They may often, with advantage, terminate against other streets in T or L plan, or they may be placed out of parallel and at varying distances, since uniformity in the length of blocks defeats the sense of individuality also. In local parts of the city, the eye should always find an object on which to fall, either of buildings at the ends of streets, monuments at intersections or other streets diver- ging. Only on getting out into the main avenues should comparatively long vistas be found. The principles outlined are the fruit of the experience of city builders of the past, applied to modern conditions, and the past has been full of mistakes. Many cities have been built on more or less idealized plans, and while in some such cases, the result has been pleasing from an aesthetic point THE GROUND PLAN 43 Q O H O g S O iz; ►J < O O Z O O H U z a a 00 d 44 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE - of view, the tendency has been to pay too Uttle considera- tion to individuahty, and Uttle if any to practical considera- tions and industrial developments. The utility of the city, as distinguished from its beautifi- cation, demands a greater degree of attention than has been accorded it, and the response to this demand by German cities has been largely responsible for their progress. The German city building movement produced great, practical city builders, and as a result of their labors, the United Society of German Architects and Engineers, in 1874, laid down the fundamental principles of city planning as follows : "The basic principles of enlarging a city, considered from the technical, the economical and the administrative points of view are: "(1) The scope of city planning consists principally in fixing the base lines of all trafTic movements and transit facilities, viz.: streets, street cars, railroads and canals, which must be treated liberally and systematically. "(2) The street net should contain the main streets, with the existing streets taken duly into consideration; the auxiliary streets which are fixed by local conditions, and in addition, other subordinate streets, treated in accordance with the necessities of the immediate future, or having their development placed in the hands of interested property owners. " (3) The grouping of the parts of the city should be effected in accordance with their location and individual characteristics, subject to such modifications as may be demanded by sanitary considerations and the exigencies of commerce and industry. "(4) The duty of the building department is to deter- mine the rights and privileges of tenant and neighbor and house owner. Such rights and privileges are related to fire protection, freedom from interference, health, and safety of buildings, and all aesthetic considerations must be second- ary thereto. THE GROUND PLAN 45 " (5) It is desirable that expropriation and impropriation be facilitated by legal measures, and of still more impor- tance is the creation of a law providing for the regulation of the contour of new or reconstructed blocks to be built upon. "(6) The city should be reimbursed by property holders directly benefited by improvements for funds advanced by the city for such purposes, and it is advisable to have the amount stipulated before the work is begun and a normal cost per front foot fixed. "(7) The activities of interested property owners' asso- ciations, in regard to the improvement of certain sections, should be subject to municipal supervision. " (8) Land upon which it is imperative to make improve- ments should only be built upon under reservations for its subsequent use by the city. "The property owner whose land has been marked out for street improvements should be entitled to demand expropriation with compensation, in the event of delay in making the improvements. "The installation of sewer connections to new buildings must be at the expense of the property holder, but the city should be obligated to install a complete system upon the guarantees of a sufficient number of property owners of abutting property." As has been pointed out, the work of Baumeister is pre- eminent among the great practical city builders, and ex- cerpts from his book, " Stadterweiterungen in technischer, baupolizeilicher und wirtschaftlicher Beziehung" (1876), are of the greatest interest. "In the city of the future, there will be three principal divisions; a business section as a core, an industrial dis- trict, including possibly wholesaling, and a residential dis- trict. It is therefore important that all large cities of the future, from the outset, should keep these principles in view. It must be recognized that the development of a city;.;is confined to these three divisions and that they are inter- dependent in their development, though for the necessities 46 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE of an immediate future, piecemeal progress may be made with subordinate projects. "To each basic division belongs main streets, railroads and drainage canals, together with the grouping of industrial districts and the selection of places for public buildings and promenades. The immediate object is not to complete the planning at once, but to gain control of the ground which will be needed. "In a good street net, distinction must be made between the main streets and the auxiliary streets. There must not only be variety in the city as a whole, but also in its various districts. "Symmetry in grouping of buildings, picturesque per- spective of streets and places and well-chosen points of observation, and attractive successions of buildings con- stitute the individual elements of a satisfactory architectural impression. "The straight stretches of the arterial highways of the city should gradually be transformed as the suburbs are reached, into forms more characteristic of rural life, with curves and deflections. While additional time will be con- sumed in traversing such streets, the life of the city has been left behind and the enjoyments of the country reached. The further such avenues proceed, the more rural in char- acter should they become. "The historically trained artist turns naturally in con- templation to the past. He reconstructs in his imagination the admirable structures of antiquity, and delights in present picturesque examples of the middle ages, such as seen at Danzig, Liibeck and Niirnberg. When in a group of build- ings, the lining private buildings are supported by a suit- able structure of prominence as a focal objective, a pleasing street picture results. But, can the charm of these old street pictures be completely reproduced? By no means, as the mellowing effects of generations of time are altogether missing. "When, however, the monotony of the enormously long straight streets of modern cities has to be endured, with H a S < « u o CQ < D o z < 5 2 Z .£ 5 ;| i 1 2 J c a o a o THE GROUND PLAN 47 their interminable lines of similar structures, the artistic principles upon which the old cities were founded should be remembered. "Much more important is the difference in the direction and width of the streets, which existed at that time and those of to-day. There were then many narrow streets, with numerous turns and deflections, and seldom any straight building line of any considerable length, the houses or groups of houses often projecting beyond or standing back from the building line, while the width of the streets was constantly changing and their axes interrupted by monu- ments and fountains. To-day the width is unchanging, and there are straight building lines, hours long. In those days the principles of variety and unsymmetry produced pleasing artistic effects, but to-day the best that can be done is to produce bald effects of massive proportions. "Nevertheless, the straight street is unsuited to a rolling or hilly configuration of the land, and although a city street may be built in a more direct fashion than may a country road, it is nevertheless the part of wisdom not to attempt to overcome the too reckless works of nature. "While it can by no means be recommended that the Building departments should be so careless as to permit buildings to disregard the building line, or to adopt the principle of the bent streets in defiance of the necessities of traffic, there are still, however, many principles then fol- lowed which, in the new city planning, could be employed with great advantage in producing architectural effects. "Thus in cities in which there is already a core, as was the case in most of the old cities, the radial system of streets is to-day, as it was then, one which with advantage may be adopted. From a city, when neither natural or artificial obstacles prevent, in order to reach and develop industrial and commercial enterprises and to communicate with other places, streets and roads will of their own accord take radial form, reaching in every direction. Such radial ten- dencies show the natural direction of traffic between city and country and for that reason, even to the smallest foot- 48 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE way over the fields, they must be attended, as often the by-path of to-day becomes the road of the future. "When a city has, through the provision of open spaces, performed that part of its duty in promoting the health of its public, it should still further see that such spaces are suitably provided with trees and vegetation, for the good influence thereby exerted has long been physiologically Fig. 9. plan of a city with radical and circumferential avenues A-A, Existing City; B-B, Railroad Stations; H-H, Canal Harbors; S-S-S-S, Belt Railway Stations. recognized. But of greater importance is the spiritual stir- ring produced, especially in the German peoples, the result of the communion of humanity with nature. The poetry of the forest, the enjoyment of walking and the observation of nature and the innocent play of children with animals are all evidences of this feeling. "In our modern cities, with their unbounded expansion and with the plants of industry and traffic located over a wide radius, there is a tendency for business life to con- centrate in the heart of the city, and at the same time for THE GROUND PLAN 49 homes to locate in the quietness of the country. It is important, therefore, in the estabhshment of such pleasur- able places of residence, in the course of city improvement, in order that the needs of the body and the soul be met, that the housing question be carefully considered. The provision of facilities of such a character is a duty that the city owes to its public, especially the middle and poorer classes, but of importance to all. "In the city itself, and especially in the city of the future, vegetation is particularly desirable to quiet the nerves in the disturbing influence of noise and bustle, to revive the spirits after exhausting labor and to restore the temper. "Closely connected therewith, the aesthetic relation of architecture and vegetation must not be forgotten. In a great city, the surface of the earth should nowhere be left bare, but should always be treated in a naturalistic spirit. By means of trees, decorative gardens and grass plots, the effect of buildings can be greatly improved and embel- lished. Such elements may be employed most effectively when used to surround architectural groups with borders, backgrounds and in the spaces of vistas. "In addition to the public parks, cemeteries and wood- lands requisite, are the numerous decorative parks, for which the public is largely indebted to the enterprise of earlier and ruling princes, but which, nevertheless, seem in no city to be sufficiently numerous, and it is to be urgently recommended that more should be provided, or at least the land therefor acquired before the opportunity is lost through the progress of building operations." The principles upon which Baumeister based his work have proven to be sound and of great practical value, not only in the beautification of cities, but in the solution of the interlocking social, industrial and commercial problems. Some of the accompanying illustrations are of the ground plans of cities which have been planned to include the highly important elements pointed out, those of variety and individuality. 50 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Very excellent examples are seen in the cities of Moscow and Karlsruhe. The street plan of Constantinople is peculiar in that there are a great number of curved streets. The city of Nancy is known as a city of great individuality, as will be evidenced by the plan. The city of Mannheim is pecul- iar in that though the principal portion of the city is of the gridiron plan, it is relieved by a large horseshoe. Many American cities may find in this treat- ment, the cue for a proper remodelling of their interminable gridirons. It is the general impression that Washington is one Fig. 10. GREAT GROUND PLAN OF THE NEW Qf 1\^q {3^5^ \^[^ q^^ DELHI, THE CAPITAL CITY OF INDIA ^-^-^^ -^^ ^^^ ^nitcd The construction was begun at the Durbar. o . , i , i States, and the ac- companying illustration shows its great ground plan. It will be seen that the plan consists of a gridiron, through which are run a system of diagonal avenues. While Washington is undoubtedly one of the best planned cities in America, it only partially exemplifies what are to-day recognized as the best principles of city planning. The plan of Washing- ton is such that it shows its great monumental structures to good advantage, but otherwise, with the exception of the squares produced by the intersections of the straight diag- onals with the gridiron streets, it is lacking in variety and interest, and has all the monotony of long streets. THE GROUND PLAN 51 Much the same objection may be made to some of the principal streets of Paris, which are not sufficiently demarked to produce a proper degree of individuality. In 1902 a Committee of the Senate made an elaborate report on the improvement of Washington, which indicates, at least, that such an improvement is considered desirable. The great ground plan of Buffalo excels that of Wash- ington, and is notable among the city plans of the cities of the United States. It was early realized that a great city would develop in the vicinity of Niagara, and proceeding on this conviction, the site of Buffalo was the result of a sagaciously made selection. It is located where it is, not as an accident of growth, but in pursuance of a carefully considered plan. Joseph Ellicott, an agent of the Holland Land Company, laid out the city in 1801-02, calling it New Amsterdam. Ellicott is known as the "Father of Buffalo" and the city owes him a debt of gratitude of far greater proportions than is generally realized, for while other cities are spending great sums in reconstructing their street plans, Buffalo enjoys the great heritage of a well-conceived and well-executed plan, the fruit of his genius and foresight. Joseph Ellicott was a younger brother of Andrew Elli- cott, the first surveyor-general of the United States, and the man who completed the city of Washington on the designs of the great French city planner, L'Enfant. The younger brother, himself, did considerable work on Wash- ington, and when he came to plan Buffalo, he knew the true theories and laid out the city accordingly. After him the art of city planning in America seems to have died, for with the exception of Washington and Buffalo, American cities are almost wholly built at haphazard. As the result, however, of a recently awakened interest, millions in money are being spent by cities throughout the country in remodelling their streets. Buffalo, with her plan, is saved such necessity and may thus devote to other purposes sums which would have had to be spent in reconstruction but for the work of Ellicott. As has been indicated, in order to hold the development 52 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE of a city to its plan, stringent regulations must be put in force. Washington, for example, has not developed as was ~i ^^SnfTir™- Fig. 11. GREAT GROUND PLAN OF CARBERRA, THE PROPOSED NEW CAPITAL CITY OF AUSTRALIA the intention of its planners, and no city will, unless prop- erly compelled to. While numerous objections are likely PROPOSED CITY HALL PLAZA, PHILADELPHIA Palace of Justice in center. City Hall at the right PROPOSED REARRANGEMENT OF W A I I HWAVS, CHICAGO Handling freight and tragic on different levels as in Di'isseldorf, Algiers, Biida-Pest, Geneva and Paris THE GROUND PLAN 53 to be raised to the enforcement of such regulations, they will be trivial beside the benefits to be gained. Such objec- tions prove of little weight when regulations are put in practice, for far more drastic ones are constantly being carried out. For example, in New York, in the case of Fifth Avenue and Riverside Drive, and in similar streets in other cities, heavy traffic and push-cart peddling is prohibited. On West End Avenue, business and traffic are halted at 70th Street, and above that point a most remarkable transforma- tion occurs. It is as though a Chinese wall had been erected, for to the southward, where the thoroughfare is called Eleventh Avenue, are tenements and factories, railroad yards, slaughter houses and storage yards of the most un- sightly character, it being the base of the San Juan Hill section, inhabited by negroes. Above the dividing line, however, is one of the finest and quietest residential dis- tricts of the city, the houses being surrounded by lawns, a most unusual circumstance on Manhattan Island. No more striking effect of regulation could be found than at this point. It always works out that the stricter the regulations, the greater will be the degree of real personal liberty enjoyed by the whole public, for lack of regulation, with consequent private license, is always destructive of the interests of all except those who wish to encroach upon the rights of others. In fact, the desirability of building regulation is always so great, that it is often carried out by private initiative, as for example in the suburbs of American cities in which the land is sold with certain restrictions as to the minimum cost of the buildings to be erected. Often, also, there is a prohibition of the use of property for certain purposes, such as for the sale of intoxicants and the like. There are, in fact, a far greater number of regulations in effect than is generally recalled. In many cities saloons are forbidden in certain neighborhoods and within certain distances of schools or churches, while the social evil has often been confined to a certain district or districts, as in 54 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Washington, where a large section near the White House has until very recently been devoted to it, and in Baltimore, where a number of small sections were set apart. Traffic is also forbidden in hospital streets and on school streets during the hours children are going to and from school. Smoke nuisances are prohibited and various kinds of noises are illegal. In some cities, already, the height of buildings is controlled, as will be indicated later, and more and more are we coming to realize that true freedom is found in proper regulation. CHAPTER V ARTERIAL HIGHWAYS Arrangement of Highways; Width of Streets; Cutting New Streets In considering the various problems of traffic to be solved, the principles of city planning, as have been indi- cated, should guide the work. The purpose of the city should be kept in view and carried out in the best possible manner. A city is in reality a kind of apparatus or mechanism consisting of fixed places in which to live, work and be amused, with means of access thereto and means of trans- portation of products to and from desired points. The first duty of the city is to furnish a free means of access, belonging to the public, to the private property of each individual. Such avenues of communication in the rural districts are called roads, and are widely separated, but in cities they are multiplied and called streets. It must always be possible, and it is possible, for a citizen to take to the highways and reach, without interference, the land of any other citizen throughout the United States. In a city, the arrangement of highways must be such that the citizens who traverse them in great numbers may be enabled to reach their destinations with the greatest possible despatch, for a large part of the time of the public is consumed in merely going from place to place. The daily movements of the population should thus be studied with the utmost thoroughness and the streets laid out so that access to the different parts of the city may be had from all the other parts in the most direct manner possible. A question of great importance to the civic engineer in the laying out of such a plan is that of grades, as many 56 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE cities are built on hills of greater or less height, and the arrangement of streets and avenues must be such as to overcome in the most effective manner such natural obstacles. One of the best methods of laying out a city, as has been £! l a.-......„ w.{^ . ,^ £k: — i.— - 5 — 10 1. _ 60 Figs. 12, 13, and 14. cross sections of proposed arterial streets, BERLIN A, Elevated and Street Railway; B, Subway and Street Railway; C, Sunken Rapid Transit and Street Railway. The Figures are in meters {1 meter equals 3.28 feet); the Streets are 196.8 feet wide. pointed out, is that of radial streets leading to the principal center, with circumferential concentric streets, but sufficient variety must enter into such a layout to obviate its faults. The principal stream of passenger traffic during the day is between the better residential districts and the civic and office building districts, between the homes of work- ARTERIAL HIGHWAYS 57 men and factory districts, between both the residential dis- tricts and homes of workmen and the retail districts, and in the evening between the various residential districts and places of amusement and recreation. Radial avenues leading thus to the civic center, adjoin- ing which may be placed the retail district, and similar D SiaLQ, Figs. 15, 16 and 17. cross section of proposed arterial streets, BERLIN D, Sunken Street Railway; E, Rapid Transit Railway between two Automobile Roads with elevated overhead Passageway for Pedestrians; F, Rapid Transit Railway between two Automobile Roads with overhead Street Crossings. The Figures are in meters {I meter equals 3.28 feet). important avenues into the shipping and manufacturing districts will take care of the main passenger and pedestrian traffic during the day, while at night the amusement center is ordinarily reached over the same lines of traffic, since it is usually found between the retail and the residential districts. 58 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE There is no great need for important streets between the various residential districts of a city, as the traffic between them is light. Through such districts, however, a driveway or boulevard may be run. A pleasing drive is thus afforded, which adds greatly to the attractiveness of the city. In order to afford ample facilities for traffic and at the same time to avoid unnecessary outlays, streets in varying widths should be provided. It will usually be found that streets of three different widths will suffice for practically all purposes; that is to say, main thoroughfares, secondary thoroughfares and local streets. As a rule, it is better to err on the side of having streets too wide than too narrow. A city should have as a mini- mum, 20 per cent of its area devoted to streets, while 40 per cent is a far better allowance. The streets of the city of Washington, which are unusually wide and imposing, occupy 54 per cent of the city's total area. A Prussian law of 1875, enacted to cover the streets of Berlin, prescribed that the main streets should be 95 feet or more in width, secondary thoroughfares from 65 to 95 feet and the local streets from 40 to 65 feet. Another standard for secondary German cities, such as Diisseldorf, Cologne and Frankfort, etc., is: main thoroughfares, 85 to 120 feet, secondary thoroughfares, 50 to 80 feet and local streets, 35 to 48 feet. The Royal Commission on London Traffic in the report of 1905, states: "The chief difficulty that stands in the way of improving the means of locomotion in London is the narrowness of the streets, and the fact that they were not originally laid out on any general plan." The Commission recommended the following widths: main avenues, 140 feet; first-class arterial streets, 100 feet; second-class arterial streets, 80 feet; third class, 60 feet, and fourth class, 40 to 50 feet, the width in each case to include the footways on either side, and no street to be less than 40 feet in width. a CQ CO «; cc a s ^ - J 9 3 Z .Si a ? < o < (I. K < ^ ARTERIAL HIGHWAYS 59 The widths of the more prominent avenues in European cities are as follows: Avenue des Champs Elysees, Paris 250 feet Reeperbahn, Hamburg 210 " Unter den Linden, Berlin 190 " Ring-Strasse, Vienna 185 " Belle Alliance Strasse, Berlin 160 " Andrassy, Buda-Pest 145 " Avenue Henri Martin, Paris 130 " Whitehall, London 120-145 " Victoria Embankment, London 120 " Potsdamer Strasse, Berhn 110 " Friedrich Wilhelm Strasse, Berlin 110 " Princes Street, Edinburgh 100 " George Street, Edinburgh 100 " Avenue de I'Opera, Paris 98 " Parisian Boulevards, Paris 98 " Holborn Viaduct, London 90 " Regent Street Quadrant, London 85 " Piccadilly, London 75 " Queen Victoria Street, London 70 " The first consideration in determining the width of streets should be the volume of traffic which they will be called upon to accommodate. After making allowance for street car lines, of some twenty feet for a double track system, the next consideration is whether the street is to be wide enough for one line of vehicles on each side of the car tracks or more than one. All streets, however, on which car lines are run, should be of such width that a delivery wagon may be backed up to the curb and room still be left, when the horse is turned parallel with the street, for the street car to pass. In figuring the width of the street necessary to accommodate two lines of vehicles on either side of the car track, allowance should be made of from seven to nine feet per line of vehicles, depending on the nature of the vehicular traffic, the figure of nine feet being for the purpose of accommodating the large motor trucks which are coming into use in many cities. The width of sidewalks is generally placed at one-third of the width of the whole street, that is, one-sixth on either 60 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE side, though it may be greater when pedestrian traffic is above the normal. Mr. John Nolen in a paper read before the Third Na- tional conference on City Planning, at Philadelphia, May 17, 1911, gave a table showing how the widths of streets from 48 to 108 feet is made up. Main Thoroughfare A double-track car line 20 feet 6 lines of vehicles, 3 on each side of tracks, 8 feet each . . 48 " 20 lines of pedestrians, 10 lines on each of the two sidewalks, 2 feet each 40 " Total 108 feet Secondary Thoroughfare A double-track car line 20 feet 4 lines of vehicles, 2 on each side of tracks, 8 feet each . . 32 " 16 lines of pedestrians, 8 lines on each of the two sidewalks, 2 feet each 32 " Total 84 feet Local Streets Roadway of 3 lines of vehicles, 8 feet each 24 feet 12 lines of pedestrians, 6 lines on each of the two sidewalks, 2 feet each 24 " Total 48 feet That streets should be of ample width cannot too often be insisted. It is, indeed, one of the cardinal principles of modern city planning. In Berlin, where street widening is constantly being carried on and new streets constructed, a great deal of attention is given to the subject. A competition was recently held in which large prizes were offered for the best projects for improving and en- larging the city's plan. The first prize was won by Prof. Joseph Brix and Prof. Felix Genzmer in collaboration. The diagrams Figs. 12 to 17 illustrate some of the forms of street construction proposed by them. ARTERIAL HIGHWAYS 61 Figs. 18 and 19. replanning of several main street arteries in frankfort on the main The upper figure shows the original and the lower the new Street Plan 62 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Diagrams A, B and C are laid out for streets having a width of 60 meters (186.8 feet). It will be seen that the first contains an elevated road, the second a subway and the third a depressed railroad in an open trench with culverts at cross streets. A surface car line is on each side of the rapid transit road. Between the sidewalk and the building line, a space is left for grass and shrubbery. Diagrams E and F show much wider streets, E being 72 meters (236.1 feet) and F, 70 meters (229.6 feet). Plans similar to E and F have also been prepared for Paris by the French engineer Frank. Plan E is a kind of overland street or motor parkway for high speed electric traction and automobiles. At certain intervals the motor and traction lines of the street may be crossed on super- structures which afford access to the stations of the express lines. In diagram F, the superstructure is replaced by a bridge, the motor and traction lines being depressed in an open trench, with retaining walls. On a street having a width of forty feet more, slopes may be substituted for the retaining walls, as indicated by the dotted lines. Boulevards should always be limited in some manner in length, if not by terminals, then by changes in direction, since too long a stretch of straight street degenerates into a blurred and characterless horizon, monotonous and uninterest- ing. Streets and avenues too long and too straight are an evil, as has been pointed out, suffered even by cities famous for their city planning. Paris, for example, has too many streets with vistas dwindling into nothingness. The world- famous Champs Elysees is of such a character. New York is almost wholly composed of such streets. Broadway from Bowling Green to Grace Church is an uninterrupted line, while even longer stretches characterize the street, which extends through a number of towns to the north, continuing to bear the name of Broadway. Fifth Avenue and other New York streets, in fact streets in almost all American cities, are ruined by their inordinate lengths in straight lines. ARTERIAL HIGHWAYS 63 The principle of variety, one of the cardinal principles of design, is thus disregarded. In the modern science of city planning, streets should be of definite lengths, properly terminated, or curved or changed otherwise in direction, and by no means necessarily of the same width throughout. The eye should rest at easy distances upon columns, arches, Figs. 20 and 20a. plan and perspective view of street and bridge APPROACHES AT FREIGHT YARD AND RAILROAD TERMINALS, BERLIN statues, fountains, facades or other suitable objectives, and the quality of unity thus be gained. Without a termi- nal, a vista is meaningless, ^^^lat, for example, would the Avenue de I'Opera be without the closure of the Grand Opera House, Rue Royale without the Madelaine, Avenue Victoria without the Hotel de Ville, the Vienna Burgring without the Parliament building, the Reichrathsstrasse with- out the Votiv Kirke and Unter den Linden without the Brandenburg Tor? An interesting feature of modern city planning abroad is the constantly progressing reorganization of focal points. 64 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Thus where a number of streets join, a study is made of the conditions, and the juncture, if necessary, entirely replatted and a suitable structure erected in such a position as to be seen to the best effect on the axis, or main street leading to it. In this way, the center is unified and given a new individuality. In the undertakings of city planning, foreign cities do not hesitate at expense. Paris has spent $265,000,000 on its reconstruction. London in new streets has spent $100,000,- 000 and the new Commission has under way expenditures which will amount to $125,000,000 more. Berlin is expending $80,000,000. That expenditures for the betterment of traffic conditions are justified is shown by a calculation made with reference to an improvement in a portion of St. Louis, the cutting through of Gravois Avenue to 13th Street, a short stretch of three blocks. It is estimated that the saving in time to those using the cut-off would amount to $500,000 a year. The calculation is on the following basis: The saving would amount to ten minutes a day each way for every person travelling over the road. In a year this would total 100 hours, which at 20 cents an hour means a saving of $20 a year, per person, or for a traffic of 25,000 daily, but one twenty-eighth of the city's population, the aggregate of $500,000 per annum. This is merely for a small improvement in a city of no great size and in a section by no means crowded. What such savings mean in more congested districts of the greater cities may readily be understood. An important improvement of this character recently proposed, is that of a diagonal street from the Pennsylvania Terminal at 7th Avenue and 32d Street, New York, to the Grand Central Terminal at Fourth Avenue and 42d Street. Such a new avenue would intersect Broadway at 37th Street and reach 5th Avenue at 40th Street at the corner of the new Library, 40th Street then being widened to Park or Fourth Avenue to join the approach to the Grand Central Depot at 42d Street. ARTERIAL HIGHWAYS 65 fflnn ElB auB "SDDgaDDDDDnmDDOa sss,^[i]ODnDDDnDo^^aBaiig£]i§o5 ODDSggfflDDOBgfflao^i r\r-?!-z]rrf=J *>J:. g s t; C C s ■S c C V, o a ■Si c: o 72 o o u < a. > t/3 E-i U a K oo fc, O H Z C/3 J J w M STREETS UP-TO-DATE 73 rental should be paid to the city for the storage of building materials in the streets, such as sand, stone, etc., and for the use of the streets for mortar beds and hoisting engines. When platforms over sidewajiks are required, they should in no case be higher than three steps, or two feet above the sidewalk level, while the rental for the second and third steps should be progressively higher. In large cities especially, the continual erection of new buildings proves a source of the greatest inconvenience to the public, and renders the streets unsightly and dangerous. It is customary to erect a heavy bridge over the sidewalk, along the frontage, arid this re- mains a fixture for from three to six months or more. As soon as it is removed, another appears somewhere in the neighborhood, and a chronic condition of disturbance is the result. Such temporary structures may with little expense be made of a decorative nature, instead of being left spots of ugliness. The timbers should be dressed and painted, and corners fitted in a neat manner, the roof tight and the whole finished with latticework painted green, or some other such decorative treatment given. Large advertisements should not be permitted, but a small one, stating the name of the architect, the contractor, and the name of the building or purpose for which it is to be occupied, may be permitted. Such a plan of treatment has great advertising value and disposes the public favorably to the whole undertaking. It is a paying proposition. At the suggestion of the Municipal Art Commission, it is being voluntarily adopted to a con- siderable extent in New York City. It should, however, be a matter of law, as the unsightliness of building operations is a nuisance to the public and a distinct loss to the merchants of the neighborhood. During such operation, certain classes of building materials stored and in use and rubbish being removed should be wetted down to prevent dust. Space under the sidewalks should not be given over to private uses. Fire hydrants, especially in prominent streets, if not placed against the building wall, should be sunk below the surface, not only for the sake of the appearance of the 74 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE street, but to obviate danger of freezing in winter. Covers for such hydrants should be flush with the sidewalk, and properly marked. Objection may be made that in case of fire, such hydrants would be difficult to find, but this is overcome by signs placed on the buildings, directly over the hydrant, in the form of a red H, and by other sign inter- mediate, with arrows pointing both ways, giving the number of meters to the fire hydrants in either direction. Letter boxes should be placed on the houses instead of on posts, and should be provided in ample numbers and painted a noticeable color. In Germany, they are painted a golden yellow. The names of streets should preferably be placed on the corners of buildings, and each of the four corners should have the names of both streets. This is a cheaper and more effective method than the placing of signs on posts, which obstruct the sidewalk, and which, owing to the expense, are usually only placed on two of the corners, diagonally. The post method, is, however, at times a necessity. When electric light posts are placed on the corners, a good form of street sign consists of a frame of four sides, carrying the names of the streets, two sides of the frame being parallel and the other two sides converging inwardly, the shorter parallel side, about 12 inches long, bearing the name of the main street and facing that street, while the long parallel side, bearing the same name, is turned towards the sidewalk, and is clearly visible to one approaching along the side street. The name of the side street is placed on the two converging sides, and therefore more clearly visible from street cars than if placed at right angles. Thfe placing of such signs on lighting posts enables them to be seen readily at night. The combination of a white letter on a blue ground has proven to be the best arrangement of colors. No temporary stanchions for awnings should be per- mitted on the sidewalks, or awnings or canopies erected, leading from the building to the curb, as is done by hotels, churches, restaurants, dry goods stores and private hostesses. STREETS UP-TO-DATE 75 If desired for permanent uses on hotels, stores, and the like, they should be permanent structures of appropriate design, without advertisements, and carried from the building itself. Marquises for windows should in no case be less than eight feet above the sidewalk. Advertising signs or signs of any nature should not pro- ject from the building unless at least twelve feet above the sidewalk, and in no case should they project more than three or four feet. Any other method is unsightly and dangerous, while no useful purpose is served by the senseless competi- tion in signs which results when no regulations are enforced. No building should carry any sign except that of the business conducted in it, and the size and design of large signs on the tops of the buildings, of a permanent or semi- permanent nature, should be approved by the City Art commission. A city may b'e said to have two individualities, or to produce two impressions: that created by its appearance during the day and that by its appearance at night. The latter is likely to be the more picturesque, and it is not infrequently the impression by which the city is best known. For this reason, as well as for the convenience and safety of its citizens, it is the duty of a city to have its lighting system planned with as much care and attention as is devoted to any other phase of its design. Lamp posts, although a necessity, offer at the same time opportunities for decorative treatment, and they may thus be made to serve as an embellishment to the city, both by day and by night. Wiring, however, should, wherever possi- ble, be carried underground. In Germany the best practice in street illumination is to have powerful flaming arc lamps swung at some height, rather than to have more numerous and smaller lamps placed at a lower elevation. Although the tungsten lamp was originated and developed in Germany, it is very little used for street lighting in that country. Very few American streets would pass muster as to illumination in Germany, and it should therefore be the duty of American lighting 76 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE engineers to study the factors which have made for success there. A new tungsten light for street illumination is coming into use abroad, however, the nitrogen-filled tungsten lamp, which runs up to from 2,000 to 5,000 candle-power and which may be developed up to 10,000, candle-power, far in excess of the arc lamp. It is the most economical of the high-power lamps and even superior to the arc lamp for street lighting. As will be seen by the accompanying illu"stratioattleshifi maneuDers The Imperial Yacht C.hih Building in the foreground THE JUNGFEKNSTIE(;, HAMBURG Picturesque water-front sguare and landing platform HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS 97 enormous factor in the development of the Western states. Indeed its effect on the commerce of the whole country will prove highly stimulating, while foreign countries, even more than the United States, foresee its advantages. The Ham- burg-American line is building a great number of vessels particularly adapted for the canal trade. New York will also share in the benefits of the opening of the canal, since the distance to the Pacific ports will be so greatly reduced. Honolulu will be but 4,465 miles, Yoko- hama, 10,046 and Hong Kong, 11,607 miles. The Panama Canal will undoubtedly prove the greatest boon to commerce of any artificial waterway ever constructed or ever possible of construction. Another work of great importance being undertaken is the seaboard canal, a series of waterways connecting landlocked water areas along the Atlantic, which, when finished, will enable barges to be towed from Boston to the Gulf without going out into the sea, or exposure to storms. It is the duty of all American cities located on water- ways, to use every effort to increase their harbor facilities, for water transportation, owing to its cheapness, enables merchants to sell goods at lower prices and at greater profit, and stimulates every line of industry. It is far better for a country to have a large number of thriving maritime cities, than to have its whole commerce handled by a few large ports. With fair railroad rates, which are now assured by the Interstate Commerce Com- mission, and with the opening of the canal, American cities which are seaports should experience a great increase in prosperity. They should be prepared to take every ad- vantage of it by proper harbor facilities. CHAPTER VIII BRIDGES AND BRIDGE APPROACHES Esthetic Features — Co-operation of Engineer and Architect — Bridge Approaches — Various Types of Bridges Of all the structures erected, the bridge is possessed of the greatest individuality, unity and feeling. It is at once an inspiration and a utility, and it marks as no other struc- ture does the progress of man from barbarism to civilization. It is one of his greatest triumphs over nature's obstacles, for it is not only an evidence of his ability to merely construct, that is to place one stone upon another, but of his ability to think and so to utilize the forces of nature as to cause one stone to stand upon another with nothing directly beneath. A building can never produce the sense of unity of the bridge and thus can never inspire as the bridge does, because while portions of a building may be eliminated and still leave it a building, the elimination of a portion of a bridge means its destruction for the purposes for which it is erected. The bridge occupies thus a unique position among the structures of man, approached only by the dam, to which, however, it is far superior, since the dam always lacks in the sense of self-evident security which the bridge imparts. Not only is the bridge unique in its position among struc- tures, but it is the largest single structure erected by man and the most costly. It is also highly important in point of numbers and in the investment involved. There are for example some 80,000 metal bridges in the United States or one for every three miles of railroad, and they aggregate 1,400 miles in length, representing an investment of 3800,000,000, or several times the cost of the Panama Canal. The sub- ject of bridges is therefore one which demands the most BRIDGES AND BRIDGE APPROACHES 99 careful attention of all who have to deal with it. It is not a subject which should be reserved to the officials and en- gineers in charge, but is one in which the public should take an active and decisive interest. When a bridge of any con- sequence is to be erected the designs should be open to public inspection, and all objections and suggestions should be dealt with in advance. All phases of the question should be considered: the aesthetic appearance of the bridge, its engineering features, its location, capacity, future uses, cost, operation costs, durability, materials and efTect on the city's growth, and only after a thorough consideration of every feature should its construction be proceeded with. The pleasing psychological and aesthetic effects of bridges have been recognized since the earliest times, but great bridges are a result of modern invention, being dependent upon the cheap production of steel for their evolution, since stone bridges have never been constructed in anything like the great spans of the modern steel bridges. The railroad, too, has greatly increased the necessity for bridges, so that except for the comparatively small stone bridges of ancient and mediaeval times, the principles of which were early mastered, bridge building is a modern science. The success achieved has been little less than stupendous in a material and engineering sense, for enormous structures have been erected which meet the demands of traffic and the various conditions which were presented. In two respects, however, the modern bridge is for the most part a great failure. It is neither artistic nor will it have the long life of the ancient bridges. The Romans two thousand years ago built bridges which are in use to-day, but no modern metal bridge even with the most careful attention can be expected to last even a small part of such a period. Even if protected from the action of the elements, the steel which might then be reasonably expected to last indefinitely will be subject to crystallization from the effects of vibration. Thus all our steel bridges are temporary structures. This, however will in the most cases prove a matter of congratu- 100 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE lation, as when they pass away, they will be undoubtedly replaced by more artistic structures. Only our stone bridges, however, may be expected to endure into the eras of new races, if such are to succeed us. But the more striking defect in our bridge construction is the lack of artistic talent shown in their design. For the most part they are like skyscrapers, masterpieces of ugliness and purely utilitarian in every sense. In the pressure to get enough bridges built to accommodate the traffic, they have been built with little or no sense of aesthetic effect, and are accordingly without beauty or individuality. The engineers have been wholly content to erect bridges that would stand up, but while successful in this, the ap- pearance of the bridge has been utterly neglected, for the great majority of bridges are of not too good engineering design, containing far more metal than is necessary in cer- tain parts while other parts too little. This is proven by the frequent strengthening of and additions to existing bridges, the removal of tracks, and their unnecessarily high cost. Thus our engineers can only be credited with the roughest kind of work, which is not to be wondered at, since the mind that would be satisfied with an aesthetically ugly bridge cannot be expected to avoid imperfections in the practical side of the bridge's design. The great importance thus of the bridge, both in the practical and aesthetic life of the city, demands that its design and construction receive the utmost care and atten- tion. No single part of the plan of a city, with the exception of the civic center, is of greater importance than its bridges. The civic center may be likened to the main hallway of a building and the bridges to the portals. Often the first impression of a city and frequently the most lasting one is gained from a bridge, and as the entrance to the city it should be treated with the dignity it deserves and be made a feature of the city's plan rather than a mere encroachment of a utilitarian nature. A bridge should be considered aesthetically from three principal points of view: the bridge itself, the bridge in its WATER FRONT PARK AND LIGHT-TRAFFIC BRIDGE AT BONN HEAVY TRAFFIC BRIDGE AT COLOGNE Two monumental bridges over the Rhine ALEXANDER BRIDGIJ, PARIS SPREE BRIDGE, BERLIN, CHARLOTTENBURG Superb examples of modern (tcslhelic bridges BRIDGES AND BRIDGE APPROACHES 101 relation to its approaches, and the whole effect of the bridge and its approaches in relation to its environment. In its design it should be regarded as an integral part of the city's plan and it should be located in reference to the whole plan of the city in such a way as to produce the most Figs. 24, 25 and 26. different types of bridges, suspension, stone and arch construction Borsig, Hobrecht and Achenbach Bridges, a few of the many xsihetic Bridges in Berlin, which greally add to the Convenience, Traffic Facilities and Picturesque Appearance of the City efficient and pleasing result. A bridge may for example serve as a terminal or focal of an important avenue or for several converging avenues, full advantage thus being taken of its architectural importance. Its location having been determined, the bridge itself should be of such a design as to meet in the most direct and 102 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE practicable manner the conditions it will be called upon to fulfill, and its approaches should be of such a character as to enhance its value rather than, as is so often the case, of such a character as to detract if not ruin its entire effect. In order to achieve the proper result it is necessary for the bridge engineer to co-operate with the architect in the design of the bridge and its approaches and with the city planner or civic architect in its relations to the plan of the city as a whole. Unless this is done, bridges will continue to be ugly, misplaced and ill suited to their purposes. Numerous contributory causes, however, in addition to the lack of co-operation between engineer and architect, go to produce the inartistic effect so prevalent in American bridges, among which are absence of governmental supervision, necessity of keeping cost at the minimum, legal hindrances, haste in construction, undue competition and use of con- tractor's plans or of one set of standard plans for numbers of bridges, imitation of railroad bridges for other places and the absence of any well-settled forms for the artistic treatment of iron construction. The last-named reason is one of considerable importance, since, like skyscrapers, modern metal bridges are a modern structural form and there has not as yet been time nor talent enough given to the subject to develop a satisfactory architectural treatment. In this quarter, however, American designers have much to learn from European practice and examples, as the problem of building bridges of artistic con- struction is being solved with splendid results. In the aesthetic design of a bridge, it should be remem- bered that the bridge is a work of architectural art and that as such it should conform in its own field, with the general principles of artistic design which have been noted as being the rules of city planning in general. The first principle is that of unity. The bridge with its approaches should produce the impression of being a single homogenous structure. It should also show appropriateness to its surroundings; it should be symmetrical, harmonious in proportion, simple, obvious in the relation of its structure to BRIDGES AND BRIDGE APPROACHES 103 its purposes, economical in the use of material and embel- lished without over-ornamentation. With the bridge itself constructed in accordance with such principles, its approaches should be treated in a similar spirit and made to add to the dignity and effect of the bridge. A plaza suitably laid out is almost a necessity for a bridge of any size, while a suitable view of the bridge as it is approached is another essential. A glaring violation of this principle is seen in the approaches to the Brooklyn Bridge, in itself one of the finest of the bridges of this country, but which has at each end a huge barn-like terminal structure, effectually concealing the bridge as it is approached. The terminal plaza may even with good results be a park of some size, suitably laid out and embellished, and the bridge thus be given the benefit of a most favorable ap- proach. The principal types of bridges are the arch, the suspen- sion, the cantilever and the truss. The selection of type will depend on natural conditions and on question of traffic, cost and materials. Thus a narrow stream with high banks over which a considerable vehicular traffic is to be carried may well be bridged by a stone arch type, while a wide river with islands to be bridged for railroad purposes may best be bridged by a cantilever, especially if the swiftness of the current prevents the erection of the falsework necessary in the construction of an arch bridge. While its first cost is great, the erection of a stone arch bridge should always be considered, where the span is not too great, since in artistic effect the stone bridge is most pleasing, and when its centuries of permanency are considered the cheapest in ultimate cost. A recent stone bridge with a span of 328 feet (100 meters) has been erected at Rome, which is the limit at present in size for this type. In reinforced concrete bridges the most beautiful artistic effects are to be obtained. It is a new form of bridge, how- ever, which requires the highest degree of skill both in design and construction, but in which splendid results have been obtained, exceeding in length the limit of stone bridges and 104 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE having a graceful delicacy and loftiness of effect in remark- able contrast to the ponderous effect of the stone bridges. The metal arch bridge is widely developed in a great variety of forms, with arches ranging up to 1,000 feet in length, as in the proposed Hell Gate Bridge, at New York City. The cantilever form of bridge is the most difTicult of all in which to obtain artistic effect, although good effects are not impossible. It readily admits long spans, however, and is often the type selected from commercial and utilitarian reasons. Generally speaking the cantilever bridges are ugly, and, not obviously disclosing their principles in their con- struction, are but little understood by the public. The suspension bridge is a form which is of great natural beauty and simplicity. It is particularly suitable to enor- mous spans, such as the Brooklyn Bridge, which is 1,595 feet between towers, but it is a type in which the weight of the bridge should be large in comparison with the live load carried, and is not therefore a type suitable for small bridges. The truss is a form for short and medium spans and is widely used on railroad bridges. It is usually very ugly but is cheap and efficient. Plate girder bridges, a form of truss, are used for very short spans, such as viaducts over streets, but if properly treated not only need not be ugly but can be of a very orna- mental effect. A determining feature in the design of bridges is the relative position of the roadway, which may be placed at the top, at the bottom or intermediately. Old Roman stone arch bridges of semi-circular arch form, the only type of arch they built, with roadway at the top and numerous small spans in the center, have never been surpassed in substantial dignity and aesthetic effect, though modern arch bridges with their arches in ellipses and segments of circles are more grace- ful in effect. The suspension bridge is among the finest of the forms in which the roadway is at the bottom. Although artistic bridges may appear more expensive, yet with proper engineering, the material saved as compared BRIDGES AND BRIDGE APPROACHES 105 with a badly designed bridge will more than compensate for any extra cost of the artistic form. The best method of securing the proper design of bridges is that followed to a large extent in Germany. Competition plans are invited from engineering concerns of standing, principally having in view the aesthetic appearance and approximate cost. The three best plans are awarded prizes and, upon being paid for, become the property of the city, which thereupon calls for definite proposals for the erection of a bridge in accordance with first prize winning plan. The various competing concerns submit bids with detail drawings, and the best bidder is awarded the work. Thus it may happen as it occasionally does that the concern submitting the design adopted only gets the prize and not the contract for the erection of the bridge, although the prize-winning concern has much the best chance of being awarded the contract. A system of this character would undoubtedly have the effect of greatly improving American bridges. CHAPTER IX TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION Electric Traction; Surface, Elevated and Subway Traffic; Statistics of Rapid Transit; Moving Platforms; Vehicular Traffic; Naming of Streets With the growth of a village into a town and the town into a city, its area becomes so extended that artificial means of transportation are necessary. It is no longer possible for the citizens to transact their business afoot, and the larger a city grows, the more numerous and speedy must its transportation facilities become. The trolley car, of the various forms of transportation which have been evolved, is the one that has been most widely adopted, and of late years, to an increasing extent, since the use of electricity has been developed. This vehicle, although in wide use for less than a genera- tion, has proved one of the most important factors in the growth of cities and suburban communities that has ever been invented. The demands for quicker street transporta- tion produced in large cities, the cable car and elevated steam railroads, but both were more or less unsatisfactory, and the horse car remained for the greater part of the traffic of the large city and for the whole of the traffic of the smaller cities, the only expedient. Electric traction, however, has superseded both the cable car and the steam elevated road, and has made possible the subway and river tunnels, which were previously out of the question, owing to the smoke of locomotives. Electric transportation has made surface travel as speedy as is con- sistent with safety, and it has enabled business to be con- centrated in the centers of cities and homes to be located in the outlying districts. Electric traction has thus in a few I -- hl 1 ^*^ l»>aSfc' ■ •I'lV.,, Til- -■=^- — T ■■" J >-*wr ■"■ "* * . ;. ,n • .- NEW AND TYPICAL AMERICAN RAILWAY STATIONS Union Slalion, Washinglon, D. C, Grand Central Slalion, New York, and the Pennsylvania Station, New York RAILWAY STATION, COLOGNE *°*'^- "^'^^^ - RAILWAY STATION, FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN Forecourt squares for Irallic distribution TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION 107 decades released the city from the bondage of slow trans- portation and has stimulated urban growth in a way that would never have been possible under other conditions. The only rival of electric traction is the automobile, for the most part, a gasoline engine driven vehicle. In the form of coaches or busses, it is used to a great extent in London and to a lesser degree in other cities, but it seems quite unlikely that it will ever become a serious rival of electric traction in the form of cars on rails. As a civic problem, therefore, transportation reduces it- self to the best method of laying out street car routes and subway and elevated systems, and the proper regulation of vehicular traffic . The transportation system of a city should be so arranged as to furnish as direct a means of transportation as can be obtained, from every point in the city to every other point, at a single fare, and to furnish ample facilities without congestion. A highly desirable object, in the transportation system of a city, is to have the cars reasonably filled at all times, since this reduces the cost. In cities in which the residential districts are at one end, and the business and manufacturing districts at another, this cannot be accomplished, as the cars must run empty away from the business districts in the morning and empty toward them in the afternoon. If, however, the business district is in the center of the city, the street car traffic may be arranged to much better advantage, as routes of cars may be laid out to traverse the city from end to end, passing through the business districts, or trans- ferring to lines that do. One of the best systems of tranfers is that in which a loop or belt line runs around and just outside of the civic center, with all cars passing over the loop or portions of it and transferring to all other cars. For example, in a city laid out on the radial plan, eight lines double tracked will serve to traverse sixteen of the radial avenues, each line on reaching the loop passing around half of it in a semi-circle and continuing on out the radial avenue directly opposite 108 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE .< \ \ ^ \ - \/ \ /t '■•v. \. Fig. 27. density of population of paris TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION 109 the one by which it entered the loop. Each Hne would thus have seven transfer points from each of which the passengers could proceed in either direction over the seven other lines covering the other fourteen radial avenues. A number of Fig. 28. volume of traffic in paris, including belt and street railways, subway and omnibus lines The width of the Lines is in proportion to the respective volumes of Traffic transfer points serve to distribute the traffic with less con- gestion than if the transferring were all done at a single point. If the traffic of the city is heavy, it is advisable to have the loop constituted of several sets of tracks in parallel, in order that the cars of the different lines will not be subject 110 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE to delay by those of others. An example of the necessity of ample loop facilities is seen in the Brooklyn Bridge Terminal in New York, where eight fishhook-shaped loops are needed to handle the cars which stream across the bridge over a single track. In connection with such a system of radiating car lines or lines intersecting at the center of the city, circumferential or belt lines at different distances from the center of the city, transferring to all the lines intersected, will serve to make the transportation facilities complete. In cities in which the plan is such that a loop cannot conveniently be laid out, a system which obtains much the same results is that in which all the lines converge and pass through a trafTic square, which may contain a number of tracks with the transfer points for transferring to all lines conveniently arranged. Street cars in cities are principally useful for short haul traffic, since speed is not possible in the congested districts and long hauls are both unprofitable to the operating com- panies and wasteful of the time of the passengers. Only when the trolley car reaches the outlying districts, where greater speed is permissible, can it be regarded as a means of real rapid transit. For the purpose of transporting large numbers of persons over considerable distances, recourse must be had to trains of cars, having the right of way and making but infrequent stops. This condition can only be obtained on elevated or subway roads, or by means of railroads with their suburban traffic lines running into terminals well within the heart of the city. Such lines should be laid out with the idea of distributing traffic from the main arteries of the city to the outlying districts, and should be so arranged as to accommo- date both local and express traffic, that is local lines with stops every five or ten blocks and express lines with the fewest possible number of stops between terminals. Elevated roads, though cheaper in first cost than subways, should not be constructed if they can be avoided, as the de- preciation to property due to their presence, and other TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION 111 features of a disagreeable nature, more than offset, in the long run, their cheapness. A somewhat more satisfactory system for lighter traffic is the suspended railway, in which the cars travel on mono- rails, the cars being below the rail. This system is less noisy, does not darken the street so much or prove the obstruction that the usual elevated structure is. Short curves can be taken at higher speeds, and the structure can be more readily run above canals or other waterways. It is cheaper in first cost and in operating cost, and it is in successful use in Europe, though never having been intro- duced here. Subways have proved a very popular form of rapid transit in all the principal cities of the world. They do not spoil the appearance of the streets and, when properly designed and operated, are a quick and pleasant method of transit. By means of three or more tracks, they can easily be arranged to accommodate express traffic. Subways should preferably be located as near to the street level as possible, to be readily accessible without recourse to elevators or escalators. However, between the ceiling of the subway and the street surface, sufficient space should be left for the proper gas and water mains and sewer pipes. In addition, this will furnish sufficient soil for the growth of shrubs and small trees in the grass plots along the sidewalks. Public opinion abroad demands that subways and ele- vated roads receive the proper treatment from an artistic standpoint, especially in order that a sense of harmony may be obtained in a given locality. An instance of this was seen in connection with the con- struction of the elevated and subway road in Berlin, some fifteen years ago. There was, to begin with, decided opposi- \ tion and prejudice to such a structure, and although the plans, when presented, incorporated designs and artistic features which are wanting in the elevated structures of New York and Chicago, the promoters of the undertaking were forced to call further upon the talent of the country 112 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE for competitive plans, for the purpose of securing designs, not only of stations, but of the entire structure, including viaducts, etc., which would be acceptable from an aesthetic point of view. It was further required, in order to do away Fig. 29. volume of traffic in berlin, including city and belt railways, elevated and subway, surface car and omnibus LINES The width of Lines is in proportion to the respective volumes of Traffic with monotony of effect, that no two stations should be of the same style of architecture. After plans were finally accepted by the commission and portions of the road were actually completed, impor- tant changes were ordered to further satisfy public criticism. For example, the Biilow Street Station, with its ornate iron work, massive stone terminals and well-studied grill- work, resulted. The heavy stone pillars take the place of original steel columns which were removed in compliance TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION 113 with a strong public sentiment for something more pleasing to the eye. The station itself is well worthy of remark, furnishing an interesting solution of the combination of stone and iron in a manner appropriate to both, especially noticeable in the adoption of acroteria at the peak of the gable and at each side, forming a gutter fully explained by the otherwise uninteresting leader pipes. An especially successful combination of architecture and engineering is found in the NoUendorf Place Station, which marks the dividing line between the elevated and under- ground sections of the road. The station itself is a rather severe design of iron and glass, supported by massive stone pillars. Other stations along the elevated portions of the route are to be commended for their beauty and artistic treatment, mediaeval in type to harmonize with surrounding buildings in certain locations, and always, even where there is no special architectural feature, the manner of the treat- ment of the steel columns is a tribute to the art of the engineer. A problem of an interesting nature is solved at the point where the elevated road crosses the Anhalter rail- road bridge, which itself spans the Landwehr Canal. Before construction began, experimental sections were put up, in order to test various forms of roadbed, with a view to adopting the type over which the trains could be operated with the least noise. Rubber and felt layers were tried, between ties and structure, and various hard woods were used for plates between ties and rails, all of which proved more or less unsatisfactory. Rails placed directly on the iron structure, or on ties, produced greater noise than when placed on wooden stringers. Pure lattice girder construction produced more noise than plate girder type. However, to erect pure plate girder construction in a city elevated road, where such a persistent demand for artistic effects is made, is practically out of the question. To re- duce noise with the lattice type of construction, and to furnish at the same time a more satisfactory roadbed, the iron cross-beams surmounting the main girders are embedded 114 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE in concrete. The roadbed ballast consists of gravel. A more or less solid, noise-absorbing construction is thus pro- duced, which approximates an embankment, the form of elevated construction in which there is the least noise. It becomes more of a rumble than a rattle and a screech. Of interest in this connection, is the point where the elevated structure crosses the Landwehr Canal above men- tioned. Here its course is through an old building, remod- elled for the purpose. It was intended to utilize it for storage purposes after the erection of the road, but the noise problem was so successfully met, that it is occupied by- tenants for dwelling purposes. Much discussion prevailed at the time of the opening of the New York subway system and many complaints found vent in the columns of the daily press as to the unsightly kiosks of the system, several of which are not only incon- veniently and dangerously situated, but are also the quintes- sence of ugliness. Seemingly no consideration was given to the harmony of the surroundings, the stations reminding one of small barns rather than of structures forming parts of residential dis- tricts. Although European underground railways were al- ready in operation at the time subways were proposed here, and a Subway commission had been sent to Europe for the purpose of studying the installations there, the public did not seem to profit by the pleasing designs of the foreign stations when our own came to be erected, such for example as those of the Buda-Pest subway. The New York subway system has been held up as being the foremost in the world, but the well-informed portion of the public familiar with other systems is aware of its architec- tural inferiority, to say nothing of the inferior ventilation and service as compared with systems abroad. As a means of connection between subways, terminals, bridges and the like, moving sidewalks are used with great advantage. They should be run in three parallel divisions at speeds of some three, six and nine miles an hour, enabling pedestrians to step from one platform to another without ELEVATED RAILWAY STATION, SCHLESISCHES TOR, BERLIN ELECTRIC ELEVATED RAILWAY, S( ;H(')M 1 AISKR ALLKK, BERLIN The elevated structure is popularly knoum as Berlin's Umbrella. On the left is an example of the numerous adrerlising columns z o < O J CQ < < IS a a < > 03 TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION 115 danger or inconvenience. Such sidewalks may either be provided with seats or left bare, for walking, as with the additional speed of walking, from eleven to twelve miles an hour can be made on the highest speeded platform. Such platforms are highly useful, in fact a public neces- sity in certain places, for connecting terminals where it is not feasible to put in cars. A highly important feature in laying out rapid transit lines is the convenient and quick transfer at stations and terminals to local transit lines. Such transfer should be made with as few steps as possible, and with the greatest ease and safety. This is a feature much neglected by rapid transit companies in America, long stretches of walking being necessary at terminals, greatly to the delay and incon- venience of the public. Transportation in the leading cities of the world by rapid transit lines offers many interesting figures for com- parison. While New York shows a higher charge and a greater number of passengers carried, the length of haul is also greater, while in comparing the figures, the purchasing power of money in the various places must be taken into consideration, as the 2.5 cents which is the average fare, for example, on the Paris Metropolitan system, has a much greater purchasing power than the same sum in New York, and is consequently a higher fare than appears from the face of the figures. Passengers Per Car Mile in the Larger Cities OF the World Rapid Transit Railways Berlin Elevated Railway 8.0 Paris Metropolitan 8.0 Liverpool Elevated Railway 5.9 London (Central) Subway 4.9 New York Interborough Rapid Transit Co 4.1 Vienna City Railway 2.8 116 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Average Fare Per Passenger Per Trip in the Larger Cities of the World Railway Systems Cents New York Interborough Rapid Transit Co 5 Chicago Elevated Railway 5 London (Central) Subway Railway 3.7 Liverpool Elevated Railway 3.3 Buda-Pest Subway Railway 3.4 Berlin Elevated and Subway Railway 3.0 Vienna City Railway 2.8 Paris Metropolitan 2.5 Berlin City and Belt Railways 1.6 American city transit facilities are largely a patchwork of different lines, usually constructed in a haphazard manner without any regard to the convenience of the public in trans- ferring from the cars of one system to those of another. In fact, the companies are usually antagonistic and do every- thing in their power to avoid co-operation, supposedly for their own gain. Such conditions are maintained at the expense of the public, and arise out of the fact that city transit is a game for private corporations, and that city administrations, holding office but for a brief period, are unable to develop the transit plan on any definite basis, necessarily proceeding by piecemeal from administration to administration. Without experience in engineering under- takings of such magnitude, or for that matter of any mag- nitude usually, they are unable to work out a properly designed system of interlinking traffic. Contracts drawn up between cities and private corpora- tions for transit facilities are too often examples of monu- mental incompetency in administration and engineering, and utterly lacking in foresight or any sense of the present or future needs of the cities. The principal object of the cor- poration appears to be to "tie the city up," and this is usually accomphshed by contracts for long leases, full of loopholes for the company and disadvantages for the city and the public. Such a condition is not only true in regard to traction TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION 117 franchises but in every dealing which cities have with private corporations. As indicated, the short tenure of office of officials in American cities is largely to blame for this condition, with the further circumstance that the office holders, usually not being large property holders, are not particularly interested in the welfare of the city as such. Their personal interests may thus very easily run counter to the interests of the city, and the city is thus badly represented in all its dealings with corporations. In Germany a much better system prevails, politics being entirely eliminated and the governing of the city being placed in the hands of the "city fathers." They are selected on account of their large property holdings in the city. The city fathers as a class are men who command respect on account of their means, standing and ability, which is far from being the case with American aldermen, to whom it would be largely ridiculous to apply the term city fathers. The private interests of the German city fathers are thus identical with the city's interests, as any unfavorable bar- gains made by the city will affect their property unfavor- ably. In deals with corporations the German cities are thus properly represented, both as to the interest and as to the ability of their representatives, and they are not, therefore, betrayed at every turn as are American cities. The German city fathers, having a real sense of re- sponsibility of the city's interests, have the foresight to engage, in addition to the city's engineers, advisory engineers for unusual undertakings, so that the city has at all times the advantage of the highest technical skill, requisite not only in the construction of transit systems, but in the many other departments of the city's activities as well. In the entire management of cities, the greater and more important problems are those of engineering, and it un- fortunately too often happens in American cities that engineering undertakings are conducted by politicians or "city engineers" appointed for political reasons and with very limited experience. 118 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE In congested traffic districts and merchandise freight districts, underground highways or double-decked street could with great advantage be employed. Such under- ground highways could contain, in addition to tram cars for freight, wagonways and footways or moving sidewalks. A somewhat similar system, where it is desired to avoid excavation, would be a double-decked street, in which a complete street is built above the first street, in the form of an elevated structure. On the upper street could be handled light traffic and pedestrian traffic, and on the lower one, freight and heavy traffic. In many cases where it is impracticable or too ex- FlG. 30. SECTION OF THE ROTHER- HITHE TUNNEL UNDER THE THAMES, pgnsivC tO SpaU WldC HVCrS LONDON, FOR PEDESTRIAN AND ^-^^ j^^jj ^ j^^^jj^j^ VEHICULAR TRAFFIC, WITH . , , ? • . • PIPE GALLERY mcthod of commuuicatiou and one involving much less cost, is 'that in the form of tubes or tunnels, such as the Rotherhithe and Blackwell tunnels under the Thames. These tunnels are Hghted and used just as streets and a great volume of traffic passes through them. Similar tubes are used under the Hudson for electric trains from New York to New Jersey towns, and additional tubes are in con- templation for vehicular traffic, owing to the difficulty of finding suitable foundations for bridges over the Hudson. The proper distribution of vehicular traffic is a problem which demands consideration from the very outset of city planning. The presence of congestion at any point is the result of improper planning and nothing else. Either the streets are not wide enough or numerous enough, or the dis- tricts to and from which the traffic is passing are not properly laid out with reference to each other. Congestion TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION 119 may be relieved by cutting through proper channels, giv- ing traffic new directions, or by scattering the sources from which it arises. Unlike street railways, which should all converge to a com- mon point or be otherwise in communication so that transfers may be effected, the lines of vehicular traffic should be as much separated as possible, since the individual vehicles thus having more room, can make better speed, covering their journeys with a minimum of expense and inconvenience. Vehicular traffic and street railway traffic should be planned to be kept apart as far as possible, and vehicular traffic should always be subjected to the strictest regulations. Heavy trucks should be confined to certain streets and delivery wagons restricted to deliveries at certain hours. The use of the streets for cab stands should be restricted and trucks or automobiles of more than certain sizes sub- ject to a heavy license tax, increasing rapidly with their bulk. Street cars should also be restricted in size in order to maintain a more frequent service. Within the last year there has been put into operation in Hamburg an automatic system of calling public motors which seems to be giving general satisfaction. Thus far Hamburg is the only city in the world in which the system is in use. Automatic machines, resembling externally letter boxes, have been placed at every vehicle stand in the city, and these machines are connected with a central office by an individual wire. Any one who desires to call a carriage and who finds none at the stand, places a 1-mark piece ($0,238) in the machine, whereupon his presence is indicated imme- diately at the central office, and the central office being al- ready advised of the number and location of free vehicles at all other stands, immediately causes a motor to proceed to the waiting customer, who is credited with the 1 mark ($0,238) already paid into the machine when he settles for his fare. The convenience of the public and the self-respect of citizens demands a suitable and dignified street nomencla- 120 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE ture. Trivial and commonplace street names should be avoided, since the householder gains no prestige through living on a street so named. On the other hand, the naming of the streets should not be carried out in too high-sounding a manner, especially in suburbs, but names looming in promi- nence in about the proportion of the prominence of the street should be selected. The custom of naming streets and avenues by numbers, while of a certain convenience in very large cities, is monoto- nous and uninteresting. Naming streets by letters of the alphabet is even worse. The city of Washington is par- ticularly afflicted in this respect, since the names carry as appendages, letters indicating the geographical location of the streets. Salt Lake has an equally pestiferous method of indicating street locations. Where a number of similar streets of a gridiron plan are to be named, a good system to indicate their succession without naming them by numbers would be to give them names, the initial letters of which would by their alphabetic order indicate the location. With a hundred streets to be named, the first four would be named with names begin- ning with the letter A, as Abbott, Allen, Arkwright and Atchison. These would be followed by four streets begin- ning with B, and so on, the general location of the streets thus being ascertainable by the alphabetic initial. The second letter of the name would indicate the divisions in the letters of the alphabet, Allen Street thus coming before Arkwright Street. American cities have even acquired almost a habit in the use of certain names for streets. Perhaps the worst is Main Street, a name which abounds in great numbers. Market Street is a close competitor, while Springs, Broads, Broadways and High Streets flourish. Some cities name their streets after the various states in the Union, which may be complimentary but is certainly without much other meaning. The naming of a street is of much more importance than is usually understood, as it has a considerable psychological r R ^ >'!«? ^!||!!5 iJi"'] NOLLENDORF PLAZA STATION OF BERLIN ELEVATED RAILROAD KIOSK OF BUDA-PEST Sl^BWAY Examples of massive and artislkatly designed structures which prove atlraclive additions to a city's appearance RING STREET AND VOTIV CHURCH, VIENNA A center of electric traction with lines reaching many suburbs. 'When the lines were municipalized all horse cars were discontinued TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION 121 effect. A street name full of dignity or of a unique charac- ter often makes a street famous, which would otherwise be lost in obscurity. A street of prominence, however, may often overcome the handicap of its name and cause the name to have a meaning far greater than the words import. Thus Fifth Avenue in New York, though possessing a name in itself of the most commonplace nature, has given to its name a considerable significance. No street, however, named by a letter of the alphabet alone has ever made itself famous, the nearest perhaps being Avenue A of New York, a notably mean street, and the same is true of streets named by numbers, although a numbered street may ac- quire a certain value, just as numbers used for trade-marks lose their significance as numbers and become units of identification. CHAPTER X OPEN SQUARES AND TRAFFIC REGULATIONS Traffic Distributing Squares; Transportation Terminal Spaces; Market Squares; Public Meeting Places; Ornamental and Floral Squares; Forecourts of Public Buildings and En- trance Spaces Throughout a city there should be at suitable locations, open squares or places secondary in importance to civic centers, but supplementing and relieving the civic centers and other centers described. Such open spaces should include: — Traffic distributing squares; transportation terminal spaces; market squares; public meeting places; ornamental and floral squares; forecourts of public buildings and entrance spaces. Open spaces or squares have been a feature of cities since the earliest times. In Greek cities such an open square was called an agora and in Roman cities a forum. In the latter it was often an enlargement at the intersection of the main north and south street and the main east and west street, and arches were placed at the entrances. Such squares were used for various purposes, as for public assemblies, and making of law, dispensation of jus- tice, marketing, and public games. Aristotle objected to the various uses of the agora and advocated its restriction to public purposes and the display of works of art, with separate squares for market places. Such a separation was followed in Rome where certain squares were for assemblies and debates and others for markets, as the forum boarium for cattle, the piscarium for fish, the olitorium for vegetables and the coquinium for ready-cooked vegetables, which was perhaps the forerunner of the modern delicatessen shop. SQUARES AND TRAFFIC REGULATIONS 123 The necessity of public squares for purposes of assembly is very much less in modern times than it was in former ages, since our methods of elections, judicial procedure, reference of questions to committees, voting in small polling units and particularly the invention of newspapers, render assembling unnecessary for many of the purposes which brought the public of ancient cities together. On the other hand, however, our improvements in trans- portation by wheeled vehicles have been so greatly advanced and great volumes of traffic are so much in evidence that we need open spaces for purposes and in places not required by the ancients. In a modern city, a single place of public assemblage in the open, for occasional parades or meetings, is sufTicient, but every city should be supplied with numerous open spaces designed to accommodate traffic and to serve to distribute it in the most expeditious manner. Open squares take several forms, the principal ones being the square, the circle, the oval, the rectangle, the triangle, and the irregularly shaped plot, each of which has its own characteristics. In the laying out of such open spaces the volume of traffic and the character and uses of the buildings should be taken into consideration. If the square is to be sur- rounded by public buildings of a uniform style, it may be made formal in plan, but if the character of the build- ings cannot be controlled, a formally laid out space is likely to be much less effective than one which has the charm of irregularity. A form of open space which proves of great interest and effectiveness is that which is somewhat irregular in form, but generally rectangular in plan. Pic- turesque examples of such forms of squares are found in many European cities. The square is made extremely individual in character if it is entirely enclosed in a frame of buildings. This appearance may be contributed to by leading the streets into it at angles and by not having it crossed by the direct line of street. This tangental form of street entrance to the square produces a form of circula- 124 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Figs. 31 to 35. plans showing different methods of solving the problem of congested street traffic SQUARES AND TRAFFIC REGULATIONS 125 tion of traffic described as turbinal or like a turbine, for there is no traffic directly across the square at any point. All the streets running into the square have the advantage of architectural focal points, and traffic through them is readily distributed in the square without undue congestion at any one point. An open space of such an oblong character proves highly desirable as an approach to a large building, while the build- rX* AJ^HONDl^^EMEJJT Fig. 36. plan showing underground street crossing for pedestrians at a center of congested traffic ing in turn gives effect to the square, since proper distance is afforded whereby the building may be viewed, which, if had in a space of circular form or square form, would be likely to make the square too large in area. Where traffic is heavy and a square of large extent is desired, the circular form may be employed with streets leading into it in the form of the spokes of a wheel. Such a space if surrounded by an outer concentric circular street may be designed to handle a very large traffic, as much of the traffic is diverted by the outer street and never enters the inner circle. A circular space is open to the objection 126 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE that the surrounding structures have an inconvenient facade line and pedestrian traffic must walk around or risk the traffic, which converging from so many directions is con- fusing and dangerous. This form of traffic center may be expanded with advan- tage in some cases by making the outer street one of great width, in fact a large ring, with the central portion occu- pied by monumental buildings instead of being an open space. An oblong form of square, with semi-circular ends and parallel sides, has many of the advantages of the rectangular form. An open square which is an exact square in shape is not particularly desirable, as its uniformity and severity are destructive of interesting efTects and from a traffic point of view it has no particular advantage, especially if it is entered by streets from the middle of the sides. Such a square, however, if entered by streets only at the corners is likely to be more effective, particularly if only one street enters at the corner and not two approaching at an angle, as the entrance of two streets so opens the corner of the square as to destroy the effect of individuality and en- closure. The corner of a square at which a street enters may often be improved by closing the corner with buildings, leaving an arched opening for the street. Squares should not be too small in size or too large, although there is small danger of their being made too large. Sitte recommends that an oblong square should be as wide as the height of the principal structure facing it and twice as long, a rule which has much to recommend it. Various considerations will determine the size of a square but it should always be made of sufficient size. For example, the Place de la Nation, Paris, is a circle which has a diameter from building line to building line of 825 feet, but this is a place having an outer ring street which is included in the dimension. The inner ring street is 80 feet in width. The principal thoroughfares enter the square. AUGUSTUS SQUARE WITH MENDE FOUNTAIN AND NEW THEATER, LEIPZIG PLAZA DEL POPOLO DAL PINCIO, ROME A well located and ejjective focal point with 67. Peter's in the distance FRIEDRICH S PLAZA, MANNHEIM Showinf/ ornanirnlnl water tower and fountains FRANZENS RING, VIENNA Jiistiee Palace, L'niversity and ^'otive Church SQUARES AND TRAFFIC REGULATIONS 127 The Place de la Republic is an irregular rectangle 350 feet wide and 975 feet long from building line to building line, with three thoroughfares entering at one end, two at the other and one on each side, with five minor streets entering at the points of juncture of the principal streets. The Place Royale, Paris, is exactly square in plan, 455 feet on a side, with streets entering at sides, and was laid out by Henry IV in the early part of the seventeenth century. In its design as a point of intersection and distribution of trafTic, an open space should be closely adapted to the uses to which it is to be put. The arrangement of entering streets and the intersections of car tracks and lines of traffic should be such as to automatically reduce transportation to the simplest possible movements and the fewest number of intersections. It should also be designed so that trafTic regulations may be effected with the least resistance. The degree of confusion which may arise in traffic con- verging into a square may be appreciated by noting the number of points of intersections. Where two streets cross at right angles with a line of traffic on each side of each street, four points of intersection exist for vehicles which continue in a straight line, but if the vehicles may turn the corners in the most direct manner, there are sixteen points of intersection, or points at which collisions might occur. But if instead of four streets thus branching, five branch off from a single point, fifty points of intersection are produced, while if six streets branch off, produced by the intersection at a single point of three streets crossing, one hundred and twenty points of intersection occur. Consequently, any large volume of traffic unregulated in such a square would be in a constant state of confusion. The most effective method of regulation is that which requires all vehicles, on entering the square, to turn to the right, and continue, not across, but around the square to the street where they leave, even if this compels an almost complete traversing of the whole periphery. This method avoids all intersections and produces the turbinal form of traffic circulation, which was produced to a large extent 128 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Fig. 37. proposed design for a super-imposed street intersection A Plan which should prove of great service to many American cities SQUARES AND TRAFFIC REGULATIONS 129 automatically in cities of earlier times by the tangental entrance of streets as described. It is often undesirable to place a large monument in the center of a square, or to encumber the open space with trees, high ornamental fences or shrubbery, and it is usually more desirable to place the monument at the end of the square where it will not obstruct the vision of those crossing and where it may be viewed to better advantage. It should be so placed that it will serve as a focal point of converging streets and thus be utilized to produce the most favorable effects. Minor obstructions in the line of traffic should be avoided. In order to deflect traffic into the most desirable chan- nels, low safety isles should be built. A height of curbing of four inches will usually be sufficient, and this will not prove an impediment to pedestrian traffic. Transportation Terminal Spaces should be roomy and so laid out that the traveller may, at a glance, find his way to the various means of local transit, with no confusion or the asking of questions. Street car lines should approach the station in such a way as to afford the greatest facilities and convenience, and cab, bus and baggage wagon lines should be placed so as not to interfere with other traffic and yet to be easily accessible. Cities should approve the design of railroad stations, and so arrange the approach of local transit facilities that the enormously long walks so often encountered, as noted, in reaching trains, may be obviated. The considerations that govern railroad stations are equally important for docks and landing piers, which are too often placed in the most inconvenient locations. An effective arrangement for the approach of a railroad station which affords both ample traffic facifities and a proper perspective for the structure, is that of a semi- circular forecourt or space into which the transportation lines run and around which the cab stands are placed. German railroad stations afford many examples of effective. 130 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE arrangements, which may be studied with advantage by civic designers. Market squares are an essential part of a city's design, for they afford a meeting place for the consumer and the small country producer. In former years such open market squares were much more in evidence in American cities than at present, but with the increase in prosperity, the conven- ience of the corner grocery caused their decline. Now that CeNTi^fli- Figs. 38 and 39. traffic regulation at columbus circle, NEW YORK Left Hand Figure showing Course of Vehicles; Right Hand that of Street Railways. Circle of dots shows position of portable rope holders the high cost of living necessitates the closest domestic economies, their value is better appreciated and they are growing rapidly in favor. Such squares should be placed in proximity to the resi- dential districts whose inhabitants require marketing facil- ities, and at the same time as conveniently as possible to main thoroughfares and railroad depots. Markets for staple products may be arranged in open spaces with wagons in rows, or protected under open sheds, while market houses should be provided for more perishable products. The staple markets may be open only twice or three times a week, though the market houses should be open daily. Market houses which are placed in blocks should have an inner court for delivery wagons, so that the streets will not be blocked up. SQUARES AND TRAFFIC REGULATIONS 131 Public meeting places should be provided for political and other public meetings. These should be open spaces, not devoted to park purposes but adapted for large assemblies, thus keeping bodies, such as strikers or others, away from points where disturbances are Hkely to be created. Such meeting places afTord facilities for the congregation of the public on necessary occasions to listen to addresses and review parades. Permanent grandstands may be in- corporated. Such squares would also serve as breathing places, and as playgrounds for certain games for children. They could also be provided with band stands for public concerts. Abroad such public squares are often occupied on Sunday for a half an hour or an hour at noon after church services are over by military bands, at the change of guard, for con- certs, the public promenading through the square to the strains of the music, which adds to the attraction of the day. Such squares as well as those around churches and most other open squares are surrounded by fine residences, so that the most effective architectural setting is provided. The appearance of a city may be greatly embellished by the proper treatment of small spaces and odd corners such as are often produced in the city's plan by large improvements. Such spaces may be made ornamental by the placing of monuments, small structures, fountains, geysers, tasteful kiosks and advertising columns. They may also be filled with flower beds, shrubbery, or small trees, and utilized for structures of a convenient nature, such as well-designed news stands, lunch counters, milk stations, meteorological col- umns, underground public comfort stations, and street car transfer shelters. Most public buildings in American cities, though often imposing in themselves, are as a rule placed in locations of little advantage. Enormous sums of money are spent in the buildings, but the approaches are such as to seriously detract from their effects. In many cases a much better effect would have been produced had the structures been boldly placed directly in and across the street, or covering the intersections 132 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE of streets, thus breaking up the monotony of long stretches and affording striking focal points, sufficient space being left sur- rounding the structure for approaches and traffic. An example of a great building badly placed is that of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue between Fortieth and Forty-second Streets. Had the building been placed in the middle of the rectangle which its site forms with Bryant Square at the rear, instead of so near Fifth Avenue, a vastly more effective result would have been achieved and the front C^MTv Oilt7n.ilumitin^ %s uv^^^ ■7 a 7h. dusoir A/ Figs. 40 and 41. signs for one-way traffic streets used in paris would have had the approach which the rear of the building now enjoys, but which serves no useful purpose. Another building badly placed is the New York Post Office building on Eighth Avenue between Thirty-first and Thirty-third Streets, which though it has a facade of great magnificence, enjoys nothing but an outlook upon the rear of the Pennsylvania Station. Had the latter been properly designed in co-ordination with the Post Office, a place of great effect would have resulted. Both of these buildings are badly located and their architectural grandeur is dimin- ished by the surroundings and approaches. Had this station been placed on Park Avenue, within a few blocks of Grand Central Station, and connected with a concourse, a great traffic center would have been developed and the entire group of buildings would have supported each other, besides being more centrally located and more convenient for the public. Such disregard of civic improvement is chargeable to the city administration, which should not permit any develop- ments out of harmony with its general plan. CHAPTER XI PARK SYSTEMS Location of Parks; Small, Central and Rural Parks; Floral Parks and Gardens; Communal Ownership Parks; Athletic and Play Grounds American cities, as a rule, are not sufficiently appre- ciative of the necessity and desirability of adequate park systems. They are usually satisfied with a few meagre, dust- covered squares, scattered in the business section, and cer- tain large acreages in inaccessible locations, principally useful for athletic and picnic parties. The park system of a city, however, should receive the same care and attention in its design and execution as is given to the civic centers and other portions of the city. It should be laid out in a broad spirit and with liberality, and space should not be spared. In the growth of a city, a thousand excuses will be advanced for encroachments on parks, and should they be found to be planned on too large a scale, it will always be found easy to reduce their size, while increases can never be accomplished except at large ex- pense. There is, however, small danger of planning parks on too large a scale, and there are few if any instances of cities ever having reduced the sizes of parks, once laid out. At one time, there was considerable criticism of the size of Central Park in New York, which is two and one half miles long and half a mile wide, but to-day even the proposal to erect in it a building of the most artistic character is vigorously opposed and pubHc opinion would not countenance the slightest reduction in its area. The park system of a city should be laid out in a sys- tematic manner and should consist of parks of varying sizes 134 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE and design, each more or less particularly adapted for certain purposes. In a general way, the parks should increase in size with the increase in distance from the business center, and there should be four or five classes of parks. Those of the smallest class should be located in the most congested portions of the city, to relieve the pressure of business, but they should not be so large as to have a dis- organizing effect or cause undue inconvenience to traffic and the despatch of business. Parks of the next largest size should be in the crowded residential and tenement districts, and they may be of vary- ing sizes, from one to four blocks or more in area. Parks of the third class should be located on the out- skirts of the residential portions and may be of large extent, from twenty to several hundred acres in extent. These should be the principal parks of the city and should be con- nected by boulevards and parkways. The fourth and largest group of parks may properly con- sist of large undeveloped areas of land, purchased by the city and rented out partially, for farming uses and partially held as forests, from which the wood may be cut and sold in such quantities as will not deplete its growth. From lands such as these, cities in Germany and other European countries derive large and increasing revenues, while portions of the land may be sold from time to time as the city grows. For example, the city of Berlin has been laid out and its development planned up to the year 2000, when it is esti- mated the city will have 10,000,000 inhabitants. Berlin has a population now of 4,000,000, being the third largest city in the world. Before its suburbs, the prin- cipal of which are Charlottenburg, Schoneberg, Rixdorf and Wilmersdorf, were incorporated with it, its population was 2,091,000 and the area of its parks was as fofiows: Nine parks, covering 776 acres; 147 small decorative plats, 254 acres; 3 tree nurseries, 42 acres; 1 school garden, 74 acres; a total of 1,146 acres. BRANDERBURGER GATE, BERLIN Focal point at the junction of the Tierr/ar/cn and i'nlcr den Linden AVENUE OK VICTORY, BERLIN Flanked on both sides hi/ thirtti-two marhle statues of Prussian rulers THE GRAND TERRACE, SANSSOUCI, POTSDAM Erected bij Frederick the Great THE WILHELMA, CANSTADT A hall in Moorish style with highhj formal floral gardens PARK SYSTEMS 135 Trees are planted on 296 streets of a combined length of 106 miles. Around the trees are 262 garden plots having an aggregate area of 237 acres. For children's playgrounds there are 99 acres of grass plots, ranging from l^ to 17 acres each, 75 acres of other plots ranging from 360 square yards to 2| acres each, and 66 "sand piles," ranging from 25 to 950 square yards each (aggregate area about 173 acres). The sand piles are provided with 56 play tables and 18 shelter roofs. The park area of Charlottenburg (population 309,400) on March 31, 1912, was 618 acres. The total area of the city on the same date was 5,790 acres. In addition to its parks proper the city maintains four tree nurseries in which 174,000 young trees were growing at the end of March, 1912. At the same time the municipal greenhouses contained 87,- 885 flowering plants, 1,399 palms, and 2,408 decorative plants of an aggregate value of $10,460. In the course of the year 456,643 plants worth $27,000 were used in the parks, in the street boulevarding, and about schools, hospi- tals, etc. Berlin-Schoneberg possesses its own municipal gardens, covering 50,000 square yards, and when entirely completed will embrace 11 greenhouses, 125 hotbeds, a botanical section for providing schools with demonstration specimens, and a municipal tree nursery. On the average 300,000 plants, including about 50,000 bulbs, are used each year for setting out in the city flower beds. The park commission's budget for the fiscal year 1913- 14 amounts to $72,195. Other cities in Germany derive large revenues from their lands, some owning from 10,000 to 40,000 acres in the city limits. Some of the German cities, instead of collecting taxes, pay their citizens dividends each year, out of the profits derived from lands and public utilities owned. The system of parks should thus be laid out in the most comprehensive manner and with a long view into the future, and the city should not hesitate to acquire ample lands for all possible park purposes, since such lands near a growing 136 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE city will never decrease in value and are bound to prove large sources of revenue in one form or another. In the planning of a park system, many important con- siderations must be taken into account, among which are, in addition to the ample sizing of the parks, their number, their proper locations, the nature of the land to be utilized, their organization into a system, their relation to waterways and boulevards, the purposes for which they are to be utilized, their environment, their accessibihty and their internal design. The latter depends on size, location and uses, and may be either of a formal or a rural character or a composite. The number of the parks of a city should be large, particularly as regards the smaller parks, and an important principle of park design is to have the number and location such that every portion of the city is within easy walking distance of at least a small park. In location, parks should be so placed as to be part of a system, and not merely set down at haphazard and wherever room may be made. They afford excellent terminal points for streets and avenues, and when organized into a proper system add unity and variety to a city's plan. The larger parks should, as noted, be connected by boulevards, and may often have waterway connections, either for pleasure purposes or commercial use. Commercial waterways, indeed, should usually be laid out with grass plots and lined with boulevards, as is frequently done abroad. Land best adapted for park purposes is often of the smallest value for other purposes. Steep hills, cliffs or rock formations, swamps, ponds, lakes and streams render land expensive of utilization for building purposes, but supply the natural features most easily transformed into interesting parks. A striking example of the use of cliffs and steep hills for park purposes is seen in Morningside Park and Mount Morris Park in New York. Morningside Park is a long, high cliff or bluff, largely covered with trees, vines and other vegeta- tion, while Mount Morris Park contains a steep, round hill. Both are popular parks. PARK SYSTEMS 137 lUwoPB llPABK li Fig. 42. plan of kansas city showing park and boulevard system 138 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Small parks in congested regions are properly of the greatest variety, ranging from those of a formal nature to open spaces with little or no vegetation or children's play- grounds fitted with swings and other apparatus for play. The environment of parks is also a determining factor in their design. It is the custom to a large extent in European cities to place public buildings adjacent to parks, thus afford- ing distance for the viewing of the buildings, and determining for such parks the nature of their design. Parks not so sur- rounded by features of architectural interest will be of a different design. Small parks, squares and playgrounds should always be constructed so that each has its own individuaUty. This may be attained by different forms of architecture and land- scape treatment, by bodies of water, fountains, statues, sunken gardens, terraces and other forms of construction and embellishment. Many such small squares in European cities gain in effect through being almost wholly enclosed, being penetrated by streets in only one or two places and not at the corners, where the buildings meet. The intimate effect of a large court is thus gained, which gives an unusual degree of individuality to the square. In addition to the small public parks of a city abroad, are often found numerous small private gardens, which though not open to the public are interesting features of the townscape. Such private gardens are numerous in Moscow, where, however, they are mostly surrounded by high walls, and are thus of less interest than when without such enclosures. Gramercy Park, which occupies a small block in the old Knickerbocker section of the city of New York, is a unique example of a private park, as the land belongs in common to the owners of the surrounding houses, and the park is not open to the public, being protected by a high iron fence. Access is had by keys belonging to the householders, and a certain sum is assessed against the property owners by the committee in charge, for the maintenance of the park. Though small, this park has been a strong factor in the PARK SYSTEMS 139 deflection of the business invasion from this section of the city, and has enhanced the value of the surrounding property perhaps, in the case of each plot, to more than its own origi- nal cost. It is a form of park which could be adopted with ad- vantage by property owners in residential sections of many cities, since the element of exclusiveness adds greatly to its value. Small parks may be either of a strictly formal nature, or laid out on a more or less rural plan, with cascades, flower beds and an abundance of trees. Running water is always a feature of interest, but stagnant water should not be per- mitted, being a breeding place for mosquitoes which are likely to become a great nuisance. Where the population is congested, as in tenement districts, a considerable portion of the small parks may be devoted to playgrounds with apparatus of different kinds, such as swings, see-saws, parallel bars and the like, for the use of children at play, not omitting shallow wading pools, sand piles and artificial cascades. Such parks thus have the greatest possible degree of usefulness. In large cities, one of the drawbacks to parks consists of the large number of men out of employment and frequently of a trampish nature who lounge and doze on the park benches during both the day and the night, making the parks unattractive to the other visitors. Such men, having nowhere else to go, cannot be kept out of the parks. In order to clear the parks of them, a plan might be tried of erecting free barracks in certain portions of parks or on vacant lots, such barracks being merely open sheds, screened by hedges, and fitted with slatted wooden bunks in tiers; at the end of the bunk, a wooden form for a pillow, the wayfarer folding his coat for the purpose. Here he could snooze the whole summer long without making himself an eyesore to the public. The comforts of such a bunk would not be so great as to encourage the profession of tramping, while many a man out of work would be weU served with a night's rest free. During the day, the shade and free cir- 140 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE culation of air would invite the leisure class in from the park benches, where they would be much better subject to police regulation and control. Should the guests of the free barracks demand it, a safe might be provided for the storage of valuables, though this is a detail which may be left to the discretion of the future. Such barracks should be low structures and might be in rows, with the sheds in the form of gable roofs, a tier of bunks on either side of the central partition. Attendants in the parks seeing loungers of a certain class would direct them to the barracks, where, however, they would be likely to gravitate of their own account. The barracks, being screened on all sides with hedges, would afford the loungers not only a place in which to stow themselves away, perhaps on occasions for the last time, but would serve as orna- mental features of the park landscape, for if placed on the sides of small parks, shutting off the view of the street, or in corners in clumps of trees, a more individual effect would be given the park. Most large foreign cities are abundantly supplied with small parks. Berlin has a large number, as has Vienna, but in the latter city there is an arrangement known as the "Ring" which adds to the effectiveness of the parks. Dres- den and Stockholm also have a large number of small parks. In some foreign cities, there are large spacious squares, which though without grass, shrubbery or trees, still have, to a certain extent, the effect of parks, being embellished with fountains, obelisks, monuments, electroliers, etc. The Place de la Concorde, Paris, which, however, is bounded on two sides by parks, is one of the squares of this type, while others are the Raadhus-Plads in Copenhagen, the eastern end of Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Dam in Amsterdam, and the Place de I'Hotel de Ville in Paris, Owing to the traffic passing through them, they are neces- sarily open. If the space, however, is too large, it has the effect of dwarfing the surrounding buildings. Such squares are found in Moscow and St. Petersburg in the Place Dvortsory, the PALM GARDEN, FRANKKOKT-ON-THE-MAIN A semi-rural effect is secured bij absence of railings and pavements CONCERT SALON OF THE GARDEN SOCIETY, GOTENBURG A typical example of a building and grounds designed for concerts, recreation and re- freshments at small expense PARK SYSTEMS 141 Place Krasnaia and the Place des Theatres, which are merely large open spaces paved with cobblestones. While these spaces could have been laid out as parks with trees and grass plots, it may be that they have remained as open spaces for possible mihtary operations. Among the locations for parks which usually offer good opportunities for interesting effects are those along rivers and on islands. Cemeteries, are, to a certain extent, a part of the park system of a city, and they should be planned accordingly. It often happens that the cemetery of to-day is the park of subsequent generations. In New York, for example, two potter's fields of by-gone days are now among the most valuable of the city's parks. One of the most important features of a park system is accessibility. The greatest attention should be paid to so arranging the parks and transportation lines that the public may be provided with quick, cheap and convenient means of getting to the parks, for otherwise they lose the greater part of their usefulness. Every city should have at least one large park within easy walking distance of a considerable part of its popula- tion, and its other parks should be within easy reach by surface or other lines of transportation at a single fare. River and island parks should be reached by bridges or by boats operated by the city. If transportation facilities to the parks are not ample they should quickly be made so. The greater part of a city's population labors six days a week, with but few opportunities of recreation other than on the seventh day, so that every effort should be made to afford, on that day, all possible facilities for the needed recreation. In character, the parks of a city should be varied, those of small size, surrounded by buildings of architectural in- terest, as has been noted, should be of a more formal char- acter, that is, laid out on a regular plan, with walks, terraces, avenues, lakes, fountains, flower beds, statuar^% ornamental electroliers and other features of a similar sort, than those situated in more distant portions of the city. The latter 142 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE should preferably be of a more rural character, primeval and undisturbed in general effect. The main park of the city may partake of both these characteristics, portions being adapted for one purpose and portions for another. Appealing to a large class of users, it should therefore contain a number of features calculated to make it an in- teresting place of recreation. The entrances to such a park may be of a monumental character and there may be in it a central mall, laid out in a formal manner and flanked with statues. Promenades and walks, large flower beds, botanical gardens, zoological gar- dens, lakes, with aquatic birds, facilities for rowing in summer and for skating in winter; artificial geysers, small streams and rivers with artificial falls, rock formations, by- paths, music stands, summer houses, shelter houses, drinking fountains, refreshment stands, concert pavilions, tennis and croquet grounds, wading pools for children, playgrounds with swings, carousels and the like, sun-dials, ornamental bridges, free singing birds, squirrels and other small animals, drive- ways, bridle paths, reservoirs, observation towers, decorative kiosks and other features all go to make such a park attrac- tive to visitors of all classes. An additional feature, which is very popular abroad, particularly in Germany and Austria, and which could be introduced by American cities in their parks, though until its advantages became familiar, it would probably excite some opposition, is that of concerts to which an admission is charged. Such concerts are given by orchestras of the finest musi- cians and are held in hedged enclosures. The admission fees serve to pay a large part of the expenses of the park, and also to exclude the rougher element of park visitors, such as young rowdies with baseball bats, unruly youngsters and the like. The visitors to such concerts may also be served with refreshments, and between numbers of the program may promenade about. Such concerts are held on Sunday during PARK SYSTEMS 143 the afternoon and evening, and occasionally during the week, and many visitors remain to both concerts. Since a restaurant, serving a limited menu, is run in connection with the concerts, the time may be agreeably spent. The meals are served in the open air, but in case of bad weather the concert is conducted in a large concert hall in the garden, in which the meals are also served. In the evening the whole garden is illuminated with Chinese lanterns and electric lamps, which add to the picturesqueness of the scene. Another feature of the continental park system which is of the greatest usefulness and which undoubtedly adds to the healthfulness of the public by making the parks and excursion grounds more attractive, is that of having on sale, wherever the demand may exist, adequate supplies of good food at prices to suit the pocketbooks of all. It is entirely unnecessary to take baskets and boxes of food along, except where the most remote localities are to be visited, for wherever it is the custom for visitors to go on Sunday or in the evening, whether to the main parks of the city or to outlying parks, beaches or excursion grounds, restaurants will be found. At such places, if the visitor be inclined, bread, meat, beer, cheese, milk, coffee and other simple foods of the best quality may be had at very little more than city prices, and are purchasable in semi-bulk form, much as if the purchases were made at a city delicatessen. A whole party may thus obtain all the edibles they require at such moderate prices that the carrying of lunch baskets is superfluous. This does away with the scattering of papers and rubbish, which give American recreation grounds such an unattractive appearance. For those who have more to spend, restaurants of a more elaborate character are pro- vided, so that however simple or reluctant the taste of the visitor, he may find adequate means of satisfying it wherever he goes. Very often the same restaurant supplies on differ- ent sides, or in different gardens, both the elaborate and the simple fare, the more expensive garden usually being on a par with the best city restaurants. 144 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Only the smaller and more remote garden or park restau- rants of this character are without music, while all the others ofTer exceptionally good music, frequently fine military bands of reputation. The grounds and parks in which such open-air restaurants are placed, are so laid out that attrac- tive promenades may be enjoyed and the entire day may with enjoyment be spent in such a locality. <•'•-.: ^?':j^'i .--iv^^f^ - e p lo Fig. 43. parks and boulevards of boston (population 735,000) Compare ivilh the uniformly arranged Parking system of Berlin, opposite Objections may be offered to such a plan as this as not being applicable to American conditions, owing to the inclina- tion of many to pretend to be able to spend more than they can really afford to on a holiday. More probably, however, the reason why such open-air restaurants have not appeared is that their proprietors have always attempted to charge all classes of visitors on a high-class basis, and the average visitor has thus learned by painful experience to take the lunch box along or stay at home. PARK SYSTEMS 145 Classification of restaurant prices, however, is not found objectionable when properly applied. In many of the best hotels, the same food served in the restaurant, grill and cafe commands different prices in each. Properly managed, such classified open-air restaurants would prove highly popular, and would cause parks to be used to a far greater extent Fig. 44. parks and boulevards of greater berlin (Population 4,000,000) Scale in miles than at present, thus adding materially to the welfare of the public. The city should erect the necessary buildings, plan the parks and grounds accordingly and lease the privileges to competent restaurateurs. Such buildings are also of use in the winter as well as in the summer, when skating and sleighing may be enjoyed, and restaurants and concerts patronized as well. 146 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Among the edifices which may properly be placed in the parks are municipal banquet halls. In such halls, the vari- ous municipal and semi-municipal functions could be held, instead of in the hotels as at present. Distinguished guests could be received in more dignity at such banquet halls than in private hostelries. Permanent grandstands of a limited size should be erected in the larger cities, where parades are frequently held, and now reviewed from temporary stands. Such per- manent stands could be constructed in terrace form, treated in a suitable architectural manner and located at a focal point, being thus suitable for reviewing and also an em- bellishment to the locality. Among other desirable features in the park system and administered by the department of parks, are gymnasiums, athletic fields, comfort stations, shelter houses, recreation piers, driveways and floral decorations. Floral parks are a feature of the park systems abroad practically unknown in the United States. Large areas are devoted to roses and other flowers, not merely in the form of small beds as is so often seen here, but in great pro- fusion. In some cities, even, as at Coburg, Germany, large areas of roses are cultivated, serving not only for decorative purposes, but being utilized in the manufacture of perfumery. At Lyon are famous rose gardens which owe their excellence largely to a light soil, an abundance of sunshine, and the proper amount of moisture. From time immemorial rosarians have taken advantage of the favoring conditions until skill and interest in the industry have made the roses of the Rhone Valley known throughout the parks and gardens of the world. Flower beds on an exceptionally large scale are seen in all the parks and particularly in the floral parks in all kinds of designs and colors schemes. The botanical gardens are often a part of such systems. Concerts are also given in the floral parks and ample accommodations for refreshments are provided. As Americans are, probably more than any other people, devoted to sports, spending a great amount of time, energy and money upon its various branches, and not only par- Q Z < ■- 2 c a fa CQ C < s z ■« :? 2 :«S^SWR. I PARK SYSTEMS 147 ticipating in but collecting in great numbers to witness the contests, the proper treatment of this form of recreation is among the most important to be considered in planning public parks and grounds. Each city should have, as part of its park system, a spacious athletic ground, which should be located in the suburbs and be of easy access by rail, trolley and highways. Wherever possible, such ground should be located on the water as such locations are usually superior to others, being more agreeable and affording opportunities for design not otherwise found, and in addition, providing for aquatic sports and giving opportunity for bathing and excursions by boat. For large cities, such a ground should contain a stadium, with a seating capacity of from 25,000 to 75,000, an audi- torium with a seating capacity of from 10,000 to 30,000, which may also be planned to accommodate expositions lasting a month or more, and a raised or sunken colosseum seating from 15,000 to 40,000. The stadium should be in the nature of an athletic field, and be used for football, baseball, aviation meets, county and state fairs, horse shows and the like. The auditorium should be of a monumental character, and if possible located on a bluff or cliff, with a terrace down to the water gate, also of monumental design. The aquatic contests could thus be viewed from the terrace. The colosseum should be designed as a place for athletic events, educational, religious and general open air assem- blages and pageants. A portion of such a colosseum, at one end of the oval, may be utilized for open air theatrical performances. The colosseum is preferably sunken rather than raised, as in the latter form it would obstruct the general view and have other disadvantages. The sunken colosseum should be bordered with trees and ornamented with electroliers. The Colosseum of Rome which seated 87,000 was 512 by 617 feet, while the central part used for games was 148 by 282. 148 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE If properly constructed, the sunken stadium could be partially filled with water, either for swimming events in the summer or skating in the winter, if other water were not available for this purpose. If on a navigated stream or lake front, a breakwater might be erected to afford a skat- ing place in the winter, free from the usual rough shore ice. An athletic center of such an elaborate character would of course be beyond the means of all except the largest cities, but it would prove highly profitable to such cities not only on account of the physical and mental improvement of the participants, but also on account of the great number of visitors attracted. Owing to the great volume of traffic to be handled in the rush to leave the grounds after games were over, all possible transit facilities should be utilized and the most complete accommodations afforded, as otherwise the crowd- ing will have the effect of reducing the number of visitors. Points of departure should be placed on all sides of the grounds leading to centers of transportation distribution in the city. There are many other features of the park system of a city which might with profit be discussed, but the subject, with others that have been treated, is one that would require volumes for its complete study, and, therefore, only the leading features and those of the greatest degree of novelty are gone into. It will be seen, however, from the principles given, that park systems are of the greatest civic impor- tance and that the subject is one that has received by no means, in American cities, the attention that it deserves and must have. CHAPTER XII CIVIC EMBELLISHMENT Boulevards; Plazas; Parks; Terraces; Monuments; Foun- tains; Gates; Arches; Shade Trees; Bridges; Comfort Stations; Bay Fronts; Water Gates; Quays However well a city may be planned, its avenues laid out and its parks provided in liberality, it will fail of realizing its full advantages, unless its streets are properly embellished, kept clear of nuisances and given proper atten- tion in every detail. Such embellishment consists, among other features, of boulevards, esplanades, bridge and park approaches, water gates, quays, plazas, squares, bay fronts, terraces, monu- ments, statuary, fountains, trees, grass plots, artistically designed electroliers, trolley poles and other structures and details. The combination of such features makes up the impression given by the streets, and just at this point, carelessness, neglect or inadequacy in the treatment of small structures or other objects, is likely to destroy the whole effect and spoil what has been accomplished at the cost of much time, skill, labor and expense. A rigid policy of exclusion of all unnecessary objects and the ornamentation or concealment of those that must remain should be followed. The most careful attention must be given to each and every minor detail, and once the method of treatment is determined upon, it must be carried out. If, for instance, house numbers are to be of a certain style, the style must be made known and the requirements enforced, and not be permitted to be avoided or neglected by householders. No details should be overlooked, and under no considerations should new obstructions be given 150 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE a place on the street unless demanded by the utmost necessity. Perhaps the most important features of civic embellish- ment are the boulevards, esplanades, plazas and the use of grass plots, shrubbery and trees on the streets. Trees and other vegetation are highly desirable features of civic embellishment, and should be employed wherever it is possible to utilize them. They temper the heat and the glare, afford agreeable shade, relieve the eye, improve the air, reduce the violence of the wind and limit the force of the rain, conceal defects and necessary structures, lessen the dust, improve the vistas and offer unending sources of variety and interest. It is always advisable to have the trees under the con- trol of the municipality, and to have them planned to re- inforce the character of the street. Thus, if at the end of a street, a monument or other object is to be viewed, the trees should be of such a type that their branches do not interfere with the view. In the denser business districts, or where a rather com- plete view, as of some distant mountain or object is desired, the trees should be of a kind that will not grow large. In other avenues, the trees may be larger, leaving, however, an open space to the sky, as though through a wall of vegeta- tion. In other streets, it will be desirable to have the branches of the trees meet in the middle of the street, thus forming an arch, which may be very high for some purposes, giving an effect of spaciousness to the streets, as with great elms or cottonwoods, or such arches may be low, as with maples. Most large trees span from twenty to fifty feet on either side of the trunk when their development is unobstructed so that the future appearance of the avenue must be kept in view when such trees are planted. The trees being under the control of the municipality, unsuitable kinds will not be used as would be the case had private owners the option of planting whatever suited them best. In streets in quiet residential sections, in which archi- tectural features are subordinate, trees may be allowed to CIVIC EMBELLISHMENT 151 11 PRESENT PLAN PROPOSED PLAN Figs. 45, 46 and 47. remodelling of gateway at muller and AMERIKANISCHE STREETS, BERLIN, AND BIRd's-EYE VIEW OF PROPOSED IMPROVEMENT 152 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE grow in their own way, as an effect of individuality is thus obtained, which is lost when the trees are pruned too con- tinuously. In cities in which it is feasible to plant trees between the car tracks, it should always be done, as they prove in such location of exceptional value. With grass and shrubbery, that side of the track is made more interesting to the passen- gers, and the tracks are made less unsightly to the general public. The undergrowth absorbs a great deal of the noise as well. When trolley wires are used, the trees conceal the poles, while shrubbery of large size serves to conceal struc- tures of a purely utilitarian purpose. Depending upon the locality and the desired effect, trees in the business districts are pruned to a greater or lesser extent, often being kept down to ten or fifteen feet in diam- eter, as is also done on some streets and boulevards and in formal parks, while on broad streets and squares they may often be allowed to grow to any size. In selecting trees for use in streets and in other parts of the city, attention must be paid to the effect to be secured, as some kinds of trees are effective in certain en- vironments but not in others. The Lombardy poplar, for example, is quite out of place on some streets, but highly effective when placed in rows around quays, or on piers, or used as a means of setting off promenades or isolated fea- tures, being often employed with remarkable results in island parks and on free approaches. Another very effective use of trees is that in which a single great tree stands alone or near a church or other structure, and either by itself or with its accompanying structure, is the terminal of a vista. Sometimes two trees may be so employed, but with three or more, the striking effect is lost. Examples of a single tree so used are seen at Oldenburg in the Gertrude Church Yard, where the tree overtops the steeple of the church and at Freiburg at Salz and Herren Streets, where the tree shelters a fountain at the point of branching streets, the tree thus being the focal point of the center. THE PIAZZETTA, VENU.l,, UUGl. i'ALAi:!. IN Kl.AK Small flagstone paving HARBOR GATE, LINDAU Tower and nwnumeni form an interesting disymmetrie contrast '« ' m ,MuNi .Mi::xTAL i:i.i:i riiuc i.KiiiT coi.r.MNs, bi:klin An embellishment of the Charluttenburg Bridge, Berlin, breaking up monotoni] of long straight streets HIVEK PROMENADE, THE RHINE AT DLSSELDORF Freight harjdling apparatus on lower level. Highly ornamental eleetroliers CIVIC EMBELLISHMENT 153 Trees in cities must receive the best of care, as they are growing under anomolous conditions and are likely to suc- cumb unless constantly looked after. In selecting trees for city use, in addition to selecting those which are suited to the gesthetic purposes to be attained, the nature and condition of the soil must also be considered and suitable arrangements made for an ade- quate water supply. This may often be effected by blind drains, laid at the time the tree is planted and regularly filled with water. The system of gutter seepage previously mentioned is also useful. Among the trees which are useful for city purposes are the following: Norway Maple, Sugar Maple, English, Scotch and American Elms, Cottonwood, Horse Chestnut, Red, White and Pine Oaks, Ash, Catalpa, Linden, Kentucky Coffee Tree, Thornless Honey Locust, Lombardy Poplar, Evergreen Pines and Cedar. Among the various structures and minor utilities which are a necessary part of the equipment of streets and which must be provided for and treated in the proper spirit are tramway stations, elevated railroad structures, subway entrances, safety isles, meteorological stations, news stands, comfort stations, advertising kiosks, electroUers, trolley poles, letter boxes, fire and police alarm boxes, hydrants, street signs and various forms of advertising signs. The proper method of treating most of these items has already been sufficiently indicated, but a further con- sideration of some of the items may be useful, for it is always possible to treat all such equipment in such a way as to make it serve an sesthetic as well as a utilitarian purpose. Trolley poles in cities using the overhead system, if properly designed, can be made a highly ornamental fea- ture of street equipment, despite their condemnation by many landscape architects. Indeed, certain civic engineers, after struggling with the problem of the street car on boulevards and being unable to solve it, suddenly turned about and announced the impressive discovery that the 154 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE street car was in reality a decorative feature of the first aes- thetic importance. The same naivety may be expected when the effect of suitably designed trolley poles is discovered. A question of the greatest importance in city planning, yet one which does not receive the attention that it should have, is the public comfort station. The health of the public is seriously affected by the neglect on the part of cities to erect an adequate number of such structures. Physicians cite numerous diseases and ailments which arise directly out of such neglect, although no very loud demand seems to come from county medical associations for their establishment, as they are probably too much engaged chasing quacks. The situation for women is much more serious than for men, since the presence in every corner saloon of such facilities solves the problem to a large extent for men, while women must go to department stores, hotels, office buildings and frequently the family entrances of saloons or "hotels," coming thus in contact with an element from which no im- proving results can be expected. In the business districts, women, though embarrassed in so doing, must inquire of banks, real estate and brokers' offices and similar business houses. In a Western city, it was proposed in a labor union meeting to request department stores to close on Labor Day, but this was objected to by a member on the grounds that such a closing would deprive his wife and daughters of the facilities found in such stores. The result of his well-taken objection was that the stores were permitted to remain open. In some office buildings the elevator starters estimate that one-third of the passengers of the elevators enter the building solely for the purpose of using the toilet facilities, and for that reason, many of the more exclusive of such buildings lock their toilets, providing the tenants with indi- vidual keys. As there is, in most of the facilities in which American cities are deficient, "a negro in the woodpile," so there is in the matter of public comfort facilities. Political influence is against them for the reason that saloons find their com- CIVIC EMBELLISHMENT 155 fort facilities more useful in attracting the public than even the feature of free lunch. With adequate public facilities, the revenues of the saloons would be materially reduced. On the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, the use of the facilities of the stations has recently been closed to all except the travelling public. This would appear to be in the nature of an imposition, since a railroad, being a a public service corporation, should, like the licensed inn keeper or saloon keeper, be required by law to maintain such facilities, even though most corporations do so voluntarily. Two methods are followed in the architectural treatment of comfort stations, one to place them underground with entrances as inconspicuous as possible, and the other to make of them small monumental structures. Owing to the fact that many of such structures have been very ugly, and to the prejudice against them, the underground comfort station, with no surface indication of its presence, is growing in favor. Among the most successful comfort stations, from an architectural point of view, are some of those in New York, particularly the one adjoining the Public Library on West 42d Street, at the corner of Bryant Square; the one at the north end of Battery Park and another on Riverside Drive, In foreign cities, structures of this kind are architec- turally much superior to and much more varied than those in America, often being in a rustic style, neat in appearance and not calculated to indicate their use. They are placed on squares, bridge approaches, quays, in blocks and parks, and usually surrounded by shrubbery. It is of the greatest importance to have such stations sufTiciently numerous, for example, not more than ten blocks apart. European cities provide such stations in adequate numbers, and owing to their presence, their use has become much more a matter of custom than it is in American cities. English cities are well provided. Liver- pool maintains about forty and Glasgow an equal number. Berlin maintains 450 stations or about one to every 10,000 156 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE of population, which for a large city, is a sufficient number. Most of the English stations are underground, and the same system is very largely followed in the United States, especially in the business districts, where, however, the mistake is too often made of having the entrances for men and women in close proximity. In cities in which there are elevated and subway roads, the necessity for public stations is not so great, since the stations of such roads are provided with conveniences. They are, however, reserved for passengers, which greatly lessens their usefulness, and it would appear to be the part of wisdom for legislatures to provide that such facilities should be open to the public. Cities might also with great advantage make arrange- ments with certain classes of stores, such as drug stores, tobacco stores and others open at all hours, for placing public comfort stations in their basements. The traffic through the stores would add to their revenues, while the proper arrangement of the stores could be such that the object of the visitor would not be apparent. An emblem of a suitable character might be affixed to the front of the store, which would indicate the sanitary convenience af- forded but which would not prejudice the public against the store or the convenience, as they are prejudiced against the municipal stations. To make the municipal stations less objectionable, it would be a good plan, especially in the stations for women, to provide additional facilities, making such stations a public convenience in every sense of the word. In addition to the usual service, telephones, city directories, checking of bundles and dressing-room service should be provided. Women attendants should have for sale combs, sanitary napkins and other articles, and pins, needles, thread and the use of clothes brushes should be free. Such stations should be provided with a rest-room containing a sanitary reed couch and a lavatory, with soap and towels for sale. Through co-operation with office buildings and stores, cities could install adequate conveniences at a much lower CIVIC EMBELLISHMENT 157 cost than by the erection of independent structures which are seldom utilized except by the lower classes. In the outlying districts and in parks, the erection of suitable buildings is more necessary. Where such a structure is Fig. 48. ground plan of proposed king's plaza, Berlin A Portion of a very Comprehensive Rcplanning Development now under Way erected in a park or where underground stations are pro- vided, there should be an emblem to indicate the location. For this purpose, the usual sanitary emblem of a red cross on a white ground could be used, with an arrow on one of the arms of the cross indicating the direction of the station. In order to be less conspicuous, the color of the cross could be of a duller shade of red than that usually employed, and 158 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE the ground be gray or dark instead of white. Such an emblem, only two or three inches in diameter, tacked to trees or posts, would serve its purpose without being unduly conspicuous. It could also be set in tile in the sidewalk. In crowded sections of the city, such an emblem in the side- walk, say four or five inches in diameter, with the arrow in one arm and a figure in another indicating the num- ber of blocks to the nearest station, would prove very useful. The same emblem, say but an inch in diameter, would serve for the druggist's window where convenience facilities were provided. It could certainly not mean any less to the health of the public than the present emblem, affecting, as it would, such a vastly greater number of persons. The interior arrangement of comfort stations is a matter depending upon the location, but is a detail which requires experience for proper determination. In fact the whole construction of the station is often no small problem, and new features are constantly being added which need to be taken into consideration. Enough has been said, however, to indicate the great field for improvement which American cities have before them, and which they cannot undertake too soon to cover. Perhaps the most noticeable of the small structures of European streets is the advertising column or kiosk, which has been referred to. While such columns may be objected to by those who are not familiar with their use, yet since no large posters are allowed and since public advertising is more or less of a necessity, the columns are found to be of real service to the public, especially in regard to announce- ments of theatres and public meetings by which they are mostly occupied. Since no sandwich men, banner men, billboard wagons or similar advertising schemes are per- mitted, the advertising column may well be pardoned. For ordinary commercial purposes, newspapers are found to be the best sources of publicity and the public is thus saved the frightful displays of crude posters and signs which deface American streets. A commercial advertisement is ROTHENBURG ON THE TAUBER Herrengasse; in distance the Burg Gate; at the left fountain and at the right the City Hall KAISER FREDERICK MONUMENT CHARLOTTENBURG UNTER DEN LINDEN, AS SEEN FROM THE SCHLOSS BRIDGE Effective illumination by means of open arc lights CIVIC EMBELLISHMENT 159 thus seldom seen displayed in public. At prominent corners, however, often four advertising columns may be placed, two for the usual purposes and two for news stands. They are not, however, without a certain artistic effect, and do not excite adverse criticism. In Germany and Austria advertising art has advanced very rapidly during the last decade. The best posters made come from the hands of German and Austrian designers. These men are especially trained for this form of art and display extraordinary ability to use large masses of glowing colors in striking yet harmonious designs. Americans are thought to be a people fond of jokes, but in what may be termed "humorous drawing" the Germans outdo us at every turn, and an ofTicial billboard in a German street will often be covered with quaint designs, each signed by the name of some famous poster maker. Boulevards, with their rows of trees and well laid out grass plots, are among the most interesting features of a city. They form, in fact, continuous parks, and are a source of constant enjoyment and elevation to the resident and the visitor alike, since no one can promenade an avenue beautifully laid out without feeling its influence. But when the city itself has fulfilled its whole duty in the embellishment of its streets, avenues, promenades, boulevards and parks, it is still necessary for the individual citizen to complete the work by the erection of suitable and artistic buildings and residences. The work of the city is, at best, only a small share of what goes to make up the effect of the street, which depends finally upon the struc- tures which fill it. What the private owner builds, therefore, is what makes the city, and he should therefore realize his responsibilities and put up only structures of a design cal- culated to improve the city. Municipal regulations should also enforce a certain architectural standard, for the benefit of the- whole city, whether agreeable to the private owner or not. For the encouragement of private owners, foreign cities often offer rewards for the erection of the most artistic facades. When a new street is opened, the prizes are an- 160 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE nounced, and when the street is built up, the awards are made. The prizes are usually so large, in Brussels, for example, often being $4000, $2500 and $1500 for the first, second and third best facades, and in Paris one-half of the street tax and medals, that they arouse lively competition among house owners and architects. Such a system may also be applied to streets already constructed, in which case the prizes may be awarded to the best fapade erected dur- ing a certain term of years. A system of this kind puts a premium on good designing and amply repays the outlay. In American cities where no such incentives exist, and where the sense of the aesthetic is not so highly developed, the owner may erect almost any sort of a house, while the contractor building rows of houses is an even worse offender. This unbridled liberty or license, more properly speaking, has produced incongruous and heterogeneous cities, prin- cipally distinguished as collections of buildings which are masterpieces of ugliness. Although the system, or lack of system, has produced the great skyscrapers of New York and other large cities, evolving, in an artistic sense, an architecture distinctively American, it has had the effect of making American streets mere strings of unrelated structures, in which all sense of beauty and proportion is lost. It is a matter of wonder, passing through an American city, where the hordes of utterly unfit architects have come from that have filled the land with such frightful examples of their art. How the American can feel any interest in the purely utilitarian business buildings in which he trans- acts his affairs, or any attachment to the conglomeration of rooms he calls his home, is difficult to see. Indeed, it is surprising how he can find the place he calls home, for on many streets whole blocks of houses will either be duplicates of each other, or in two series of duplicates, each alternate house being similar, like an endless sandwich, with layers of bread and corned beef indefinitely. America is only waking up, only commencing to exist architecturally. Some of the skyscrapers and some of the w Z £ z Z 2 s o a — 'T' c: H z ^ f- C "t^ Z ir, li z '^ S z i^ "^ s < E- 3 ^' fc X K ^ c iJ D ~ O) -< cQ S S - O ~ X H ■£ S _v; -r; jj •2 z < Q ^ z>. s < ^ cC t^ "^ w C t^ X ^ £ 5 K.. S N ^ C 0. ^> £ 3 :^ H »-^ t- ^ "C^ ;£. 2> 1^ _S -ii H zt ■^ -^ t^ ^ 2 00 ^ 2 *c t^ -2 c JJ S C '^ c: •^ ^ C-H o li. (J Kl CIVIC EMBELLISHMENT 161 public and private buildings are good, but the taste of the public is not yet formed. An ugly house is simply a house. It gives no pain on account of being ugly, for the eye of the pubUc is uneducated and as little troubled by bad archi- tecture as the eye of the illiterate by bad spelling. Mr. Ernest Flagg, designer of the Singer Building, and of many other notable structures, in an article, "Are American Cities Going Mad Architecturally?" in the New York Times of August 6, 1911, describes conditions truth- fully when he says: "Our artistic sense is undeveloped. There is no great body of amateurs here, such as is found in more refined communities, who are capable of analyzing our productions and placing them at their true worth. It is only a ques- tion of time, however, when public taste will become more cultivated, and when that time does come, there will be a great tumbling of reputations which now stand high. "Our architecture smacks too much of archaeology; it is not modern; we use modern methods of construction and antique methods of design. Why do not the people of the United States recognize that every great work of art which has had an undying reputation, was strictly modern when it was made? No copy, or adaptation, no matter how cleverly done, can endure the test of time and stand as a work of art. "We are veritable barbarians in matters of taste, we ransack Europe for old fragments which, though they may be charming in their original situation, become little better than so much rubbish when set up in the midst of inhar- monious surroundings. We deck out our houses and gardens with these things, in precisely the same way and with as little regard to propriety as savages when they array them- selves with the incongruous objects which they obtain from European traders. "The savages which Henry Hudson, on his second visit, found wearing the hatchet heads he had sold them, as neck ornaments, present no more comical picture than our art 162 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE amateur often does in his use of spoils from European churches and monasteries. "One sees gardens attached to shingled cottages, decked out with marble seats, vases and fountains taken from Italian villas. Houses in our cities are fitted out with fragments from European palaces which are as much out of harmony with the surroundings as a steam engine would be in a mediaeval church. Sometimes whole interiors have been taken from a European building and set up here. Rich men's houses are turned into museums, where there are as many styles as there are rooms, all warring with each other and with the exterior of the building. "We have been having a very carnival of vulgarity, and an ostentatious display of wealth and bad taste by people who are regarded as leaders in refinement. "In the midst of the chaos and confusion, with public taste at as low an ebb as it probably ever reached among people who pretend to be civilized, with architecture for the most part in the hands of men who have had little training in, or knowledge of, even the elementary principles of design, our new methods of building were ushered in and we were called upon to deal with a problem the proper solution of which called for a more technical and artistic skill than we possessed. "The time is at hand when the absurdity and bad taste of our past methods will be fully understood and freely ad- mitted. We shall cease to wonder that cultivated foreigners are not favorably impressed by our tall buildings, and will set ourselves to work to make them as perfect and reasonably artistic as they are ingenious and daring mechanically and constructively." The lack of artistic feeling for architecture has its coun- terpart in not only other structures, such as bridges, docks and terminals, in which it should naturally manifest itself, but also in various kinds of design, where the utilitarian purpose crowds out every other consideration. Engineers particularly design their works with little CIVIC EMBELLISHMENT 163 attention to the beautiful, and in the most important feature of modern times, the rapidity with which the numerous discoveries in science are appUed to commercial purposes, there is lacking, throughout, the touch of artistry. In order to have such engineering undertakings appeal to the public or the layman, it is essential to give them con- sideration from the artistic standpoint, and this is doubly important when such structures are to be located in or near a considerable community, and particularly when such a community is one educated up to the desirability of the application of aesthetic principles to the arrangement of its structures. A principle of city planning in the application of which great results may be obtained, is that of color. American cities, particularly, tend to assume a certain dull, greyish weather-beaten appearance, due to dust, smoke and climatic effects, and the presence in the air of acids from factory smoke. In modern cities, such conditions soon obliterate the appearance of freshness and newness, and age seems to overtake very quickly all kinds of buildings. The relief of color thus becomes doubly appreciated, but in its application the same aesthetic principles must be observed that hold good in other departments of city plan- ning. There must be harmony of color between adjoining buildings and a proper sense of color effects, in order that certain buildings will not detract attention from those which should attract the eye. The purpose of color should be to reduce monotony and to accentuate the existing aesthetic balance and variety. Where buildings are not well related, color effects may be employed to emphasize certain ones, and to minimize the discordant features of the whole effect. It is, however, largely the custom in America to leave buildings in the natural color of their material, particularly stone and brick buildings, though brick buildings, especially when they begin to show signs of wear, are painted. Stone is seldom painted, and stone buildings have thus been ex- posed to the mercy of the elements. Disintegration has proceeded at a rapid rate, and the effects of a few decades 164 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE have been, in many cases, almost disastrous. In the old brownstone houses of New York, window sills, balconies and steps have crumbled almost off, and great scales have dropped from the walls. In Central Park, New York, the Obelisk suffered more disintegration in a few years than it had in as many cen- turies in Egypt. The timely discovery, however, that a coating of hot parafTme, sinking slightly into the surface of the stone, will preserve it indefinitely, is proving of the greatest value to owners of stone buildings and insures a larger use of stone in its natural state in future. Americans prefer buildings in the natural color of their materials, our cities are practically devoid of any definite color scheme. With the use of glazed brick and tile, how- ever, new color effects are being obtained, as such materials are but little affected by the atmospheric conditions. The rain washes off most of the dust and soot. The use of such materials, however, is not likely, for a long time, to make any considerable change in the aspect of our cities, which are likely to continue more or less monotonously weather- beaten in appearance. In marked contrast to American cities are those of Russia, in which the building conditions are such as to en- courage the demand of the Russian for bright colors. Most of the buildings in the cities are of brick, which if exposed to the weather would soon crumble. They are accordingly covered with plaster, which has to be renewed frequently, and painted. The opportunity for materials in their natural color thus being limited, the use of surface coloring is utilized to produce a great variety of effects. Not usually being subject to regulation, the results are often bad, but when, by accident or design, the color scheme is harmonious, splendid effects are produced. As an illustration of the variety of colors employed, dur- ing a recent season in St. Petersburg, the Winter Palace was painted a light chocolate coat throughout, the usual method; the Ermitage — the art museum — light buff; the Imperial Archives, white; the Ministries, dark brown; the Admiralty, CIVIC EMBELLISHMENT 165 light yellow, and another building in black. In Moscow the Church of St. Alexis had red walls, white trimmings and a green roof, the Church of Ste. Catherine, blue and gilt, and the Petit Palais, yellow and white. Color scheme of surface painting could be applied with great effect in numerous parts of the United States in which frame buildings abound, but which are ordinarily painted white with green trimmings. In cities, in which concrete structures are increasing in numbers, surface painting may be employed with effect, since recent discoveries in chemical science enable concrete buildings to be painted. Concrete may also be colored when it is mixed, and the color thus made integral. While an expensive method for large reinforced concrete structures, it could be used with great advantage in houses built of concrete blocks, in which the outer shell might be in different colors, suitably har- monized, or only certain parts in color in contrast to the remainder in natural concrete. An interesting example of colors in natural materials is seen in the Broadway-Chambers Building, New York, in which brick and tile furnish reddish and terra cotta effects in a most pleasing and harmonious manner, and the College of the City of New York, in which white and slate blue are employed with striking results. Civic embellishment, as will be seen, is a subject of the most extended nature. It is of vital importance to a city, and in addition one which will, in some, at least, of its numer- ous phases, afford every citizen an opportunity of adding his individual contribution to the city's appearance. And when each citizen is doing his share individually, he will be much more interested in the work of the whole city, while the taste cultivated in such embellishment will lead to a better realization of the advisability of city planning itself. CHAPTER XIII BUILDING REGULATION AND BLOCK PLANS Height of Buildings; Arrangement of Buildings; Proportion of Lot Built Upon; Gradation of Factories; Size of Apartments; Workingmen's Houses; Block Plans In the art and science of city planning, the element of elevation is of fundamental importance, and the aesthetic principles of elevation are similar to those of the other ele- ments of design; that is to say, in the elevation of buildings, the laws of harmony, variety, contrast, symmetry, balance and the like must be observed. In earlier city planning when churches were the highest structures, the church was taken as the principal feature of the skyline, and the other portions of the city and other buildings scaled thereto, the spire dominating the city and showing to the traveller at a distance the presence of the city. Where several churches existed in a town, the spire or spires of one were made sufficiently important to dominate the others. The same principles still hold good and are be- ing followed in continental city planning. The accompany- ing illustrations of the cities of Cologne, Bremen and Ham- burg, opposite page 168, give the principles, which, however, are not applicable in the United States, owing to the evolu- tion of the skyscraper. In planning a street or avenue, its length and width should be determined, and having been limited on the principles already pointed out, the height of the buildings and the skyline should be considered. The street or avenue should be treated as a unit, and some building on it should dominate the others. There should be a certain variety in the height of some of the buildings in order to enable the principal building to be balanced, and to afford the necessary BUILDING REGULATIONS 167 contrast throughout the avenue. The principal building should ordinarily be at one of the closures of the street, although in some cases it may be placed at another point. In many cities, hard and fast rules have been laid down as to the heights of buildings, and while in a general way such rules are good and accomplish many useful purposes, if they are not applied with judgment and adapted to the — TOi wik i »j i J i | ii i»Mu»»»«»« iw p tt— j*«_ Fig, 49. the relation of the height of buildings to width of street is determined by picture to be produced When the street is only as wide as the height of the buildings the spectator must look upward at an angle of 45 degrees to see the cornice line, and in addition only a limited length of cornice can be seen. Only when the street width is three times the building height can a pleasing and satisfactory view be obtained Fig. 50. in order to balance a low building back of the building LINE, WITH taller ONES ON THE BUILDING LINE FLANKING IT, parking and a lower ORNAMENTAL OR MONUMENTAL STRUCTURE IS PLACED BEFORE IT circumstances, they may produce ill effects. In Paris, for example, the regulations as to the heights of buildings have had the effect in many streets of producing monotony, and the skyline is usually monotonous. Too much blame should not be placed on the regulation, however, as in some Pari- 168 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE sian streets, under the same regulation, monotony has been avoided. In New York, too, where there is no regulation, endless rows of brownstones of the same height and identi- cally the same skyline have been erected, veritable triumphs in monotony. It is, nevertheless, impossible to produce the best effects of variety when a procrustean regulation as to height is in effect. Instead of an inflexible ordinance in regard to the heights of buildings, a city should have a board of civic engineers with authority to pass upon the design of every building, and no building should be erected without its plans having first had the approval of the board. With ample authority, the board could accordingly refuse to issue building permits for structures not in conformity with the remainder of the street and only such buildings permitted to be higher than the others as would improve the appearance of the street. That it is absolutely necessary to have a certain variety in the heights of buildings and their facades, is evident when the effect is seen of uniformity, such as in the Royal Cres- cent at Bath, England, and Regent's Quadrant, London. In these examples, though the style is substantial, the facades are all similar, the cornices alike and the skyline unvaried. An effect of monotony is thus produced. Even if it had been the intention of the designers of these buildings to have them regarded as an architectural entity, and not as separate structures, a most unsuccessful result was produced, particu- larly as in each case the buildings, being on semi-circular streets, afforded unusual opportunities for aesthetic treat- ment. A street which is the segment of a circle or which has some other form of curved plan, can be made much more pleasing than a straight street, as the facades appear to better advantage and the whole street is more of a unit and more picturesque. For the pedestrian, the constantly chan- ging view absorbs the attention and enables the distance to be covered with less sense of fatigue. Where there is no regulation of the heights of buildings, as in New York, not only the utmost architectural disorder ensues, and a jungle of buildings springs up, but most unjust 1 i i . ii 1 '^»^!!_._¥^^P^ ^iBy:iii ^^^^ .^- HtMaAM^S^^S^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H —• - ^T<^' [ li , • COLOC.NK, BREMEN AND HAMBURG Skylines of cities where the towers of churches dominate the rest of the city BUILDING REGULATIONS 169 commercial conditions arise. Buildings adjoining a sky- scraper lose a large part of their rental value, while the sky- scraper itself never proves very remunerative, the returns on the money invested varying from 2 per cent to 7 per cent, and averaging not more than 4 per cent and seldom reaching 5 per cent. In many cases, the skyscraper, especially when in the form of a tower structure, is put up largely for ad- vertising purposes, so that the rental revenue derived is not the only return. The skyscrapers set a higher standard of office accommodation, and thousands of firms must measure up to it that cannot afford to do so. As they make no large profits for themselves and depreciate the value of other property, it will be seen that they are by no means a commercial blessing. A more equitable plan than either absence of regulation or too rigid regulations, would be, in addition to the flexible regulations of the board of civic engineers suggested, the imposition of a progressive tax on the height of buildings, increasing the rate for every floor to such an extent that tall buildings would bear a large additional burden of taxation. As public buildings are comparatively few in number, the only way, as has been indicated, by which the appearance of the streets can be given desired characteristics, is through the regulation of private building enterprise. Opposition to such regulation can have no foundation other than that of private interest, and no outcome except confusion and injustice. That such regulation is feasible is indicated by the regu- lations imposed on theatres and the fireproofing regulation of buildings of certain classes. No good argument can, in fact, be advanced against regulation. A form of encouragement to private owners to erect new buildings which proves effective abroad, is that of tax exemption for a term of years on a new building. This could be carried into effect in the United States by suitable boards of officials who would, for example, select certain unimproved sections or those covered by small or old build- ings, and declare that if new buildings were erected, the 170 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE owners would be exempt from taxation for five years from the time of the declaration. The owners would thus have an incentive to erect the new buildings as promptly as possible, since delay would give them a shorter term of exemption from taxes. The same principle is already carried out in another form in many American cities, through giving free sites to fac- tories and similar tax exemption inducements. Perhaps the regulations most generally in effect abroad are those which limit the heights of buildings. Such limits are customarily placed sufficiently low, so that the value of the land will cause all the buildings to be run up to the full limit of the regulations. The height of buildings is generally limited in proportion to the width of the street. While the proportion differs somewhat in different cities, the regulations of Paris are representative. They are as follows: In streets less than 12 meters wide (39 feet) the height of the building must not exceed the width of the street by more than 6 meters (193/^ feet). For every additional width of a meter in the street, a quarter of a meter (9% inches) may be added to the height of the building until a limit of 20 meters (nearly 66 feet) to the eaves is reached, which no building may exceed. Thus a building on a narrow street may be 59 feet high, while on a wide street but 66 feet, a difference of only 7 feet. This in reality is insufficient to afford the necessary variety between streets, since all the streets of a city should not be confined to buildings of practically the same height. The regulation as to the height being taken to the eaves, has the effect of modifying the architecture of the buildings, producing mansard roofs, which gain an additional story without violating the code. In German cities the height of buildings is somewhat similar to those in Paris. In Berlin the height varies from 18 to 24 meters or from 59 to 79 feet. The minimum height to which buildings are limited varies in different cities. In Wiesbaden, Bremen and Barmen it is 15 meters (49 feet), in BUILDING REGULATIONS 171 Hanover 143-^ meters (463^2 feet), in Diisseldorf and Breslau, 13 meters (42% feet), in Munich 12 meters (39 Vs feet), and in Kiel and Cologne 11 meters (36 feet), this being the mini- mum on the narrowest streets. It is greater, however, in wider streets. Not only is the height of buildings regulated in German cities but also the maximum and minimum number of stories, which depends, however, on the zone in which the building lies. In Berlin and Hamburg, the greater part of the buildings must be either four or five stories in height. Throughout ^ :v^ I A A X Fig. 5L suggestions for setting back floors of tall buildings the Grand Duchy of Baden, the number of stories runs from three to five in the suburbs and outlying districts, three being the maximum and in the business districts, five. In Munich, Cologne, Diisseldorf, Halle and Breslau, all buildings must be at least two stories in height, but in Bremen, one-story buildings may be erected. In Baden, houses in the country are not permitted to be over two stories in height. The fixing of the limitations as to the heights of buildings should be undertaken only with the most careful considera- tion, since real estate values are limited and the city caused to grow in an altogether different manner than if not regu- lated. Once such regulations are fixed, they should not be changed except for the most important reasons, for buildings once having been erected under the regulations, any change will have the effect of discrimination either against the new ones or the old ones. American cities have to a certain extent taken up the 172 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE question of the regulation of the heights of buildings. The Commission on the City Plan, Hartford, Conn., investigated the subject and in its report for the year ending March 31, 1911, gave the result ascertained. Of the thirty cities listed, nineteen had no ordinance governing the height of buildings. These cities were as follows: Albany, N. Y., Atlanta, Ga., Cincinnati, Ohio, Dayton, Ohio, Milwaukee, Wis., MinneapoUs, Minn., Newark, N. J., Paterson, N. J., Philadelphia, Pa., Reading, Pa., Nashville, Tenn., Richmond, Va., San Antonio, Tex., Spokane, Wash., Salt Lake City, Utah, Syracuse, N. Y., Tacoma, Wash., Toledo, Ohio, and Trenton, N. J. The ordinance provisions of the eleven other cities, as abstracted or quoted in the report, are as follows: Baltimore, Md. — No building more than 175 feet, except that towers, spires or belfries in fireproof buildings may extend to greater height. Boston, Mass. — No ordinance, but building laws provide the following: City divided into districts. District A, buildings of fireproof construction can be erected to a height of 125 feet, in another district to the height of 100 feet, in a third, 80 feet, but the buildings in these later districts are not of the same construction as District A. Buffalo, N. Y. — "Outside the fire limits of the city of BufTalo, it shall be lawful to erect frame buildings not ex- ceeding 50 feet in height from the sidewalk to the highest point of roof." Cleveland, Ohio. — "No building or other structure here- after erected except a church spire, shot tower, water tower or smoke stack, shall be of a height exceeding two and one half times the width of the widest street upon which building faces, but no building shall be over 200 feet high." Denver, Colo. — "No building or structure to exceed 12 stories except spires, towers, smokestacks, etc. All buildings or structures more than 125 feet high, absolutely fireproof." Los Angeles, Calif. — Fire district, 1 story only and not over 16 feet high. Class A. All buildings upheld by masonry or reinforced BUILDING REGULATIONS 173 concrete or framework of steel or iron. Fireproof or skeleton construction. No building over 150 feet, allowing 30 feet for mansard roof — not more than 7 stories. Class B. Masonry or masonry and steel, and iron and steel buildings, supporting iron or steel masonry. Not over 100 feet high, nor more than 8 stories. Class C. Masonry or reinforced concrete walls, floors not wholly carried by steel columns, and girders or rein- forced concrete and masonry — 85 feet high, not more than 6 stories exclusive of basements. Class D. All buildings not included in A, B and C, 50 feet high, not more than 4 stories. Louisville, Ky. — No non-fireproof building or structure outside the fire limits shall exceed 70 feet in height, but this shall not apply to spires of churches or similar buildings outside of the fire limits which may be constructed of wood to a height of 125 feet above the curb level. Portland, Ore. — Class I (absolutely fireproof), 12 stories or 160 feet. Class II (fireproof, short span), 12 stories or 160 feet. Class III (fireproof, long span), 10 stories or 140 feet. Class IV (semi-fireproof), 6 stories or 85 feet. Class V (mill construction), 6 stories or 85 feet. Class VI (ordinary construction) 4 stories or 60 feet. Class VII (frame construction), 3 stories or 42 feet. Providence, R. I. — No ordinance. Building law pro- vides "No non-fireproof building or structure hereafter erected should exceed 65 feet in height." "No fireproof building (ordinary') or structure hereafter erected shall exceed 120 feet in height, except that structures or appendages may be built upon roofs of said buildings not exceeding twenty feet in height, provided that said structure or appendages shall be built of incombustible material throughout." "Every building hereafter erected or altered to be used as a theatre or public station which exceeds three stories or more than 40 feet in height, shall be built fireproof (absolute) except as hereinafter specified." 174 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Rochester, N. Y. — No ordinance. Height regulated to conform to size and strength of foundations and construction of walls. San Francisco, Calif. — Fireproof buildings, 102 feet; semi-fireproof buildings, from 55 to 86 feet. The maximum heights of buildings permitted by ordinance in some of the other large cities of the United States having such restrictions are: Feet Charleston, S. C 125 Chicago, 111 200 Erie, Pa 200 Fort Wayne, Ind 200 Indianapolis, Ind 200 Manchester, N. H 125 Milwaukee, Wis 225 Newark, N.J 200 Salt Lake City .125 Scranton, Pa 125 Worcester, Mass 125 As will be seen from these regulations, a tendency against skyscrapers is beginning to manifest itself. It seems, indeed, that the crest of the wave has been reached. The fallacy of erecting such buildings is beginning to manifest itself very clearly, for they bring in their train many disadvan- tages and very few compensating advantages. In addition to setting a higher standard of office occupancy, they pro- duce congestion in the streets they occupy, and check the increase of real estate values in other portions of the city, where business buildings would be forced to go if skyscrapers were prohibited. Such sections are consequently left un- developed with old and increasingly unsanitary buildings. The concentration of office facilities also produces a con- centration in living quarters, with high rents and dark and unhealthful accommodations. Skyscrapers themselves force a large proportion of their occupants to work under artificial light in rooms with poor or artificial ventilation, and they thus have, both directly and indirectly, a deleterious effect upon the health of the public. WORKINGMEN S APARTMENT HOUSES IX NL UEMBElUi Exterior facade and interior court e a 2 u Q BUILDING REGULATIONS 175 When in the form of loft buildings, such structures intensify congestion in the regions in which they are located, and in addition produce congestion in the districts in which the workers live. This concentration of workers in poor quarters increases the cost of living, is unhealthy and leads to labor troubles. While tall buildings thus enable a city to increase its population and are therefore usually encouraged by cities, it is the duty of the state to take measures to stop their erection, and to make such regulations as will distribute throughout the state the various industries and their workers and prevent the collection in cities of numbers of factories in the same line of work. This may be effected by grading factories in accordance with the number of men employed and with the kind of articles manufactured, and limiting the number of each kind that may locate in cities of certain sizes. Such regulations will distribute over the whole state industries now crowded together and will afford suburban and semi-rural residences to all classes of workers, thus improving their condition and the productivity of the factories, and increasing the general welfare of the whole state. Many large manufacturing concerns now voluntarily locate in cities distant from metropolitan districts, but the bulk of the medium and smaller sized concerns still collect in the large cities, producing a degree of congestion which has never before been equalled. The regulation of the heights of buildings is, of course, only one of a considerable number of regulations enforced abroad. Among other important ones are those affecting the ratio of the area of the building to that of the lot, the separation of buildings, classes of buildings, classes of areas between buildings, minimum number of rooms in an apart- ment, window area, height of ceilings and cubic contents of sleeping rooms. Representative figures are selected which, though in many cases not applicable to American cities, will give a good idea of the regulations in effect abroad. 176 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE The area of the lot which may be built over in cities in the Grand Duchy of Baden, the regulations of which are regarded as being very well worked out, varies accord- ing to the zone, from | to | of the total area. In the outly- ing districts, these figures are reversed, it being permissible to build only over from i to | of the total area of the lot. In other cities the regulations vary, being about on the same basis, but always differing in accordance with the zone. The buildings and the courts are divided into from five to nine different classes, and regulations are made to suit Fig. 52. a group of blocks suitable for a garden city, with ample open space and interior courts each class. Such regulations go into the greatest detail, so that no case is likely to arise for which a suitable regula- tion is not to be found. One fault with American regulations, such as have been adopted, is that in many instances they are of too general a nature, and difficulty is therefore ex- perienced in applying them to the various conditions which arise in practice. The regulations abroad in regard to the classes of build- ings which are used as workingmen's homes require the apartment used by a family to consist of not less than three rooms, a living room, a sleeping room and a kitchen. The BUILDING REGULATIONS 177 living room is required to be of a certain size. In Wies- baden 75 square feet, throughout Baden 107 square feet, in Karlsruhe, 130 square feet, in Mannheim 160 square feet, at the minimum. In the latter city, the kitchen must be not less than 130 square feet in area. There are also re- quirements as to the total area of the rooms, which in Diisseldorf, Magdeburg and throughout Saxony must be not less than 320 square feet. The height of the rooms is generally placed at not less than 2.5 meters or 8.2 feet, while the window area must be from one-eighth to one-twelfth of the area of the floor, an average figure being one-tenth. The minimum cubic contents of the rooms are also fixed by regulation at from 250 to 700 cubic feet, being in Baden 350 cubic feet. The regulations as to space not built upon are sometimes based on the number of families occupying a building. In Altona 160 square feet per family must be left open in the main portions of the city, while in the suburbs, 1100 square feet per family must be left open. Among other regulations are those in reference to light, there being provisions to the effect that certain windows of buildings shall receive light at angles of from 30 to 60 degrees over the walls of others, but these regulations are of a somewhat complicated nature and not easily applied. In London, the right of "ancient lights" has had the effect of causing theatres to be built practically underground, so that the highest priced seats are located in the gallery near the street level, and the pit is far below. Regulations in some German cities extend to the styles of architecture. For example, in old cities which were once fortified, such as Niirnberg, all buildings within the ring or location of the old fortifications must be built in the four- teenth century style. This regulation preserves the indi- viduality and atmosphere of the central portion of the city. In Dresden, in certain residential districts, a peculiar kind of iron fence of a certain height and design is required, which gives that portion of the city a decided individuality. 178 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE The whims of householders, thus, are not permitted to destroy the appearance of the city In German cities most of the buildings are of a wholly or partially fireproof construction, and as their height is regulated and the fire department service unusually speedy, the greater part of the fire-escape facilities are confined to the form of wide, fireproof stairways. The public, in addi- tion, is much more careful than our public and fires are thus much less frequent in occurrence. In buildings in which the upper floor is 36 feet above the street, two stairways are usually required, though in exceptional instances one is permitted. Every portion of a floor must be within 98 feet of a stairway. All stairways must go to the roof, or if the main stairway does not go to the roof itself, an auxiliary stairway at least 2^ feet wide must be provided to the roof. In many buildings, the stairs are in stairway houses, that is to say, alcoves or lean-tos at the side of the building, of a fireproof construction. The shape of the stair halls is regulated and under some circumstances no corner is allowed. The regulations in the different cities vary to some extent. In some, buildings of more than two floors above the street floor must have two staircases, irrespective of their floor area. The main stairways must be not less than 3f feet in width, while stairs to the roof and basement must be 3 feet wide. In schoolhouses all exits must be in courts with a mini- mum width of 30 feet for each 1000 children. Each schoolroom must have two exits. Stairways must be 2J feet wide for each 100 persons up to 500, If feet more for each 100 persons from 500 to 1000 and 1 foot more for each 100 persons upward of 1000 occupying the building. Thus for 400 persons, the width would be 9 feet, for 800 persons 16 feet, and for 1200 persons 21 feet. All stairways over 10 feet wide are required to have a railing in the center. One familiar with German cities thus sees no fire escapes PLEASING APPEARANCE OF LARGE MANUFAC;i t HIM, IN DUSSELDORF AND BERLIN m ILDINGS Manufacturing plants located within or near ttie cili/ shoulil not be designed to serve utilitarian purposes only but should enhance the surroundings DISTINCTIVE ARCHITECTURAL TREATMENT OF LARGE DRV GOODS STORE BUILDINGS IN BERLIN AND DUSSELDORF BUILDING REGULATIONS 179 in evidence, and in the recent regulations of the building departments having charge of such matters, no specifica- tions of fire escapes are to be found, all requirements on the subject being in reference to staircases, the principal items of which have just been outlined. There are, however, numerous balconies, but they do not have the unsightliness of American fire escapes, as they are always decorated by flowers — another regulation. The question of fire escapes in tall buildings in America is one of great difficulty. It is impossible, of course, to have a separate stairway from each floor to the ground, but with a single fire-escape stairway from a number of floors, the facilities are not adequate. The form of fire escape most favored is that of the horizontal type; that is, some means of escaping into adjoining buildings. In buildings of a certain area, an excellent form of fire escape is to have the whole building divided by a fire wall from top to bottom, extending three feet above the roof, with suitable automatic doors. Fire in one side of the building cannot then communicate to the other side, while there is ample means of egress for all employees. Only half of an employer's business can thus be destroyed. A similar result may be obtained by fire walls between buildings, with openings in them closed by automatic doors, every establishment for manufacturing being required to be located partially in one building and partially in the adjoining one. Not only are regulations applied to the construction of buildings in Germany, but also to the manner of their use, in order to prevent overcrowding. Children are required to occupy separate sleeping rooms and on reaching the age of twelve or fourteen years, each sex must also have its own separate sleeping rooms. Each apartment must be pro- vided with its own toilet facilities. There is a decided tendency abroad to provide individual houses in the suburbs for workingmen, and in England considerable attention has been paid to this subject. Often where it is not feasible to provide separate dwellings, two- 180 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE family houses are built. Some very compact and well- planned structures of a very low cost have been evolved. In one design the upper floor is occupied by one large sleeping room and two smaller ones, while on the lower floor is a main living room which also serves as a kitchen and dining room, a scullery with a sink and a bath tub hav- ing a cover used ordinarily as a table, a small pantry, and, entered from out of doors, a toilet room and coal storage bin. The whole covers an area of 450 square feet. Such houses have neither garret nor basement, and the streets upon which they are built are constructed with the least expense, thus reducing the cost of housing to a minimum. Colonies of such houses are often built for the purpose of housing employees of a large concern, such as at Port Sunlight, near Liverpool, a colony of workmen employed at the Sunlight Soap factories owned by Lever Bros. Such colonies are often in the form of garden cities, a detailed description of which wiU be given in a later chapter. Similar colonies are frequently found in Germany, such as at Essen, where the employees of the Krupp Company are housed in a manner much superior to that employed in England. Among the features at Essen are chapels, con- valescents' houses, homes for widows and widowers, etc. Many colonies are built by building and loan associa- tions, under supervision of the government which prevents speculation and overcharging. One of the most difficult of problems in connection with the design of buildings in congested or closely built-up blocks, is to provide light and air for the rear rooms. To obtain a suitable circulation of air is even more trouble- some than to obtain the light. A method adopted with great success for getting the direct circulation of air in blocks is to leave openings at the ends of the blocks, as shown in some of the accompanying illustrations, which are of blocks in English and German cities. The shaded portions represent the buildings, the black lines are the lot divisions and the white portions, gardens or open spaces. BUILDING REGULATIONS 181 In Plan A, the houses face all four sides of the block, but there are four openings at the rear of the houses on the ends of the block. Blocks of this kind are found in cities in England, Holland and in some German cities, notably Bremen, while an occasional New York block has some- times one or more of such openings, left however by accident. Plan C represents a block in which the houses only face the sides of the block. The breeze is free to sweep the (C) Figs. 53, 54 and 55. typical open block plans (a) Type of Half Open System, in England, Holland and Belgium, (b) Block with Partly Open Sides, (c) Block with Open Ends, as found in Mannheim and Posen, Germany entire length of the block, there being no houses on the ends. Such blocks are required by ordinance in the cities of Mannheim and Posen in Germany. Plan B is suggested as an ideal block by the Society of Architects of Berlin. The houses at the sides of the block are set back from the building line slightly, affording space for lawns. There is large free space at the ends of the block, thus giving ample air circulation for the entire block. It will be seen that the block is well laid out, with offsets in the facades of the buildings, affording a variety as compared with blocks having unrelieved straight lines. A succession of such blocks should prove highly effective. 182 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE While the heavy hnes in the plans indicate property lines, the lots are not, as is so often the case in American cities, separated by tall board fences, shutting out light and air and offering opportunities for the collection of rubbish and the growth of weeds. The lots are separated by iron railings or with mesh netting fences, and with well-kept lawns and flower beds, the interiors of the blocks are in reality small parks, pleasing alike to all the residents. Since, further, as in many German cities, the backs of the houses are treated in just as elaborate an architectural manner as the street facades, the view of the interior of a block is in every respect similar to that of a small public park, if not superior. There are thus no back yards in the American sense, with their ugliness and often squalor. In the interiors of the blocks are run narrow delivery wagon streets, a convenience very different from the alley of the western American city. As the interiors are planted with trees and have grass plots and flower beds as indicated, and as floral decorations are required by law on the window sills of the windows looking out upon such interiors, it will be realized that the block interiors in German cities have been developed to a point undreamed of in the United States. Many other examples could be given of the means whereby European building regulations are used for the betterment of the public, but space will not permit. The subject is a most extended one and merits the most com- plete study by city officials who have the welfare of the public at heart. CHAPTER XIV GARDEN CITIES AND WORKINGMEN'S COLONIES Principles of Garden Cities; Working men's Colonies; Social Facilities; Suburban Gardening; Housing Problems The almost invariable desire of the city dweller is to have a place in the country, where he may at least spend the summer months. The unrelieved monotony of city life, with cramped quarters, absence of healthful recreation and sultry temperatures on the one hand and the love of nature and the desire of owning a home on the other, draw people to the country. Only the lack of transit facilities and the time that must be lost from business, prevents a vastly greater proportion of the population from having their country homes and their plots of ground. Living in the country is also cheaper as well as more healthful, particularly for children, who in the city never have the chance that they should have of developing robust constitutions. Yet with proper regulation, it is readily feasible to pro- vide rural homes for practically all who desire them. To accomplish the greatest results, the location of fac- tories should be entirely in the hands of the authorities. As long as private owners can save a few cents by grouping their plants together, crowded conditions in cities will con- tinue, but when the general good comes to be considered and when factories must be located on the outskirts of cities and in rural districts, the mass of the population must of necessity be drawn out of the congested areas to find more healthful homes in the vicinity of their working places. The concentration of factories also being prevented, the suburban and country homes of the workers would be of a 184 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE permanent character, without increasing real estate values compelling their abandonment. The early adoption of such forms of regulation is, how- ever, unlikely in the cities of the United States, so that except in the case of factories voluntarily locating in out-of- town districts, any remedies that may be suggested must depend upon self-interest for their adoption. Among the plans which have been carried out abroad and in the United States to a limited extent are those of garden cities, workmen's colonies and suburban gardening. Fig. 56. Liverpool garden suburb of twenty-five acres, with eleven houses per acre The garden city in its best form is a well-organized development, in which from 100 to 500 homes make up a unit, which is intended to grow little if any larger. When additional demand springs up for quarters, a new garden city is formed elsewhere, and thus the identity of the exist- ing one is preserved indefinitely, and the residents, in the expectation of spending their lives in their own homes, have every incentive to embellish them and keep their grounds in the best possible condition. The garden city in plan should be laid out in the sim- plest yet most attractive manner. There being no traflTic GARDEN CITIES 185 of any consequence, the streets should be planned with the degree of irregularity which insures charm. Some of the streets should be winding, while the straight ones should have suitable terminals. Each house should be provided with a spacious garden, as it is from the gardens that such cities take their name. Such gardens, though partially devoted to vegetable raising, should also be well laid out with flower beds, and the whole garden city should be sub- ject to such regulations as will insure sufficient attention being given to the gardens to produce the intended appear- ance. Grass plots, trees, hedges, shrubbery and arbors should be in abundance both in the front and in the rear of the houses. The neglect of the residents should not be allowed to mar the appearance of the city. The houses may be quite simple and compact in design, such as have been described in the previous chapter, but they should all be individual in character, and by no means the frightful rows of boxes all exactly alike, which are put up for workmen's houses in most rural or suburban places devoted to such purposes. The economical design of the buildings and the small expenses for streets makes the housing cost small, so that the rent may be low, or the workman may, in a reasonable length of time, become the owner of his own home. Garden cities should be laid out within easy reach of transit facilities, and natural advantages of site should be seized whenever possible, to give individuality and charm to the plan. The accompanying diagrams show plans of garden cities which have proven very successful from every point of view, but they should by no means be followed as patterns, for each garden city should have its own characteristics and be unlike any other. The sanitary provisions of the garden cities should be carefully carried out, and the details should be simple but solid in construction and as inexpensive as possible. A garden city is principally a place of residence, and it should have as few stores as possible, only those of the 186 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE most necessary character being provided. A school may be the only building of a public character. In garden cities, however, which are larger and located in a more or less isolated position, the suburban character is lost and they become small cities and should be accord- ingly provided with a great number and variety of stores and public buildings. The city may have its own civic organization, with schools, a library, churches, museum, theatre and the like and be a complete civic unit. Garden cities have met with greater success in England than anywhere else as yet, although a greater number and variety of them are now in process of formation in Germany. The principal English garden cities are Port Sunlight, near Liverpool, Bourneville, near Birmingham, and Letch- worth, near London, while the leading German garden city is Hellerau, near Dresden. The numerous workingmen's colonies in Germany which first began to be founded about 1863 are earlier prototypes of the present garden cities, but on a less comprehensive scale and with less open ground. Garden cities are organized on several different plans. Port Sunlight is operated by a soap factory, the rents being placed on a basis of depreciation and taxes only, not tak- ing into account the value of the land and the capital invested. The factory regards this in the nature of profit sharing with its employees and the tenants are exclusively employees and their families. Port Sunlight covers some 450 acres. At Bourneville the situation is different, and although half the tenants are of the employees of the concern, any one is eligible to become a resident. The rents are higher, but the place is an individual entity administered by an independent corporation. There are some 5,000 inhabitants in Bourneville who occupy 925 houses. The village covers 612 acres of land and one-tenth of the land in addition to that occupied by roads and gardens is reserved for parks and recreation grounds. In no case is the building allowed to cover more than one-fourth of the plot, and the number of houses is usually from seven to ten per acre. GARDEN CITIES 187 The large amount of ground thus left open permits of vegetable gardens, the produce of which materially lowers the cost of living of the householders. It has been pointed out that the land as ordinarily farmed formerly brought a return of some $25 per acre, but that as now utilized it returns a product valued at some $150 per acre besides housing at the rate of 30 inhabitants per acre in the occupied portions. Hellerau, which is some three miles from Dresden and which covers 325 acres, has a population of about 1,000, and the land is held by a corporation which limits its dividends to 4 per cent. The village is occupied by the employees of a single concern, the Deutsche Werkstaeten fiir Handwerkkunst, the chief owner of which, Karl Schmidt, is the leading spirit of the Hellerau improvement. The building is largely carried on by the Co-operative Building Association of Hellerau, which secures its capital at low rates from the governmental insurance funds. These enor- mous funds are thus utilized in a twofold manner; the principal for improving housing conditions and the income for the amelioration of the beneficiaries. The garden city at Letchworth some 35 miles from London is a modern city of 7,500 inhabitants with 49 indus- tries. It is an independent entity, and is operated by a group of persons who have limited their possible dividends to 5 per cent, thus ensuring the best of conditions for the residents. The maximum number of houses is twelve to an acre and two-thirds of the six square miles of the place are reserved for parks and similar purposes. Another interesting example will be found in Forest Hills Gardens, Long Island, N.Y., a town planning enter- prise in which certain trust funds have been invested; and which is conducted wholly on commercial lines as it is expected that a fair profit will be earned on the investment. As a real estate proposition it may not differ much from other first-class Long Island developments. It is not a garden city for workingmen, however, being intended for persons of ampler means. 188 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE The main points in the general layout or great ground plan are the direct, ample, convenient thoroughfares, the gently curved residence streets, so laid out as to allow for deep front gardens; the interior parks for private use of residents, and the large amount of land in proportion to the size of the development which is put aside for common use. Each block is considered as a unit and treated as such. This separate block planning gives a beauty and variety not possible with the ordinary rectangular block plan. Unity of design is the special attraction of the Gardens, and this unity has been faithfully adhered to. The station, the inn, the stores, the apartments, and the houses large and small, while varying in treatment and material are all har- monious in design. The whole place has an atmosphere which is home-like, refreshing, and distinguished. Like all other high class suburban developments, the individual or free-standing house will predominate, but an attractive feature of the building plan is the so-called "Group Build- ing." This plan makes it possible to buy a house of supe- rior construction and enduring value at a lower price for the reason that the land can be used more economically when the houses are either semi-detached or one of a group of three, four, six, eight or ten houses set contiguously in a row. These groups and rows add greatly to the charm and variety of the building scheme. They have been planned so as to conform to the land and road contours and are of different sizes and prices, with varying interior arrangement and architectural treatment. There is no subject upon which the developers of the Gardens have laid more stress than upon the value of the common use of land as a factor in community life. When the plans of this company were first ofTicially made public, disappointment was expressed that the enter- prise would not benefit the mechanic or day laborer, such as the English development at Port Sunlight. This, however, was impracticable owing to the location of the property, the initial cost of which would only permit of the upbuilding of a high grade residential suburb. The Gardens enjoy the COURT OF WORKINGMEN S HOUSES WnrLinr/men's coloni/. Friederirhshnf. at the Kriipp Works, Essen BUILDING FOU THU AGED Altenhof colony at the Krupp Works, Essen ^L'. GARDEN CITIES 189 distinction of being the first example in America of a town laid out in advance by a group of experts, and public interest in such a notable piece of work is well justified. These examples indicate the scope of the garden city idea in its various applications, from the housing of the employees of a single factory to the establishment of an independent and thriving city. The fundamental theory on which the success of the undertakings depends is in a general way the limitation of profits on the capital invested. The idea is now only in its infancy and there seems to be no doubt of its rapid development; indeed it is easy to imagine an enormous expansion of it, to include cities of great population, which should in time come to rival existing cities if not to deplete their population and bankrupt their greedy private owners. There can be no doubt in a city of 500,000 or 1,000,000 population in which the interest return was limited to 5 per cent on the land and building investment that living conditions would be so vastly better than they are in present cities, that the latter would suffer materially if not be left entirely stagnant. Thus the garden city may prove to be the city of the future and the practical means of carrying into effect the benefits of the single tax system. The workingmen's colonies, which, as has been noted, were the prototypes of the garden cities, had their origin in the workingmen's quarters established by the Krupp Company at Essen, beginning in 1855 with barracks afford- ing lodging and board for 200 men to start with, the erec- tion in 1863 of a colony of 160 dwellings at "Alt West End," the first actual colony continuing with various addi- tions to the present time until, with the colonies of Westend Nordhof, Baumhof, Schederhof, Cronenberg, Alfredshof, Friedrichshof, Margarethenhof, Dalhauser Heide, Emscher- Lippe and Colony Gaarden and the miscellaneous quarters in Essen, the Krupp Works house 12,800 men and their families, a total of 46,000 people. The colony Cronenberg, the largest and best known, was mainly erected in the years 1872 to 1874. 190 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE The buildings are partly set up in rows of three-storied houses containing 30 to 40 dwellings in each block and partly form isolated three-storied semi-detached houses with twelve Fig. 57. plan of workingmen's colony, dahlhauser heide, krupp works dwellings, six of them accessible from each gable front. The buildings are constructed in brick or quarry-stone without ornaments, and are surrounded by gardens and lawns. Throughout, each staircase gives access to six dwellings, to GARDEN CITIES 191 two each on each floor from a small landing, through a pri- vate front door. The streets are lined with trees and in the midst of the colony is a spacious park, which in connec- tion with the gardens surrounding the houses gives to the whole a pleasant aspect. Subsequent to 1891, 204 additional dwellings were erected so that the entire colony contains 1,454 workmen's dwellings of two or three rooms and some up to six rooms. From 1894 to 1899 the principal portions of Alfredshof and Friedrichshof were erected, and in the erection of these colonies aesthetic as well as practical and hygienic considera- tions were emphasized. The plans on which the streets are laid out, the varying positions of the buildings as regards the streets, the provid- ing of spacious open grounds, the application of a handsome and varied architecture, and the use of bright coloring in roofs and facades lend these colonies a lively and most pleasing aspect. In fixing the ground plan of the several dwellings, allow- ance was made for the higher standard of the workman's life at present and accommodations of two rooms, therefore, were altogether abandoned, and sets of three or more rooms were only admitted. Each one-family cottage was given a small garden and two or more storied houses were provided with verandas and loggias, to afford their inhabitants a sitting place in the open air. Each kitchen was also fitted with a larder. The first lot of houses in Alfredshof was erected on the cottage system in one, two, three and four family cottages, in rows of a small number of houses per row. To each family-lodging a small garden is attached. The dwellings in the semi-detached or double semi-detached cottages also are completely separated, each family having their own private entrance through their garden. At the entrance of each dwelling is a veranda. In 1899 building in the Alfredshof came temporarily to an end. When it was resumed in 1907, the ground in the meantime had become too dear to continue the cottage sys- 192 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE tern. In order to utilize the building ground more ration- ally, and to provide a sufficient number of dwellings in the neighborhood of the works, in answer to the increased num- ber of hands, a more compact mode of building had to be adopted. The question could only be solved by the several-storied house let out in flats, which at the same time afforded the possibility of bringing the colony architecturally into some harmony with the town houses around. The houses were arranged in blocks, an arrangement already adopted in the Friedrichshof. By an artistic grouping of the blocks, by leaving sufficient open ground, lawns and playgrounds be- tween and by carefully preserving existing trees this new part of the Alfredshof was made to answer all modern re- quirements as regards health and beauty. The annual rents in these colonies are: In One- In Multiple- Family House Family House For a three-room dwelling $47.50 to $55.00 $42.50 to $52.50 " " four-room " 62.50 55.00 " 60.00 " " five-room " 75.00 " 96.00 65.00 " 70.00 In opposition to the Altenhof and the older part of the Alfredshof this workmen's colony was from the very begin- ning erected on the system of the two or more storied house on account of the valuable and rather limited building ground. Six or four families enter their residence from one common staircase and three or two families have one laundry in common. But apart from the street door and the com- mon staircase, each dwelling has its own private front door on the landing. The three or two storied houses of this colony are united into more or less large blocks, which are grouped around squares and playgrounds, so that light and fresh air is abundant; the trees and shrubs besides afford a gay and pleasant aspect. The Friedrichshof affords altogether accommodations for 523 families. The annual rents are: GARDEN CITIES 193 For a flat of three rooms $43.75 to $52.25 " " " " four " 53.75 " 60.00 " five " 63.75 " 68.75 C£ (t (( In addition to the regular housing accommodations there are special structures for aged and infirm persons, widows, widowers and orphans, and there are also hospitals, con- valescent homes and the like, affording complete accommo- dations for all classes of the population. The Krupp Company, although the first to establish and Fig. 58. great ground plan of the garden city, port sunlight, ENGLAND the largest operators of such colonies, is by no means alone in the field, as numerous other German works have followed the example and all over Germany workingmen's colonies and garden cities are either projected or are already in existence. A plan which affords a residence in the country during the summer months in an economical manner, is that of subur- ban gardening. The family living in the city rents a space in the suburbs within easy reach of the city and uses the garden for raising vegetables and as a more or less elaborate camping ground. 194 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Either a tent or a simple summer house is put up, afford- ing merely facilities for sleeping and cooking. The members of the family who are not compelled to go to the city daily, may thus spend the entire summer in the open air. Such summer houses may be of the most inexpensive construction, but should be tastefully designed and pleas- antly placed. They may with advantage be constructed of narrow vertically placed sheeting or lath, like pickets on a fence, the inner row spaced alternately with the outer row, so that privacy may be preserved while at the same time a perfectly free circulation of air is afforded. Such structures may be put up at an expense of not more than fifty dollars or so. In the neighborhood of large cities on the seaboard, areas along the beaches are frequently devoted to small colonies of tents, which are used merely for sleeping pur- poses, food being usually obtained at near-by seaside restau- rants. Such places, however, afford only the recreation of the beach and are without the advantages of the permanency and varied nature of suburban or rural gardening. Care should be taken to procure pure water at such summer homes, since illness may result from carelessness in this respect. Suburban gardens may readily be laid out with little or no expense near cities of any size, though they will prove most attractive near the larger cities. In the garden cities and workmen's colonies in which residence throughout the year is permanent, a highly de- sirable feature will be the consumers' union, described in another chapter. None of the ordinary small merchants should be allowed to begin business in the city, unless they carry lines not intended to be carried by the consumers' union. In this way, the union will know just what demand it will have to supply and can make its purchases accord- ingly. Being operated for the benefit of the public, it is in the interest of the public that there should be no competition. The consumers' union may be operated either by the cor- poration, by the building association or by the residents GARDEN CITIES 195 themselves, but in any case it should be entirely in the interests of the public, as the plan of company's stores, where operated for the profit of the company employing the work- man, quickly becomes a source of oppression and a breeder of discontent. Such stores are in bad odor in the United States and the practice is one which has been discontinued by many companies. The interests both of the companies and of the workmen, where such company stores are still in operation, would be served by transforming them into consumers' unions. In the absence of municipal regulation, companies which at present have their workingmen living in colonies, could accomplish much by supervising the grounds and gardens of their workmen's homes. By a system of small bonuses, depending on the well-kept condition of the grounds, or by a number of prizes, the men could be encouraged to improve their surroundings, and the interest thus taken by the em- ployers in the workmen would beget a similar interest in the workman in his employer's work. The better understanding thus reached could not fail to be of mutual benefit. One of the objections to garden cities and workingmen's colonies in the United States is the feeling of dependence that is implied. The individual seems to feel that by living in such surroundings he is making himself a chattel of the company. It is as if he were bound more securely in the chains of industrial servitude. In Germany a wholly different feeling prevails. The workman takes a greater personal interest in his work; he expects to remain with the company a long period of years and he feels a sense of loyalty to the company's interests that is only felt in the United States by partners in the business. To attain, therefore, the greatest success with garden cities, it is advisable to either give the employees a co- operative interest in the business, or to limit the number of employees in any one factory who may live in any one gar- den city, so that the garden city's population will be made up of employees of a number of different factories. This 196 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE O" I IJPfULT wu: ""■ 1 I Figs. 59 and 60. an English workingman's home IN a garden city GARDEN CITIES 197 would serve to free the workman of the feehng that he be- longed too much to his employer. As a rule it is best for the city itself to establish its own outlying garden cities, rather than to leave the matter to private initiative. A more comprehensive and better related system will result. For such purposes, it is advisable for the city to acquire land, and while this is not feasible for American cities at present, owing to lack of constitutional authority, no doubt this condition will soon be remedied. German cities are large owners of land. Berlin owns some 40,000 acres, the greater part of which is outside the city limits. Munich has 14,000 acres and Breslau 12,000 or some 20 square miles. Such lands include forests, and German cities are among the largest owners of forests in the world, while additions are constantly being made to their belongings. According to Mr. Frederic C. Howe, writing in Scribner's Magazine, May, 1910: "Fifteen hundred small towns and villages in Germany derive so much revenue from the lands they own that they are free from all local taxes. Five hundred of these com- munities are not only free from all land taxes, but are able to declare a dividend of from $25 to $100 a year to each citizen as his share of the earnings of the common land." The expropriation, thus, of lands likely to increase in value, is an obligation which the public owes to itself, and one which it should not hesitate to assume. An excellent example of the extent to which a city may profitably go in solving the housing problems of its citizens is seen in the German city of Ulm, in Wurttemburg. The city is an important manufacturing center with about 56,000 inhabitants, and the municipality now owns 80 per cent of all real estate in and around the city. The old fortifications were sold to the municipality in 1902, and the authorities immediately seized upon the op- portunity to organize a very liberal city planning and housing system. When the inner walls were transferred to the city the ground outside these limits naturally rose in 198 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE value. In view of the city's great undertaking, combined with the large outlay in buying the fortress, for razing and removing the walls, and for the building of many new streets, the authorities had decided that these improvements could be made on the sole condition that the city treasury and not the former proprietors of the land should benefit by the great rise in real estate. With this object in view the town council began buying up land as early as 1891. At the close of the year 1908-9 nearly 1,210 acres had been purchased at a total cost of $1,398,640. Of this land 405 acres had been sold for $1,623,924, so that the municipality had profited $234,284, and still owned 805 acres. In addition, the disused fortress, covering 172 acres, was bought for $952,000 and $595,000 was spent in purchasing houses in the old part of the town in order to improve sanitary conditions. In all, the city now owns 4,942 acres. The principal points in the plan for developing the city were: To make direct roads from the gates of the old wall to the main roads leading to all parts of the country; to connect the suburb Soeflingen by direct new thoroughfares with the city proper; to build boulevards within the walls; and to build a freight station west of Ulm within easy reach of the city. It then remained to divide and parcel out the land, which was done as follows: The valley between Ulm and Soe- flingen was reserved for all kinds of trade, small industries, and dwelling houses for the general population. In order to economize space, it was decided to build in rows, v/ith space between the buildings. For large manufacturing plants, land was reserved east of Soeflingen, connected with the freight station by a railway line constructed by the town. The same will be done east of Ulm. For workpeople and peasantry of the suburb Soeflingen, land was allotted in the northeast of Soeflingen — the houses to be built at intervals of 17 feet; for ordinary family houses, the hill in the south of Soeflingen — the houses to be 23 feet apart; for villas and more pretentious houses, the hill west of Ulm with houses at intervals of 33 feet; for people of the more GARDEN CITIES 199 prosperous class, the "Michelsberg," a sunny hill north of Ulm — distance between houses to be 147 feet. The woods east of Ulm afford ample opportunity for recreation and sport. Land east of Frienrichsau, near the Danube, has been reserved for a future harbor. Extensive ownership of land enables the city to keep prices within reasonable limits and to furnish land at a very moderate rate for undertakings of public interest, for manufacturing purposes, houses for workmen, etc. Persons purchasing land of the city must agree to build on it within a given number of years, the city having the right to buy back such land at the price originally paid for it, including 3 per cent interest. Ground for the erection of workmen's houses can always be had at a very moderate price, but solely on conditions excluding personal profit or speculation. The city itself has built 175 houses with 291 flats for 1,367 inhabitants on the following conditions: the city builds the houses and the purchaser pays the net price, 10 per cent down and the rest at 3 per cent interest and 2 per cent on mortgages. In order to secure for the future low prices for the houses and low renting, the city is authorized within 100 years to take back the houses at the original purchase price if the owner is unable to pay the interest; if he does not live in the house, but sublets it; or if he wishes to sell the house. Other houses built under the foregoing conditions have been erected by companies, societies, etc. The Society An- onyme Wohnungsverein has constructed 18 buildings, with 62 flats, at a cost of $53,274. Flats of two rooms rent for $41.65 per year, while three-room flats, with kitchen, etc., bring $57.12. Shareholders are restricted to 4 per cent in- terest on their capital. In houses built by the Savings & Building Co., two-room flats rent for $52.36 and three-rooms, with kitchen, etc., bring $59.50 to $90.44. The Unlimited Building Co. builds houses for letting to members. The ground remains the property of the city, which after 70 years is obliged to buy the houses for 80 per cent of the building value. The houses contain 5 to 10 rooms and cost $3,808 to 200 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE $7,140 without ground. The Kingdom of Wurttemberg, the postal administration, and several industrial works have built houses for employees. Altogether, since 1891, 388 buildings, with 1,006 flats for 5,000 inhabitants, have been built on condition that the letting price cannot be increased whenever the price of land rises. CHAPTER XV CIVIC CULTURE Schools; Churches; Theatres; Museums; Art Galleries; Libraries; Concert Halls The planning of a city includes not only the arrangement of its streets, the construction of engineering features and the erection of public buildings, but also the provision for such structures and systems as may be better performed by the city as a whole than by its individuals, and which are intended for the purpose of inculcating that degree of civic culture which will enable the citizen to understand and appreciate and enjoy the advantages provided by the city. Such factors of civic culture include schools, libraries, art galleries, museums, theatres, concerts and the like, and the city should not only erect suitable structures for these pur- poses, but should, where supplementary systems are conducted by private interests, regulate them in such a way as to cause them to take a proper place in the city's scheme. Schools should be so located as to be accessible to the pupils and sufTiciently numerous and so placed that the pupils have but short distances to go to reach them. School buildings should, of course, be provided with ample light, ventilation and heating facilities. Playgrounds of ample capacity should be set apart, and staircases should be wide enough to afTord easy access to all schoolrooms. As obvious as these requirements will appear, it is nevertheless true that great numbers of schools do not meet them. High schools, normal schools, institutes and city colleges, as they are comparatively few in number and attended by pupils often living at a distance, should be located at centers of traffic. The buildings should be of a monumental char- acter on sites with suitable grounds or approaches. Such 202 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE buildings thus become part of the city's plan and their dignity and imposing character favorably affect both the pupils and the general public. Art galleries and museums should also be provided by the city. Although philanthropists often find in such buildings a means of contributing to the public welfare, it is neverthe- less a duty which a city should not neglect in the expectation of such benefaction. Such structures should, of course, be of the highest aesthe- tic significance, and should be located in open squares or Fig. 61. proposed remodelling of oscar plaza at reinickendorfer street, berlin, with a church as a focal point parks, and though accessible to traffic, they should be some- what removed from the main avenues of turmoil. Libraries and concert halls should likewise be monu- mental structures, with proper approaches, but they should be located convenient to residential traffic. Since in order to produce the best effects of city design, commercial and private buildings must be subject to muni- cipal regulation, it is also necessary that a similar control be exercised over churches. While in the United States, a complete separation of church and state exists, and the in- terference of a municipality with the affairs of a church may CIVIC CULTURE 203 be resented, as much by the non-rehgious part of the com- munity as by the membership; it would be ridiculous not to require the conformation of buildings of usually such a prominent character with the plan of the city. Churches may indeed, in many cities, owing to their tower-like structure, be utilized as objectives at focal points and otherwise be made distinctive features of the city's plan. When great churches are to be erected, they should only be allowed to be placed at such localities as will cause Fig. 62. vendome plaza, paris, a square with but two entrances, the center of which is occupied by a tall column them to best harmonize with the city's plan and produce the greatest effect. Inasmuch as churches are the beneficiaries of the state to the extent that they are free from taxation, it is appropriate that they should be so erected as to best harmonize with the city's plan. If churches paid taxes and the money was de- voted to the embellishment of the city, some very important improvements could be made, which are now foregone. Theatres are another class of buildings which should be of a character adapted to embellish the city, and to beautify the localities in which they are placed, and the same is true of opera houses and privately owned concert halls. The influences of the theatre and music are among the most important of the cultural agencies, and the added dignity and prestige to such arts of being located in monu- 204 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE mental structures would augment their effects and amplify their usefulness. In the state and city owned theatres of European coun- tries, an excellent example is set for other countries, as such theatres are an artistic inspiration both to the public and to the artists. This state and civic sanction and support places the work of the theatre on a higher plane, and such recognition of its value and importance stirs its per- sonnel to great endeavors and gives its work added authority with the public. A state or municipal owned theatre - - will obviously be of a monumental charac- tJ _ ter, as the question of expense does not restrict the design or location of the building. Such a theatre will be so placed as to be an ornament to the city and the center of its amusement district. The commercial theatres may be arranged with reference to it and in some instances church as the focal point of it may be feasible to have such structures a number of streets arranged about a square or small park. With the setting of the trees, lawns and fountains and an artistically planned system of illumination, an especially in- teresting feature of the city would thus be created. One of the leading examples among American theatres of a monumental character is the present Century Theatre in New York, formerly called the New Theatre, which faces Central Park, but which enjoys only a fairly good location. Occasionally a theatre with an admirable exterior will be found, but its surroundings are usually such as to detract from whatever beauty it may possess. American theatre interiors, however, are usually of a much more pleasing effect than the exteriors, and the comfort and enjoyment of the audience, once inside, is well provided for. The high cost of real estate, however, usually forces the theatre into the interior of blocks, with only a narrow and ugly street front- age. This circumstance, however, is not so discouraging to Fig. 63. plan of the cathedral at ulm An excellent example of the location of a prominent CITY THEATRE, FRANKFOKT OPERA HOUSE, FRANKFORT Municipally fnslcrcfl cnlcrprises for the proinolinn of civic culture, not manaycd by the city, but given subsidies amounting to $75,000 annually CATHEDRAL AT COLOGNE, GERMANY {Largest and lalh-sl church in the world) Ilhislraling the use of churches dominating centers and as focal points of streets CIVIC CULTURE 205 the aesthetic sensibiUties of the pubUc as might be the case if the civic culture of the pubUc had been developed to a greater extent. The results of the aesthetic and ethical influences which go to make up what may be termed civic culture, are of such importance to the city and its public, that the greatest encouragement should be given to such subjects. The results obtained in European cities, the beauty and effective- ness of their plans and operations, indicate what may be accomplished in America, where the results will in time, when the public is fully awakened, undoubtedly be much greater, since the wealth and natural resources to be drawn upon are so much more extensive. The trend towards civic culture is inevitable, though slow, and an example of it is seen in the gradual absorption by America of the greatest of the works of art of Europe, the cultural effect of which will be exerted upon future generations of this country's citizens rather than those of other countries. In the presence of such great examples, it behooves us, however, to create our own schools and develop our own talent, and in every possible way to promote the civic cul- ture of the whole body of citizens. CHAPTER XVI ADMINISTRA TI VE F UNCTIONS Hospitals; Poorhouses, Lodging Houses and Rescue Homes; Orphan Asylums; Homes for Widows and the Aged and Infirm; Police and Fire Departments Among the functions of the administration of a city are those which relate to the care of the unfortunate, the guard- ing of persons and property, the correction of the delinquent, the prevention of extortion and the enlarging of the ideas of civic duties, and the supplying of the public with various commodities which cannot otherwise be so advantageously obtained. A city should be provided with an ample number of hospitals, either of city, private or denominational founda- tion, and when such hospitals are not controlled by the city, the city should at least have a considerable degree of juris- diction over them, particularly as most hospitals are tax exempt. As cities are not usually provided with ambu- lances, and there is thus no official means of caring for those who may meet with accident or sickness on the streets, it should be the duty of each hospital to care for the stricken on the streets in their locality. The entire organization of hospitals in the United States is one which is founded largely on false assumptions and conducted without a proper conception of the true relation of the hospitals to the public. A great number of hospitals are founded on an insufficient endowment fund and are constantly appealing for possible philanthropic aid, and at the same time charging patients for the service extended, usually much more than it is worth. Thus though the recipients of charity on one side, they employ it, on margin so to speak, on the other, to ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS 207 enable them to have a larger plant than they can readily afford in order to accommodate more paying patients. Unless the patient is willing to pay a high rate, equivalent to that charged by doctors in private practice where ex- penses are larger and charges naturally higher, he is regarded as a charity or semi-charity patient, and suffers offense and humiliation in a psychological sense and very likely an inferior degree of attention and service in physiological sense. This is all entirely wrong. A hospital operated on funds donated by a philanthropist is no more a charitable institu- tion than a university which is supported by an endowment given by philanthropists. The sons of the wealthy attend universities and enjoy the benefits of such philanthropy without the stigma of being charity students, but hospitals, operating under exactly similar conditions in treating patients, assume that they are dispensing charity. As a matter of fact, philanthropists are actuated more in making such donations by a desire to perpetuate their own names than by motives of charity, and the manner of use made of their funds by many hospital authorities is such that public policy would be better served by making all hospitals purely municipal in character. In any event, hospitals should be subject to a close degree of municipal supervision, and such practices as are improper should be prevented, such, for example, as the transferring of persons in a dying condition to municipal hospitals from the semi-philanthropic hospitals in order that the latter may show a lower death rate. Denominational hospitals, also, as a condition of their establishment, should be required to admit patients without regard to creed. The health of its citizens so largely concerns the city that hospitals should be compelled to recognize the require- ments of public policy and be brought to realize that in no possible sense are they dispensers of charity. The location of the hospital buildings should be as de- termined by the city authorities, and they should be of such size as to accord with the plans of the city. The structures should be properly laid out, of fireproof construction, and 208 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE situated in suitable grounds, which should partake more or less of the character of small parks. Comparatively few hospitals, however, should be located in the city limits. Patients suffering from chronic com- plaints and convalescents should be in hospitals in the country or at least in the suburbs, both for their own benefit and on account of the lower investment required in building the hospitals. The same is true of relief institutions such as orphan asylums, homes for the aged and infirm, widows' homes, rescue homes, poorhouses, and asylums for the deaf and dumb, feeble-minded and insane. The duty of the municipality and the state towards these classes is one that deserves the most complete per- formance, not only in their own interests, but in the interests of the public at large. Institutions of such character are best located, as has been said, in the rural districts, as the room they occupy in cities can be much better used for other purposes. They should, of course, be subjected to the most rigid supervision by the authorities, not limited to occasional visits of trustees, since abuses quickly arise and are difficult to check. Particularly should institutions of a rescue character to which inmates are legally committed but which exist by private charitable donations, be subject to supervision, as such inmates are often detained rather for the purpose of enabling the staff to have an excuse for appealing for funds and drawing salaries than for the good of their charges or the public. In the protection of persons and property and the punish- ment of delinquents, the city performs one of its basic functions, and one in which the efficiency attained varies widely. The administration of the police is one of the most difficult, if not the most difficult executive function which city officials are called upon to perform. The principal defects in the American police system arise from the fact that the force is recruited from an untrained class of men and the chief police officials are not sufficiently experienced. This springs largely from political causes, and ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS 209 the efficiency of the police will only be obtained when political considerations are relegated to the background and the personnel of the force improved. In Germany, for example, practically all policemen were at one time non-commissioned officers in the army, and very seldom is a recruit accepted who did not rise at least the first step out of the ranks. The body of men is thus one used to disciphne and organization. The higher police officials must have been officers in the army, and as they make a life business of civic administration, they prepare themselves in a general way during their educational careers to become administrators, either as mayor, paid city father, police commissioner, postmaster or in other like capacity. As such, when they have made a reputation in one city, in whatever capacity, they may be called to other and more important cities, building up reputations for themselves and moving from place to place as do high executive railway officials in the United States. With organizations of this character free from political influence, municipal regulation has teeth in it, and means all that it stands for. It is one of the fundamental causes of German civic superiority. The proper maintenance of order is an administrative function but little understood by the American police in general. They do not appear ever to have been instructed what real order on the streets means. Streets are for the purpose of enabling the public to get from place to place in safety and with convenience and despatch, and not for the various other purposes to which they are put. Among the things which should be prohibited are the assemblying of groups of loafers and mashers on corners, spitting and throwing refuse on the sidewalks and making remarks about passers-by; the noisy playing of boys on the streets, shouting and loud singing on streets, roofs and build- ings, and the playing of bands and pianos after certain hours; the shouting and singing of roysterers and college boys in the early morning hours; rowdyism in the streets and on cars; the calling of hucksters and others; the assemblying on side- 210 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE walks and streets of crowds attracted by window displays or baseball or bulletin boards; the congregation of beggars or others soliciting contributions, including bands of instru- mentalists; and the parading and gathering on the streets and sidewalks of bands of music and exhorters, both black and white, including those belonging to organizations or issuing from neighboring buildings and whose music and haranguing are likely to be highly distasteful to others on the streets or in the adjoining residences. Other notable nuisances which should be prohibited are noisy vehicles, particularly automobiles with shrieking horns and smoking engines; flat-wheeled trolley cars; blasting during the erection of buildings and the operation of donkey engines except during certain hours. Nuisances of this character are readily prevented when the poUce are instructed on the subject and are required to carry out their instructions. It is certainly not the part of wisdom to construct a beautiful city and then have its advantages impaired by the improper use of the streets. The streets belong to the public as such, and not to individuals with time to kill and axes to grind, and such usage should be promptly stopped. Police administration buildings and municipal courts should always be of an imposing monumental character, and they may properly form the nucleus of civic centers. As objectives at focal points, they are highly effective. On account of the psychological effect produced and for the purpose of civic embellishment, no expense should be spared to give them every possible degree of importance and interest. In the fire department service, American cities are placed at a somewhat better advantage than in the police service, since politics enters much less importantly into the question. The firemen themselves are brave and capable and produce the best possible results with the more or less antiquated equipment placed at their command. It is in this department, and in the administration of the service, that American fire departments are inefficient. ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS 211 Abroad, the heads of departments are either trained engineers or administrators, and if not engineers, they are assisted by advisory engineers. The highest degree of technical training is thus brought to the service of the de- partments, for such men make the subject a hfe study. The American pubhc, reading only the stories of heroism of the individual firemen, is not aware of the true conditions existing in the departments, and how behind the times the equipment and appliances are. Even when our reforms do come, they come in a most belated fashion. When we are beginning to adopt automobile fire engines, as at present, such engines are being discarded abroad, in favor of electric engines. The United States Consular report of August 9, 1911, states: "The city of Berlin has also adopted electricity as a motive power for their fire department, four stations being already fully equipped, horses and gasoline motors being dispensed with. Among the many advantages of the system was a saving of over half the cost where horses had been used, also a wonderful saving of time, it taking but 12 seconds from the time an alarm was sounded until the de- partment was fully under way on the street. Safety and simplicity of operation were also fully demonstrated." The antiquated methods and fire apparatus of many cities should be thoroughly overhauled. The fancied superi- ority of the departments and the self-satisfaction displayed should be promptly exploded. Often the system of fire alarms depends on a single center of distribution for a whole city or borough. It is as though the whole telephone system were centered at a given point. Surely there should always be a distributing system, so arranged with different centers that one or several might be eliminated and still leave means of communication between the remaining centers effective. In outlying districts particularly, the fire alarm wires are exposed and subject to damage and interruption, and they are so frequently interrupted that from the statistics 212 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE kept in New York, for example, an average may be struck as to how many interruptions may be expected to occur during any given period. Not only are fire alarm systems defective in this par- ticular but the methods of ringing alarms is such that there is much time wasted in starting to the fire. The alarms should appear instantly, as annunciators in hotel room signal systems. Often the horses are hitched and the engines ready to go and waiting for the alarm to be completed before being able to tell where to start for. Horse-drawn engines are scheduled to disappear in five years, it is claimed. This will be just about fifteen years behind the times and will represent a loss of untold millions in property. Throughout the details of fire fighting, the systems are either out of date or modern devices have not been adopted. For example, the fireman's helmet, which is connected with an oxygen supply and a water supply, is not in use. Clothed in a fireproof suit, and with water pouring over him from such a helmet and supplied with oxygen, a fireman can literally pass through flames, while smoke is no obstacle whatever. A few of these in use in fire departments would be the means of saving a great number of lives every year, of those who, overcome by smoke, cannot be reached by fire- men as at present equipped. No amount of heroism can take the place of such an apparatus. Doubtless some of them may be expected to come into use in five or ten years. The enormous damage from the use of too much water is another serious indictment of our fire fighting methods. Ex- cept in cases of conflagrations or where buildings are gutted, the water damage is unnecessarily great, and often is greater than the damage from the fire itself. Not infrequently fatalities are due to drowning in flooded basements, rather than to suffocation. The great consumption of water in American cities as compared with foreign cities may be seen from the following examples taken at random: .•^^ ENTRANCES TO GREENWOOD AND CYPRESS HILLS CEMETERIES BROOKLYN, N. Y. ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS 213 Pittsburg, 220 gallons per day per capita; Buffalo, 310 Philadelphia, 205; Chicago, 225; Salt Lake City, 310 Paris, 65; London, 39; Amsterdam, 37; Copenhagen, 27 and Berlin, 22. Even with these small amounts, the foreign cities have their streets and sidewalks flushed regularly. The American excess is due to the inefficiency of the city authorities. It is the boast of American fire chiefs that they manage to flood buildings with certain enormous quantities of water. This is a boast of inefficiency. Abroad the fire chief reports how few gallons he was able to use to put out the fire. There, apparatus is used which throws the water in thin sheets under high pressure, and extinguishes the fire without flooding the lower floors, or in fact, in many cases, even wet- ting them, as it is evident that a small volume of water under high pressure will put out a flre more effectively than a mere flooding of the floor. Smaller hose is generally used, which makes it more available, while every modern device for fire fighting is also employed. One device which might be adopted with great benefit in many American cities is the endless bag fire escape, reach- ing from a window to the street, the lower end being held some distance away from the building. Thus a person sliding down inside the bag, shoots out at the bottom in a horizontal direction, instead of dropping vertically as down a rope. The reason for not adopting the small hose high pres- sure system here is that it has been "tried" and found impracticable. Perhaps the fact that it was not practicable was due to the fact that there were no "practical" men behind the companies seeking to introduce the system, since the same objection has been urged against automobile fire engines, which are only now beginning to come into use, though they have been used abroad for ten years, and are now being discontinued in favor of the electric engine. It is alleged that they have not proved as reliable as the horse, yet as operated abroad, they have proved more reliable, speedy and efficient. 214 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE The great extent of the fire losses throughout the coun- try is rarely understood by the public. Yet in the failure to take ordinary precautions against fire, and in carelessness and faulty construction, losses amounting to three-quarters of a million dollars a day are incurred throughout the country. The excessive and wasteful use of wood in buildings is largely responsible for fires, and wood is used because of its apparent cheapness. Ultimately wood is a high-priced building material, since its true value, in the first place, is much higher than the selling price, and its durability is so much less than other materials. The failure to renew forests and the sacrificial price at which wood is sold, representing only the cost of getting it to market and not the cost of reproducing the forest crop, has resulted in the erection of a large number of buildings of an inflammable and quickly deteriorating nature. If wood were selling at its true value and proper building laws were in force, both of which would be the case under efficient administrations, the forests would be conserved and the great loss of fire largely prevented and a double result of inefficiency cured. Fire losses abroad averaged, per capita for six principal cities for a period of five years, 33 cents per year, as com- pared with losses of $3.02 per capita in the United States. It will, therefore, be seen that American cities should adopt the most urgent measures and install every possible facility for fire fighting and prevention. The subject is most intimately connected with city planning, as with the erection of finer buildings, the duty of guarding against fire becomes greater. Their fireproof character, however, is likely to minimize fires, so that if the departments are provided with suitable equipment, the num- ber of firemen will not have to be increased, and may even be reduced without relaxing the degree of vigilance which should be exercised. The yearly losses according to the records kept by the New York Journal of Commerce for the United States have been in the last sixteen years as follows: ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS 215 1912 $225,320,900 1904 $252,554,050 1911 234,337,250 1903 156,195,700 1910 234,470,600 1902 149,260,850 1909 203,649,200 1901 164,347,450 1908 238,562,250 1900 163,362,250 1907 215,671,250 1899 136,773,200 1906 459,710,000 1898 119,650,500 1905 175,193,800 1897 110,319,650 It will be noticed that the losses though varying greatly from year to year have more than doubled during this period of time, a condition of the most disquieting nature. The question of fire alarm and police alarm signal sys- tems was considered in the earlier chapter, "Streets up-to- Date." To what extent municipal regulation amounts to in German cities may be seen from the following as reported in Municipal Journal of January 2, 1913: "Police regulations which are to be put into effect in Berlin, April, 1913, will bar whistling and cane swinging and prohibit persons walking more than three abreast on the streets. Copies of the regulations include these and other usual restrictions as follows: Persons may not walk more than three abreast or stop or congregate for any extended period of time. Persons with umbrellas or walking sticks must not carry or swing them in any manner likely to imperil the safety of passers-by. No windows or doors of houses, flats, shops or restaurants in which music is being played may be kept open. No whistling, singing, shrieking, shouting or loud talking of any kind likely to endanger the quiet of the streets is to be permitted. Teamsters in charge of wagons, trams or trucks loaded with resounding metal of any kind are forbidden to drive in a manner calculated to cause nerve-shattering noises. No paper, remains of fruit, cigars or cigarettes may be thrown into the streets. The dragging of clothes of any kind — women's dresses or anything else capable of producing dust — is prohibited." Numerous other novel features of importance in use abroad might be mentioned, but the subject is so extended 216 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE as to be beyond the limits of the present volume, if indeed too much space, comparatively, has not already been devoted to it. Anything, however, which can be said to bring about European conditions, in which the losses per capita are only one-tenth of our own, is certainly not superfluous. If we had nine-tenths of our fire loss to spend in beautifying cities they could be indeed made to bloom. It may be in the saving effected in fire losses abroad, that the cities have the surplus necessary to devote to the subject, for certainly in natural resources their situation is not as good as ours and why they should have funds available for city improvement when we have not is not very obvious. CHAPTER XVII COMMUNAL INDUSTRIES Municipal Markets; Co-operative Markets; Municipal Slaugh- ter Houses and Ice Plants; Public Baths; Stimulation of the Co-operation of Small Manufacturers; Central Manu- facturing Plants for Co-operative Industries The civic impulses which evidence themselves in im- proved and beautified buildings and streets are not satis- fied merely with aesthetic progress, but are also shown in plans for improving in a direct and practical way, the living conditions of the whole city. Among such improvements are various forms of com- munal industry, such as municipal markets, municipal slaughter houses, municipal ice plants, municipal baths and municipal manufacturing facilities for small industries. One of the most important of such activities is the municipal market. Such markets are best conducted by a board of managers, whose duty it is to conduct the entire undertaking. The principles upon which such institutions are con- ducted are to buy at the most favorable times, to buy in bulk at the lowest price, and to sell at retail at the lowest possible prices, without showing any profit above overhead charges and running expenses, which include all salaries, maintenance and insurance of market and goods and other expenses incidental to the enterprise. As the managers buy in bulk and as they have the city's credit and ample cash capital at hand, they obtain their goods at the most favorable prices and discounts. The public is also assured of the quality of the goods and of perfectly fair treatment from the managers of the store, who are, in effect, to be considered the servants of the public. 218 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Such municipal markets should be well located, with easy access from all parts of the city, and if this is not feasible, a number of branches should be established. This enables a whole city to be supplied with produce purchased in a single bulk. There should be in such markets different departments, as for meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, groceries, dairy products, etc. Such a market should occupy a block or so of space, with an interior court into which should run a railroad siding, as well as a wagon way for delivery wagons. All loading and unloading should be done in the court and not on the sidewalks. When enterprises of this kind are not undertaken by municipalities, every encouragement should be given to the organization of consumers' unions, or large associations of private consumers. Many such associations exist abroad. In Germany alone, there is a central consumers' union, with over 2,000 branches. Very large associations of prac- tically the same character exist in England. The local members of a consumers' union pay annual dues of about five dollars. The members at their annual meeting elect directors and officers to carry on the work. The officers may only act in a supervisory capacity over paid employees, or they may act as managers, making it their whole business and receiving salaries for the work. The members also hold monthly meetings, and discuss the work of the officers of the union, market prices, methods and complaints. The central body of the unions issues a weekly bulletin, or newspaper, which is a quite important phase of the movement. It gives the market prices, general news of interest to members, discussions and reports of the work of the various local unions, comparing their methods and show- ing how improvements may be made. Numerous cooking receipts are given, of a timely nature, showing how to utilize the foods in season at such times to the best advan- tage. It also gives information as to the condition of crops and indicates which foods are likely to be plentiful and COMMERCIAL INDUSTRIES 219 which scarce later in the season. It tells the proper time for placing orders for foods and supplies so that the con- sumer may order at the most favorable moment. Not only the current prices are given, but also the probable prices at later periods of the year, based on the supplies in sight and the natural increase and decrease. This enables the consumer to determine whether to lay in supplies or wait until conditions change. It acts as an incentive to careful management and keeps the consumer constantly informed on subjects that he would ordinarily fail to give proper attention to. The placing of orders by members at the proper time facilitates the work of the unions, since it enables them to gauge the probable demand of their members and to place orders for the required amounts, thus saving any risk of an over or an under supply. The unions, knowing what the requirements of their members will be, are able to place orders at any time for certain amounts of various commodities, to be delivered later in stated quantities at stated intervals and agreed prices. Thus the consumer knows in advance what he will have to pay and when he will have to pay it. A characteristic consumers' union store often consists of a large one-story building of the character of a market house, with a large open space in the center. Around the sides are arranged various counters, devoted each to a sepa- rate class of commodities, a counter for meats, one for rice, flour, etc., another for fruits, another for vegetables, another for wines and liquors and others for clothing and haber- dashery, as the consumers' unions also include wearing apparel as well as foods and household commodities in the articles dealt in. Even bicycles and hardware, dishes, cut- lery and kitchen utensils are included. The consumers' unions are particularly popular with the working classes, though by no means confined to them. Since to become a member only involves the payment of the initiation fee, which is small, most of the families living in the neighborhood where there is a consumers' union store 220 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE will become members of it. As there are many branches, a move only means the transfer from one branch to another of the same general union, without paying a new initiation fee. It is customary, early in December, for the consumers' unions to declare a rebate or dividend out of the profits of the year, and this is the measure of the efTiciency of the organization. It is given at that time in order that the members may have money to utilize for Christmas pur- chases. The distribution is in accordance with the volume of purchases of the individual members. Track is kept of this in the method of making purchases, and each member is provided with a small book which is taken to the store whenever a purchase is made. The salesman marks the amount of the purchase in the book and this forms the record on which, at the end of the year, the amount of the customer's rebate is figured. The larger his purchases, the larger will be the amount of his rebate, although the rate of it will be the same as the rate of a smaller consumer. During the year, should the consumer move to another part of the country, the same purchasing book may still be used. Members are also privileged, when there are different stores in the same city, to purchase at will from any of them with the same book. As the clientele of each store varies with its location, some having goods of a higher quality than others, considerable advantage may be taken of these differences. As the local unions work in conjunction with the credit unions, the consumers may in this way obtain a certain amount of credit. Directly related to the question of municipal markets is that of municipal slaughter houses. Such plants should be provided by every city, whatever its size, and dressed meat should only in exceptional instances be drawn from outside sources. Such a system would insure cheaper and better meats, while the concentration of the meat business of the country in a single city, with domination of the situation by a trust CHILDRK.N S SCHOOL GAKDKXS, LOtlK I1A\ liX, PA. CHILDREN S SIDE OF THE FAIRGROUND SWIMMING POOL, ST. LOUIS -! , X ■ - o Z =5 cc - fc = t- ^- 'z -^ Q : -J o, COMMUNAL INDUSTRIES 221 shipping great quantities of meat to foreign countries, caus- ing an artificial shortage and consequently higher prices to home consumers, would be prevented. Under such an arrangement meat would be fresher when purchased and of better quality, since a more complete and comprehensive system of inspection could be carried out. In the municipal slaughter houses of Germany, the butchers of a city purchase their animals on the hoof, and they themselves use the facilities of the plant for the opera- tions of slaughtering, after which the dressed meat is in- spected and stamped with the date. Inspectors later visit the shops and require such meat to be disposed of within a leasonable time. This insures freshness of the customers' supply. Objection may be made to the presence of slaughter houses in cities, owing to possible nuisance, but modern engi- neering has made the process of slaughtering such that no excep- tion can be taken to the presence of such establishments. Connected with the question of municipal slaughter houses is that of municipal ice plants. The problem is one that is of especial interest in the United States where such a liberal use is made of ice. By very small additions, the machinery of the slaughter house may be made to serve for the manufacture of ice, a certain quantity of which is needed for the use of the slaughter house. A still more economical arrangement is that in which the municipal electric plant, ice plant and slaughter house are^ operated in conjunction. Exhaust steam from the steam engine may be utilized for the manufacture of ice in summer and for central heating purposes in winter. The combined plants will thus supply light, heat and power for the city, ice and slaughtering facili- ties, and in addition the pumping of city water, in a most economical manner, since the full capacity of the machinery can be utilized during the whole of the twenty-four hours of the day, being used for the various purposes at different hours. While many municipalities have provided public baths. 222 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE they have seldom been provided in sufficient number or with proper equipment. Such baths should be on a large scale and be what may be termed aquatic gymnasiums. There should be a large swimming pool some 100 feet or more in length and 40 to 50 feet wide, varying from 3 to 15 feet in depth at different parts, with spring boards for diving and artificial waves. Steam rooms, sweating rooms and shower baths should be provided, with both hot and cold water. The showers should be arranged to jet either from above, from the wall at the side or from the floor upwards, the latter form being particularly useful, as it saves the annoyance of wetting the hair. Such showers are operated by the user, who regulates the force, volume and temperature of the water. The gymnasium should include the various forms of gymnastic apparatus, and it is desirable also to have a running track, which may be arranged around the dressing rooms or around the sides of the swimming pool. In construction the bath should be throughout of tile and of such other materials as will betray the presence of dirt, in order that the most scrupulous cleanliness may be observed. A heating plant must be provided for keeping the water heated to the proper temperature, and also for keeping the rooms at a uniform temperature. Arrangements should be such that the pool may be drained and refilled in a short time. Such baths should be in charge of a skilled swimming master, for the instruction of those who wish to learn to swim. Attendants should be at hand to massage those who desire such service. It is advisable to supply the baths with as many fea- tures as possible, in order that they may be utilized to the fullest extent. The price of admission should be low, just sufficient to cover the cost of operation, provided it is not free, while fees for special service, as for swimming lessons and massage, should be turned into the general fund. Separate municipal baths should be provided for women, but if this is not feasible, certain days of the week should be set apart for their exclusive use. COMMUNAL INDUSTRIES 223 The City of New York maintains and operates under the jurisdiction of the President of the Borough of Manhattan, twelve Free Public Interior Baths and eleven Free Floating Baths. For the use of these institutions, there is no charge whatever, the only requisite being respectable and orderly conduct on the part of the patrons, compliance with the rules, and that the bathers furnish their own towels and soap. This has been the policy almost from the opening of the first public bath, although at the opening of the bath in Rivington Street, the city did undertake to furnish towels and soap at a nominal charge to the bathers. However, it was soon found that the loss of towels was very great; the shower rooms were plastered with waste soap, the floors shppery and the drains choked. Besides a certain percentage of danger from contagion existed unless the towels were laun- dered under strict surveillance. All these evils were at once remedied by patrons furnishing their own requisites and the scheme of supplying towels and soap was discontinued. In order to meet the demands of the congested portions of the East Side, it was found necessary to locate the baths where they would be of the greatest benefit to the masses of people, and especially to those who could not afford the luxury of a bath at home. Accordingly, one may find them scattered along the thickly populated sections of the East Side from the corner of Cherry and Olive streets to East One Hundred and Ninth street. These baths, along with the floating baths stationed at intervals along the water front, bathe upwards of five millions of people annually, and yet their patronage does not begin to tax their capacity. During the summer months, from the first of April until the first of November, the interior baths are open daily to the public from 6 o'clock in the morning until 10 o'clock at night. On Sundays during the summer months, they are open from 6 o'clock in the morning until 1 o'clock in the afternoon. During the winter months, the baths are open from 7 o'clock in the morning until 9 o'clock at night. On Sun- 224 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE days they are open from 7 o'clock in the morning until 2 clock in the afternoon. At the East Twenty-Third Street Bath, the pool is 66 feet long and 25 feet wide. At the shallow end it is 3 feet deep and slopes gradually toward the deep end where the depth is 7 feet. When full, this pool holds about 70,000 gallons of water. Adjoining the pool are shower rooms, where the bather may prepare for the plunge. The West Sixtieth Street pool is 60 feet long and 35 feet wide and contains about 85,000 gallons of water. The water used in these pools is thoroughly filtered before entering the tank and is changed at least three times a week. It is fresh water from the Croton Reservoir and the temperature is regulated, being kept at between 70 and 75 degrees. The United States Volunteer Life Saving Corps and the Women's National Life Saving League have swimming in- structors at the pool during certain hours to teach swim- ming. These hours vary from time to time. Aside from these instructions, an attendant who is a competent swimmer is required to be on duty constantly at the pool, with in- structions to pay attention to all swimmers. It is planned, also, to have regular departmental swimming instructors stationed at the baths to give free instructions throughout the day. During the year 1911, there were 5,400,567 free baths given by the city of New York in both floating and per- manent baths. The average cost per bather during that year was a little over 4 cents. During the summer months of 1911, the bathing at the Rivington Street Bath often reached as high as 3,000 in one day. During the month of December, 1911, each bather used on an average 9.9 cubic feet of water and required the con- sumption of 8.8 pounds of coal. The floating baths are all built about on the same plan, as follows: They are 95 feet long and 60 feet wide, and are floated on eight pontoons, placed four on each side of the bath. In the center there is a large well, divided into two parts, one 93 feet long and 34 feet wide for adults, and one COMMUNAL INDUSTRIES 225 70 feet long and 8 feet wide for children. The depth of the water in the large well is 43^2 feet and in the small one 2)^ feet. There are 68 dressing rooms opening upon a small gangway around the edge of the well. The floating baths, like the interior baths, are free, but of course are used only during the summer. They are open usually from 5 o'clock in the morning to 9 o'clock in the evening and on Sundays until noon. The interior bath buildings are well-designed buildings of a monumental character, and four of them have gym- nasiums in connection with the bathing facilities. The first, the Rivington Street Bath, was opened in 1901, and the city is contemplating further extensions of the system. Cities which are not near a body of water suitable for bathing purposes may well follow the example of Remscheid, Germany, which established an artificial strand bath. Remsheid, with a population of 78,000, is situated 8 miles south of Barmen-Elberfeld, directly on top of one of the highest hills of the "Bergische Land" (mountain land), and is distant from lakes or rivers of sufllcient size to offer natural advantages for open-air bathing, and it was decided to build a "strand bath" in the valley just below the pump- ing station of the reservoir, where advantage could be taken of the reservoir overflow. Excavations were made and three basins built of reinforced concrete. The principal basin, for both sexes, has an area of 32,292 square feet and a depth of 4 feet, except at one end, where a part reserved for expert swimmers has a depth of 10 feet. At either end of the main basin is a basin for men and one for women, each 5,382 square feet in area. On one side of the larger basin there is a space arranged for spectators, who pay a small admission fee; on the other, where the concrete slopes gradually to the center, is an artificial sand beach, fitted with gymnastic apparatus. The cost of building was $14,280. The bath was opened to the public on June 29, 1912. During the first season there were 116,960 visitors, and the total receipts amounted to |6,963.09. During the season of 1913 the attendance averaged over 2,000 bathers daily, 226 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE not only from Remsheid but from the surrounding cities of Lennep, Solingen, Ohiigs, Elberfeld, and Barmen. Three similar baths are projected in Barmen and Elberfeld which should be ready for use in the spring of 1914. One of the greatest problems confronting the American public to-day is that of keeping the small manufacturer from being crushed by his larger rivals. The concentration of capital has proceeded to such an extent that the small manufacturer is being eliminated and transformed into the employee of the large concern or driven to running a small repair shop. The result is that manufacture is concentrated at certain centers and other cities are left with little impetus to growth. It is thus the duty of the municipality to exercise every effort to overcome the tendencies of consolidation. This can only be done by meeting concentration of capital by masses of capital of equal strength, and by adding factors which will overcome the trusts on their own ground. The following plan is suggested as a possible or partial solution of the problem, and though it has never been at- tempted in practice, and may be of only theoretical interest; in certain aspects it embodies principles which should prove readily applicable and which call into action a very powerful factor, the initiative of workmen and small employers, in a manner which should serve to meet the competition of trusts effectively. The proposed plan is as follows: The municipality should erect a large manufacturing plant, and rent space to small manufacturers in proportion to their needs. It should also equip the plant with all the various kinds of machinery necessary for the manufacture of the several lines of products proposed to be turned out by the participating manufacturers. The municipality, through a board of managers consisting of city officials, representatives of local banking interests and representatives of the participating manufacturers, should conduct the plant. This board of managers should arrange for all the pur- COMMUNAL INDUSTRIES 227 chases of materials needed by the manufacturers, as in this way the credit of the city and the endorsement of the bankers interested would give the enterprises the advantages of the most favorable credits and discounts. The interests of the bankers would lie in furnishing the capital for the undertaking, through their purchase of the city's bonds issued to erect and equip the factory, and their loans for the use of the manufacturers. The availability of an ample supply of working capital is absolutely essential to the success of such an undertaking, since the small manufac- turer requires capital to invest in materials and for wages and other expenses, between the time the order is received and the time the purchaser makes the final payment, often many weeks after the delivery of the finished product. The furnishing, thus, of an ample supply of working capital at reasonable rates, would enable the manufacturers to get their products manufactured without the delay of waiting for customers' payments to get money for materials and labor. The activity of the manufacturers would thus not be ham- pered by financial considerations and they would by this method be on an equal financial footing with even the largest of the industrial trusts. The communal manufacturers would each rent a certain space in the equipped plant, with the machinery necessary for the manufacture of his own goods. The raw materials needed by the various members would, as has been noted, be purchased through the central office, thus gaining the advantage for each member of the wholesale prices com- manded by the bulk purchases of all the members. The association would also assist in selling the products, and would maintain its own credit department for ascertain- ing the reliability of customers. A central bookkeeping and correspondence department would be maintained, saving the individual members the expenses of separate office organiza- tions. Shipments of goods would be made by the shipping departments of the plant and a system of local delivery established. The individual members would thus be saved the expenses of a separate delivery system. 228 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE The labor supply of the communal plant could be so arranged as to be shifted from member to member as occa- sion demanded, thus giving the workers more continuous employment. The plant would supply to the members light, heat and power at cost price, having its own generating plant, and thus the first cost and depreciation of a number of separate power plants would be saved. All the activities of the association would be carried out for the benefit of the members so that no profit would accrue to the association as such. Thus all the services performed for the members would be at cost, and on a wholesale basis, and the manufacturing and overhead expenses would be as low as it would be possible for them to be made under any circumstances. Such a group of communal manufacturers could with advantage be the manufacturers of different portions of a mechanism, such as an automobile. Each could manufac- ture some special part, as engine, body, chassis, wheels, tires, magneto, spark plugs, radiator, lamps, etc., the whole car being assembled and sold ])y the association. The surplus manufacture of parts could be marketed elsewhere. As the association would maintain a system of inspection and would have a trade-mark of its own in addition to the individual trade-mark of the manufacturers, the products of the association would establish a reputation for themselves and be able to meet any competition on the open market. They would, in fact, have a large sentimental attraction, for the public prefers if possible to patronize the independent manufacturer where the trust is met on equal terms. A communal industry of such a character would be as if a large industrial plant were conducted along the lines of a department store, with each department belonging to the individual manager. It can be readily seen if such were the case in an industrial plant, that there would be a great improvement in the efficiency of the plant, as the individual managers would exert a far different degree of authority and energy than factory foremen. VIEW SHOWING PART OF THE MINICIPAL ABATTOIR AND SLAUGHTER- HOUSE AT DRESDEN The most complete system of its kind: a "spotless town" covering ninety acres and includes 60 buildings, costing $4,260,000 BUSH TERMINAL, BROOKLYN, N. Y. Docks and manufacturing buildings. A step lowani canimunal induslrij COMMUNAL INDUSTRIES 229 Thus a communal industry in which the large trusts are met on an equal footing as to capital, cost of material, labor and selling, should not only not have any difficulty in meeting the competition of the trusts, but should be able to overcome them, owing to the possession of the great ad- vantages of individual initiative. The employee of the large plant can never hope to be anything more than an employee, at most becoming a foreman or superintendent. There is thus, throughout the personnel, a lack of interest, if not antagonism to the work of the establishment. This is the result of the deprivation of the hope of advancement. In the communal plant, however, where the step from employee to employer is so short, through the supplying of capital and machinery by the association, every workman would have the opportunity of rising to a place of independence and, once established, to that of competence. The result would be that a spirit of energy and goodwill would pervade the establishment which would increase the quality and volume of its output and make it a factor in the industrial life of the city, not to be overcome. Numerous other advantages would accrue under such a system which cannot be detailed here, but enough has been said to indicate the great possi- bilities of the plan. In the Bush Terminal System in New York are to be found, to a limited extent, certain of the features of such a system, that is buildings adapted to manufacture and com- mercial purposes in which light, heat and power are supplied, and also facilities for shipment without the necessity of trucking. This system has proved such a great success that it is proposed to have the city buy it and extend it much more widely. The co-operation of the city and of its commercial bodies and banking interests in the establishment of such communal industries as have been discussed, cannot fail to promote the welfare and prosperity of the city, and assist it in retaining and building up its industries in competition with those of larger cities. CHAPTER XVIII CITY CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE (A) Street Construction (F) Water Supply (B) Sewage Disposal (G) Gas Supply (C) Care of Streets (H) Electricity Supply (D) Street Cleaning (I) Electric Street Rail- (E) Refuse Disposal ways (A) Street Construction Street Paving; Street Repairing; Municipal Paving Plants; Double Decked Streets; Pipe Galleries If a city is to make any aesthetic progress, there must be as a foundation, a sound structural basis. The city itself, aside from a comparatively few public buildings, is princi- pally occupied with the building of streets, of which it must construct and maintain a large mileage. This work, instead of being a matter of detail as it is ordinarily regarded, is one of the first importance, affecting every citizen in the most direct and immediate manner. Without streets a city is an impossibility. Imagine the condition if Broadway in New York or Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington had been left in the condition of country roads. The abutting buildings would have been unin- habitable. The proper construction of streets is a funda- mental and basic civic activity, and one to which the greatest engineering skill and experience should be given. An arterial street in a completed condition is made up of numerous and important elements, including the paving, sidewalks, sewer system, gas and water mains, conduits for electric light, power, telephone, fire and police alarm wires, STREET CONSTRUCTION 231 pneumatic tubes, street car tracks, and possibly elevated or subway structures and contributory equipment. Of the many forms of street paving, such as asphalt, stone blocks, wooden blocks, bricks, bitulithic and cobble- stone and macadam surfacing, there is none which is suitable for universal use. Numerous considerations enter into the question of proper surfacing of every street. The volume and character of the trafhc, grade, and nature of the abutting property are among the principal items. The first cost of the street should not be the most important consideration, as the cost of street maintenance plays a much more im- portant role, so that in the long run a well-constructed roadway, whatever the initial expense, will prove the best investment if it is suited to the traffic. The prevalent expensive, yet inferior American street paving is largely the result of political causes, such as the frequent changes of administration, the fraudulent letting of contracts, the monopoly of street construction by interested parties and the jobbery in repairs. Where civil service rules are in force, a large part of the engineering staff of a city is frequently lacking in the qual- ities necessary to secure the best results, for though capable of passing the examinations, they have not the personal initiative and progressiveness required of those who hold similar positions in private companies. Much money is wasted in experimental work by incoming administrations, and before the incumbents have become experienced, a new election brings in a new staff, who are only too eager to blame bad street construction on their predecessors while they themselves are as yet only beginning to experiment. The process is constantly repeated with the worst possible results to the city, and will so continue until competent engineers are attached permanently to the city administration in a direct or advisory capacity. The various materials used for street surfacing may be broadly divided into two classes. The first class are those which are prepared in the form of blocks and shipped to the point of construction and the 232 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE second class include surfacing prepared and laid at the point of construction. Of the first class granite blocks, sand- stone blocks, wooden blocks, vitrified brick, composition block and cobblestones are the principal forms, while in the second class are asphalt, bitulithic, concrete, macadam and similar materials. Asphalt as a street surfacing has numerous advantages though at the same time certain disadvantages. It is one of the most nearly noiseless of street materials and produces a certain aesthetic effect, its smoothness and homogeneous appearance giving a finish and an urban character to a street which is not surpassed by any other material. It is a somewhat expensive street material and repairs require special apparatus and experience. On grades, its slipperiness in wet weather is against it and in hot weather it becomes somewhat soft. As certain of its components are liable to evaporation, it rots out under light traffic before it wears out. In small cities, owing to this fact and to the cost of repairs, it is a more expensive form of paving than in large cities. In cities having or contemplating a large mileage in asphalt streets, the erection of a municipal asphalt plant for both the laying and repairing of streets, greatly reduces the cost of this form of surfacing. New York City is now erecting a municipal asphalt plant designed by the writer, which has a capacity of 3,000 square yards of 2-inch topping per eight-hour day. The plant is located in the block between 90th and 91st Streets, Avenue A and the East River, which in its greatest dimen- sions is 200 feet by 540 feet. The plant proper will consist of three 15-ton driers so arranged that either binder stone or sand may pass through all three or part of them. Under ordinary circumstances, two driers are used for topping and one for binder. There are three tar melting kettles and two 150 horse- power boilers. Part of the steam will be used for melting the tar and part for the 150 horse-power steam engine which operates the machinery. STREET CONSTRUCTION 233 There is also a 75 horse-power engine and provision is made to install one more kettle, one more drier and one more boiler, all of the same capacity as the units now in place. The operation of the entire plant, from the unloading of the barges to feeding the driers, kettles, etc., is done auto- matically, and manual labor is cut down to the minimum. Provision is also made for the installation of a rejuvenating plant with apparatus for re-using the old asphalt which would otherwise be wasted. When completed this plant will be one of the largest and best equipped plants in the country. From a financial standpoint, one of the great savings will be due to the promptness with which repairs can be made. Under existing conditions, so much time elapses between the report of a break in the pavement and the repairs, that the damaged area increases greatly. It is a self-evident fact that continuous maintenance will be much more economical than intermittent repairing. The work done will be of a higher quality, since by using only the best grades of materials, the city's interest will be fully protected. Another important gain will be that of properly adjust- ing the supply of work to the capacity of the plant, so that operation will be practically continuous. Much more advantageous contracts may be made, also with private companies, when they are obliged to meet the competition of a municipal plant. The advantages, indeed, of municipal owned asphalt plants are so great that they will undoubtedly be adopted by most of the larger cities within a short time. A form of surfacing known as bitulithic, claimed to have advantages over asphalt, is being used to some extent, but it has not yet been in use long enough to determine its status. Granite block paving is suited only to the heaviest traffic, being extremely noisy and wearing on vehicles. It is adapted for heavy trucking as it gives horses a good foot- hold, but it is out of place where lighter vehicles are called 234 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE upon to make any speed. For use around docks, freight terminals and in wareiiouses districts, it is very serviceable. On the continent, stone block streets are sometimes laid with wooden strips or laths one-quarter inch thick, between rows of the blocks, which are larger than those usually employed in the United States. The blocks are laid on con- crete foundations, with, in some cases, a thin layer of sand as a cushion between the blocks and the concrete. A street found in some cities abroad is called the mosaic. The stones are cut to a uniform depth, but are of different shapes and are laid radially on a sand cushion, with different kinds of fillers. The results are somewhat ornamental and prove very satisfactory. Brick is a comparatively low-priced paving in first cost, but it is noisy, not easily cleaned and wears out quickly under heavy traffic. Creosoted wood block paving is used to a large extent and it is the nearest rival of asphalt. It is higher in first cost but more easily repaired and of longer life under light traffic. It needs, however, a concrete foundation and any breaks must be immediately repaired. It is more slippery under some conditions and less so under others, and at times has a certain odor. For streets in outlying districts and in small towns, macadam or crushed stone is one of the best and cheapest forms of paving if properly constructed and kept in repair. As only the pressure and moisture serve to bind the particles together, it wears much more rapidly than paving in which the particles are firmly bonded together as with asphalt, and consequently it produces clouds of dust unless kept clean and well flushed. Some success has attended the plan of impregnating macadam streets with coal-tar preparations, the tar per- meating a thin layer of the surface of the street and serving as a binder, producing almost the effect of an asphalt street. Such treatment must be applied with great care and renewed annually or oftener. It makes a street much superior to the untreated macadam. In 134 English cities, treatment of Z u z o lb Q Z t) fS w GATI•:^VA^, SANSSOUCI, POTSDAM A spli'ihUil example of a park entrance SUll.lAN (lAHDl-.N, >ANSSOUCI, POTSDAM STREET CONSTRUCTION 235 this character lasted on the average in half the cases from six to nine months and a year for the remainder. The second treatment is often only required in the center of the road. The cost of such treatment was 2 to 23^ cents a square yard when machine spread and 23^ to 3 cents a square yard when hand spread. The average consumption of tar was from 3 to 5 gallons per square yard in 99 cases and 5 to 7 gallons and over, in the remainder. Sand, granite chippings, gravel dust, cinder dust, etc., were used as a surfacing, with some preference expressed for small granite chippings (3^ inch). The cost of tar was from 2 to 8 cents a gallon and averaged 4 to 5 cents a gallon. The treatment of streets and roads with heavy petroleum crude oils also has the effect of a binder and settles the dust question, although being dirty in appearance and frequently ill of odor it often proves a nuisance. Some oils also cause the loss of eyebrows. Tar, it is also asserted, causes eye trouble, but tests on the eyes of rabbits and dogs have not borne this out. It is also claimed that the acridene fumes from hot tar cause epitheliomatous cancer, while corneal ulcer has been caused by exceedingly fine pitch dust. While doubtless acridene is irritating to the skin and mucous membrane, a reasonable degree of care on the part of workmen will prevent injury when tar preparations are being put down. Asphalt, granite blocks and wood blocks are the leading forms of street surfacing for cities, and though their first cost is high, especially for the smaller cities, they will prove in the long run one of the best investments that a city can make. In the construction of these standard forms of streets, the greatest care should be taken to see that they are prop- erly built, with foundations capable of carrying the traffic, for the surfacing of the street may be changed or renewed at any time if the foundation has been properly laid, but unless the foundation is good, any form of surfacing will not give service. 236 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Abroad, the greatest care is given to the foundation, it being finished smooth and true to template without the sUghtest irregularity. Often a light surfacing of mortar is added, after the manner of concrete sidewalk, so that when it comes to putting down the asphalt or other paving, no allowances have to be made for imperfect foundation. In the laying of asphalt, German cities go very thoroughy into the questions of finish and repairs. The specifications require that the top of the finished surface be entirely smooth and without waves, and that at no place shall the water stand on the surface or in the gutter. For three years after completion, the contractor must maintain the street at his own expense. During the succeeding twelve years, the con- tractor must maintain it for a certain fixed annual payment. He is also paid for re-covering any portion torn up for excavations. It will thus be seen that the cost of maintenance of the street for a period of fifteen years under ordinary usage, is known within reasonable limits before the work is begun. As the contractors are thus interested in the maintenance of the street, they repair breaks at the earliest possible mo- ment, saving themselves expense by prompt action. American streets usually present the poor appearance they do on account of neglect. Small holes increase quickly in size, traflTic is disturbed and the cost of repairs becomes much greater, and being paid on a per yard basis in many cases, the larger the holes the more there is in it for the contractors. One source of injury to street surfacing not permitted abroad is that of bonfires, which injure the asphalt and wood block streets particularly, and such injury if not looked after at once means a large repair bill later. The Borough of Manhattan in 1910 spent $12,000 repairing damage caused by bonfires. If this could be assessed against the celebrants, less enthusiasm in this direction would prob- ably be manifested. A street, in addition to the traffic which passes over its surface, serves other highly important functions, carrying STREET CONSTRUCTION 237 various subsurface utilities which are necessary to the existence of the city. Among such utihties are gas and water mains, sewers, electric light and power cables, tele- phone, police and fire alarm signal wires, pneumatic mail tubes and often subways and subsurface vehicular traffic tubes. The accompanying diagram. Fig. 64, is of a street which for purposes of description may be termed a "Metropolitan ZlZSZ^ '////////>// , f .////WM'/Z/T". 7Z »^ Fig. 64. cross section of a double-decked street suitable for metropolitan business districts Street." It shows, arranged in the most advantageous manner, such utilities, and it is a form suitable to a com- paratively narrow thoroughfare, 100 feet or so wide, which cannot be widened and which must accommodate a heavy volume of traffic. The street is double decked, with a surface and a subsur- face level, the surface level being used for pedestrians, light vehicular traffic and street cars, and the subsurface level for express trains, heavy traffic and auxiUary purposes. The entire lower level is clear, except for the supporting columns, while the express trains arc protected ])y a railing. Through the center of the street on the surface is run 238 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE a safety isle between the street car tracks, continuous except at the intersection of cross streets. This safety isle is penetrated by a continuous slot, heavily grated, which serves as a ventilator for the subsurface level, while addi- tional ventilators are in the sidewalk adjoining the building line. Along the safety isle are also the trolley wire poles, which are of an ornamental character to correspond with the street lighting poles along the sidewalks. The under- ground trolley wire system could be used instead of the overhead, but the latter is more reliable and satisfactory in operation and enables the cars to run over suburban lines without loss of time in lowering trolley and shoe. Under the vehicle ways of the subsurface level are two sewers, the smaller one for rain water and the larger for heavy sewage. This separation is advisable for a number of reasons. An overflow conduit leads from the rain-water sewer to the other, to take care of the surplus water in case of storms. A narrow-gauge track may be laid over the sewers, to be used for hauling freight and for the refuse carts. The latter are for the purpose of removing the rubbish and waste of the street above, which is swept into pits or chutes in the street, arranged with a cover at the top and a gate at the bottom, enabling the contents to be dropped directly into the rubbish carts. Removable openings into the sewer are placed directly under such chutes, so that in winter, snow may be shovelled or dumped directly into either sewer, and the street thus be quickly cleared. The heavy traffic vehicles unload directly into the base- ments of the buildings and ashes and garbage are removed directly to the rubbish carts, without ever getting into the street above. This cuts down street cleaning to a minimum, and leaves the whole street for traffic. Pipe galleries are provided under the sidewalks on each side for gas mains, heating pipes, electric light and power cables, fire alarm, police alarm and telephone wires and pneumatic mail tubes, which are thus always readily acces- sible. The water mains, owing to their great weight, are STREET CONSTRUCTION 239 not carried in the pipe gallery, but in a trench under the subsurface level, having a removable cover, one main on each side to obviate the necessity of pipes crossing. The accompanying diagram, Fig. 65, shows a similar form of "Metropolitan Street" adapted for the purpose of a thickly populated residential street. The width of the street is taken at 120 feet, although it may be more, indeed up to any width desired. A four-track subway is provided on the subsurface level, Fig. 65. cross section of metropolitan residential street with express and local subway railways, general utility service tunnels and street railways on both sides of a floral AREA the middle tracks for express trains and the outer tracks for local service. - This subway is shown similar to some sections of the New York subway, with, however, numerous improvements, based upon the writer's experience with that undertaking, he having been for four years, during its design and construc- tion, connected with its engineering staff, and upon the result of foreign experience. The width of the New York subway, 12f feet between centers of columns, is insufTicient, as 13J to 14 feet should be allowed. The circulation of air is very poor, forcing the adoption of artificial ventilators, which have not proven satisfactory. 240 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE In order to produce an adequate circulation of air, it is necessary to run the trains through individual tunnels, each train thus acting as a plunger, forcing air out ahead and drawing it in behind. This division into separate tunnels is best accomplished by means of a partition be- tween the tracks as indicated by the diagram. The tracks are shown placed slightly off center, in order to make room for a walk at the side. This walk is for the use of passengers in cases of accident, and for the use of the trackwalkers. It is also a protection against the third rail which it serves to cover. Air gains ingress and egress at the stations and through ventilators placed in the middle of the street over the express tracks. These ventilating columns are of an orna- mental character and of ample capacity, and should be placed at least one every block. Every fourth or fifth column should be crowned with a four-dial illuminating clock, and the intermediate ones with electric globes. The local tracks are ventilated at intervals by the grated open- ings at the side of the central grass plot. The arrangement of the remainder of the underground portion of the street is somewhat similar to that previously shown. A general service tunnel is placed on each side, with sewers and narrow-gauge tracks for the refuse carts, while chutes lead from the street above for dumping refuse and snow. The water mains, gas mains and other piping and cables are carried at the sides of the tunnels. The surface cars run on either side of the central park- way of the street and low safety isles are provided, adding to the safety and convenience of the passengers and indicat- ing where the cars stop. The central parkway area is turfed and laid out with small ornamental trees, placed to good advantage and trimmed in accordance with a well-considered design. No railing is required around this park area, as it is sufficiently protected by its curbing. As it extends to the intersecting streets, it forms a series of small, narrow parks along the whole length of the avenue. With the trees along the edge SEWAGE DISPOSAL 241 S«y9S#KMy^^fr'>S«SOS^»S»S«VS»!»!»S« of the sidewalks, turfed around their bases and the balconies of the buildings decorated with miniature flower gardens, the effect produced by the street would be most attractive and inviting. The lighting poles and column ventilators are an added embellishment, and since the surface is never likely to be torn up, the avenue will remain in an agreeably finished state. Avenues of such a character are not only highly efficient in their primary purposes, that of being a means of commu- nication and conveyance of materials to and from the houses, but in their aesthetic effect they add distinction to the city and serve to increase the pride and civic enthusiasm of Fig the whole body of citizens In streets in traffic is not so great as to demand underground facilities, it is highly desirable to have a small general service tunnel, such as is shown in diagram. Fig. 66. A single sewer and refuse cart tracks, with chutes, will suffice for the refuse and snow to be re- moved. The principle use of such a tunnel, however, is to carry the pipes, cables, etc. (B) Sewage Disposal System of Sewers; Sewage Treatment Plants Of the indispensable elements in the planning of a city, sewers are among the most important. Baumeister in establishing the theory of city planning gave them an equal value with streets and traffic. A comprehensive and efficient sewage drainage system 66. GENERAL PUBLIC UTILITY TUNNEL FOR WATER AND GAS MAINS, which ELECTRIC CABLES, ETC., REFUSE CAR TRACK AND SEWER 242 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE must therefore be the first work of the city planner, and due allowance and provision must be made for increasing such facihties as the city grows in population. It is, indeed, scarcely possible for any one who has not lived through a serious strike of garbage removal employees to understand what the immediate removal of waste material means to a city, and scarcely possible for one who has, to overestimate its importance. The character and size of the sewage system adopted depends on the location of the city and the natural condi- tions and methods to be adopted in disposal of the sewage. The proper disposal of the sewage is one of great con- sequence, since epidemics are frequently caused by improper disposal, especially in the case of discharge into rivers or lowlands. It is impossible to lay down any hard and fast rules as to which system of sewage disposal is the best, since a system suitable for one city will not answer the requirements of another. The commerce and industries of a city, the nature of its streets and traffic and other factors make the problem one which requires the most careful consideration and one in the solution of which only the most experienced engineers, acquainted with the progress of the science of waste dis- posal in the most progressive countries, should be retained. Sewage disposal is in reality a new science, and great advancement has been made in the last few decades, prin- cipally abroad, so that every advantage should be taken of modern developments in the planning of a city's sewer system. Cities which are located on a large and swift-flowing river may without risk discharge their sewage directly into the stream, if floating debris is prevented from escaping. The self-purifying power of water is usually under- estimated, especially that of rivers. The presence in river water of a certain amount of oxygen, necessary for satura- tion, will effect the mineralization and gasification of con- siderable quantities of putrescible substances, by means of biological processes which rapidly develop when such sub- SEWAGE DISPOSAL 243 stances are present. These operations precipitate a sludge on the bottom of the river which is as harmless as silt, while the gases are emitted at the surface. If too large a quantity of sewage, however, is emptied into a river, the odor emitted will make the river banks uninhabitable, while the sludge will accumulate and clog the channel of the river and the process of the self-purification of the water will not be completed before it reaches a lower city and causes contamination at that point. Depending on the nature of the city's streets and the nature of the sewage to be removed, a single or a double sewage system may be adopted. In the latter form, one sewer is for rain water and the other for strong sewage. The rain-water sewer is for carrying off rain water from the buildings and streets, while the other is for toilets, fac- tory waste, etc. The former may go directly into the river, while the latter is best disposed of in a sewage treatment plant, of which there are many different types. In order to prevent the discharge of the street detritus into the rain-water sewers, suitable overflow cesspools should be located at each gutter inlet, for its collection, as in some cases, especially in heavy traffic streets, the detritus is of an even more putrescible nature than the strong sewage. In some cities, the detritus of the street is allowed to go directly into the sewer and the flushing of the sewer is left to occasional storms. The result is that the sewers are frequently clogged and must often be cleaned. Before streets are flushed, they should be properly cleaned to prevent the filling up of cesspools and sewers. With well-paved streets, properly kept clean, there will be a minimum of detritus and the sewers will require little attention. It is undesirable, under any and all circumstances, to discharge into sewers certain waste material, such for example as gasoline in garage districts or acid refuse from factories. Gasoline fumes in sewers often result in dangerous 244 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE explosions, throwing the manhole covers into the air, with great damage to property and danger to the public. Neither should any steam or other vapors be discharged into the sewers. A bad practice much followed is to dis- charge blow-offs of boilers into the sewers. Such blow-offs should be discharged into blow-off tanks, from which, after the steam is condensed and the pressure released, the water may be discharged into the sewers. It would not be economical to construct the rain-water sewers of a capacity sufficient to carry the maximum flow, as this is in case of storms often ten times as much as the normal requirements. It is, therefore, necessary to have storm overflows connected with the strong sewers, by means of which rainfall may be temporarily taken care of. As sewage treatment plants are constructed to accommo- date several times the normal capacity, it is only in the case of bad storms that the strong sewer will carry a greater volume than can be accommodated by the plant, but when such a condition arises, the surplus over the capacity of the plant must be discharged into the river, and while this surplus will contain a certain amount of strong sewage, it will only continue for a short time, and will be so diluted as to usually produce no ill effects. The respective advantages of the single and double system of sewers are numerous, but local conditions must always finally be the determining factor in the adoption of the one system or the other. In the disposal of strong sewage, several systems of treatment are employed, among them being sewage farms, septic tanks, mechanical screening and sedimentation, the lignite method, trickhng filters, biological filters, land irriga- tion and sprinkler systems. Some of the systems are only partial treatments and combinations are needed to effect the complete treatment. In the sewage farms and land irrigation systems, large tracts of land are required, and as the city grows, these tracts may become so valuable as to cause the more com- pact biological works to be substituted. CARE OF STREETS 245 The principal object of sewage purification is to dispose of the sewage in the most unobjectionable manner possible. In so doing, however, valuable by-products are produced, principally fertilizer. Whiskey has also been produced both in Germany and in this country as such a by-product, in an experimental way, but it has not been found salable, although of good intrinsic quality, in either country, and the production here will undoubtedly remain in the stage of a successful experiment, similar to the experiments in Ger- many which did not survive the initial stage and came to an end many years ago. German chemical science has reached such a state of perfection, however, that it is feasible to reconvert toilet sewage into absolutely pure drinking water in a very short time, though such a conversion is never hkely to be of any extended practical use. It indicates, however, the entire practicability of sewage purification. (C) Care of Streets How to Preserve Street Surfaces; Street Sanding; Street Flushing After laying an expensive asphalt or wood block street, city authorities in American cities seem to feel that their whole duty has been performed. The street is immediately left to the mercy of traffic and the elements and nothing more is done until some serious repairs become necessary. - A very different process is followed in European cities, which consists in protecting the street and in facilitating traffic, so that much greater service is gotten out of a street than is the case in America. The principal expedient adopted is to sprinkle or cover the street lightly with various substances whenever weather conditions or other reasons require it. Sand is much used for the purpose, and is scattered over the streets in a number of ways. Sometimes a man with a trowel-like tool, carr^'ing a bag of sand suspended from his neck, sows the street with the sand after the manner of a 246 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE farmer sowing grain broadcast. Other methods of distrib- uting the sand are by means of small box-like carts and shovels, one man pushing the cart and another sowing the sand. The cart is often the same one used for collecting refuse. The sand sower gains considerable skill and works with such rapidity that the cost of the work is insignificant in comparison with the benefits derived. A skillful man can cover from 80,000 to 100,000 square feet an hour, or half a Figs. 67 and 68. method of sub-surface draining of wooden block street paving in berlin One of the many unseen features which contribute to the appearance and ease of upkeep of Berlin's streets mile of ordinary street. The sprinkling of the sidewalks may be left to the householders. The method with shovels and cart is not so expeditious, since the sand in such cases is spread more thickly. There are also automatic sand-sowing machines of different types, which are more rapid. Among other materials used are a coarse sand or very fine gravel, and fine stone particles. All such materials should be dr>^ and perfectly clean and free from dirt or impurities which would prevent free scattering or subse- quently cause dust. Ashes are only used in case of an emergency. CARE OF STREETS 247 The material for street sowing is kept in boxes, holding from one to three cubic yards, in convenient locations, being thus at hand whenever needed for use. Applications are made when the streets are covered with ice, sleet or frozen snow, in the case of cold, drizzling rains, or during precipitation caused by fog or after heavy rains when the weather conditions are such that the streets will not readily dry. A twofold object is attained by such sowing; the slipperiness of the street is overcome, and safety for vehicles and pedestrians assured, and the surplus Fig. 69. method of draining rails of street railway system, BERLIN In order to protect the Asphalt Paving from decay. Another of the many unseen features of construction which have contributed greatly to the appearance, cleanliness and ease of upkeep of Berlin streets water is absorbed by the sand so that it does not lie and rot the surfacing. Thus the greatest objection to asphalt streets, their slipperiness, is obviated. As streets are only flushed at times when the water will readily dry off, there is no occasion to sand the streets after flushing. When bodies of men are to pass over icy streets, the sand or small gravel to be scattered is first moistened with a solution of salt, as it will then the more quickly attack the ice of the street. Sand in being sown on the streets should be used as sparingly as possible to accomplish the desired result. A very small quantity is found suflicient for a considerable area. From 2 to 10 liters suflTice for 1,000 square meters, which is 1 cubic yard for from 150,000 to 750,000 square feet of surface or from 3,000 to 15,000 feet of 50-foot street. When the conditions of ice or moisture which made nee- 248 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE essary the application of the sand have passed, it should all be removed, as otherwise the streets will become dusty. In good weather asphalt and wood block streets are treated with an oil emulsion. Applied five or six times during the summer, all the desirable results are accom- plished that follow from a daily watering. Street sweeping in winter, a difficult work, owing to the cold dust stirred up, is accomplished in an efficacious manner by first sprinkling the streets with a chloride of calcium solution which lays the dust and so melts the frozen dirt that the street-sweeping machines can accomplish their work. (D) Street Cleaning Hours for Street Cleaning; Methods of Street Cleaning; Garbage and Snow Removal The cleaning of streets, to be properly carried out, should be under the supervision of engineers of experience, as where the work is put in the hands of mere politicians, as a sort of any good fellow's job, the results, as seen in so many American cities, are about what could be expected. The lack of system, and want of technical training on the part of the officials in charge, makes street cleaning unnecessarily expensive, leaves the streets in a bad condi- tion and causes the cleaning to be carried out in disagree- able and unsanitary ways. In foreign cities, engineers specialize on this subject. Street cleaning has been reduced to a science, and econ- omy, efficiency and the comfort and convenience of the public is considered at every point. The purpose of street cleaning is to remove as quickly and as cheaply as possible, all foreign matter in the streets and to thus conduce to the health of the public by minimiz- ing the circulation of germ laden dust. The cleaning of streets should be carried out in a system- atic and thorough manner. The cleaners should proceed in crews with the necessary apparatus, both to clean the streets and the sidewalks as well if necessary, and the lay- HICiHLV KKFIC.IKNT REFISI-: COLLEC.TIXC, SYSTEMS AS i;.MI'l.( )M.I) IN THE PRINCIPAL GERMAN CITIES Do! lorn dumping can, ! if led from sunken receptacle in sidewalk. Refuse can for streel sweepings. Sectional refuse collecting cart with detachable electric automobile-tractor REFUS1-: DKSTHLCTION PLANT, HAMBURG The largest in Europe. The electric power generated operates llw city water pumping plant SEWAGE DISPOSAL PLANT, PHILADELPHIA STREET CLEANING 249 out of the work should be such that no member of the crew needs to wait on the progress of the other, but all proceed simultaneously, and when they have passed through the street, the work will be done. The method of piecemeal street cleaning, with the householder sweeping the dirt into the street, the street cleaner sweeping it into piles, and the piles being removed by wagons, with the occasional passing first on one side of the street and then on the other of some piece of street cleaning apparatus, results in a con- tinual stirring up of dust, to the great discomfort and incon- venience of all concerned, while the street never really gets cleaned. The number of men in the cleaning crew depends on the kind of machinery used. As no machine is capable of reaching all parts of the street, a certain amount of manual sweeping is necessary, especially when the sidewalks are cleaned by the municipality. Such manual sweeping should be carried on in conjunction with the machine sweeping, so that, as indicated, the whole width of the street will be cleaned at once. In order that such cleaning may proceed with efficiency and despatch, and consequently with economy, the streets must be practically clear of traffic, as the presence of vehicles, especially those standing at the curb, greatly delays the work of the crew. As the operation of such a crew also handicaps traffic, and as the public prefers to see the streets clean, rather than to see them being cleaned, it is essential to select a suitable hour for cleaning. German cities have conducted numerous tests for finding out the most favorable hour. The city of Dresden adopted the practice of cleaning the main streets in the early morning hours, beginning about 4 A.M., and finishing the business sections by 6 a.m, some 20 to 30 per cent of the entire street area. The cleaning of the remainder of the streets proceeds immediately after the main streets are finished, and the whole city is cleaned by 9 A.M. Only streets in outlying districts are cleaned later in the day, often in the afternoon, but all streets 250 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE must be cleaned once a day, whether there is much dirt or Uttle on them. The practice of Dresden has been followed by practically all prominent German cities. Some of those of less im- portance, owing to conditions of light traffic, continue in old methods, but the larger cities have been forced to adopt the early morning plan. The advantages of the system are that the cleaning can be carried out by daylight and is consequently better performed than when carried out under artificial light, that the workmen are more efficient as day workers than as night workers, and that during the early morning hours traffic is at the minimum. It is essential that the sidewalks and other adjoining spaces be cleaned before the crews pass through the street, as otherwise the cleaning would not be thorough. Cities should, therefore, clean the sidewalks in business districts, owing to the early visits of the crews, while house owners in the residential districts which are visited from six to nine o'clock by the cleaners are required to have the streets in front of their houses cleaned and ash and refuse carts ready for removal by a scheduled time, under penalty of a fine. No refuse may be placed on the sidewalk, but must be kept on the householders' premises in such places as will not cause annoyance to the neighbors. As the street cleaning crews may be expected at a fixed time daily, the householders are able to make their arrangements accord- ingly, and thus the whole process is carried out in the most expeditious and convenient manner. The crews are compelled to work in a manner as un- objectionable as possible, with a minimum of dust raising and noise making. Conditions of such a kind can only be brought about when the department itself is efficiently administered by capable and technically trained officials, who devote their time and energies to the duties in hand and not to political activity and experimental devices, and when regulations are such that the householders are compelled by law to co-operate with the department. STREET CLEANING 251 In the removal of snow, American cities are chronically slow, having an abiding faith in a favorable change of weather. The ever-ready excuse is that not enough men and wagons are obtainable, but in reality the reason is, more fre- quently, executive incompetency, politics and lack of system. While the problem is somewhat difficult in America, on account of the heavy falls of snow, our cities are finan- cially well situated to handle the matter, so that failure is only due to lack of proper preparations and absence of systematization. A highly effective plan for the removal of snow is that of dumping it into sewers, as has been noted. Precautions must be taken not to dump or sweep into the sewers with the snow any matter liable to settle in the sewers and clog them up, such as street detritus, as the subsequent clean- ing of the sewers might prove more expensive than the removal of snow by some other method. Nor, in removing snow by sewer dumping, should the amount of snow dumped in at any one time be sufficient to cause the sewer to become clogged up. Where sewage pumping plants are installed for elevating sewage, snow should not be dumped into the sewer within some 2,000 feet of the pumping station, as otherwise trouble with the pumps is Hkely to occur. The swifter the flow of the sewer, the better it is adapted for purposes of snow removal, which is preferably carried on at night when the ordinary flow of the sewer is at its minimum. Many American cities are fortunately placed in having large volumes of water at their disposal, which may be utilized in flushing snow and slush directly into the sewer, a process which has many advantages, especially when salt water is available for the purpose. Perhaps the most urgent of the duties of the street- cleaning department is the removal from the streets of the carcases of dead animals, not only on account of the un- sightliness of such objects, but also because, especially in summer, they are a menace to health. Singularly enough. 252 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE in many American cities, including those constantly ex- ploiting their civic improvement plans, there is a lack of co-operation between the police, to whose notice such matters naturally first fall, and the street cleaning depart- ments, so that the carcases remain, often for days before being removed. It would certainly seem a necessary pre- liminary to street planning to have the streets free of such impedimenta. Street-cleaning machinery consists principally of three classes, sprinkling, sweeping and removing apparatus, though there are many forms of combinations of one or more classes in a single piece of apparatus. The sprinkling apparatus is designed especially for economical use of water, from ^ to one gallon often suffi- cing to cover 1,000 square feet of surface, in the best forms of apparatus. Cleaning apparatus consists of rotary brooms and rotary scrubber and squeegee devices, while vacuum sweepers are also coming into use. The removing apparatus is usually in combination with a sweeper or scrubber, the dirt being elevated to the cart by mechanical conveyors or suction. A form of machine much used in German cities is a gasoline or electrically driven automobile, with a water tank and sprinkler, scrubber and squeegee apparatus and a me- chanical conveyor or suction device for carrying refuse to the collecting box. Such a machine is complete and effec- tive. It may also be found as a horse-drawn vehicle. As apparatus of this kind is expensive, some German cities, like Diisseldorf, utilize a form of electrically driven machinery in which the motive part, the motor, storage battery and controls, with chauffeur's seat mounted on the front axle, is a detachable unit, which may be employed in connection successively with various forms of cleaning appa- ratus, some for summer use and others for winter use. Electrically driven machinery has proven more economi- cal than horses and it is being substituted as rapidly as the old equipment can be disposed of. STREET CLEANING 253 The Street Cleaning Department of Berlin has published the following figures bearing on the relative efficiency of motor and horse washing machines. The figures given rep- resent the cost of operation per 8-hour workday: Electric-driven machine: Driver's wage $1.25 Electricity consumed (on the average 1.716 kilowatts per hour at 3.808 cents per kilowatt) in eight hours . . .52 Insurance of accumulators against deterioration at $130.90 per year, or per day ($130.90 -^ 300) 44 Repairs, figured on basis of past experience .... .63 Amortization, figured at 15 per cent 1.49 More rapid consumption of rubber rollers owing to higher speed .08 Total 4.41 Horse-drawn machine: Driver's wage 1.12 Two horses, at $1.51 per horse 3.02 Repairs .19 Amortization, figured at 10 per cent .24 Total ^57 Commenting on these figures, the department points out that an electric machine cleans in an hour 6,937 square yards of street surface or in a day of eight hours 55,496 square yards at a cost, as shown, of $4.41, while a horse-drawn machine cleans in the same time only 44,013 square yards at a cost of $4.57. _When streets and sidewalks are cleaned by hand sweep- ing, there should be provided receptacles of appropriate design and suitable capacity for the reception of the street sweepings awaiting removal. A useful form of such recep- tacle would be one which could be removed without being emptied, another being left in its place for the next day's sweepings. The same method is equally applicable for smaller garbage cans and household refuse, as has been described. Other receptacles for street refuse may be sunk in pits as also noted. They are made of steel with a dump- ing bottom, and the removal cart is provided with means 254 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE of lifting them out of the pit to the top of the cart, which is covered with a top having special openings, so that the contents of the cans may be dumped into the cart without being scattered by the wind. After being so dumped the cans are lowered again into place in their pits. In order to avoid handling, such can pits are located in the sidewalk near the curb, and the street refuse is swept directly into them, a small hinged flap bridging the gutter. The pit is, of course, provided with a cover. As stated, the removal of street sweepings, garbage and refuse should be done in wagons invariably having covers, in order to protect the passing public and the workmen from escaping particles. It is better, however, to have it re- moved in the original cans, leaving empty cans in place, as this is an absolute protection to all concerned and gets the wagons off the streets sooner. If wagons are used into which the rubbish is dumped, they should be of the end dumping type, and in some cases it is preferable that the body be detachable so that it may be lifted off by hoisting cranes and dumped at any desired place. This is especially convenient in connection with the work of refuse destruction plants. (E) Refuse Disposal Land and Water Dumping; Incineration of Refuse; By-Products of Garbage and Refuse In the removal and disposition of the waste products of cities, which consist of ashes, garbage, rubbish, street sweepings and the like, several methods are in use, such as dumping on land, dumping in water, plowing into the land, feeding to swine, reduction and incineration, the last two being the most desirable plans. In choosing a system, a thorough study should be made of conditions, such as the length of haul, convenience, nuisance, etc., and the system should be selected which best suits the circumstances. Land dumping, while the cheapest and easiest way, is REFUSE DISPOSAL 255 highly objectionable, particularly if the kitchen garbage is dumped. In any event the dumping ground should be located so that the odors will not become a nuisance, and all combustible matter should at intervals be burned by bonfires. Such dumping grounds should be surrounded by high fences to prevent scattering of light rubbish by the wind. The land once used for such purposes cannot be built upon for years. In water dumping, the refuse and garbage is dumped into scows at piers, and towed out to sea, far enough to prevent incoming currents and wind from carrying floating portions back to shore, as otherwise the beaches used for bathing become littered with rubbish washed in. The dumping place should also be so selected that the heavy material sinking will not clog up the channels of navigation. It is desirable to use automatic dumping scows, instead of doing the unloading by hand, as the saving in labor will soon pay for the scows. Plowing into the soil is of not much service, and is applicable only to the kitchen garbage portions of the refuse. The same is true of the feeding of garbage to swine. Some cities have had swine farms, realizing a profit on the ven- ture, while in many villages and small towns, private parties collect kitchen garbage for this purpose. With the exception of land and water dumping, the other processes require separation of the refuse into dif- ferent classes. The most complete separation is required in the reduction process. Many cities employing the reduction process place the removal of their garbage in the hands of private contrac- tors, who either pay the city a lump sum annually for the privilege, or who remove the garbage free of cost to the city, getting it for taking it away. The city of New York for instance, while it used to pay to a certain company $50,000 annually for the removal of garbage, closed in July, 1913, a contract whereby it receives a total of $487,500 for a five-year period. The city agrees as under previous conditions to deliver the garbage at certain 256 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE points of deposit on the water front of the three boroughs, Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn. For this it receives $62,500 for the first year, $87,500 for the second and $112,- 500 for the third year, and the same amount for each of the succeeding two years, if the contract is renewed, thus making a total of $487,500. The only other bid received by the city was from the garbage removal company in charge which desired a new contract at $130,000 per annum from the city for a period of five years, or a total of $650,000, so that if the contract with the second party proves a success the city actually saves $1,137,500 by the new arrangement. The se- curity required by the city for the execution of the contract is $100,000. The total garbage delivered for the three boroughs, Man- hattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn was 341,739 tons in 1910; 317,992 tons in 1911; and 345,902 tons in 1912. Garbage contractors, upon receiving the garbage at the dumping grounds, sell certain portions of it to sub- contractors. Usually the tin cans, metal, bottles, textile materials, such as clothing, wool and mattresses, and the paper are sold separately, the contractor in many instances receiving for each item as much if not more than the whole cost of the removal. He usually retains for himself the most valuable portions, such as kitchen refuse, vegetable, meat, fat, etc., from which, by various processes, valuable by-products such as fertilizer, oil, grease, etc., are obtained, being worth as much as all the other portions of the refuse put together. The garbage is first sorted according to the by-products to be manufactured. The grease-producing portions are boiled in digesters and the oil and grease removed; the remainder, called tankage, is used, after being dried and ground, for fertilizer, or burned as fuel in the boilers of the plant. The grease has a value of from 3 to 4 cents a pound and is sold as a base for the manufacture of cheap grades of pomatums, cheap perfumery and wagon grease. Such reduction plants should be located in isolated dis- REFUSE DISPOSAL 257 tricts, as the odor produced is offensive unless the plants are exceptionally well designed and operated. This neces- sitates a long, expensive haul of garbage, which is a draw- back to the method. Incineration of garbage is a method not as yet intro- duced to any extent in the United States, but its great advantages are being recognized by city officials and it is making great progress. In the incineration process, garbage alone cannot be burned without the addition of coal or other fuel, unless it is mixed with ashes or other combustible materials ordi- narily found in the refuse. The best method of disposing of refuse is to separate from the garbage such portions as will produce valuable by-products and burn the remainder with other combustible material, such as wood, paper, etc., separately. The house and steam ashes should be used, when the garbage is collected, as a means of cleaning the cans. Gar- bage cans will quickly foul and, therefore, the ash can should be used for garbage and the garbage can for ashes on alternate days, as the ashes act as a cleanser. The house and steam ashes should be screened at the plant and burned in the incinerator for the purpose of pro- ducing steam, which is utilized for heating purposes and the generation of electricity for lighting and power. Such ashes contain high heating values for the reason that the householder and small power plant operators do not know haw to utilize the coal efficiently and waste much in ashes. Large cities, particularly, find it advantageous to install combined refuse destruction and electric generating plants to dispose of the ashes. In a city of half a million population for which the writer was recently called upon to design a refuse incinerator plant, the annual collections of ashes amount to 120,000 tons, or 335 tons daily. After being screened and the clinkers removed, 80,000 tons of ashes remain, equal to low grade coal, having an actual steaming value which, when utilized in the incinerator plant, suffices for the operation 258 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE of generating machinery of a total capacity of 6,000 kilo- watts. A local electric company contemplates purchasing this power in order to avoid competition, and it will prove especially useful since the incinerator plant is in opera- tion twenty-four hours a day, every day in the year. The destructor and steam raising plant will consist, in this installation, of four double units, each capable of con- suming 84 tons of screened ashes per day, while the electric generating plant will consist of three 2,000 kilowatt turbo- generators. Provision is made to install an additional destructor and turbo-generator, so that one unit may be kept in reserve. A number of refuse destruction plants have been con- structed in recent years throughout the United States, and as the system is one which has been in use abroad for many years, city officials would do well to give the matter their fullest attention. Such plants are well adapted to municipal operation, and will furnish a large volume of electric current for light- ing the streets and for power uses. The plants occupy but a small land area and can be built to-day in practically any part of the city, as when properly constructed and operated, they prove entirely un- objectionable. They are also a decided success, financially. (F) Water Supply Purification Systems; Water Works; Water Distribution; Water Consumption Among the basic and fundamental functions of a city, there is none of greater importance than that of water supply. However beautiful and attractive a city may be made, if it runs a befouled and death-dealing fluid through its water mains, it is but a whitened sepulchre and a mock- ery. Murder by wholesale is the result, and a list of victims which would fill many volumes the size of this one, could be compiled of those who have died from diseases arising out of the negligence of the cities in which they were compelled W.VnCHWOHKS AT PEKING, CHINA Water tower with KUmne type tank of 185,000 gallons capacity WATERWORKS AT LEUTZSCH. NEAR LEIPZIG 80,000 gallnns ca/mcilt/. 100 feel hic/h WATER SUPPLY 259 to live; if indeed the supplying of diluted filth instead of water may be termed negligence. No city without a water-purifying system, unless it has a source of naturally pure water, can in reality have any claims to being considered a civilized place of residence. Millions are spent on pumping plants, yet but little goes for purification. An evidence of the fear in which the water of many cities is held, is shown by the numerous and highly prosperous so-called spring-water companies. The amount of money spent by the individual members of the public of any large city for such water, would undoubtedly suffice for a purification plant for the whole water supply of the city. The traveller abroad can go from city to city without fear of illness as a result of drinking water, but the traveller in America is in great danger, especially in certain parts of the country. The essentials of a pure water supply consist of properly controlled catchment areas to collect the precipitation, an impounding storage basin, a filtering plant, and if the supply is not by gravity to the consumer, a pumping station and, finally, the distributing system. For some cities, artesian wells may take the place of catchment areas. The water at no time should be subject to contamina- tion, especially after being filtered. Where open reservoirs are used, they should be so protected that no possible access can be had to them except by the officials and em- ployees. Provision should be made so that dead bodies will not find lodgment in them, as frequently occurs in many cities. The purification of water is accomplished by a number of different processes, adapted to the different kinds of water to be treated. Such processes may be briefly classi- fied as follows: Mechanical separation, which is accomplished either by gravity in the form of sedimentation or by adhesion and screening, as with scrubbers, filters and screens. This method is the one most widely used. 260 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Sand filtration, as compared with the so-called mechanical filtration, is a natural gravity filtration method, slower in action and subject to certain limitations; that is, a greater area for purification is necessary, and it is not successful in clearing turbid river waters of the finely divided clay con- tents. It is, however, the second most widely used method in the United States and is in Europe proportionately more widely used. Chemical purification, necessary with water of a certain character, accompanied by the introduction of carbonate of lime, etc., to soften the water, and for the removal of iron and objectionable acids. Biological processes, accomplished by oxidation of or- ganic matter by its use as food for organisms, which effect its destruction, and by the death of the objectionable organisms as the result of unfavorable conditions artificially produced, such as the absence of food and presence of antagonistic organisms, the remains then being removed by the purification process. Aeration by evaporation of gases held in solution, the cause of objectionable tastes and odors; evaporation of carbonic acid, a food supply for some kinds of growths; and the supplying of oxygen necessary for certain chemical purifications and especially necessary to support growths of water purifying organisms. Aeration is accomplished by exposing the water in thin sheets to the air, as in falling over dams or overflows, and by pumping it up into the air out of a pipe, as in the form of a low or bubbling geyser. American cities for the most part draw their water supply from rivers which carry a large proportion of silt and clay. It is therefore necessary to remove such impuri- ties, which are of a purely inorganic kind, as well as to purify the water of bacteria and other organic growth. Various methods and combinations of methods are employed for the purpose. In some plants the process consists of pre- filtration, coagulation and final sandbed filtration; in others, coagulation and mechanical filtration; while in others sterili- zation is employed in addition to the other methods. WATER SUPPLY 261 In Wilmington, Albany, Philadelphia, Montreal, Steelton and other places preliminary filters are employed, after which sedimentation is allowed to take place, with a final sandbed filtration. This process in time of heavy floods does not work well, as the suspended matter in the water cannot be adequately dealt with. Coagulants such as sulphate of alumina, or sulphate of iron in connection with lime, effect a coagulation of the particles to a point of sufficient individual bulk to be re- movable by the sandbed filtration. This method is improved by being used in connection with the sterilization process, as in the application of hypochlorite of lime. The most efiTicient method of dealing with American river waters with a high degree of turbidity is that followed by such plants as those at Louisville, Harrisburg, New Orleans, Columbus, Toledo, Cincinnati, Little Falls, New Milford and several hundred smaller places, in which the water is first subjected to coagulation and then mechan- ically filtered by being forced through filtering mediums under pressure, the filtering medium when clogged being cleaned by reversed currents. The coagulants have in addition the effect of removing discolorants, tastes and odors, and they are especially effec- tive in these respects when used in combination with aera- tion. It is, of course, necessary to have the operation of such plants in the hands of competent and experienced engineers, and each installation must be treated on its own merits, as the local conditions vary so greatly. Another process coming rapidly into vogue, is the ozone treatment. It is an electrical treatment of the water, which produces the effect of aeration in a much more rapid manner than by oxygen. It is much employed on the continent, and an especially notable plant has recently been installed in St. Petersburg, where the capacity is 50,000 cubic meters per 24-hour day, or 13,200,000 gallons. The water of St. Petersburg is taken from the river Neva, which not only has a very decided brownish yellow color, but which is also heavily charged with the germs of 262 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE typhoid and cholera. It has undoubtedly been the cause of epidemics in the past. The plant consists of coagulating and filter basins, electric generating ozone producers and ozone sterilizing apparatus. The coagulating basins are designed of such capacity that the water remains in them for a period of two hours, after receiving the required amount of sulphate of alumina. From this basin the water passes to the mechanical filters of which there are 38 in number, after which it passes to a collecting conduit of reinforced concrete, from which it goes to the ozone treat- ment plant. In the ozone plant is apparatus designed to bring the ozone into intimate contact with the water. As is well known, ozone is a form of what may be termed intensified oxygen, and is ordinarily produced in the air by flashes of lightning. In the ozone producers, minute electrical dis- charges, small flashes of lightning in fact, produce the ozone artificially, and the air heavily charged with ozone thus produced is mingled with the water, oxygenizing the im- pure matter, which is broken up into gases and disorgan- ized matter, the latter as harmless as sand and the gases escaping into the air, leaving the water entirely pure. The air charged with the ozone is carried into the water-mixing columns, which are fed by the coflecting conduit. There are five such ozone sterilizing units, each having a capacity of 3,000 gallons per hour. Owing to the great interest excited by this plant, and to the fact that the waters of the Neva are of such an un- favorable character, constant tests are made of the results. The plant has been in operation for a year and is highly successful, indeed beyond anything that could be expected of a mechanical filter plant. Cities having gravity feed water supply are more for- tunate than others which must go to the expense of pump- ing stations and water towers or storage reservoirs to create the necessary head for the distributing system. In cities in which there is a large supply of water at a low head, a water power plant may be erected utilizing the WATER SUPPLY 263 water for generating electricity to drive the pumps of tiie pumping station, thus using the large volume of water at the low head to elevate a smaller volume to a higher head. The combined electric generating and pumping station may be so dimensioned that during part of the 24 hours, current may be used for light and power purposes, while during the remainder of the time, when this demand has fallen oiT, the electric pumps may be operated, thus utilizing the equipment of the station to the fullest degree. In some cities, even, the water power plant may be so favorably located that after the water passes through the turbines, generating electric power, it may still possess sufficient head to pass through the purifying system and dis- tributing mains by gravity. This would be an ideal con- dition, but it is one seldom realized, though its possibility is too often overlooked by engineers. Such a plant may be economically developed, even at some distance from the city. In laying it out, however, only the most experienced engineers should be retained, as a plant not properly de- signed may prove uneconomical. The interest on the money invested may amount to more than the value of the electric current produced. The distributing mains throughout the city should be so laid out that accidents in any section may be confined to a small area. Provision should be made so that an affected section may be readily cut out by by-passing. In the last decade, the use of steel pipes has come into vogue abroad for city water mains, and cast-iron pipes have been replaced by steel pipes. Steel pipes are lap-welded by the autogenous process, and are not rivetted. They are very much lighter in weight, are made in greater lengths than cast-iron pipes, are much more easily laid and have the great advantage of not being liable to breakage when in place as is so often the case with cast-iron pipes, and thus not only flooding the neighborhood, causing damage and inconvenience, but also exposing large sections of the city to fire risk. Steel pipes, further, are not liable to leakage, as the 264 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE settlement of earth has Httle effect on them, while with cast-iron pipes, it produces a great volume of leakage which remains undiscovered. There is great leakage in American city water systems, and the authorities are usually unable to tell what becomes of the water. The quantity of water consumed in certain of the larger cities of the United States and Europe is stated as follows : Pittsburgh, 220 gallons per capita per day; Buffalo, 310 Philadelphia, 205; Chicago, 225; Salt Lake City, 310 Paris, 65; Hamburg, 44; London, 39; Liverpool, 38 Amsterdam, 37; Copenhagen, 27; Dresden, 26, and Berlin, 22. European cities, although sprinkling and washing the streets and using water as freely for other purposes, have a much lower consumption, owing no doubt to prevention of leakage, and also, since the water is metered, to preven- tion of unnecessary waste. The enormous cost to the American cities of the water works required is a serious burden on the taxpayers, and measures should be taken to stop the waste, which may be partially accomplished by remedying faults of construction and operation, and as far as the consumer goes by metering, so that he pays for what he consumes. This proves the easiest, most equitable and most effective system. The Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity of New York has issued a bulletin with figures and tables that show a reduction of 60,000,000 gallons in the daily consumption of water in Manhattan and Bronx as a result of the campaign against water waste during the protracted droughts of 1910 and 1911. The economy was accomplished by a house-to house inspection in quest of the small and usually ignored leak, and by spreading instructive literature on the subject of water waste. The work of the water waste division of the Bureau of Water Supply, it is now announced, has resulted in a direct saving, since it was started in 1910, of 15,000,000,000 gallons of water, which, at meter rates, would represent about FOUNTAIN PAOLINA, ROME TERMINAL FOUNTAIN TREVI, ROME Splendid examples of classic architectural embellishment, symbolizing cily water supply o .^ a: E ►J c WATER SUPPLY 265 $2,300,000, while the cost of the work amounted to only $90,000. The water supply system of a city should be utilized in the design of the city to produce aesthetic effects, being pe- culiarly well adapted for such purposes. In many cities water towers of a highly ornamental character may be erected, constructed of reinforced concrete, steel or masonry. Attractive towers of this kind should be erected, whenever possible, instead of the unsightly steel towers or standpipes so commonly put up. Cities which draw their supply of water from distant watersheds may find it of advantage to conduct it through an aqueduct which, when led across valleys, ofTers great opportunities for effective architectural treatment. A sur- plus of water may be drawn from the watershed to be used at some selected point, forming an artificial cascade and waterfalls, while a highway may be built on the aqueduct. Where water is supplied from sources requiring pumping stations, these should be of well-designed monumental char- acter. In the city itself, as an architectural symbol of the water supply system, there should be erected monumental terminal fountains. These should be either in the form of geysers or cascades, and they are susceptible of a high degree of architectural ornamentation. Such fountains are ex- tremely popular in European cities and form most interesting and efTective features in the city planning. In Rome the terminal fountains of Aqua-Paola and the Fontana Trevi, and in Marseilles the fountain of the Palais Long Champ, are excellent examples; while German cities abound with similar works in modern style, for example, the Wittelsbach Fountain at Munich, which consists of a basin 82 feet in length and 42 feet in width, from which rises a pedestal bearing four masks, symbolical of the different "temperaments" of water. On the top of this is a basin 18 feet in diameter, and above this a smaller basin from which the water issues. On the right and left of the lower basin are two colossal groups in marble, 10 feet high and 13 feet wide; a female figure upon a water-bull and a male figure 266 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE upon a water-horse symbolizing respectively the fertilizing and destructive power of water. A well-known monumental water tower is that at Mann- heim, Germany, in which the tower is utilized as an orna- mental structure in the center of the city, surrounded by parking and fountains. While city water supply systems are strictly engineering propositions, it will be seen that opportunity is afforded for utilizing not only the art of the architect but also that of the sculptor in symbolizing the city's possessions and the means of supplying its citizens with one of the most im- portant of all the necessities of life — water. The displaying of the city's water in this way in the most attractive manner serves not only as an embellishment of the city, but has a most important hygienic effect, since if the displayed water is seen thus publicly to be muddy and impure it will arouse public opinion to the point of action, and insure the ob- taining of a supply of pure water which the city will not be ashamed to show to its citizens and visitors. The building of a monumental fountain in New York, for example, at a cost of $160,000 would provide the city with an attractive structure, perhaps the greatest of its kind in the world, yet its cost would be but A of 1 per cent of that of the aqueduct system which the city is now con- structing at a cost of $160,000,000. (G) Gas Supply Coal Gas; Water Gas; By-Produds; Gas Pressure; Gas Distribution Gas, one of the oldest of modern street lighting systems, although hard pressed by the advance of electricity, has reached a point beyond which it is not likely to be driven. This is principally due to the fact that great inventions have been made, producing a marked improvement in the brilliancy of gas lighting, and to the development of the use of gas for heating purposes. As in the case of steam power plants, gas plants should GAS SUPPLY 267 be located on a water front, and should also have railroad connections, in order to be accessible to supplies of coal. Owing to the great size of the holders, gas plants have never been made acceptable in an architectural sense, and they should therefore be located in the outskirts of the city, or in factory districts where their ugliness will not be so noticeable. If this is not feasible, they should be painted a silver slate color instead of the usual red, to render them less conspicuous. The general equipment of the generating plant consists of retorts, mechanical handling apparatus for coal, the machin- ery for charging retorts, apparatus for obtaining the by- products, such as tar, ammonia, oxide, sulphate, lime, and cyanogen; and the auxiliary machinery such as scrubbers, purifiers, etc., all of which should be well arranged and grouped in a compact manner in order that the plant may be operated in an efficient and economical way. The demand to-day is for a gas having as high a calorific or heating value as possible, as well as a high illuminating value, where a few years ago the demand was principally for illuminating power. This change has been brought about by the increased use of gas for cooking and in the arts. Coal gas should have a heating value of not less than 550 British Thermal Units per cubic foot, while water gas is usually higher. In many towns a combination of coal gas and water gas is used. For instance, in New York, where this plan is adopted, recent tests made showed an average of 756.2 British Thermal Units and an average illuminating power of 28.8 candle-power. Water gas is produced by the decomposition of steam in contact with incandescent carbon. The process consists in alternate "blows" with air to heat the fuel, and "runs" with steam, which is decomposed by the incandescent fuel, continuing to form water gas until the temperature becomes too low, necessitating another period of heating. In the carburetted water gas process, the fuel in the generator is burned by the air blast only to a sufficient de- gree of heat to form principally carbon monoxide. Another 268 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE process much in vogue in Europe produces about twice as much water gas for the same amount of fuel. In this process the volume of air during the blows is so propor- tioned to the bed of fuel, and the apparatus is so designed, that instead of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide is formed, developing three times the heat from the fuel that is de- veloped when it is burned only to carbon monoxide. In this process, coke is therefore converted into water gas with a maximum of economy, transferring to the gas about 70 per cent of the heating value of the fuel. It is the practice abroad to use seamless welded steel tubing for the distributing mains, instead of cast-iron pipe. The steel pipes have for gas mains the advantages similar to the use of steel pipes for water mains, already pointed out. They are lighter in weight, easier to handle, have fewer joints, are not subject to breakage and when laid are free from leakage, besides lasting longer. What has been said about the general arrangement of water mains and by-passing is equally applicable to gas mains, in order to prevent leakage and inconvenience. Where gas pipes enter buildings, there should be accessible cut-off valves, so that in case of fire, the fire department may cut oil the supply of gas for that particular building. Owing to the numerous improvements the intensity of gas illumination to-day runs to 5,000 candle-power and over in single burners. The gas is also distributed under much higher pressure than formerly. The city of Berlin has systems in operation as high as 17J^ pounds per square inch. This pressure is obtained by the use of turbo-driven turbo blowers. In New York City, a recent order of the Public Service Commission increases the pressure at the point of use bj'' the consumer from one and one half inches water column to two inches water column. One inch water column equals .58 ounce, one and one-half inch water column equals .82 ounce and two inches water column equals 1.16 ounces pressure. The Commission's order also requires that a dif- ference of not more than f inches water column shall exist ELECTRICITY SUPPLY 269 in the variations of pressure from day to day. Special requirements are made as to momentary pulsations and varia- tions of pressure, which are to be obviated by the use of regulating apparatus. Such variations are usually caused by the use of gas by gas engines, of the hit and miss type, which do not take a regular supply of gas from the mains. The effect of the Commission's order will be to improve the brilliancy of the lighting and give greater and more regular heat at the burners. The orders will require improvements to be made in the gas mains and will require three years to effect. Another practice employed abroad is to light whole sections of the city simultaneously. This is accomplished by an automatic lighter for each lamp post, which is caused to operate by slight changes in the pressure. These changes are in the mains and are controlled from a central point. The lights are extinguished simultaneously by the same method. (H) Electricity Supply Steam- and Hydro-Electric Plants; Internal Combustion En- gine and Combination Plants; Size of Machinery; Elec- tric Current Distribution; Central Station Service Municipal ownership of public utilities is becoming more and more general in the United States, and a large number of cities already have their own power plants, which is, of course, one of the most important members of a group of public utilities. Such plants are used for furnishing electric current for city traction, street and municipal building lighting and power purposes, while in the cases of many cities, current is sold to private consumers. Municipal power plants should be designed to supply the current required under existing conditions, and to be capable of ready extension when made necessary by subsequent demands for additional current, but at the same time, in order to insure financially successful results, great care should be taken not to make the plant larger than neces- 270 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE sary, since interest and sinking fund charges on idle equip- ment or on too large an equipment will make the city's current unduly expensive. In the selection of the equipment, also, the greatest judgment is requisite, since the most expensive equipment is by no means necessarily productive of the most efficient results. In the designing of a plant, advantage must be taken of the latest advances in engineering, and especially so in order to obtain the greatest degree of economy in operation. Electric current for municipal purposes is generated chiefly by steam, oil, gas or water power. Of the four methods, steam is the most widely in use, but local condi- tions are the determining factor in the selection of the best source. A city, for example, in which coal is expensive and in which a water power is at hand, will, of course, choose a water power plant, unless the overhead charges will out- weigh the advantages of the water power. If a steam generating plant is selected, it should be located on a water front, in order to handle coal and ashes on barges, and to have at hand an ample supply of water for condensation. When the water of the stream is suitable for boiler feed purposes it may be used, but otherwise water for the purpose should be taken from the city mains, or from wells. The lot chosen for the plant must be large enough to provide for future extensions, and there should also be ample space for coal storage, to guard against interruption of supply, due to strikes on the water, railroads or at the mines. Coal should be purchased on the basis of its heating value, and it should be weighed when delivered. In order to cut down the cost of labor to the minimum, the unloading should be done by automatic machinery. The arrangement of the power plant should be adapted to the machinery to be installed, and to the size of the plant. For example, a plant of 15,000 kilowatt capacity should be made up from four to five prime movers, and each prime ELECTRICITY SUPPLY 271 mover should have its own boilers and auxiliary machinery, so that the whole plant will be divided on the unit system. For example, in the power house of the New York Subway system, with the entire design and construction of which the writer was associated, the equipment is divided into ten units. Each unit consists of six boilers, two econo- mizers, one 5,000 kilowatt main high pressure reciprocating engine, one 5,000 kilowatt low pressure turbine, receiving the exhaust steam from the reciprocating engine, one condenser, one boiler feed pump, one circulating pump and one air pump. The boilers of each two units possess in common one smoke stack, and the piping system is so arranged that any set of boilers can feed any main prime mover. In another plant, designed by the writer for the Potomac Electric Light and Power Company, Washington, D. C, which has a capacity of 25,000 kilowatts, while the boilers are arranged at right angles to the generating room, the unit system is taken advantage of throughout the plant. This plant is considered the most economically operated plant in the United States, and it embodies a number of European features of value. The unit system renders the first cost lower, and insures a more flexible and economical operation. The steam piping should always be arranged so that any set of boilers may be used to feed any of the prime movers. As the steam piping is regarded as the arterial system of the plant, it should be laid out as simply but as flexibly as possible, in order to avoid delay in by-passing when sections have to be cut out. This is equally true of the bus bar system in the switch- ing room, which receives the electric current from the genera- tors. The voltage adopted for the generators depends on the location of the plant. If it is located in the vicinity of the current consumption, low voltage, direct current may be chosen, but if located at some distance from the point of consumption, high voltage, alternating current must be selected. 272 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE The current, if used for lighting only, should be con- verted from alternating into direct, and while this is a some- what more expensive system, it gives steadier light than if such conversion is not made. If the current is used simul- taneously for local and suburban railway systems, in order to avoid the installation of different kinds of apparatus, alternating current is also used for lighting, but in such case, the cycle chosen should be not less than 25 per second, in order that fluctuations of the light may be avoided. While 15 cycles per second is considered desirable for traction, and 60 cycles for lighting, yet when the current is needed for both purposes, a medium number should be chosen. Some cities have a cycle frequency of 32 J^ and 42. Within the last few years many plants are utilizing the exhaust steam from the engines for steam-heating of build- ings in entire districts in winter, and for ice making in summer, the ice being sold to the public at a lower price than it could be sold by other producers. Thus the plant is made much more profitable. It will be seen that no little technical experience is re- quired in selecting the best form of equipment for any particular installation, owing to the various conditions to ])e met. Many cities are fortunately in position to take advantage of water powers, but in order to successfully utilize such powers, it is necessary to give the subject an exhaustive preliminary study and investigation to ascertain particularly the volume of water which may be available during the whole year. Government reports, though reaching back long enough, often some 10 or 15 years, must not be accepted without corroboration, nor should the hearsay evidence of local residents be blindly accepted, as many water power installations have proven failures through in- sufficient water supply, while others have been wrecked by floods when erected without sufficient reliable data at hand as to what was to be expected. Thorough investigation should also be made as regards the financial aspect of the development. In some plants, the ELECTRICITY SUPPLY 273 harnessing of the water involves so great an investment, that the interest and sinking fund charges are greater than the value of the current generated. The fact that the location of the water power site may be at a considerable distance from the city is of much less importance than would appear to the lay observer. A site 50 miles or more away may be readily utilized, and in fact, so great have been the advances in engineering science, that power is to-day economically transmitted 200 miles or more. Cities within practicable distances of such power sites should not neglect to obtain the rights to them, whether contemplating immediate use or not. The State of New York has under consideration the utilization of the various water powers throughout the state, in a manner similar to that undertaken by the Canadian Government through the organization of the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario, which has charge of the long distance transmission distributing system of Niagara power in the Province of Ontario. The writer was retained to make a report on the entire Canadian governmental undertaking, the results of which cannot here be quoted as the report is too lengthy for the purpose. It may be said, however, that the practicability of high voltage long distance transmission is amply demon- strated and that cities should not hesitate to take advantage of natural resources, even when located at considerable distances, provided other features are such as to make the projects advisable. In constructing water power plants, the determination of the type of turbine is of great importance, in order to obtain the highest degree of efTiciency. Drawing the line, for example, between a low head and a medium head, or a medium head and a high head turbine, may often mean from 5 to 10 per cent diiference in efficiency of the plant. As a general rule, a low head turbine is adapted to utilize large quantities of water falling but a short distance, while a high head turbine will produce an equivalent power with much 274 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE less water, if it falls from a greater height. The former will be a low speed turbine and the latter a high speed machine. Just what type to select for water of a given head in a given volume is one of the many questions which the engineer must decide and one upon which may depend the whole success of the undertaking. The number of penstocks used for the entire plant de- pends much on the general arrangement of the plant, its situation with reference to the collecting basin and the type of machinery selected. It is good practice, when the plant is large, to install several parallel penstocks, so that in case of breakdown of one, the others will supply water to the turbine generator sets. In designing and constructing the dam, the utmost en- gineering skill is requisite, and the penalty of employing inexperienced engineers has been shown by the numerous breakages of dams in the recent past. What has been said in reference to the size of the prime movers, in order to carry economically light and heavy loads, and the flexibility of the switch gear, the voltage and fre- quency of the generator, in steam power plants, is all equally true for hydro-electric plants. It is beyond the scope of the present work, of course, to go into the detail construction of such plants, particularly as the subject has been fully covered in the author's books, "Steam Electric Power Plants" and " Hydro-Electric Developments and Engineering," which deal with the theory and practical side of the latest American and European practice, and which embody the results of his experience in the design and construction of plants aggregat- ing some 300,000 horse-power. In addition to steam and water power plants, the in- ternal combustion engine, whether of gas or oil, is made use of. Fuel in the form of oil, or gas from the city mains, natural gas, producer gas or the waste from coke ovens or blast furnaces may be utilized. The oil engines have reached a state of such perfection that from 10 to 15 horse-power per hour can be developed from one gallon of crude oil and oil of this character can be ■-^ c u a Q z < u w o z a u. o z o <: tf u a. o I o u o 1/1 S .f w E- z a u kl u V Z a z S o DS a. E- < a o o S Q z cc < w o H U U a 5 Z 1 O ^ < = o ? Q =>! a > K i O 5 Ji ELECTRIC STREET RAILWAYS 275 had at from 2 to 6 cents per gallon, depending on the quan- tity purchased. The first cost of an oil engine plant is comparatively low for the simple reason that there are no boilers, very few pipes, and but a small building, while no large machinery is necessary for handling fuel, one or two tanks for storage of oil alone being required. The operation of such a plant is simple. It can be started on five minutes' notice, and after the power is shut off the running charges cease. Due to these advantages, the oil engines are particularly adapted for supplementary installa- tion in steam and water power plants, to carry peak loads, which usually come twice a day and are of but short dura- tion, but which must be met by equipment which lies idle at other times or is not fully utilized. The question of municipal power plants is not only one which must be considered in its technical phases, but one which involves administrative problems as well, and unless a city is efficiently administered, it may be wiser to obtain its power from local power companies than to attempt to install and operate its own plants. Before final action is taken, it is advisable to have a thorough expert investigation and report made upon the subject in each case, by a competent and disinterested engineer. (I) Electric Street Railways Systems of Railways; Sub-stations; Car Barns; Railway Equipment and Operation; Financial Aspect In the operation of a street railway system, the equip- ment will depend, as in the case of the power house, upon the conditions to be met. If the system is a local one, direct current at 600 volts should be adopted; but if the lines run into distant suburbs, the best current to adopt is the single phase and the voltage may run to 10,000 or 15,000, thus reducing line loss. The equipment of the cars should be such as to run on either the 600 volts direct current in the city, or on the 276 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE single phase, high voltage current in the suburbs, thus pass- ing to and from the city without interruption. The sub-stations for stepping down the high voltage current should be well situated along the line to obtain the most economical power distribution. They are preferably located around the outskirts of the city, on the various lines, so that high voltage current will not be brought into the city. The distribution system in the city itself should be underground, a method which though more expensive than the overhead distribution sys- tem is otherwise preferable, due to the many advantages it possesses. Car parks or barns for storing cars, either in the open or under roof, while in some cases of necessity loca- ted at convenient points along the main traffic hnes, should be arranged in such a manner Fig. 70. cross section of the ^s not to be architecturally METROPOLITAN SUBWAY, PARIS unsightly. Thcy should bc of such a character as to harmonize with the surroundings, if not to be an improvement upon them, since they are at best a nuisance and an impediment to trafTic. The company should maintain strict discipline and not have large crowds of motormen lounging about the streets to the annoyance of the public. The streets are for the use of the public and not for the transaction of the business of private corporations. In most cases it will be possible to have car barns located at or near the ends of the lines, while in other cities, large union stations, serving at once for passengers and for car storage, may be erected. In developing a comprehensive trafTic system, thorough study of the flow of traffic should be made, and its probable increase taken into account. \Yhere the traffic is heavy or likely to grow to large proportions, especially where the haul is long and heavy, the question of subways and elevated ELECTRIC STREET RAILWAYS 277 t -'1A4— - roads should be considered, even though the necessity is not imperative, as such rapid and convenient means of transit to outlying districts will have the effect of developing such sections and of causing the city to expand much more rapidly than would otherwise be the case. The same is also true, to only a less degree, in the case of suburban trolley Hues. In the development of a traction system, much depends on the comfort and convenience of the travelling public. The equipment should be up to date and attractive in every respect. Cars should be of appropriate design and of neat appearance. Means of access should be easy, the seats should be comfortably designed and preferably cross- wise in the car, as the public is pic. 71. cross section of BERLIN ELEVATED RAILROAD Showing solidly constructed road-bed beneath which is a Promenade. This structure is popularly known as Berlin's Umbrella. paying for a seat and should have a seat and not a crowded bit of a side bench or a strap to hang on by. A new form of car is being experimented with in New York which promises to supersede the old forms of cars to a large extent. Its floor is but six inches above the rails and entrance is through side doors in the middle. This car has the advantage of being a pay-as- you-enter car and one which the passengers cannot enter or leave while it is in motion. One of the most fruitful sources of accidents is thus done away with. Its seats are arranged crosswise and small posts are provided for those who must stand, a method superior to straps. The car is pleasing in appearance, and is the most radical departure that has been made in street car construction in this country for a long while. The experimental cars have proven so satisfactory that the company has ordered 150 more of the type. 278 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Abroad, it is customary for companies calling for bids on electric traction systems to receive not only specifications of cars, but also detailed designs, showing color schemes and interior decorations. The companies are thus in position to select the most pleasing and effective designs of cars instead of taking whatever car manufacturers may be pleased to turn out. In handling trafTic, the convenience and interest of the pu])lic as well as of the operators is best served by having a uniform fare rate, instead of a variable scale of fares, and by the issuance of transfers at all intersections. Such transfers should be issued at the time demanded by the passenger, though preferably when entering the car if the ingress of passengers is not thereby interfered with. If demanded on leaving the car, traffic is likely to be delayed. Abroad, passengers are seldom allowed to stand in cars and operators are obliged to supply sufficient cars so that there will be seats for all. On paying his fare, the passenger gets a ticket with the destination punched, similar to our system of railroad tickets, and this ticket in many cases entitles the passengers to reach his destination over any lines that intervene. It serves also as a transfer and must be exhibited to the conductor whenever demanded. Other principal features of street railway traffic such as the arrangement of lines, central transfer systems, sur- face traction, elevated and subway traction, moving plat- forms and statistics of rapid transit have been treated at length in Chapter IX, Traffic and Transportation. It is often asserted that cities cannot operate public utilities as economically as can private corporations, but that this is not true is amply proved in practice. A good illustration is seen in the street railways of Sheffield, England. In 1896 the corporation of the city of Sheffield took over the street transportation of the city as a municipal under- taking and has since demonstrated beyond dispute that its street railways, at least, can be operated at a handsome profit, pay good wages, and accommodate the traveling public all on a basis of 1 penny (2 cents) fares. ELECTRIC STREET RAILWAYS 279 The present system has open for traffic over 48 route miles of track, of which 38 are doul^le. The construction, both of track base and overhead equipment, is claimed to be of the most approved, modern and durable nature. Those operating this enterprise fulfill the most advanced theories of consideration for workmen by providing mess rooms where meals arc served at cost, reading and billiard rooms, lavatories, and comfort facilities. Wages, in cents per hour, are: Motormen, 13| on joining; 14| after 6 months; ^ ij I i Fk;. 72. CROSS section of street for heavy traffic Showing two Street Car Lines and Suspended Elevated Railroad System 15 after further 6 months; 16 to 17 for special work, with small increase for merit of long-term service. Conductors, 11 2 on joining; 12 after 12 months; 13 after further 6 months, with small increase for merit after Jong-term service. Inspectors, .$9.75 to $10.70 per week. The service commences at 4.15 a.m. from the depot and finishes at 1 a.m. at the depot. The average frequency of service is 5 minutes, with cars as close as 3 minutes on busy lines during rush hours. The average speed per hour, in- cluding stops, is 7.4 miles, whereas the maximum speed al- lowed is 16 miles per hour. The average fare per mile is 280 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE 0.772 cent. The regulation fare is 2 cents, but there are 1-cent stages throughout the business section of the city, which range from one-half to three-quarters of a mile. These are to the most-used points out from the heart of the city. There are fixed stopping places throughout the entire system, which are approximately about 1 furlong (one-eighth mile) apart. The local public uses the tramways to the extent of 207 miles per head of population per annum. For the year just passed the Sheffield Corporation ran its street cars over more than 8,000,000 miles and carried approximately 100,000,000 passengers, an average of 11.935 passengers per car-mile, at an average fare per passenger of 1.808 cents. The average total revenue per car per mile was 21.783 cents, as against an average working expense per car per mile of 12.506 cents, giving a balance net revenue per car per mile of 9.27 cents, or on the total system for the year a balance net revenue account of $763,855. Of this, about $390,000 was appropriated to pay interest on borrowed capital and for a sinking fund to redeem mortgages, stocks, and bonds; about $145,000 is applied to a reserve fund for renewals, re- pairs, and improvements, and the remaining $228,855 paid over to the city during the fiscal year for reduction of muni- cipal taxes and sundry general improvements. Since 1899 the tramway has paid over to the municipality of Sheffield in relief of district taxes and in grants for munic- ipal improvements more than $2,000,000, which, considering the low rate of fares, wages paid, and the efficiency of serv- ice rendered, is an excellent showing. CHAPTER XIX VALUATION OF PUBLIC UTILITIES Basis for Valuation; Physical Factors; Equitable Adjustment; Confiscatory Valuation; Valuation in City Planning With the growing tendency of municipalities toward public ownership of public utilities, and especially the ten- dencies to either take over existing plants or to stipulate rates and charges, the determination of the true value of public utilities becomes of great importance. When charges to the public for service are fixed on the basis of allowing the operating company to earn a certain rate of return on its invested capital or on the going value of the concern, any improper valuation will act as a fraud on the public, and it is, therefore, necessary that the vaulation be made by impartial experts and in the most thorough and careful manner possible. Similarly when the city levies taxes or acquires proper- ties or fixes limits or grants authorizations for new issues of stocks or bonds, the correct valuation of the property is essential, while when arrangements are made to take over property at the end of a term of years, or when adjustments of rates are to be made at fixed periods, the methods of valuation should be prescribed and faithfully carried out. When uniform systems of accounting are prescribed, the question of valuation should be settled and a proper basis for the opening of the books of account provided. Further, in the matter of assessments for purposes of apportioning the cost of public improvements, such as the widening of streets and cutting through of new streets, the question of valuation is of the first consequence. Valuation, thus a matter of the greatest civic importance, is essentially a judicial matter, consisting in arriving first 282 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE at as complete a knowledge of the facts as possible and then an equitable decision in the light of the facts disclosed. It is one of the processes of justice and those having charge of valuation should be of a judicial temperament, not likely to be swayed by prejudice and of course wholly above the suggestion of ulterior motive. At the same time it is very necessary for those in charge of valuations to have ample experience and a thorough knowledge of the numerous devices of corporation bookkeep- ing so that they may be equipped to ascertain the facts in the case and not be deceived by corporation managers. In making a valuation for a property and such a valua- tion as will be fair and equitable, many complicated con- siderations are encountered. The basis of the valuation must be fixed and three principal methods are employed for this purpose: The determination of the physical value of the property. The determination of its earning capacity. The determination of the value of its good will. Taking for example the water supply system of the city, the physical value of the property may be approximately fixed by ascertaining (a) The cost of replacing the system by a new one. (b) The cost of the original system. (c) Deduction of depreciation of original system. The cost of a new system may be either more or less than the cost of the original, depending on labor, market and other conditions, but after estimating the cost of a new system, deduction should be made for the depreciation of the old system, as a new system would be obviously more valuable than the existing one. The cost of the original system may be ascertained by the records of the construction work or from other sources, or if these are not obtainable estimates may be made. The books of a corporation are not always an accurate index of the original cost of a public utility, for various improper charges may appear such as exorbitant salaries of officers, padded pay rolls, charges for equipment and supplies never CASTLE PLAZA AND EVANGELICAL CATHEDRAL, BERLIN BURG THEATRE, VIENNA Auxiliary civic centers dominated hi/ prominent structures VALUATION OF PUBLIC UTILITIES 283 purchased and other fraudulent entries made for the purpose of cheating either the corporation, the pubUc or both. The real value of a public utility is shown better perhaps by its earning capacity than in any other way. If a change of ownership occurred between private owners, the barter price would be largely determined by the amount of divi- dends that could be derived from the operation of the prop- erty, while at the same time its depreciation charges were being met. Taking for example a water supply system costing $5,000,000 to install, having been in operation for ten years without depreciation having been charged off, and showing a yearly profit of $1,000,000; the question would arise as to whether the valuation should be based on the cost less depreciation or on the earning power, and if on the earning power, what rate per cent of profit should be allowed the owners? Allowing a depreciation of 5 per cent per annum the present value would be $2,500,000. If that amount, how- ever, be the only investment allowed, the profits of $1,000,- 000 a year would be $750,000 net or a 30 per cent profit on the physical valuation of $2,500,000. However, it is obvious that the owners are entitled to more than the mere physical valuation, since other factors cannot fairly be neglected. Their investment is yielding $750,000 per annum. Their claim would be that on the taking over of the property they should be reimbursed in a sum which would net them a return of $750,000. They would be likely to claim a valuation at low percentages. Thus if they claimed a sum which at 4 per cent would yield $750,000, it would be necessary to pay them $18,750,- 000 for the property, while if the city allowed them on the basis of 6 per cent it would be necessary to pay them only $12,500,000 for the property. The diHerence between the physical value and these income valuations would represent good will, development work, value of franchises and a cer- tain profit for the risk involved. The public, however, would by no means care to pay twelve or eighteen million dollars 284 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE for a property physically worth only two and one-half millions, and would in a physical valuation lose sight of the elements of risk, franchises, development and good will, and if only rates were at stake and the question of taking over the property not involved, would probably demand a reduction of rates to a point where instead of showing 30 per cent on $2,500,000 the company could only show 5 per cent or 6 per cent over depreciation, or some $125,000 to $150,000 profit. The corporation would no doubt, however, in the mean- time have capitalized its venture at some $50,000,000 in stock which selling to the public on the the basis of $30 per share of the par value of $100, would show a dividend of 5 per cent on the market price of $30, although back of it there would be only $2,500,000 of actual physical value. Most public utilities are in some such condition as this. The watered stock has been sold to certain members of the public who have bought innocently supposing the stock to be worth the market price, if not in physical value then in good will, going value, franchises and risk overcome. The promoters have long since taken their ill-gotten profits and have left the purchasers of the stock in possession of the property. The latter have paid far too much and the general public, feeling the pinch of the high rates, is either compelled to go on paying the high rates, or, to reduce the rates, to take the property over at a valuation which will mean enormous losses to the stockholders who purchased in innocence of the true state of affairs. The general public in permitting such an inflation of the stock issues is tacitly a party to the fraud, but when finally aroused it finds no one at hand on whom to wreak vengeance save the inno- cent stockholders partially deceived by the apathy not to say connivance of the general public itself. The public feels that the corporation has no right to demand dividends on franchise values granted by the public itself and the tendency is strongly in evidence to override any possible rights of the stockholders and trim rates and valuations down to a strictly physical basis. VALUATION OF PUBLIC UTILITIES 285 This is a course which, however beneficial it may prove to the public at the outset, will involve serious consequences later on, since investors of capital expect a greater profit from their money than that to be derived merely from a property physically equal in value to their investment. The risk of loss entitles them to a greater profit and there are the costs of organization and development which are absolutely essential but which are not represented by any- thing having a physical value. They are also entitled to a certain profit on the successful carrying through of such work and on the good will, or the tendency of the puljlic to continue to patronize the service. They are entitled to such profit because they could have made it had they placed their money in a private enterprise. If the general public is to obtain money for further improvements, it must be sufficiently liberal in allowing profits to those who have invested, to attract new investors to its enterprises. Practically all public utilities throughout the United States are encumbered with issues of watered stocks. The promoters having seized their profits through successfully incurring the risks involved, and through having capitalized franchises costing little or nothing at millions and good will long before it came into existence, can no longer be held to account. Their work is done, whether for good or ill, yet the public should not punish the innocent but should allow a full and fair if not a liberal reckoning, for there is alsa a prospective value to many such enterprises. That is to say, if allowed to develop along the lines planned, they are likely to become in time as valuable as the par value of the stocks issued against them by their promoters, and the public by cutting down valuations to a physical basis is in reality confiscating both realized and future legitimate profits, for it must always be borne in mind that if invested in private undertakings, the capital involved would prob- ably have shown a higher return than in the public utility enterprises. In taking over a property, or in fixing rates, therefore, 286 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE the public should not take advantage of its power and position and fix confiscatory terms, unless perhaps the original swindlers are still in possession, but should pay as much for the utility as it would be worth fairly in the market, or if rates are to be fixed, use such sale sum as the basis of the investment on which the rates are predicated. It will be seen that the question of valuation of public utilities is highly complicated and involved and that it accordingly requires the most careful and impartial atten- tion, in order that a fair balance may be struck between the public on one side and the stockholder on the other as regards both the physical valuation itself and the more intricate subject of extra physical valuation. Valuation is a highly important factor in city planning, for in order to proceed intelligently, it is necessary to know the value of the property affected. Although cities are already more or less roughly valued for purposes of taxa- tion, they should, prior to any extensive improvements, have thorough valuations made, including all municipal and utility properties such as public buildings, water works, gas, electric and other systems, transportation lines, and all public and private real estate. With a complete and accu- rate valuation at hand improvements may be undertaken with an exact knowledge of what the cost will be and how it will be met. Without such valuation, expensive mistakes are likely to occur and the greater part of the benefits lost. CHAPTER XX FINANCING CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS Distribution of Costs; Excess Condemnation; Apportionment of Assessments; Commission of Assessment and Condem- nation The first cost of the replanning of a city is the principal obstacle which has to be overcome. Although there can be no question of its ultimate value and almost incalculable value to the city, yet the problem of securing the necessary capital and the proper distribution of the burdens and the benefits to be derived requires careful and competent financing. While cities like Paris, London and Berlin have spent and are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on improve- ments, they are only able to do it at the cost of consider- able additional burdens to the taxpayers, which in smaller cities though proportionately less would still be insupportable. A just and proper distribution of the cost should proceed on the theory that those benefited should bear the cost. In city planning, those benefited are the property owners directly affected and the whole body of citizens not only of the present generation but of future generations. It is therefore proper to place the cost of the improvements on the property owner immediately benefited by means of assessments or otherwise, on the whole body of citizens by an increased tax rate and on the future generations by the issuance of long-time bonds. The utmost care should be taken, however, in the arrange- ments adopted to prevent profits by land speculators and to obviate unnecessary burdens on the taxpayers. The principal methods adopted are those of assessments, gradually decreasing in extent with the distance of the 288 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE property from the improvement, and the more recent plan of excess condemnation. In European cities where excess condemnation is prac- ticed, the city purchases by condemnation proceedings not only the land needed for the proposed improvements, whether it be for a street, a park or other purpose, but in addition as much more land as is likely to be increased in value by the improvements. After the improvements have been made, the land is held and sold from time to time, to the best advantage, or it is developed and held by the city for a long period until a favorable opportunity arises for its sale. Excess condemnation is highly desirable for sites of schools, parks and the like which are in contemplation, as the city may hold the land over a long term of years in advance of its utilization, and be saved the high cost of sites whose purchase is delayed until the city is built up. Excess condemnation, however, as a means of paying for the cost of improvements is open to serious objections. The enhancement in real estate values after the improve- ments are made, is seldom more than half the cost of the improvement, besides which there is the interest on the bonds and the loss of taxes that would have been paid by private owners on the land so condemned. In order to obtain the full cost of the improvement from the increased value of the land, the city would have to improve the property and hold it over a term of years until the full value of the improvement was realized, for the immediate enhancement of land values does not, of course, represent the full benefit of the improvement. In addition, a large improvement of this character is likely to demand the marketing of bonds far beyond the city's borrowing limit, although if the property is productive, the borrowing limit should be raised to include it. The most direct method of assessing the property owners offers advantages over the excess condemnation system particularly when all the property benefited is assessed, even though it is at a considerable distance from the loca- HALL OF LIBERTY, REGENSBURG (.RATISBON) BAVARL\ MONUMENT AND HALL OF FAME, MUNICH Examples of great memorials containing numerous monuments to militarii heroes. Me- morials of this character attract large numbers of visitors. Numerous opportunities exist for simitar structures in the United States. MONUMENT OF EMPEROR WILHELM I., BONN Erected at the junction of the rirers Mosel and Rhine kyiih.usi;r monimi;nt in thi-; harz mointains Erected by the Gern}an military associations at a cost of $200,000: to the left a ruined castle FINANCING CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 289 tion of the improvement itself. As the purpose of excess condemnation is simply to enable the city to reimburse itself for the cost of the improvement by the benefits de- rived therefrom, assessment proves to be a method for large improvements, just as equitable and effective since those benefited pay the sum directly to the city, instead of having to sell their property to the city and then perhaps buy it back again. Direct assessment, however, is open to many serious objections, for the amounts must be arbitarily fixed and may and may not prove fair. Further, the property owners must obtain the capital immediately and the amount is thus withdrawn at once instead of being distributed over a term of years as in the sale of bonds. Experience is necessary in assessing property, since the property owners are entitled to have the burden equitably adjusted and to know in advance what they will have to pay. The assessments should not decrease in direct propor- tion to the distance from the improvement, but in a more sharply decreasing ratio, the most equitable for which should be obtained and applied by those who are called upon to make assessments. The only American state to authorize excess condemna- tion is Massachusetts. Although presented to the voters of New York as a constitutional amendment, it was rejected. Legislation, too, on the subject of excess condemnation should not be undertaken without careful study and prepara- tion. The lack of clearness in the Massachusetts law should be avoided, leaving as it does, unsettled, the question of the right of the city even to replace fronts on buildings taken in excess, previous to the resale of the land. Blunders of this kind are too easily avoided to be permitted to occur. Both in the case of excess condemnation and in assess- ments, a question of importance is the extent to which the systems should be carried. It will be obvious that assessments may properly cover a much larger area than condemnation proceedings and that a more equitable distri- bution of cost will be had. 290 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE The apportionment of assessments depends also on the nature of the improvements. Thus an improvement purely local in character may properly be wholly assessed against the abutting property, while those of more general char- acter should be more generally assessed. In a paper before the Fourth Conference on City Plan- ning, 1912, Nelson P. Lewis, chief engineer of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment of New York City, discussed the subject of assessing the cost of improvements, especially street opening and widening. "We must determine to what extent the benefit will be strictly local, in what degree it will extend to a larger tribu- tary area, and again, how much it will mean to the entire city or metropohtan district. In the case of residential streets, the purpose of which is to give light, air and access to the developments located upon them, the benefit will be entirely local, and the entire cost can properly be imposed upon the abutting property. When a highway is given a more generous width in the expectation that it will be called upon to accommodate a certain amount of through traffic, the benefit is more extended and the assessment in such a case may be prolonged to a line midway between it and and the next street of more than residential width. The major part of the cost, however, should be confined to the abutting property, so that the cost to it should be some- what more than that of the narrower streets. In the case of arterial thoroughfares, or in that of the first street to be opened through an undeveloped territory, the effect of which will be to give access to and to stimulate the development of a large area, the district of benefit will be correspondingly enlarged. Again, in the case of thoroughfares of excep- tional width, which it is proposed to treat as boulevards, the entire city or metropolitan district will be substantially bene- fited and should bear a proportion of the expense. In fact, the State itself may derive an advantage which would justify its assumption of a portion of the cost, but the disposition to recognize such an obligation on the part of the Common- wealth is exceedingly rare, even though a great city within FINANCING CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 291 its limits may, through its large taxable values, contribute the larger part of the State's rev- enues by which its rural high- way system is maintained. "In the case of parks, this same principle might be applied. Some small parks are of strictly local benefit, and their cost could properly be placed upon the dis- trict in which they are located. " In the case of street widen- ing or the cutting through of new streets, the local advantage is less marked, though it will always follow. The mere fact that a widening or extension is required to accommodate traffic is conclusive evidence that the street has assumed more than local importance. The width of the roadway as widened is not an index of its local or general importance. There may be cases where the opening of a new street of a width commonly given to local streets and ex- tending for a very short dis- tance would, on account of its strategic position, be of very great general and of little local benefit. "It is quite apparent that the relative local, district or general benefit of any street or other improvement be determined neither by its dimensions nor its cost. An improvement involving an expenditure of $1,000,000 in one part of the city may be more distinctly local in its bene- FiG. 73. can 292 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE ficial effect than one costing $50,000 in another section. No fixed rule can be established to govern the distribution of expense. It must be determined in each case after a painstaking investigation. Such investigation should not be entrusted to a different individual, board or commission in each case. There should be a permanent body which should act in all cases. This body should not be large, and it should be so constituted that its entire personnel could not be changed at once, thus insuring continuity and consist- ency of policy. They should be broad men whose train- ing should have fitted them for their difficult and delicate duties. The misleading evidence commonly called expert testimony as to existing and prospective values will be of little value to them. They should be capable by ex- perience and intelligence of forming their own conclu- sions." An interesting example of an assessment area is that proposed for the extension of Seventh Avenue, in New York City, through to Varick Street, the widening of Varick Street and the further extension to Leonard Street and West Broadway, about a mile and a quarter. A large assessment zone surrounds the proposed improve- ment itself, three-eighths of a mile on either side and half a block deep, (300 feet) on each side of Seventh Avenue to 42d Street, almost two miles above the upper terminus of the improvement. The abrupt demonstrations of the assessment zone would seem to be far from equitable unless a carefully graded rate is imposed on different parts of the zone. The problem is comparatively simple as regards the abutting property, but the proper assessment of neighboring and distant parcels is likely to be unfairly carried out. For this reason it would probably be desirable in many cases to subject the abutting property to excess condemna- tion and the outlying parcels to assessments. The extension of the system of excess condemnation by the legislatures of the various states will undoubtedly occur from time to time, as the system is one of great advantage FINANCING CIVIC IMPROVEMENTS 293 under certain circumstances where a city controls its own development and can acquire park sites and land for other purposes many years in advance of its actual utili- zation. The land can be had at a slight expense by this procedure. CHAPTER XXI THE PLANNING OF GROWING TOWNS Planning Towns at the Outset; Cost of Town Planning; Neces- sity of Expert Knowledge; Principal Factors in Town Planning; Town Sites; Civic Improvement Associations The one thing of all things which prevents cities from being properly planned is lack of civic imagination. The citizens of a small town never imagine that their town will become a large city. They may individually at times dream of a great city spreading out around the nucleus in which they live and they very frequently boast of the progress of the town during the previous decade, but the time when their town is to be a great city seems so far distant that as a whole they do not imagine that it will ever occur. The few enthusiastic souls who individually believe it are patronized or laughed at and the citizens as a body do not have the assurance to walk out into unoccupied fields and lay out sites for parks, squares, centers, libraries and monu- ments which may possibly come into existence a century later, or possibly never. It is too chimerical to be con- sidered, and indeed in towns of even large size it may be that not a soul is aware of the benefits which it is within the power of the present generation to bestow on posterity, benefits so great that city planning is a civic duty demanding adequate and prompt performance. Time quickly slips by and the sites for great improve- ments which once might have been laid out and reserved, the convenient plans which only needed to be committed to paper, become impossible save at enormous and prohibitive expense. It thus happens that many cities have plans originally determined by the fancy of the homewardly meandering cow, and great volumes of traffic must indef- NAPLES, ITALY, VESUVIUS IN THE DISTANCE An entire city in a color scheme of while WORKINGMEN S COLONY, ALFKEUSHOK Prololype of English garden cilies GENERAL VIEW OF LIMBURG — LAHN VALLEY An excellent example of a church dominating the other hiiildings of the cilii i^SSKSI^ ^ ^SE^HBltanfltt*. «■ ' wSHK^bia^r^' • ' -'^P^ ''^"V "^rv ^C^VSWMBIfl^R^^M -^^;^^^y^ ip^-' ^ _, ; -'^■^ ^''-'''^^^^Afrf. ^'5^-v,^W^^, GENERAL VIEW OF COBURG WITH THE VESTE ON THE HILL .S'o placed as to crown the citi/'s plan PLANNING OF GROWING TOWNS 295 nitely follow the paths thus marked out unless expensive changes be made. America is bound to grow vastly in the next century and the village of to-day to become the metropolis of the future. Yet few if any of such towns have plans as yet laid out and many a patient cow is still contributing her humble share to the city planning of the future while worthy citizens are less usefully employed. The only American cities which have good plans are those which were laid out on the virgin soil a century ago, namely Washington and Buffalo, but it took imagination to lay them out, to design their plans to accommodate the needs of our own time in those early days when even the most enthusiastic could not have foreseen the great develop- ments which have occurred. We now believe that we can look forward to and form a reasonably accurate estimate of the cities of the future, but it is questionable whether we can forecast progress any more surely than did our fore- fathers of a century ago. It, therefore, follows that every town of whatever size owes to its future the laying out of a suitable plan now at a time when it can be done at small expense and on a free field. The cost of laying out the plan of a city while the city is still small is so insignificant compared with the benefits to be derived that it should not enter into consideration. The cost of such a plan is the best possible investment that a city can make, not only in the saving of future expense, but for its sentimental value, for when the future of a city is planned, that of itself supplies an incentive to growth as there is something definite to be accomplished, and the town is more likely to increase in size and importance through having such a plan than where its growth is purely at haphazard. At the same time, its enterprising citizens are more likely to remain and help build up the town than to go to larger cities, while besides retaining its own popula- tion, it draws from less enterprising cities and its growth is accordingly still further stimulated. A small city in laying out the plan for future growth 296 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Fig. 74. proposed great ground plan of tempelhofer-feld, a part of greater berlin The intentional irregularity of the plan produces variety in the appearance of the streets PLANNING OF GROWING TOWNS 297 should proceed with caution and discrimination, and should obtain the best and most experienced civic engineering talent for the purpose. The existing large cities can only now be replanned so that in them the civic engineer does not have much opportunity for utilizing his talent, while at the same time the great property interests involved will oppose any wrong developments. In the small city where the civic engineer has a free hand although his opportunities are great, the possibilities of improper planning are also great, as there is no effective check against the mistakes which may arise from too much liberty of action on his part. The small town needs, therefore, to be just as careful as the larger town in the selection of the designer of its plans, and needs to give the same attention to the subject that it would if the millions of property which will ultimately be affected were already at hazard. The small town should begin at an early period to accustom itself to proper regulations of different kinds, as only by suitable regulation may the plans once adopted be carried out, while if habits of regulation are once estab- lished the growth of the town will be stimulated and the welfare of its citizens variously promoted and no hardships felt in developing along the lines laid out. It has sometimes happened in America that towns have been laid out along certain lines, but have grown off at one side in a manner not intended by their designers, and such towns are often cited as examples of the futility of attempting to forecast the future of civic developments. City planning has accordingly been more or less discredited and the tendency has been to permit growth in whatever way might best suit the private interests of the citizens. The absurdity of laying out a plan and then expecting a city to develop along such lines of its own accord, and when it does not the added absurdity of pointing out its failure to do so as an argument against city planning, is an adding of insult to injury. It would be as sensible to erect a grape arbor and expect the vines to follow it without ties as to expect a city to follow its plan without the ties of suitable 298 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE Figs. 75 and 76. two great ground plans of city extensions The lower is much preferable since the mileage is smaller, rendering first cost and main- tenance charges less, while greater variety and beauty of city pictures and increased con- venience results PLANNING OF GROWING TOWNS 299 regulations. Indeed such regulations are an absolute neces- sity in training a city's growth; they are to the growing city what discipUne is to the growing schoolboy, and just as indispensable in the formation of the character and habits of the city as discipline is in the formation of the character of the boy. Suitable regulations are an integral part of a town's regime; and coincidentally with the laying out of its plans, the regulations which are to carry it into eilect should be formulated and put into operation. Such regulations should be established by the designer of the town's plan, and carried out by the authorities as a permanent feature of the town's operation, for only in this way can the benefits of town planning be realized. As the number of experienced civic engineers is neces- sarily limited it will be obvious that only rarely will a small town have among its citizens a capable civic engineer, and it will therefore, in practically all cases, be necessary to have the work performed by an expert called to the town for the purpose. The citizens of a small town should not under any circumstances attempt to lay out a plan without such expert counsel, for their unfamiliarity with the subject cannot fail to lead to expensive though well-meant mis- takes. The experienced civic engineer, knowing conditions both at home and abroad, being familiar with the latest develop- ments and with the mistakes made and the successes achieved, can accomplish the desired results without any waste of effort or liability to mistakes. He has the further advantage of being able to treat the subject on its own merits, for having no property or other interests in the city he has no personal incentives to bend the plan to his own advantage, as is likely to be the case if the plan is formulated by those having local interests to be protected or advanced. In addition to these reasons in favor of the outside expert, he has at stake his own profes- sional reputation, which impels him to do his best work as otherwise a poor example of town planning would injure 300 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE his standing and operate against him in obtaining new civic clients. The work of town planning involves so many and such intricate features that it is undesirable, especially, to entrust it to local civil or municipal engineers, for, however much experience they may have in their own lines, they will be lacking in the special knowledge which is necessary to make a success of city planning. Although the laying out of the ground plan is highly important, there must also be con- sidered the problem of lighting, traffic, sewage, and sewage disposal, gas and water supply, police and fire alarm systems, waterways, harbors, railroad terminals, and other trans- portation facilities and the other numerous and complex features which are indispensable to a well-ordered city plan. In no undertaking, indeed, are the services of the expert more essential than in the planning of a city and nowhere does technical experience prove more profitable. In the laying out of the plan of a small city, the principal factors to be considered are the location, the configuration of the land on which the city is to be built and the kinds of activity which are likely to characterize the city in the future. The sites of many towns are selected in the knowledge that a place of importance is to be founded and in such in- stances, as was the case with Washington and Buffalo and more recently with Gary, Ind., and other towns compre- hensive plans were adopted and the city placed in the most advantageous location. Most towns, however, have their sites selected by accident by some early settler, though many are located by real estate promoters. The sites of numerous cities of the future are of course as yet unoccu- pied fields, so that it would be desirable for each state or territorial government to establish a civic commission which should have such supervising powers as would enable it to locate sites for new cities in the most desirable places and to discourage the starting of cities at such locations as would not be best suited to public policy. Towns which have arisen on sites selected by accident PLANNING OF GROWING TOWNS 301 must in most cases make the best of their locations, though by proper regulation their growth may be stimulated in certain directions so that disadvantages of site may be partially overcome, and wherever possible such a course should naturally be followed. The services of an experi- enced city designer are especially useful to such a town. The site of a town having been fixed, whether by accident or design, the configuration of the land must be considered in order that the movements of traffic may en- Fig. 77. proposed extension and suburban colony at ahrensfelde, berlin counter the smallest possible resistance. On a level plain the town may be planned freely, but if the site be hilly or on a river or with other natural features the plan must be so adapted that they will not prove detrimental. Such features may indeed often be utilized to enhance not only the general effect of the town, in aesthetic sense, but also to improve its traffic facilities and to increase its commercial possibilities. Various other factors must be considered, such for example as in the laying out of a manufacturing center, the prevailing winds, its location being such that smoke and gases are carried away from the remainder of the city. 302 CITY PLANNING AND MAINTENANCE A multiplicity of details thus enter into the design of a city and none of them must be neglected. The purposes for which a town is planned also greatly affect its design, as a wide diversity of uses is apparent. Towns may be variously classified as maritime, manufactur- ing, commercial, administrative and educational, and a town which is destined to be a seaport of importance should, of course, be planned along different lines from the town which is to be a manufacturing center, while the commercial town, which is a place of barter and exchange, requires a very different layout from the town which is the capital of a state or the college town which is the seat of learning but which is to have no other activity of moment. Whatever the uses to which the town is to be put, its design should always be well worked out from an engineering standpoint, and when this is done, the small town proves more healthful and desirable as a place of business and residence than the large city. Skyscrapers not being per- mitted, business is less congested and offices are lighter and placed to better advantage, while for residential purposes there is room for detached houses and lawns and air and light are pure and abundant. The small city, however, which grows up without a plan and without engineering improvements possesses no such advantages, and lack especially of proper sanitary engineering may make it actually dangerous as a place of residence, while aesthetically it is likely to be as ugly on a small scale as the big town is on a large scale. It is obvious, therefore, that every small town should have a well-considered plan, and that little by little, as it expands, its growth should be along the lines laid out, as it will thus accomplish the greatest results with the least expenditure of civic effort and its growth will be stimulated rather than obstructed. It is not a matter of much difficulty or of great expense for the small town to provide itself with a suitable plan. A little initiative on the part of a few prominent citizens in bringing the subject before the public, a discussion of it PLANNING OF GROWING TOWNS 303 in the papers, and in meetings held for the purpose, the organization of a civic improvement association, and the appropriation of a small sum by the town or its donation by public-spirited citizens and the engagement of a qualified civic engineer will place the town on the path of progress and determine its growth in the most advantageous manner. The starting of such a movement is nothing less than a public duty, and one which proves pleasant and profitable both in initiation and performance. APPENDIX A CO-OPERATION OF ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT IN CITY PLANNING C) The present is a time of renaissance in the art of city planning and in future epochs it will be noted as marking the greatest ad- vances in the art that have ever been made. Indeed, modern city planning is not only a renaissance but almost entirely a new birth of the art, for so many new elements and conditions enter into con- sideration that the city planning of to-day is a different thing from the city planning of previous centuries. Consider for example the problems of a Roman city planner of the time of the Caesars, and those to be met by the city planner of a modern city. There is in a general way the same aesthetic problem to be solved, but even this is profoundly modified by mod- ern conditions, while in other respects entirely new conditions are confronted. The Roman city planner did not have to give any thought to railways or the enormous vehicular traffic of our city streets: auto- mobiles and electric street cars to him were unknown and gas and electric mains had not been thought of. Street lighting did not concern him and docks for 1000 feet steamers were still far in the future. Skyscrapers housing from 4000 to 10,000 people and 750 feet in height were undreamed of and elevated and subway traction systems hundreds of miles in length gave him no concern. His prob- lems were, comparatively speaking, simple and it was quite unneces- sary for him to have at his command the great technical resources 'which must be brought into service to-day for the successful plan- ning of a city. The great changes which have come about are the result largely of modern scientific improvements, and the indispensable man to- day in city planning is the man who understands how such improve- ments are to be utilized to the best advantage to make of the modern city an efficient example of what it has become, a great operative mechanism for the concentration of population with its consequent economies, and increased conveniences and comforts. (') Author's address delivered before the International Congress on City Plan- ning and City Maintainence, at Ghent, Belgium, 1913. 306 APPENDIX As practically all of our modern improvements affecting the city are of an engineering nature, the part of the engineer in city plan- ning — the only person who is capable of utilizing modern improve- ments — is consequently of co-equal importance with that of the architect, a fact, however, which is not recognized by the public and but scantily by the professions of architecture and engineering. The engineer to-day occupies a commanding position in city plan- ning. He is the leader and the innovator. The aesthetic principles of city planning were determined in early ages and the architect can only work within the limits of those principles. His opportu- nities, however, are multiplied and new problems originated for him by the engineer, whose modern constructions in steel, iron and con- crete the architect must embellish with his art. The architect does not, by any advance of his art, give the engi- neer new opportunities, and call forth new engineering efforts, but it is the engineer with his advances who calls upon the architect to follow and render his structures pleasing with the art whose principles are ages old. To this extent, the architect has new aesthetic problems to meet, so that the practice of the ancients avails him only in the most general way. The elevator, for example, made possible very tall buildings even before the day of steel structures and with such buildings, the modern architect is called upon to deal. The Roman architect had to consult the inclinations of the tenants and so made his upper stories with low ceilings, even to the point where the needy poet could not stand erect in his top floor room. Conditions thus affect aesthetic treatment and the height of modern buildings is, of course, only an example of the many changes which demand a new aesthetic technique. It is the duty of the architect to keep abreast of the times and to meet new things in a new spirit. New wine requires new bottles, and to achieve the proper results, the architect should embody in his structures the spirit of the age instead of leaving it to express itself in spite of his treatment. The skyscraper and the reinforced concrete structures, particularly bridges, will express, as long as they exist, the fact that they are the product of the age of scientific progress, just as the Gothic Churches bear testimony to a religious spirit and feudal castles evidence the then existing organization of society. In order to recog- nize and translate our conditions into the permanancy of architec- tural forms, the architect should co-operate with the engineer to the fullest degree and should not attempt any important work without adequate engineering collaboration, as otherwise failure is certain to result. The architect may, of course, be himself an engineer, or the engineer may be an architect, but architecture and engineer- a c Q EC I H b Q H o E- U a ■a c 5 < U S a s H C3 z o J = -2 < Q H J a ^ -s. CO-OPERATION IN CITY PLANNING 307 ing are both subjects of such magnitude and call for such different talents that success is not likely to be achieved in both fields by a single individual. The architect and the public must awake to the fact that the engineer has an enormously large and ever increas- ing part in the scheme of modern life, and that in city planning, he occupies an indispensable position, in fact, a successful city could be constructed by the engineer alone, while the architect alone would make a lamentable failure were he without engineering qual- ifications. The modern city may be considered in a sense as a large manu- facturing plant, in which the individual industries are related parts, and in the laying out of the city this conception should be the gov- erning factor. The city provides its inhabitants with a ready means of communication with each other, ready means of exchange and transportation of products, and storage and living quarters, all of which are steps in the transformation of material from raw to finished stages. The city is in fact a great factory. Accordingly in the building of a city, its site should be selected and its parts so placed in relation to each other that a result of unity will be obtained, all its components being proportioned to each other in such a manner as to enable its various operations and the activ- ities of its citizens to be carried out with the greatest economy of effort and the greatest degree of efficiency. The various civic activities which must be taken thus into con- sideration and provided with economical and efficient instrumental- ities, include of course not only manufacturing industries but all the processes of the civic body, such as trade, banking, schooling, recreation and the like, for it is quite as necessary that school houses be placed in positions of advantage, so that the benefits of educa- tion may be acquired at the least physical inconvenience, as it is for factories to be well placed for obtaining raw materials, while adequate and accessible recreation grounds are quite as important as terminal facilities. Co-ordination of these various elements of civic construction is another fundamental help in city planning. While every element must be taken into consideration, there should be no excessive devo- tion to any one. Terminal facilities and manufacturing sites thus while they must not be allowed to crowd out parks, should not, on the other hand, be sacrificed to make room for unnecessary play- grounds. Throughout there should be the proper sense of propor- tion, and the adjustment of means to ends which is necessary to the successful carrying out of the numerous activities of the city. The aesthetic appearance of the city depends upon the genius of the architect and landscape designer, but in the innumerable 308 APPENDIX practical problems of the city as an operative mechanism, the genius of the engineer is equally demanded. The architect and the engineer should thus work together in the planning of a city, and be in con- stant and well considered consultation, to the end that the artistic design may be adapted to practical necessities, and practical require- ments modified for the benefit of aesthetic results. As practically all the modern cities are dependent on heir manu- facturing industries, in the planning of a city their proper location is accordingly paramount. In the laying out of a new city, the selection of a suitable site will solve most of the important problems but as cities on virgin sites are but seldom called into existence, and as consequently the greater part of city planning is concerned with the laying out of additions to old cities and rebuilding of built up sections, the location of factories must be carried out with regard to existing condition, rather than in what might be the most ideal manner on a clear site. Numerous questions will enter into consid- eration among the most important being transportation facilities, accessibility to workers, and the sources of power and degree of nuisance created by the operations of the factory itself. Thus in a small city in which fine woodwork is the principal industry, and in which electrically transmitted power is available, the factories may be located with little regard to the element of nuisance, as noises and the transportation of materials will be the only nuisances, but in a large city where the principal industries are foundries, smelting works and iron manufacturing and where coal is used, the laying out of the factory districts must take into consideration ex- penses of transportation of raw and finished materials, cost of land, accessibility and the question of nuisance, and in the case of chemical works, dangerous nuisance, such as the filling of the air with noxious fumes and the fouling of streams with waste products. Under such circumstances, the prevailing direction of the winds will often be an important factor while drainage and the location of workingmen's homes must also be considered. In problems of this kind, it is obvious that the landscape designer and the architect will be at a disadvantage and that the engineer with his technical experience will be best fitted to deal with the con- ditions. Any attempt therefore to lay out a city without the co- operation of the engineer must result in undesirable conditions, which will become magnified and irremediable with the growth of the city. Practically all cities are constantly paying in inconvenience, delay and congestion for the neglect of their founders to properly lay out their plans. In the United States, of all its large cities, Washington and Buffalo are alone in having been planned to meet CO-OPERATION IN CITY PLANNING 309 the requirements of the traffic which has now developed. Most American cities suffer from congestion which cannot be remedied except at great expense and cities comparatively small in size but which are growing rapidly and which will in the nature of the case become large cities in the future are neglecting golden opportuni- ties to lay out proper plans now while it is still possible at little cost. When, however, a city has grown to large size and traffic too great for its streets, as they exist, has developed, it becomes neces- sary either to widen the streets, cut through new ones or adopt some special form of construction to increase the traffic carrying capacity of the streets. Such special forms of construction include subways, elevated roads, service tunnels, freight subways and underground streets. Structures of this kind, while of a purely engineering character, should nevertheless not be constructed by the engineer without the assistance of an architect as a co-operator. Commonly the engineer proceeds with such works, having in view only the utilitarian objects to be achieved. He does not hes- itate to ffil a street with an elevated structure utterly devoid of any aesthetic quality, while entrances to subways are usually inartistic and the stations of such roads seldom have anything more to recom- mend them than a little glazed tiling. The keeping of a street as clear as possible is one of the first principles of civic aesthetics, and no auxiliary structure of any kind should be erected except under circumstances of the greatest neces- sity. When it must be built, however, no pains should be spared to make it as pleasing an addition as possible to the ensemble of the street, and the engineer should not be permitted to proceed with it until it has the sanction of some competent aesthetic authority. Unless the engineer has the requisite architectural skill, which is seldom the case, he should invariably retain an architect familiar with the proper treatment of such structures, as otherwise a dis- pleasing if not an offensive encumbrance will be added to the street. Streets should not only be kept clear of permanent structures, but they should not be continually torn up for temporary purposes. As a means of obviating such disfigurements, service tunnels are highly desirable and are proving their value in a number of cities. Containing as they do electric wiring, piping for gas, water, and pneumatic tubes of all kinds as well as means of access to the sewer beneath, there remains no excuse whatever for the endless tearing up of streets which is such a frequent nuisance in streets not so constructed. A city may be said to have two individualities, or to produce two impressions: that created by its appearance during the day 310 APPENDIX and that by its appearance at night. The latter is likely to be the more picturesque, and it is not infrequently the impression by which the city is best known, for the time has long since gone by when the night effect may be disregarded, as often the finest effects of build- ings and sections are those produced under illumination. It is thus the duty of a city to give the most thorough consideration to the question of lighting and to have its lighting system planned with as much care and attention as is devoted to any other phase of its design. Lighting should be carried out by the lighting engineer, a spe- cialist who in addition to being an engineer, is also an artist, capable of arranging the illumination to the best advantage. Many American cities have of late years adopted the practice of lighting streets by so-called tungsteliers made up of from three to five tungsten lamps, on low posts, thirteen to fifteen feet above ground, while the posts are spaced from thirty to sixty feet apart. The high power arc lamps hung at a high elevation, as in European practice, produce much finer artistic effects as well as being much more economical. Among the basic and fundamental functions of a city, there is none of greater importance than that of water supply. However beautiful and attractive a city may be made, if it runs a befouled and death dealing fluid through its watermains, it is but a whitened sepulchre and a mockery. Murder by wholesale is the result, and a list of victims which would fill many volumes could be compiled of those who have died from diseases arising out of the negligence of the cities in which they were compelled to live; if indeed the sup- plying of diluted filth instead of water may be termed negligence. No city without a water purifying system unless it has a source of naturally pure water can in reality have any claims to being con- sidered a civilized place of residence, yet American cities while they spend millions on pumping plants, spend httle for purification. An evidence of the fear in which the water of many American cities is held is shown by the numerous and highly prosperous so-called spring water companies, which sell water in 5 gallon bottles delivered to the consumer. The amount of money spent by the individual members of the public of any large city for such water would undoubtedly suffice for a purification plant for the whole water supply of the city. The water supply system of a city should be utilized in the de- sign of the city to produce aesthetic effects, being particularly well- adapted for such purposes. In many cities, water towers of a highly ornamental character may be erected, constructed of re-inforced concrete, steel or masonry, adding to the attractiveness of the city. Wherever possible such CO-OPERATION IN CITY PLANNING 311 towers should be erected instead of the unsightly steel towers or stand pipes so commonly put up. Cities which draw their supply of water from distant water sheds may find it of advantage to conduct it through an aqueduct which when led across valleys offers great opportunities for effec- tive architectural treatment. A surplus of water may be drawn from the water shed to be used at some selected point forming an artificial cascade and waterfalls, while a high road may be built on the aqueduct. Where water is supplied from sources requiring pumping stations, these should be of well designed monumental character. In the city itself, as an architectural symbol of the water supply system, there should be erected monumental terminal fountains. These should be either in the form of geysers or cascades which are suscep- tible of a high degree of architectural ornamentation. In Rome, the terminal fountains of Aqua Paola and the Fontana Trevi; and in Marseilles, the fountain of the Palais Long Champ are excellent examples while other cities abound in similar works in modern style. A well known monumental water tower is that at Mannheim, Germany, in which the tower is utilized as an ornamental structure in the center of the city, surrounded by parking and fountains. While city water supply systems are strictly engineering proposi- tions, it will be seen that opportunity is afforded for utilizing the art of the architect and in addition that of the sculptor in symbol- izing the city's possessions and the means of supplying its citizens with one of the most important of all the necessities of life: water. Practically every large city in the world is a city of important waterways. Ordinarily viewed as an adjunct to a city's commerce, its waterways, however, will be found in almost every case, if not the chief reason for its existence, to be a factor of the first importance in its progress. - Cities which neglect their waterways fall behind in growth and prestige, and those that improve their harbor facilities forge ahead, in many instances, with wonderful strides. The question of harbor improvements is thus one of the greatest importance, in connection with city planning, and it deserves the most careful consideration of those in authority and the support of all classes of citizens. Cities having great natural advantages must keep their equipment up-to-date, while cities with limited natural facilities may, by well designed improvements, lift themselves into positions of the first consequence, as many European cities have done in recent years, coming into successful competition with exist- ing ports. 312 APPENDIX As the principal purpose of a harbor is to furnish a means of transference of freight between inland and seagoing carriers, the harbor which affords the cheapest and most expeditious means c transference will attract the greatest patronage, provided its loca- tion is not such as to be a handicap. Vessels do not seek so much a spacious harbor as they do one in which they may quickly dis- charge their cargoes and reload, at small expense, so that a city, by the erection of a breakwater, the dredging of a creek or riv ■ and the construction of modern docks laid with railroad track.- permitting cars to be brought alongside the vessels, and fitted with the latest facilities and mechanisms for loading and unloading, will be in a more advantageous position than a city in which the natural harbor is better but in which modern systems have not been installed. The commerce of a maritime city is composed of freight handled by inland carriers, such as railroads, river steamers, canal boats and other forms of transportation, and coastwise and overseas freight, and in addition, the products of its own factories. The arriving freight is for four principal purposes; immediate transshipment, storage for later shipment, material for the city's manufactures, or goods for consumption in the city itself. The facilities of the city should, therefore, be planned so that the freight for each of such purposes is handled in a different manner. Freight intended for immediate transshipment from cars to vessels, or vice versa, should be handled in piers laid with railroad tracks, equipped with loading and unloading appliance so that the cargoes may be transferred with as little intervention of labor as possible, and with the greatest speed. In addition to the engineering features of harbor improvements the general aesthetic effect of the docks and environs of a city should be such as to add rather than detract from its appearance, for cities which are sea ports offer large opportunities for the working out of interesting features, and the sea wall may be varied with parks, docks, terminals, gateways and the like. Water approaches with sea gates or landing piers may often with advantage be made an integral part of a city's plan, with broad avenues or boulevards leading to the civic center or other terminal features of the city's plan. Sea gates should be made of a monumental character, and sea walls and other structures should be of a permanent and well de- signed character. Piers facing streets should be in the proper archi- tectural spirit and in construction should be of a fire proof nature. It is usually desirable to run boulevards parallel to the water fronts, with a narrow park along the whole front, thus providing a con- 10 BRIDGli IN JAMES I'AHK, MADISON, N. J. BRIDGE NEAR HAIGHT STREET ENTRANCi;, GOLDEN GATE PARK SAN FRANCISCO Inlercslini/ examples of park bridges CO-OPERATION IN CITY PLANNING 313 venient place for recreation along the water, usually the most agree- able part of the city, but too often taken up for business purposes. Recreation piers should also be built in sufficient numbers and reached through riverside parks. In many cases, however, cities have surrendered their riverside park sites to business purposes, the residential districts being driven back to the land districts. Water fronts should be reserved for park purposes instead of being taken up for railroad tracks, storage yards and other accumulations, for since railroads haulage in cities is to-day largely by electric locomotives, the railroads, if they must run along the water front, may be put in tunnels which will leave space for parks. Water front improvements thus offer almost unlimited oppor- tunities to both the architect and engineer, although too often the work is handled by the engineer with no attempt whatever to em- body any aesthetic features. The conspicuous position of water front improvements makes it especially desirable that they should be treated in such a way as to be an embellishment rather than a disfigurement of the civic entity. Of even greater prominence in the city's ensemble, and conse- quently demanding most urgently the proper aesthetic treatment, are bridges. Nevertheless it has been the practice almost wholly in America to neglect this phase of bridge construction, with results of the most unfortunate character. Vast numbers of bridges exist which make no pretentions whatever to being anything but purely utilitarian structures. This is particularly to be deplored when such bridges are the entrances to cities, for the whole artistic scheme of the city is un- favorably affected. No single part of the plan of a city, with the exception of the civic center, is of greater importance than its bridges. The civic center may be likened to the main hallway of a build- ing and the bridge to the portals. Often the first impression of a cfty and frequently most lasting one is gained from a bridge and as the entrance to the city it should be treated with the dignity it deserves, and be made a feature of the city's plan, rather than a mere encroachment of a utilitarian nature. A bridge should be constructed, aesthetically, from three prin- cipal points of view; the bridge in itself, the bridge in its relation to its approaches, and the whole effect of the bridge and its approaches in relation to its environment. In its design it should be regarded as an integral part of the city's plan and it should be located in reference to the whole plan of the city in such a way as to produce the most efficient and pleasing re- sults. A bridge may for example serve as a terminal or focal of an 314 APPENDIX important avenue or for several converging avenues, full advantage thus being taken of its architectural importance. Its location being determined the bridge itself should be of such a design as to meet in the most direct and practicable manner the conditions it will be called upon to fulfill, and its approaches should be of such a character as to enhance its value, rather than as is so often the case of such a character as to detract if not ruin its entire effect. In order to achieve the proper results it is necessary for the en- gineer to co-operate with the architect in the design of the bridge and its approaches and with the city planner or civic architect in its relations to the plan of the city as a whole. Unless this is done bridges will be ugly, misplaced and ill suited to their purposes. Numerous contributory causes, however, in addition to the lack of co-operation between engineer and architect go to furnish the inartistic effect so prevalent in American bridges, among which are absence of governmental supervision, necessity of keeping cost at the minimum, legal hindrances, haste in construction, undue competition and use of contractors' plans or of one set of standard plans for numbers of bridges, imitation of railroad bridges for other places and the absence of any well settled forms for the artistic treatment of iron construction. The last named reason is one of considerable importance, since like skyscrapers, modern metal bridges are a recent structural form and there has not as yet been time nor talent enough given to the subject to develop a satisfactory architectural treatment. In this quarter, however, American designers have much to learn from European practice and examples, as the problem of bridges of artistic construction is being solved with splendid results. In the aesthetic design of a bridge, it should be remembered that the bridge is a work of architectural art and that as such it should conform, in its own field, with the general principles of artistic design. The first principle is that of unity. The bridge with its ap- proaches should produce the impression of being a single homogeneous structure. It should also show appropriateness to its surroundings. It should be symmetrical, harmonious in proportion, simple, obvious in the relation of its structure to its purposes, economical in the use of material and embellished without overornamentation. With the bridge itself constructed in accordance with such prin- ciples, its approaches should be treated in a similar spirit, and made to add to the dignity and effect of the bridge. A plaza suitably laid out is almost a necessity for a bridge of any size, while a suit- able view of the bridge as it is approached is another. CO-OPERATION IN CITY PLANNING 315 The terminal plaza may even with good results be a park of some size, suitably laid out and embellished, and the bridge thus be given the benefit of a most favorable approach. In the only civic feature of American cities which surpasses anything which the continent has to offer, the skyscraper, an ex- ample is seen of the excellent results of the co-operation of engineer and architect. It is practically the only instance in which, by the nature of the case, they have been forced to co-operate, and though the skyscraper is an infant among structural forms it has already reached a high degree of engineering and architectural development. Although only a single generation of architects has had the oppor- tunity of dealing with the skyscraper problem excellent results have been obtained, and it is reasonable to suppose that as from time to time architectural geniuses arise, the architectural results will be greatly improved. The engineering problems of skyscrapers were solved in a few years and practically nothing remains to be done in that field. The skyscraper, however, while successful as an individual struc- ture, is a great failure in other respects. Owing to its great cost it does not as a rule pay over four per cent on the investment and often not more than two per cent, yet though not a financial success it usually decreases the rental value of adjacent structures which are unable to compete in attrac- tiveness and convenience with it. It sets a high standard of office accommodation and business firms in order to maintain their prestige must occupy offices in the sky- scrapers at an increased expense which brings no return. It is thus unprofitable to tenants, owners and neighbors. In addition it creates street congestion and congestion of trans- portation, compels the larger part of its occupants to work in arti- ficially lighted rooms, and to take long daily journeys to and from work. By concentrating business in one quarter it prevents the development of other sections of the city which remain filled with old and dilapidated structures. The erection of skyscrapers has been considered by continental cities and official reports have been made on the results achieved in New York. Among the reports was one to which some promi- nence was given and it was unfavorable to skyscrapers for the reason of fire risks enhanced by the draughts of elevator shafts. This report, however, was in error, since the fire risk is almost negli- gible. The skyscrapers are practically fireproof, since rooms have been burned out far above the street level without damage to adjoining rooms or to the structure as a whole. It is quite unlikely that 316 APPENDIX a modern skyscraper of the present type will ever be destroyed by fire, as the engineering features are so highly developed as to make this almost impossible. The principal real objections to sky- scrapers have been stated, and there can be no question that they are an undesirable addition to a city. The effect of engineering progress on the growth of modern cities is one of the marvels of the age. The cheapness, convenience and celerity of passenger and freight transportation and particularly of electric traction, has made possible a much vaster civic growth than could have taken place in former ages. Cities tend to grow to what may be termed the point of saturation, that is the desirability of residence in cities is so much appreciated that the population of a country gravitates to a city until the crowded conditions become so onerous as to automatically check further growth Rapid transit has in the last generation greatly raised the limit of saturation so that there appears now to be no reason why cities may not grow in size to ten or twenty millions before conditions will become such as to make residence in smaller places or in the country more attractive. The principal factor which checks the growth of cities is the cost of living, for with increased population comes the necessity of in- creased expenditure for civic improvements. Thus New York is spending $300,000,000 for new subways, $200,000,000 for additional water supply and over $100,000,000 for docks, a total of over $600- 000,000 for only three items. This means an interest charge, at four per cent, of $24,000,000, which amounts to $25 a year in tax- ation for a family of five, to say nothing of sinking fund charges, and this is in addition to the great burdens of taxation already borne for other expenses. New York even now contains only small indus- tries and many of these are leaving the city, drawn away by more favorable conditions found elsewhere, a drift which will tend to make New York purely a commercial and financial center as these are activities which are transacted on a large scale in small quarters and with employees highly enough paid to find existence possible in the city. Civic growth is thus automatically checked, but further, owing to legislative action a so-called debt limit has been fixed which pre- vents the city borrowing for its improvements more than a certain proportion of its assessed valuation. While this prevents ultimate bankruptcy, it also prevents the city from raising funds for many needed improvements and in turn causes stagnation of business, which is drawn away to cities capable of supplying the necessary facilities through being less heavily burdened by taxation. A consideration of these various factors discloses the enormous INTERIOR OF ELEVATED STATION, BERLIN INTERIOR OF SIBWAV STATION, BERLIN TIVOLI HYDRO-ELIiClHlC I'LANT For supplying Rome with electric current. The artijicial waterfall and apparently antique aqueduct constructed to attract visitors CO-OPERATION IN CITY PLANNING 317 influence which engineering is having upon society. It presents new problems not only to the architect, but to the financier and legislator as well and their utmost endeavors are necessary to so adjust conditions as to be able to take advantage of the great progress of engineering science. APPENDIX B THE EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT OF A CITY Success in city planning is proven by the subsequent results of city operation. Convenience, adequate transit facilities, proper dis- tribution of traffic, avoidance of congestion and all the various factors entering into the operation and maintenance of a city are constantly demonstrating the value of the city's plan. It follows that the city planner must be thoroughly familiar with all of the various results to be achieved by the city's plan and he must understand not only the artistic side of city planning but every detail of the operation and maintenance of the city in order that the plan may be a success economically as well as artistically. A city, however, which has been successfully planned and has had its improvements put into operation by the city planner, must in order to take advantage of its facilities place its operation and maintenance under the supervision of a man or a body of men who understand and know how to utilize the work of the city planner. Every principle and purpose of the plan must be known and every phase of its development understood, for the inadequate utilization of the city's plan is as bad as if the city planner had not planned the city suitably. To secure proper administrative results is a difficult civic under- taking, but of recent years a system has been evolved which seems destined to revolutionize city administration and which promises to enable cities to obtain proper administrative results. The system, that of commission government, has taken the place of the old aldermanic system in some 350 cities. Five commissioners are elected who have both legislative and executive powers and who have entire charge of the city's affairs. They are elected by the voters as a single body, the old division of wards being discontinued. This form of government centering responsibility in five men is proving very efficient and promises to entirely supersede the old aldermanic method. A modification of it is now coming into practice since the five commissioners often develop friction which shows itself in the department of which they have charge. The new plan is the appointment by the commission of a city manager who is given com- plete executive authority under the control of the commissioners who sit as a legislative body. EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT OF A CITY 319 The effect of this plan is practically that of business corporations, the city manager corresponding to the president of the corporation and the commission to the directors of the corporation. Dayton, Ohio, is the first large city to put the plan in operation and the salary of the city manager is fixed by the commission at $12,500 per annum. The important clauses in the Dayton city charter relating to the office of City Manager are as follows: Sec. 47. The commission shall appoint a City Manager who shall be the adminis- trative head of the municipal government and shall be responsible for the efficient administration of all departments. He shall be appointed without regard to his polit- ical beliefs and may or may not be a resident of the city of Dayton when appointed. He shall hold office at the will of the commission and shall be subject to recall as herein provided. Sec. 48. Powers and duties of the City Manager. The powers and duties of the City Manager shall be: (a) To see that the laws and ordinances are enforced. (6) To appoint and, except as herein provided, remove all directors of departments and all subordinate officers and employees in the departments in both the classified and unclassified service; all appointments to be upon merit and fitness alone, and in the classified service all appointments and removals to be subject to the civil service provisions of this charter; (c) To exercise control over all departments and divisions created herein or that may be hereafter created by the commission; (d) To attend all meetings of the commission, with a right to take part in the dis- cussion but having no vote; (e) To recommend to the commission for adoption such measures as he may deem necessary or expedient; (f) To keep the commission fully advised as to the financial condition and needs of the city; and (g) To perform such other duties as may be prescribed by this charter or be re- quired of him by ordinance or resolution of the commission. Sec. 49. Salary. The City Manager shall receive such salary as shall be fixed by ordinance of the commission. Sec. 50. Investigations by City Manager. The City Manager may without notice cause the affairs of any department or the conduct of any officer or employee to be examined. Any person or persons appointed by the City Manager to examine the affairs of any department or the conduct of any officer or employee shall have the same power to compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of books and papers and other evidence, and to cause witnesses to be punished for contempt, as is con- ferred upon the commission by this charter. The adoption of the City-Manager plan by Dayton was made possible by recent constitutional amendments and legislative enact- ments which give all Ohio cities a large measure of municipal home rule, including the very important privilege of framing their own charters through an elected board and adopting or rejecting such charters by popular vote — all without recourse to the State legis- 320 APPENDIX lature. The Ohio statute under which Dayton or any other city may adopt the City-Manager plan reads as follows: ARTICLE IV Sec. 8. City Manager. The council shall appoint a City Manager who shall be the administrative head of the municipal government under the direction and super- vision of the council and who shall hold office at the pleasure of the council. Sec. 9. Duties City Manager. The duties of the City Manager shall be: (a) to see that the laws and ordinances are faithfully executed; (b) to attend all meetings of the council at which his attendance may be required by that body; (c) to recommend for adoption to the council such measures as he may deem necessarj' or expedient; (d) to appoint all officers and employees in the classified ser^'ice of the municipality, subject to the provisions of this act, and of the civil ser\'ice law; (e) to prepare and submit to the council such reports as may be required by that body, or as he may deem advisable to submit; (f) to keep the council fully advised of the financial condition of the municipality and its future needs; (g) to prepare and submit to the council a tenta- tive budget for the next fiscal year; (h) and to perform such other duties as the council may determine by ordinance or resolution. Sec. 10. Salary of City Manager. The City Manager shall receive such salary as may be fixed by the council; and before entering upon the duties of this office he shall take the official oath required by this act and shall execute a bond in favor of the municipality for the faithful performance of his duties in such sum as may be fixed by the council. The city of Dayton proceeded wisely in the election of a city man- ager. Political considerations were ignored and an engineer was ob- tained, who was not even a resident of the city, and whose experience in engineering had fitted him to meet both the technical and executive problems of the city. The plan of having a city manager under the direction of the com- missioners is one of inherent merit since it eliminates jealousy between the members of the commission and relieves them of a great mass of detail and makes the commissionerships attractive to men of promi- nence, since they are not compelled to sacrifice their business interests in becoming commissioners, while the city manager is free from polit- ical influences that might affect the commissioners and can discharge the duties of his office as nearly without fear and favor as such a condition has ever been attained under any system of administration. The city manager being a salaried man with no definite term of office must naturally give his best service to the city as the length of his term depends on his abiUty. The city manager plan is just as desirable and applicable to the small town as to the large one, and the following quotations from a discussion of certain of its phases by the city manager of a town of 5000 are of interest. "The preparation of the engineer-manager should consist in a thorough education along the lines of general engineering rather than GRAND STAIRCASE LEADINC} TO THE STATUE OF ST. GELLERT, BUDA-PEST GARDEN STAIRCASE, ROYAL PALACE, BUDA-PEST FOLNTAIN OF NEPTUNE, FIRENZE EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT OF A CITY 321 a knowledge of a few special branches. This will make it possible for him to advise and check up, in a general way, every act of the engineering department. He should also have an understanding of values and be able to estimate all classes of construction and main- tenance work, be economical and able to establish systems of record- keeping and cost data and have a general conception of business methods and finances. In addition to this, he should possess an understanding of the city's sanitary and social conditions. These include street cleaning and garbage disposal, water supply, sanitary sewer system, drainage system, the working and living quarters of every class of people, the transportation facilities and numerous other items. "The principal waste of city funds comes from lack of knowledge. This is most often conspicuous in the engineering department, and since the great majority of the city's business is of an engineering nature this makes up the greatest waste. This is positively true of towns which are believed to be too small to need an engineer the year around. Here lack of knowledge is the principal reason for receiving about 75c. value on every dollar spent in taxes. " If a town or city had some means of figuring the money wasted in prospecting for lost underground systems, in the improvements buried and never found, in systems that are built with no idea of future growth and that have to be abandoned years before they are worn out, in the grading and regrading of streets, in sinking hundreds of dollars into permanent culverts and waterways built with no idea of future drainage and that have to be broken out when pavement is laid, it would be no difficult matter to prove the economy of city plan- ning and of proper management. "As soon as a town reaches a size which justifies permanent im- provements, from that time on systematic methods should be carried out, and a capable man who is paid a fair salary and feels permanency in his position is more apt to be able to do these things than a council or commission. "The employment of an engineer as manager no doubt will be con- sidered too expensive, especially for a small town. The value of the records which it is possible to keep under this plan would more than meet objection. But there are several ways in which an income to the city's general fund can be realized by the newly created office: No matter how small the town, all sewer work, plumbing, wiring, water mains and services, meters, etc., should be inspected, and the small cost for doing this should be charged to the property owner. Then there will be the ordinary expenses of surveying lot-lines, giving lines and grades for buildings and sidewalks; these would be charged to the property owner and turned into the general fund. Also, there 322 APPENDIX will be the usual engineering for sewer and water extensions, curbs and pavements. And finally, if the manager has charge of the street work the street commissioner's salary may be saved the aggregate of these different amounts if the town were doing its share of improvement work, would be sufficient to employ a competent engineer without extra draft on the city's funds." As it seems likely that numerous cities will adopt the city- manager plan, it may be well to point out the fact that such executives should be men competent to meet the problems of maintenance and operation which are very largely of an engineering nature. They should be fully experienced in all civic engineering undertakings and should have a thorough knowledge of what may be termed civic tech- nique, that is, the best methods of operation and management and the results achieved in other cities both here and abroad in order to avoid waste and costly experiments. Where the plan of commission government is not in effect the city council or mayor should retain as a consulting civic engineer a man of the qualifications noted, or where the city administration is not suffi- ciently progressive to do so, a private body such as the chamber of commerce or a merchants' association should retain such an expert in a consulting capacity, in order to be able to make suitable recom- mendations to the political administration of the city. This is particularly appropriate since such bodies represent the largest taxpayers and their participation is of more real consequence to the city than that of its political office-holders who have charge of its affairs without having its interests at heart. INDEX Abattoir, Dresden, 228 Advertising art, 159 Advertising column, 73, 81, 158 Administrative functions, 207 ^stlietic design of bridges, 100 ^stiietic principles in city planning, 29, 306 Aged, buildings for, 188 Ahrensfelde Colony, 307 Aldermen, 117 Alexander Bridge, Paris, 101 Alfredshof Colony, 189, 191, 294 Altendorf Colony, 189 Antwerp harbor, 306 Apportionment of assessments, 290 Aqua-Paola, 265 Architecture, American, 161 ; of large manufacturing buildings, 179; of large dry-goods store buildings, 179 Art commission, 26, 73 Art galleries, 202 Arterial highways, 55 Asphalt paving plants, 232 Assembly Center, Philadelphia, 146 Assembly squares, 122 Assessment of public utilities, 281 Assessments, 7th Ave., New York, 291, 292 Athletic field, 148 Avenue of Victory, Berlin, 134 Avenues, radial, 57 Auditorium, 147 Augustus Square, Leipzig, 126 Australia's capital, Carberra, 52 Automobile, calling system, 119 Balancing low buildings, 167 Barbarossa Plaza, Cologne, 85 Barracks in parks, 140 Baumeister, Reinhard, 3 Baumeister's principles, 49 Bavaria monument, Munich, 288 Berlin, Avenue of Victory, 134; Bran- denburger Gate, 134; Biilow Street station, 115; City Park station, 312; city planning, 18; cost of re-planning, 64; electric light columns, 153; ele- vated railway, 113, 115, 277; Ele- vated railway station, 114, 316; Emperor Frederick's museum, 78; greater, 134; Landwehr canal, 307; new gateway, 157; NoUendorf plaza, station, 120; Oscar plaza, 202; parks and boulevards, 145; Schloss plaza, 282; Spree bridge, 101; steel arch bridge, 101; stone arch bridge, 101; street profile, 56, 57; suspension bridge, 101; Tanentgien street, 68; terminal approaches, 63; Unter den Linden, 159; volume of traffic, 112 Bisniark monuments, 160 Blackwell tunnel, 118 Blocks for garden cities, 176 Block plan, 167, 181, 187 Bonn monument, 289; Rhine bridge, 100 Bonfires, 236 Boston, parks and boulevards, 144 Bourneville, 186 Brandenburger gate, Berlin, 134 Bremen harbor, 89; skyline, 168 Brick paving, 234 Bridges, 98 Bridge, Alexander, Paris, 101; ap- proaches, 98; Lift, Duisburg — Roh- rart, 306; steel arch, Berlin, 101; stone, Berlin, 101; Spree, Berlin, 101; suspension, Berlin, 101 Bridges, Roman, 99 Brix, Joseph, 60 Brooklyn Bridge, terminal, 110 Buda-Pest, garden staircase, 320; Statue St. Gellert, 320; Subway, 114; Sub- way Kiosk, 120 Buffalo, city plan, 51 Buildings for the aged, 188; tall. 171; balancing, 167; regulation, 169 Building companies, 199; facades, 160; regulation, 167, 172, 182 Biilow Street station, 113, 115 324 INDEX Burgplatz, Vienna, 34 Burg Theater, Vienna, 282 Business streets, 237 Bush Terminal, 94, 229 Canal, Landwehr, Berlin, 307 Candle power of gas lamps, 268 Canstadt, Wilhelma, 135 Cantilever bridge, 104 Carberra, Australia's capital, 52 Castle Square, Karlsruhe, 283 Cathedral, Cologne, 205 Cemeteries, 141, 212 Centers, civic, 20 Centers, regional, 30 Central Park, New York, 79, 133 Century Theater, New York, 204 Charles Gate, Munich, 68 Chelsea Docks, New York, 93 Chicago, great ground plan, 65 Chicago, waterways, 52 Children's school gardens, 220 Churches, location of, 203 City charter, 13 City construction, 230 City engineer, 117 "City fathers," 117 City Hall, Munich, 25 City Hall Plaza, Philadelphia, 52 City Hall Square, Wernigerode, Frontis- piece City Hall and Courts, St. Louis, 20 City maintenance, 230 City manager, 319 City planning movement, 2; what it is, 1 ; cost of, 12 City planner, 318 City re-planning, 11 City Theater, Frankfort, 204 Circumferential streets, 48 Civic Center, 20; Hirschberg, 33; Seattle, 28, 29; civic culture, 201; civic embellishment, 149; engineering, 6, 299; fountains, 265; features, 315; growth, 316; improvement, 11 Civilization, Roman, 2 Clock, municipal, 73, 81 Coburg with the Veste, 295 Cologne, Barbarossa Plaza, 85; skyline, 168; railway station, 107; Cathedral, 205; Rhine bridge, 100; replanning streets, 61; ground plan, 37 Color scheme for cities, 163, 165 Colosseum, 147 Columbus Circle, New York, 130 Columns, advertising, 73 Columbia University, New York, 28 Comfort station. Providence, 47 Comfort stations, 154 Communal industries, 217, 226 Commission on city planning, 18 Commission government, 318 Concert Salon, Gotenburg, 140 Concerts in parks, 142 Condemnation proceedings, 17 Congested street traffic, 124 Consumers' union, 194, 218 Co-operation of engineer and architect, 305 Cost of laying out a city, 12, 295 Cost of re-planning cities, 287 Court Garden and Allee, Dusseldorf, 141 Court of workingmen's houses, 174, 188 Cronenberg, 189 Curb stones, 70 Cypress Hill, Brooklyn, 212, Gate to Cemetery Dahlhauser Heide, Colony, 190 Dayton, city manager, 319; city charter, 319 Delhi, India's Capital, 50 Density of population, Paris, 108 District system, 37 District heating system, 222 Docks, 89 Docks, Hamburg, 92, 94; State-owned, 96 Draining street railway rails, 247 Dresden, abattoir, 228; electric plant, 274; Z winger, 34 Dry-good store buildings, 179 Dusseldorf, Court Garden and Alee, 141; river promenade, 153 Electric clocks, 81; generating plant, 271, 274; light columns, Berlin, 153 Electricity supply, 269 Electric street railways, 275 Electric traction, 106 Elevated railway station, Berlin, 114, 277 Ellicot, Joseph, 51 Embankment, Thames, London, 97 Emblems for comfort stations, 158 Engineer as city manager, 321 Engineering progress, 316 INDEX 325 Engineering works, 163, 309 English workingmen's house, 196 European building regulation, 170 European cities, 32 Excess condemnation, 288, 289 Executive management of a city, 308 Fairy Fountain, Berlin, 221 Financing civic improvements, 287 Fire alarm system, 81, 212; department, 211; escapes, 179; hydrants, 73; losses, yearly, 214 Firenze, Neptune fountain, 321 Federal center, 24 Floating baths, 225 Flagg, Ernest, 161 Flatiron Building, New York, 46 Floral parks, 146 Forest Hill Garden, 187 Forum, Pompeii, 4, 27; Rome, 22 Fountain, Fairy, Berlin, 221 Fountain of Neptune, Firenze, 321 Fountain Paolina, Rome, 269 Fountain Trevi, Rome, 264 Frankfort, city theater, 204; gas works, 204; harbor, 88; Opera House, 204; palm garden, 140; railway stations, 107; water tower, 127 Franzens Ring, Vienna, 127 Freight terminals, 89 Friederich's Plaza, Frankfort, 127 Friedrichshof Colony, 191 Gaiety Theater, London, 69 Garbage by-products, 256; contractors, 256; destructor plant, 258; removal, 79 Garden cities, 180, 185, 195; Block for, 176 Garden city of Hellerau, 186 Garden City, Port Sunlight, 193 Gardens, municipal, 135 Garden staircase, Buda-Pest, 320 Garden suburb, 188 Gas illumination, 78; mains, 268; pres- sure, 268; retorts, 267; street lighting, 266; supply, 266; works, Frankfort, 274 Gate, Charles, Munich, 68 Gate to Cypress Hill Cemetery, Brook- lyn, 212; to Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, 212; of Victory, Munich, 12 Gateway, Berlin, 151; Sanssouci, Pots- dam, 235 Genziner, Felix, 60 German cities, revenue from land, 197; height of buildings, 170 German fundamental principles, 44; city planning, 8; harbors, 92; police system, 209; consumers' union, 219 Gotenburg, Concert Salon, 140 Grand Central Station, New York, 106, 132 Grandstands, 146 Grand staircase to Statue St. Gellert, Buda-Pest, 320 Gramercy Park, 138 Granite block paving, 233 Grass plats, 185 Greater BerUn, 134 Great ground plan, 36 Great ground plan, Chicago, 65; Cologne, 37; Karlsruhe, 41; Seattle, 29; Mann- heim, 40; Washington, 43 Great White Way, 26 Ground plan, 36 Ground plan of city Extension, 298 Ground plan, Tempelhofer Feld, 296 Group buildings, 188 Gutters, 70 Hall of Liberty, Regensburg, 288 Hamburg, docks, 92; skyline, 168 Harbor, Antwerp, 306; Baltimore, 96; Boston, 96: Buffalo, 96; Bremen, 89; Frankfort, 88, 90; Gate, 152; Glasgow, 92; Hamburg, 87, 89; improvements, 87, 312; Liverpool, 92; Manchester, 92; Mannheim, 95; Montreal, 88; Neuss, 88 Harbors, transferring passengers, 90 Hartford, Conn., 28 Haussmann, Baron, 3 Heavy trucks, 119 Heating value of gas, 267 Height of buildings, 168 Herrengasse, Rothenburg, 158 Highways, arterial, 55 Hirschberg, civic center, 33 Historical examples, 46 Hospitals, 206 Housing problem, Ulm, 197 Howe, Frederic C, 9, 197 Hydro-electric developments, 273 Hydro-electric plant, Tivoli, Rome, 317 Hydro-electric power commission, On- tario, 273 326 INDEX Illuminated monument, Berlin, 159 Incinerators, garbage, 257 India's Capital, Delhi, 50 Inland harbors, 88 Interstate Commerce Commission, 97 Isles, safety, 71, 238 Jamaica Bay, 93 Jungferstieg, Hamburg, 96 Justitz Palace, Munich, 20 Kansas City, parks and boulevards, 137 Karlsruhe, Castle Square, 283; ground plan, 41 Kiel, water front, 96 Kings Plaza, Berhn, 157 Konigsberg, square, 21 Krupp, workingmen's colony, 189, 190 Kyllhauser monument, 289 Lahn-Valley, 295 Lamp posts, 72, 75 Landwehr Canal, 113, 307 L'Enfant, 2, 8 Leipzig, Augustus Square, 126 Letchworth, 187 Leutzsch, water works, 256 Lewis, Nelson P., 290 Libraries, location, 202 Light posts, 74 Lindau, harbor gate, 152 Liverpool Garden Suburb, 188 Living rooms, 179 Lock Haven, children's school garden, 220 London, cost of re-planning, 64; Gaiety Theater, 69; Regent's Quadrant, 168; Rotherhithe tunnel, 118; Thames Em- bankment, 96; Trafalgar Square, 58; Traffic Commission, 58 Macadam streets, 234 Main arteries, 21 Maine Monument, New York, 213 Manhole covers, 71 Mannheim, ground plan, 40; harbor, 95 Manufacturing buildings, 179 Maritime city, 312 Market houses, 130 Market Plaza, Wiesbaden, 59 Market squares, 130 Markus Tower, Rothenburg, 5 Marquises, 75 Maximilian Street, Munich, 85 McAneny, George, 84 Metropolitan Opera House, New York, 25 Metropolitan Subway, Paris, 276 Modern cities, 307 Monuments, Bismark's, 160 Monument Emperor Wilhelm I, Bonn, 289; illuminated, BerUn, 159; Kyff- hauser, 289 Moving platforms, 115 Munich, Bavaria, 288; Gate of Victorj', 12; general view, 169; Charles Gate, 68; City Hall, 35; Justitz Palace, 20; Maximilian Street, 85 Municipal, asphalt paving plant, 232; art commission, 26; baths, 222; build- ings, 201; clocks, 73; refuse destruc- tor plant, 258; abattoir, Dresden, 228; gardens, 135; ice plant, 221; markets, 218; power plants, 269; slaughter houses, 221 Names of streets, 74 Naming streets, 120 Naples, Italy, 294 National Maine Monument, 213 Neptune fountain, Firenze, 321 Neuss, harbor, 88 Newspaper stand, 73 New York Central Park, 79; Chelsea Docks, 93; comfort stations, 155; cutting of new street, 64; Flatiron Buildiag, 46; free public baths, 223; Grand Central Station, 106; municipal asphalt plant, 232; Maine Monument, 213; Central Park terrace, 234; Penn- sylvania station, 106; public hbrary, 79; refuse disposal, 245; street widen- ing, 84; terminal fountain, 266 Nolen, John, 60 Nollendorf Plaza station, Berlin, 120 Noisy vehicles, 210 Noted cities, 31 Obelisk, Central Park, New York, 164 Oil engine plants, 274 Ontario, hydro-electric power commis- sion, 273 Opera House, Frankfort, 204 Open squares, 122 Oscar Plaza, Berlin, 202 INDEX 327 Peking, water works, 258 Palm Garden, Frankfort, 140 Police signal system, 81 Police system, 208 Panama Canal, 97 Paper baskets, 79 Parks, barracks, 140 Parks of Berlin, 135, 145 Parks and boulevards, Boston, 144; Kan- sas City, 137 Park concerts, 142; entrance, 142; loca- tion, 136; restaurants, 145; small, 138; systems, 133 Paris, Alexander Bridge, 101; cost of re- planning, 64; density of population, 108; Metropolitan Subway, 276; Place du Chatelet, 40; Rue de Rivoli, 40; St. Michel Fountain, 46; squares, 126; volume of traffic, 109; Vendome Plaza, 203; Passenger per car mile, 115 Pennsylvania R. R. Station, 106 Philadelphia, assembly center, 146; City Hall Plaza, 52 Piers, 89, 91 Piazzetta, Venice, 152 Planning of growing towns, 294 Place de la Republique, Paris, 127 Place de la Nation, Paris, 126 Place du Chatelet, Paris, 40 Place Royale, Paris, 127 Plaza, Kings, Berlin, 157 Plaza del Popolo, Rome, 126 Plaza, Oscar, Berlin, 202 Plaza, Vendome, Paris, 203 Playgrounds, 201 Police regulation, Berlin, 215 Pompeii, Street of Tombs, 4; Forum, 4, 27 Porta Nigra, Trier, 12 Port Sunlight, 180, 186, 188, 193 Port of Hamburg, 96 Posen, water works, 275 Post office building, 132 Potomac Electric Light and Power Co., 271 Promenades, 142 Providence, comfort station, 47 Public buildings, 131 Public library. New York, 28, 79. 132 Public interest, 12 Public ownership, 281 Public service corporations, 284 Public utilities, valuation of, 281 Radial streets, 48, 57 Rail drainage, 247 Railway stations, 106, 107 Railway, suspended, 279 Recreation grounds, 143 Recreation piers, 91, 313 Refuse can for street sweepings, 248; collecting cart, 248; destructor plant, 258; disposal, 254 Regent's Quadrant, London, 168 Regensburg, Hall of Liberty, 288 Regional centers, 30 Relief institutes, 208 Remscheid, strand bath, 225 Rent in colonies, 192 Re-planning cities, 11 Re-planning streets, Cologne, 61 Residential street, 175, 239 Restaurants in parks, 145 Revenues from municipal land, 135, 197 Rewards for artistic fajades, 159 Rhine bridges, 100 River Promenade, Diisseldorf, 153 Riverside Drive, New York, 92 Roman bridges, 99 Roman civilization, 2 Roman city planner, 305 Rome, Forum, 22; Fountain Trevi, 264; Fountain Paolina, 269; Plaza del Popolo, 126; St. Peter's, 69 Rothenburg on the Tauber, 5, 158 Rotherhithe tunnel, 118 Royal Crescent at Bath, 168 Rue de Rivoli, Paris, 40 Safety isles, 71, 238 St. Louis, cost of cutting new streets, 64; swimming pool, 220; city hall and courts, 20 St. Michel Fountain, Paris, 46 St. Peter's, Rome, 69 St. Petersburg, water supply, 261 Sand sowers, 246 Sanssouci, gateway, 235; Sicilian Garden, 235; terrace, 135 Schoolhouses, stairways, 178 Schloss Plaza, Berlin, 282 Sea Bridge, Wilhelmina, Scheveningen, 147 Sea gates. 91, 312 Seattle, city charter, 13; civic center, 28, 29; great ground plan, 29 Seventh Avenue, New York, assessment, 291 328 INDEX Sewage pumping plants, 251; by-prod- uct, 245; disposal, 241; treatment plant, 243 Sewer pits, 70 Shade trees, 79 Sheffield, street railway system, 279 Show-cases, 72 Sicilian Garden, Sanssouci, Potsdam, 235 Sidewalk cleaning, 250 Sidewalks, obstruction, 70, 72, 73; width of, 59 Sieges AUee, Berlin, 134 Sitte, Camillo, 3 Skylines, 167, 168 Skyscrapers, 161, 315 Sleeping rooms, 179 Small manufacturer, 226 Snow removal, 248, 251 Social evil, 53 Spree Bridge, Berlin, 101 Sprinkling apparatus, 252 Squares, 122, 126 Stadiums, 147 Stairways, 178 Slaughter-house, Dresden, 228 Steam electric power plants, 271, 274 Stellungen, water works, 275 Storm sewers, 244 Strand bath, artificial, 225 Streets, care of, 67, 245 Street cars, 129, 277 Street cleaning, 248; hours of, 249; department, Berlin, 253; crew, 249 Street construction, 230 Street crossings, underground, 125; super- imposed, 128 Street drainage, 247 Streets in Europe, 58 Street flushing, 247 Street foundation, 236 Streets in Hamburg, 69 Street illumination, 75; lighting, 77; names, 120; paving, 231; plan, 42; profiles, Berlin, 56, 57; Prussian law, 58; obstructions, 69; railways, 275; residential, Berlin, 175; sanding, 245; signs, 74, 132; sprinkhng, 245; sweeping cans, 248 Streets, up-to-date, 67; width of, 58, 167; widening, 84, 290 StUbben, Joseph, 3 Subway Kiosk, Buda-Pest, 120 Subways, 111, 239 Subway, Paris, 276 Subway station, 312, 316 Sub-surface, draining of streets, 246 Sub-stations for electric distribution, 276 Suburban gardens, 194 Suburban colony, Ahrensfelde, 301 Summer houses, 194 Sunken refuse receptacle, 248 Superimposed street crossing, 128 Streets, replanning, Cologne, 61 Suspended railway, 279 Suspension bridge 101, 104 Swimming pool, St. Louis, 220 Tall buildings, 171 Tauentzien Street, Berlin, 68 Tempelhofer Feld, 296 Terminal approaches, Berhn, 63 Terminal fountain, 265 Terrace, Central Park, New York, 234 Terrace, Sanssouci, 135 Thames Embankment, London, 97 Theater, Gaiety, London, 69 Theater, Municipal, Frankfort, 204 Theaters, location, 204 Tivoli, hydro-electric plant, Rome, 317 Town planning, 295, 300 Trafalgar Square, London, 58 Traffic, congested streets, 124; commis- sion, London, 58; handling, 278; regu- lations, 122, 130; street signs, 132; system, development of, 276 Transportation, 106 Transportation terminals, 129 Travelers, 31 Trees, shade, 79, 150; as focal points, 152 Trevi Fountain, 265 Trier (Treves) Porta Nigra, 12 Trolley cars, 106 Trolley post, 72, 153 Tunnel, public utility, 241 Underground comfort stations, 156; traffic, 240; work, Hamburg, 69; street cross- ings, 125 Union R. R. Station, Washington, 106 Unter den Linden, Berlin, 159 Ulm, plan of Cathedral, 204 Ulm, housing problems, 197 Valuation of public utilities, 281; of water supply system, 283 Vehicular traffic, 106 INDEX 329 Volume of traffic, Berlin, 112 Volume of traffic, Paris, 109 Venice, Piazzetta, 152 Vendome Plaza, Paris, 203 Vienna, Burgplatz, 34; Burg Theater, 282; Franzens Ring, 127; Votiv Church, 121 Washington City plan, 50; electric power plant, 271; ground plan, 43; Union R. R. Station, 106 Waste in city funds, 321 Waste-paper baskets, 79 Water approaches, 312 Water consumption of large cities, 212, 264 Water fronts, 91, 96, 313 Water purification, 259; supply, 258; towers, 310; towers, Frankfort, 127; towers, Mannheim, 266; tower, Stel- lungen, 275; ways, 87, 311; ways, Chicago, 52; waste, 264 Waterworks, Leutzsch, 259; Peking, 258; Posen, 275 Wernigerode, City Hall, Frontispiece West End Avenue, New York, 53 Widening of streets. New York, 83, 85 Width of streets, 58 Wiesbaden, Market Plaza, 59 Wilhelma, Canstadt, 135 Wilhelmina, Sea Bridge, Scheveningen, 147 Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, 164 Wittelsbach Fountain, Munich, 265 Wooden block paving, 234 Woolworth Building, New York, 13 Workingmen's colonies, 180, 183, 189 Workingmen's colony, Alfredshof, 189, 294; Dahlhauser Heide, 190 Workingmen's houses, court of, 174, 188 Workingmen's house, Enghsh, 196 Zone systems, 36 Zwinger, Dresden, 34 «'"«UTOAflv„c,UTy , imifm UCLA-AUPL NA 9030 K6 L 005 858 290 9 UNIV. OF CALIF. LIBRARY, LOS ANGtt€fe Library of Architecture and Allied Arts 3723 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 9 Los Angeles, California 90005 Date Due 1 Library Bureau Cat. No. 1137 iiniiiltii :'■