Report of the Federal Plan Commission: a General Plan for the Cities of Ottawa and the Hull (Edward Bennett, 1915)

Browse Illustrations

Drawings

Drawing No. 1: General birds-eye view of the cities

Drawing No. 2A: Analysis of the street system for a traffic movement northward through Hull

Drawing No. 2B: Analysis of the street system for a traffic movement toward the Business Centre of Ottawa

Drawing No. 2C: Analysis of the street system for a traffic movement southward

Drawing No. 2D: Analysis of the street system for a traffic movement westward toward Britannia

Drawing No. 2E: Analysis of the street system for a traffic movement eastward across the Rideau River

Drawing No. 3: Isometric plan of the proposed Laurier Avenue Tunnel

Drawing No. 4: Profile of the Laurier Avenue Tunnel and low level bridge over Rideau Canal

Drawing No. 5: City of Ottawa-View of proposed municipal and railway centre

Drawing No. 6A: Plan of the proposed municipal and railway centre- First period of execution

Drawing No. 6B: Plan of the Municipal and Railway Centre – Final period of execution

Drawing No. 7: City of Hull-View of the proposed municipal centre, etc.

Drawing No. 8: Map of the highway system showing parks and forest reserves in the vicinity of Ottawa and Hull

Drawing No. 9: Plan of the Central Area showing existing and recommended streets, parks and public buildings

Drawing No. 10A: Diagrams showing present and proposed interference with the street system by the railways- at present

Drawing No. 10B: Diagrams showing present and proposed interference with the street system by the railways- as proposed

Drawing No. 11: General Railroad Plan showing retained and abandoned lines within the cities

Drawing No. 12A: General diagram of railway entrances into Ottawa and Hull and their grouping in proposed plan- present arrangement

Drawing No. 12B: General diagram of railway entrances into Ottawa and Hull and their grouping in proposed plan- proposed arrangement

Drawing No. 13: Profiles of present and proposed railway grades within the city

Drawing No. 14: Plan of the proposed Government Centre, and Ottawa and Hull waterfronts, showing recommended developments and extensions

Drawing No. 15: City of Ottawa- General view, looking southward from Hull

Drawing No. 16: Departmental and Court buildings, proposed and future

Drawing No. 17: General silhouettes of existing and future public buildings

Drawing No. 18: Sections of Wellington and intersecting streets showing pro­posed Government buildings and height limits of buildings in adjacent blocks

Drawing No. 19A: Diagrams of business, manufacturing and residence areas- Existing conditions

Drawing No. 19B: Diagrams of business, manufacturing and residence areas- Conditions controlled by districts

Drawing No. 20A: Diagram of present built-up area and population density, showing also probable future expansion- present conditions

Drawing No. 20B: Diagram of present built-up area and population density, showing also probable future expansion- future conditions

Drawing No. 21: General plan of street system, parks, playgrounds and waterways, also subdivision of surrounding areas

Drawing No. 22: Diagrams of freight and passenger traffic on the Rideau Canal

Drawing No. 23: Curves showing population densities in Ottawa, 1913

Drawing No. 24A: Diagrams showing daily volume and distribution of passenger traffic

Drawing No. 24B: Diagrams showing daily volume and distribution of street cars

Drawing No. 25: Curves showing growth of street car business, etc

Drawing No. 26: Detail plan of railway, street and subway arrangement between Central Station and Bayview Road and between Central Station and the Inter-provincial Bridge

Drawing No. 27: Diagram showing distribution of population in the cities for the years 1980, 1990, 1900, 1910 and 1913

Drawing No. 28: Diagrams showing relation between population and industrial workers in various cities of Canada

Drawing No. 29: Plan of Ottawa, Hull and vicinity, 1914

Diagrams

Diagram, page 33: Diagram showing the way in which Ottawa is cut into nine pieces and Hull into four parts by railway lines and waterways

Diagram, page 35: Diagram showing general composition of the plan

Diagram, page 73: Diagram showing obstacles placed in way of growth by railway areas in Ottawa and Hull

Diagram, page 77: Diagram showing daily flow of passenger train in Ottawa and Hull

Diagram, page 79: Statement of railway freight handled in Ottawa and Hull

Diagram, page 83: Diagram showing origin and distribution of daily package freight in Ottawa and Hull

Diagram, page 85: Diagram showing origin and distribution of daily team track freight in Ottawa and Hull

Diagram, page 87: Diagram showing origin and distribution of daily industrial freight in Ottawa and Hull

Diagram, page 91: Curve showing growth of railroad business in Canada

Diagram, page 93: Curve showing number of people of people to each Ton of freight moved per day in Canada and the United States with relation to total population

Diagram, page 95: Number of people in population to each passenger carried in Canada and the United States with relation to total population

Diagram, page 155: Curve showing average population densities for a five mile radius of three American cities and Ottawa, Canada based on 1910 census

Text and Images of Edward Bennett’s 1914 Speech on Planning

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Background for Speech

INTRODUCING A CITY BEAUTIFUL PLAN FOR CANADA’S CAPITAL

Edward Bennett’s 1914 Speech to the Canadian Club

David L.A. Gordon MCIP, AICP

Edward Bennett

This paper examines a speech by Edward H. Bennett that introduced his work for the Federal Plan Commission on a General Plan for the Cities of Ottawa and Hull. Bennett was a Chicago architect and one of the leading City Beautiful planners of the era. The plan itself is little known, since it was shelved shortly after it was released. The 1915 Report is one of Canada’s first comprehensive plans, and many of its technical recommendations were implemented over forty years later.¹

Edward H. Bennett (1874-1954) was one of the foremost American planners when he was appointed as consultant to the Federal Plan Commission in January 1914. He would probably be considered the leading proponent of the City Beautiful in that era. Bennett was born in Bristol and educated in the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, and joined Daniel Burnham’s office in 1903. He immediately proved his worth in the San Francisco plan (1904-5), where Burnham left him in complete charge of the work after a few weeks in residence, and gave him credit as co-author of the plan.²

Burnham and Bennett’s greatest collaboration was on the 1909 Chicago Plan. Burnham was clearly the instigator and guiding force of the plan, but he again insisted that Bennett should be given equal credit for the work. This was no mere promotion of a valued associate; Bennett worked full time on the plan from 1906 to 1910, supervising the office and consultants, revising reports and preparing most of the technical analyses and drawings. Burnham, busy with a thriving national architectural practice, donated his time to the project and prepared an early draft of the text. As an indication of Bennett’s importance in the planning process, the Chicago Plan Commission continued to retain his services as its city planning advisor until 1930. During this period, he supervised implementation of many proposals in the plan, including Grant Park and the Michigan Avenue extension. Bennett clearly played a leading role in one of America’s most prominent earl, plans for over a quarter of a century.³

The record of Bennett’s role in the San Francisco and Chicago plans appears to have diminished with time; most commentators refer to them as the “Burnham plans”.⁴ However, Burnham declined all city planning work after 1906, referring potential clients to Bennett or Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr., his collaborator on the McMillian Commission plan for Washington. Bennett set up his own firm in 1910, and was preparing plans for Detroit, Minneapolis, Portland and Brooklyn at the time he received the Ottawa commission. In the years ahead, he would prepare plans for two World’s Fairs, Denver, Buffalo, St. Paul, the New York Regional Plan and the Federal Triangle in Washington. Bennett was clearly the leading American planner operating in the City Beautiful style and was frequently invited to speak at planning conferences and universities. Despite the widely reported death of the City Beautiful movement after 1910, Edward Bennett made a forty year career as a planning consultant operating in that mode.⁵

Bennett’s Approach to the Ottawa-Hull Plan

Bennett never hid his City Beautiful influences, despite the criticism the movement endured after 1910. We have a clear record of his approach to the Ottawa-­Hull plan in a speech he gave to the Canadian Club in April, 1914. The Canadian Club was perhaps the most important venue for a public lecture at that time. Cabinet members, senior civil servants, local politicians and businessmen would typically attend these events. Bennett spent several days preparing the speech and selecting images.⁶ In an hour and one half lecture illustrated by 95 lantern slides, he clearly set forth his philosophy of city planning. ⁷

Bennett was un-apologetic about his approach, perhaps because he believed that it was rooted in the best traditions of city design and incorporated modern technical advances in planning. One quarter of his lecture was devoted to a history of city planning, drawing especially on the experiences of European capitals such as London, Vienna, Rome, Berlin and, especially, Paris. The next section of the speech covered recent American experiences illustrated by Burnham’s and his work in the 1893 World’s Fair, Cleveland, San Francisco, Chicago, Portland, Minneapolis and Brooklyn. While Bennett showed a few slides of his plans’ trademark water-colour renderings, most of the discussion focused upon the technical aspects of planning – railway relocation, street design, regional park systems, traffic congestion and zoning. He described bow each of these elements were being implemented in selected cities. Finally, Bennett expounded upon the design of capital cities, with particular reference to the 1903 McMillian Commission for Washington.⁸

Bennett concluded with a review of the site of the Canadian capital, comparing it to the river edges in London, Paris, Berlin and Budapest. His final slides compared the Gothic splendour of the Parliament Buildings on the bluff over the Ottawa River to the best elements of Princes’ Street in Edinburgh. This comparison was a particularly adept political touch, given the Scottish background of many members of the Canadian elite. Overall, the slide show was a strong performance, showing a wide ranging familiarity with appropriate urban design precedents combined-with a mastery of technical planning and implementation.

The speech offers many insights into the general practice of a leading City Beautiful consultant and illustrates his comprehensive approach to planning.

NOTES

¹ Holt, Herbert S. (chmn.) Report of the Federal Plan Commission on a General Plan for the Cities of Ottawa and Hull, Ottawa: FPC, 1915. 138 pp.

² Bennett’s background is summarised in J. Draper, Edward Bennett: Architect and City Planner, 1874-1954. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1982. For the San Francisco Plan see Edward H. Bennett (EHB) papers. Art Institute of Chicago, Collection 1973.1 Boxes 52 and 53 and the Daniel H. Burnham (DHB) papers, Art Institute of Chicago. Collection 1943.1.

³ For the Chicago Plan see EHB papers, Series VII, Boxes 54-62 and the DHB papers.

⁴ For example see R. Freestone and G. Cherry, “Burnhamania”, Planning History, Vol. 16, No. 1, 1994, pp. 41-42.      

⁵ Burnham’s referrals are in numerous letters in his 1907­1912 correspondence in DHB Vol. 1. There is no record of Ottawa approaching Burnham in DHB papers. Bennett’s projects are catalogued in Draper, op. cit.

⁶ Bennett Diary entries for April, 1914, EHB papers. Several drafts of the speech survive in EHB papers Box 51.3. He drew upon his earlier speeches in Chicago and Burnham’s 1910 speech -Me City of the Future Under a Democratic Government,” Transactions of the Town Planning Conference. London, 10-15 October 1910. (London: Royal Institute of British Architects. 1911).

⁷ Bennett, Edward. “Some Aspects of City Planning, with General Reference to a Plan for Ottawa and Hull.” Address to the Canadian Club at the Normal School, Ottawa, Ontario, April 21, 1914. EHB Papers, Box 40, p.7.

⁸ The published speech contains brief descriptions of Bennett’s images. Several of Bennett’s original lantern slides survive in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Ryerson Library of Architecture. Many of the remainder were traced from the reports in the EHB and DUB papers and Bennett’s contribution to the 1909 Plan of Chicago, and W. Moody (ed.) Wacker’s Manual of Citizenship, Chicago: Commercial Club of Chicago, 1916.

Introduction

SOME ASPECTS OF CITY PLANNING, WITH GENERAL REFERENCE TO A PLAN FOR OTTAWA AND HULL
Mr. Edward H. Bennett

A great deal has been said and written about the meaning of a city plan to a community, its social aspects and benefits.  It is not the purpose of this address to present this side of the question thoroughly, but to trace the development of work in the past and to give some idea of the improvements projected in a city plan, believing that it is by this time fairly well accepted that a city plan is a necessity.

The motives, however, underlying the work may be stated broadly as follows:

To create conditions of life such that the maximum of health, happiness and efficiency of the citizens may be obtained; to create and foster in the minds of all citizens the sense of the entity of the city and the interdependent relationship of the various elements of the city, and thereby to promote a spirit of co-operation.

A city may be said to be a setting for the lives of its inhabitants, and this setting may be one in which the influences are deleterious or, on the contrary, one in which the stimulus is given on every hand to a beautiful expression of life; I use the term “beautiful” in its broadest sense.  Whether this be during the working hours or those of play, the influence of harmonious and orderly surroundings is constantly active and it is fair to say that the production of orderly and harmonious or, in other words, beautiful surroundings is one great aim of the City Plan.

Growth, expansion, is the most potent factor in this study.  Wherever there is growth there are powerful forces at work, needing only to be directed to produce fine results.  The linking together and relating of the various sections of a city plan, existing and to come, is of primary importance.  Convenience and economy must underlie this study, but in addition, a city plan must be a work of art, a living thing capable of arousing and binding together the interest and enthusiasm of all.  In this connection, it may be said that a plan is the clear delineation of the invisible expression of the life of the community, rough-hewn already and simply waiting to be interpreted.

History of City Planning in Europe

SOME ASPECTS OF CITY PLANNING, WITH PLAN FOR OTTAWA AND HULL
Mr. Edward H. Bennett

It would be interesting to trace the history of city planning in modern Europe, and not only in Europe, but to follow the thread back into antiquity; to make comparisons with present conditions and to see the way in which the conditions of the past were met and the expression that was given to them in the cities of the old world.  It is impossible however, in a single talk to take this matter up; I hope rather to develop the idea of the necessity for comprehensiveness in treatment of these problems.  That great results may be achieved in city building, under whatsoever government, may readily be shown by the achievements of the old world, both in antiquity and in modern times, and it is interesting to draw attention to what may be termed a renaissance of the subject in recent years.

Passing over the achievements of the Egyptians and Persians in city building, and also laying to one side all reference to the splendours of Athens, I will use an illustration of Rome at the end of the empire.

It would be interesting to trace the history of city planning in modern Europe, and not only in Europe, but to follow the thread back into antiquity; to make comparisons with present conditions and to see the way in which the conditions of the past were met and the expression that was given to them in the cities of the old world. It is impossible however, in a single talk to take this matter up; I hope rather to develop the idea of the necessity for comprehensiveness in treatment of these problems. That great results may be achieved in city building, under whatsoever government, may readily be shown by the achievements of the old world, both in antiquity and in modern times, and it is interesting to draw attention to what may be termed a renaissance of the subject in recent years.

Passing over the achievements of the Egyptians and Persians in city building, and also laying to one side all reference to the splendours of Athens, I will use an illustration of Rome at the end of the empire.

(Slide-Rome. Bigot’s Model) . This slide represents, in plan and in perspective view, a model of Rome made by a Mr. Paul Bigot, a winner of the Grand Prix de Rome of the French School of Fine Arts. He passed seven years of his time in doing it. He was an architect trained, and became an archaeologist in order to carry out this great work. It seems to me its chief interest is in its agglomeration of wonderful gems of architecture. I am not presenting it here as an ideal for modern city planning, I am simply putting it before you as an instance of the magnificence of effect that may be achieved by the collective efforts of a great people in their capital city.

It will be interesting at this point to illustrate by means of a section of this plan, the element of change which plays so great a part in the executive of any great scheme, and to show that the obstacles to such a scheme, no matter how seemingly insurmountable, may give way to the general process of evolution and reach a final consummation.

Thus ladies and gentlemen, in [sic] the Circus of Nero, built in the second century. This black indication is the Christian Basilica, built in the fourth century, and this yellow indication is the present-day St. Peter’s, built in the fourteenth century.

Coming now to more modern times, it would be interesting to present the plans of Paris prepared during the great period of architecture under the reign of Louis XIV. Many plans were prepared at this time, more or less comprehensive, by the architects of the day: Bullet, Mansard, Gabriel. They were noble plans, and although they were not laid out with a view to the general growth of the city as a whole, but dealt more particularly with the city as it existed, still there were notable exceptions to this in regard to the proposed great highways projecting into the country. Especially is this true of the avenue now called the “Champs Elysées,” which is shown on the plans and etchings of the day running out through the open fields towards Versailles.

It will be interesting also to note the influence of these plans on the work of to-day. They were of undoubted influence on the plan of Washington, prepared about the same time by a French army engineer, Major L’Enfant, under the direction of Washington. There are some people who think the latter’s influence a controlling one, in this serenity and breadth, on the man who composed and thought out the plan.

These plans led up to the great operations of Haussmann under Louis Napoleon, the most of which were created between the years 1854 and 1889-a period of about thirty-five years. Prior to this a plan had been made called the “Artists’ Plan,” and it is interesting to trace on this plan the first indication of the river boulevard ultimately accomplished throughout the entire length of the river in its passage through the city.

(Slide-Paris, 1871) . I present here a plan of Paris showing the improvements which had been made during the period from 1854 to 1871. If we were to add the short period from then to 1889, we would find a great many more indications of street improvements than are shown on this map. It shows in yellow tint the streets which were cut, or the street cutting and widening operations under the Haussmann regime. It must not be thought that this work, presenting the expenditure of many millions of dollars, was carried out or instituted without difficulties, and it is known that for all his admiration for Haussmann, whose services to the French Government prior to the undertaking of this task had been very distinguished, Louis Napoleon had little hope that the work in a comprehensive way would be done, or could be done. Haussmann, however, convinced the Council that the work could be done and that at not much greater expenditure of funds than already was at their disposal.

The details of execution of this plan would be very interesting to follow out, but there is not time. Here at the Tuileries Gardens and the Louvre. Here the famous Champs Elysées, and the Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile, and the Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, running out to the Bois. All these indications in yellow, you see, represent the street cuttings and widenings of that period. Streets were widened, others were cut boldly through the blocks. Damages were allowed or assessments were charged against the property; in some cases they balanced. The assessments for benefits proved to be hard to collect and this gave rise in recent time to the application of the law of excess condemnation.

The total net cost of these operations during the thirty-five years from 1854 to 1889 was $280,000,000. It seems strange that this should not have thrown a great burden on the public, but it is a fact that it did not do so. A few great improvements were carried out by the Imperial government itself, which fact perhaps may serve as a suggestion at the present moment, in dealing with your own capital city. The total net cost was $280,000,000, but the gross cost was very much greater; whether or not such an expenditure has been justified can readily be answered by any one who knows the present day capital.

Paris, which up to the time of this work had been a disagreeable, poorly drained and dirty, though perhaps interesting mediaeval city, became the finished expression of civic development of the day, and the amount of money which is spent to-day by visitors from all over the world, and its consequent corresponding influence on the civilization of the world, may be said to be largely due to this splendid movement.

This work is one of evolution.  There are indications on the original plan which I cannot show you on this map; they are too indistinct.  This dotted line, we will say, carried through here is the Boulevard Raspail.  This boulevard was extended-I have lost my bearings; however, it will not make any difference.  Call this extension the Boulevard Raspail.  During my own time in Paris, some ten years ago, certain sections of that street existed.  For instance, there would be a section of it here, another in here, and so on.  To-day that avenue is entirely cut and new buildings, including fine hotels and shops, have gone up on it.  The work goes slowly; the plan marches along and does itself, so to speak, once having been put in motion.  The French people have taken their time and as the needs for greater facilities become greater, these new avenues come into usefulness.

Now, just to illustrate what was going on at the time that these great improvements were being carried on, and to illustrate again the quality of change, of evolution, I give you three slides here representing what is known as the Little Bridge, or le Petit Pont, and the Pont du Chatelet.  This view is 1780.  Slide³ It shows here the old fortifications.   It shows absolutely no access along this river, and there is a three-arch bridge the piers of which formed an obstruction to navigation.  I could have shown you a slide or illustration prior to this which would also have shown buildings on either side of this bridge; however, this will suffice for the purpose.(Slide)⁴.   Fifty years later we get the first indication of the river idea; still the same bridge, but the “donjon” has gone.  (Slide)⁵.  Fifty  years later, the drive along the river below is now continuous, and a single-arch bridge has taken the place of the three-arch bridge.  The present condition is, I believe, better than that.  This frontage is still further set back, and all the buildings have been reconstructed on fine lines.

 (Slide)⁶.   The second series, taken about the same period, represent the Place de la Bastille and the old moat surrounding it.  Here is the Bastille.  At a period of fifty years, approximately, following this (Slide)⁷the Bastille has disappeared, the Column of July (Colonne de Juillet) has been erected and the moat to a certain extent has been covered over. (slide)⁸ Fifty years later the moat now forming part of a canal has been covered over throughout its length in Paris; the appearance here shown is about as to-day.

Fired, no doubt, by the example of Paris, Vienna undertook a great work and in 1857, following an edict of the Emperor Francis Joseph, the fortifications were torn out and the ground opened up for occupancy by both public buildings and private.

 (Slide-Paris, Balloon View)⁹.   Oh, I am sorry, I had intended at this point, before going to Vienna, to illustrate on a bird’s eye scale the magnificence of the improvements executed during the Haussmann period.  This is the Place de la Concorde, and here are the boulevards.  Over here is the Opera.  This is the Avenue de l’Opera, and the Opera itself.  It has practically everything, you see, in the way of fine art in it.  Here is a new building gone up just prior to the time  the photograph was taken, but conforming always to the regular line of architecture and to the street line.  Practically all the street cutting, all those regular lines that you see in that illustration, are the result of the Haussmann plan.

 (Slide)¹⁰.  This another illustration (Balloon View) the Parc Monceau, the Avenue des Champs Élysées.  The Boulevard Haussmann is over here, just off the picture.  Notice the magnificence with which these streets radiate from a single point.  That does not represent necessarily the most practical, or most desirable method of designing our cities to-day.  I do not intend to go very much into the theory of street planning this evening; it is too vast a subject. 

Wherever this treatment is possible or comes naturally as a focal point, or a climax in the general composition of a plan, it is recommended, but it tends somewhat to congestion and the focusing of too much traffic at one point.  It is magnificent, however, from the point of view of display.

  (Slide)¹¹.   Here is the triumph of the idea, in which the Arc de l’Etoile centres, with these twelve avenues headed toward it, and encircled by this narrow street around here, to serve as a detour.

An ordinance was passed limiting the height and frontage of these buildings, immediately surrounding the Place, that were built for residence.  The growth of the city was so rapid that before an ordinance had been passed, or any regulation passed, limiting the height of buildings in the areas adjacent to conform, it had swept around the Arc and it had all been built up, as you see, practically to the height of the building limit within the centre of the city itself.

 (Slide)¹².   I come back now to Vienna.  This represents the fortifications around Vienna prior to 1857.  You will see in here the Palace, but apart from that, very little in the way of municipal development.

 (Slide)¹³.  Vienna Center at present.  The fortifications in the last  illustration covered this well developed zone; the yellow represents. land  which was sold for private occupancy for the most part, the balance reserved for public use. The city recouped itself on the sale of a portion of this real estate some $80,000,000, and this was put into public improvements – in street development and in buildings, museums, the Palace, the Opera House, and so on, and in creating a very magnificent street called the Ringstrasse. which you see illustrated here –  running round. These are the gardens.

One could multiply examples almost indefinitely, but for the sake of brevity I shall limit them. I am going to show you a slide of London.  (Slide)¹⁴.  That is the plan of London. It shows here the new street Aldwych and King’s Way, and its proposed continuation.  A criticism of this improvement might easily be made. It is the policy of the London County Council not to publish their plans in advance, and quite likely they had in mind a general plan of circulation in that zone. We believe, however, in designing such things as parts of a correlative whole, in a comprehensive way, and I am of the opinion that this improvement would have been very much more effective had it been studied in relation to a general plan for London. It sounds like a daring thing to say, but I think that London must have a general plan. The reports on the traffic conditions in the streets show appalling conditions at the present moment.

 The original cost of this operation was about $35,000,000, and it is assumed by the authorities that the net cost will hardly exceed one-half million when all the land is resold and the improvement is entirely completed. That is because they were enabled to buy a great deal more land than was needed for the improvement. The street was opened in 1904, and from my personal observation, in 1909 a considerable number of improvements consisting of five and six- story buildings were erected.  At the present date the street presents almost a continuous frontage as seen from High Holborn.

(Slide)¹⁵.   This is a view of King’s Way at approximately the present  date.  It is only within the last decade that comprehensive plans have  been prepared either in this country or in Europe for the growth of the city outside of its political limits, and it is not too much to say that the influence of the work which has been done on this continent has had a very strong influence on that of Europe, especially with regard to its scope. With regard to general city planning and extensive development in a detailed way, of course, France preceded us by many, many years,  and Germany has in recent times done much splendid work; I mean that the influence of the boldness of the scope of our plans looking to the

future has been felt. I think the Europeans, believing that these plans, printed and published, would be carried into execution, were fired by the idea of emulation. Paris, in other words, wished to keep the lead.

(Slide)¹⁶.    This is the plan of Rome, 1908.  I have no illustrations of plans for Berlin, or of the great plan proposed for Paris, but this will serve to illustrate the idea of comprehensive planning and planning for the future. The old city is approximately within that circle, and, lying without it, you see, in these areas in which the streets are shown

radiating from points, and all around in this outer region, are the areas planned for the future. This plan has been prepared under the administration of Mayor Nathan and its growth and general character are controlled by ordinances which would be of interest to us in this country, preventing real estate speculators from developing a plan of seeming

immediate advantage, but such that they prove to his ultimate loss and the detriment of the whole community. That is so true it is worth speaking about. The illustration here is not so striking, but if you take this for instance, as an example -Call that a continuous thoroughfare.  A thoroughfare of that nature should be carried through without interruption, irrespective of the real estate holdings and subdivisional layouts. That has been too little the case in the history of this continent, and it is true it has been lost sight of in the Old World. Germany has been seeking to remedy it. As to Rome, you have the example before you. (Indicating).

(Slide)¹⁷.   A very interesting thing in connection with the plan of Rome, is the proposed parking of the ruins.  Up to the present time they been left in the condition in which they had been finally  excavated – the drum of columns, the pieces of capitals and cornices  lying about.  It is not a very agreeable thing to look at the bare walls and fragments, and the idea has come to them to treat these ruins as parks, to plant amid them and to connect up the various ruins themselves by a boulevard system; and this they are now developing.

(Slide)¹⁸.  Recent developments in the towns of Germany, both small and large, are of the greatest possible interest and it may be said that more has been done in almost every line of activity with city planning in this country than in any other. Typical of these developments are the splendid parking of Dusseldorf; the zoning of the city for the protection of residential districts in Frankfort, and the development in Berlin both in the new residential districts and in its business streets.

The development of the German cities along fine and orderly lines is all the more remarkable when it is considered that their growth and population have not only been as great but much greater than those of the new continent.

 An interesting comparison has been made of a number of cities of the United States with those of Germany, and the increase of  population is almost twice. It is astounding, but the facts are there; and, in spite of this rapid increase, owing to their careful study of the several conditions, they have been developed in a very beautiful way.

The city of Dusseldorf, which forty years ago had a population of  30,000,  to-day has 370,000 and it has planned for the accommodation of one million people.  Sixteen millions of dollars have been spent on this work.

Transportation problems alone could be made a subject for a complete lecture and must be omitted from this talk.

(Slide)¹⁹.   I wish to call to your attention that a great plan for greater Berlin has been made to govern the development of the city.  I cannot enter into the features of Berlin. I was there not very long ago – only about  six months ago, and was amazed by what they are doing. They are  driving great avenues out into the country, and controlling the districts through which they pass, even planting these boulevards with flowers in the summer – going out through virgin country into the forest, and putting a flower border along the edge. The forest reserves are ample and much used. Another feature, which is a little more homely, but delightful in itself, is that of renting at a nominal figure areas to the people for cultivation of gardens. They also build their little houses on these areas for use in summer. Everything, as you perhaps know, is built on  the tenement plan, both for the wealthy and the poor, in the city of Berlin; so it is a very desirable thing when the poor can get out into the open spaces in the summer and cultivate land, and can sleep in a comparatively cool place. 

The influence of the plan of Berlin has even reacted on Paris. Quite recently news has come of a scheme for the creation of a Greater Paris, proposed by M. Delanney,  Prefect of the Seine. The magnitude of M. Delanney’s proposal may be judged from the fact that Paris, as he has planned it, is more than six times as large as the present city. The plan provides for the widening of 225 miles of existing roads and the creation of 50 miles of new ones. The new Paris is to extend some four miles in all directions beyond its present boundaries. The fortifications are  to be removed and great parks established.

History of Planning in the USA

Taking up the consideration of development of city planning on this continent, it would be just to refer first of all  to the plan of the city of Washington, D.C., prepared by Major L’Enfant under General Washington. This plan, which was made in 1793, shows the influence of  the French work of that period.  I will reserve further reference to it, however, until later and come at once to more recent influences in the United States.

It might be fairly said that there has been no time in the world’s history when city planning has not been in operation. It has always been a question of what character the work has taken and its scope, and although there has been in recent years what might be termed, as I have already said, a renaissance of the idea and a tremendous impulse has

been given to the idea, city work may be said to parallel the general development of civilization and has been improving steadily; in recent  years the conception of its scope has expanded very rapidly.

 (Slide)²⁰.   I have here on the screen a slide of the World’s Fair . The  influence of the World’s  Columbian Exhibition, held in Chicago in 1893, in the matter of grouping of public buildings and as expressing the possibilities of the finer results to be obtained in public work by studied arrangement can hardly be overestimated, as also from the point of view of unity of expression and order. I am presenting this partly from reasons of sentiment. I began this work of city planning with Mr. Burnham, with whose name  you are probably all familiar,  who was Director of this great Exposition and without whom it never would have been realized as it was realized.  Mr. Burnham personally held the view strongly, that the exposition had exerted a most direct and stimulating influence on the development of cities in the United States, and it is true that the movement for the Chicago City Plan, about which I will speak later, was to a great extent the outcome of the World’s Fair itself and an undertaking which grew directly from it in some of its main elements.  We can trace the steps later.

The Plan of Washington, prepared under the Park Commission of  the District of Columbia in 1901, of which Mr. D. H.  Burnham was  Chairman, was the first big expression of the idea, and it is a matter of record that Mr. Burnham was chosen for the Chairmanship of this Commission on his record in the World’s Fair itself. 

I will now show you a slide or two of the World’s Fair. You are perhaps familiar with this. This is the Peristyle    – the arch leading out into the lake beyond. Over here the building by Mr. McKimm, and on the other side the one by Mr. Post.   And here is an example of regularity of   cornice height without absolute regularity or control of the outline.

This is very striking and has had its influence.

(Slide)²¹.   Another view of the same thing.

(Slide)²².   Plan of Cleveland Civic Center.

Following the plan of Washington, in 1902 came the plan for the Civic Center group in Cleveland, Ohio. It is proposed to spend on this plan nineteen millions of dollars. They will spend more, of course. They have acquired the greater part of this property and built the City Hall; and the Court House and the Post Office, and the Union Station will in all probability be executed in the near future. It is to be here, fronting on this great gateway to the city itself. The modern railway station is the gateway to the city.  It has been agreed upon by the Art Commission and I believe the order has been signed by the Mayor. However, it will go ahead pretty rapidly now. In other words, that great improvement is nearly consummated.

(Slide)²³.   This is a view showing the Post Office in the foreground, the Court House and City Hall here, and the proposed railway station. 

The tendency of city planning at this time, as will be seen, was toward concentration on local or civic centers.  At the same time a good deal of attention was given to park systems skirting the city.  No attempt, however,  was made at first to weave these two problems together and the business center in the city plan as a whole was practically neglected.  The necessity, however, for comprehensive planning under the influence of the leading minds, in the way the work  was seen and in the Plan of San Francisco, 1906-7, (Slide)²⁴.  the problem as a whole, including in a general way transportation, parks, street system, civic centers, railroad and dock developments, was planned and recommendations made to the city.

 For the sake of brevity and with the idea of dealing with those problems with which I am most familiar, I am presenting the views of the plans for the most part with which I have had to do independently, or in association with Mr. Burnham, or such plans as are associated with his name, and am setting aside other admirable work done all over the United States and in your own country. 

Any series of plans will serve to show the evolution of the work; its evolution, however, has been along lines of gradually intensified study, involving more and more both the social and economic problems of today, and attempting boldly to meet the most difficult problems of city operation in the downtown districts as well as planning for the future of those which are outlying.

The series may be said to progress from the general promotional presentation of the problem, including historical research, to the general structural or composition as a whole, later developing more particularly the idea of the growth of the cities with a special reference to the growth of business, transportation, general traffic and movement of all kinds.  Simultaneously, it has developed the idea of the park system from the original general statement or understanding of a park system to that of provision in the very heart of the city for breathing places and play-ground parks, the operation of which is carried on in a very intensive way.

These phases entirely precede the important phase of city planning known as districting, or control of the various districts involved in a city structure.

With a view to the safeguarding of their specific interests, these problems have been studied and operations have been done in a most thorough way in the German cities, but it has only been dealt with in a very general manner, so far, in the plans made on this continent.

I am attempting to follow the thread through these plans to show the general development that has been made.  I shall have occasion later on to refer to Ottawa.  I am afraid that perhaps the title of this address may have been a little misleading; it was not intended to be.  Perhaps the President’s remark was even more misleading.  The reference to Ottawa will be only a general one, as we have no plan at the present moment.

However, to come back to my story, (Slide)²⁵  this is a plan of San Francisco, the Civic Center lying here, the focal point of all these great arteries, surrounded by the hills.  It is proposed to cap all of these hills with parks.  This park has been acquired.  And it is proposed to cut diagonals, you see, through the city and tying it together.  The result of the Exposition has been a  great stimulus to this Civic Center idea, and although it is not to be built as was originally shown, on this; circle, it will be combined with the site of the old City Hall at this point.  It is a minor detail, but in connection with the Exposition, which is to be placed over here, between the Presidio Military Reservation and Fort Mason they will ultimately provide a driveway which will come through Presidio Avenue and round this sweep out to Ocean Boulevard, which already exists.

Planning of Chicago

(Slide)²⁶.  I now come to Chicago.  I will have to make this a brief as I can.  It is an evening’s task to describe properly this plan alone.  I will simply get through quickly to the center of the city, where I will show you the intensive work now being done on studies.  This is a highways diagram.  Ninety-five per cent of those roads which you see exist.  The exceptions are these dotted lines.  It is proposed to get these small townships to co-operate in building the road, and recent developments are very encouraging.  The State had appropriated a sum of money and a million dollars is to be expended in this study.

(Slide)²⁷.   This is the general plan of the city.  I am going to call your attention to the Civic Center axis, which is Congress Street – only a very small street, and Michigan Avenue, which is here, and Grant Park, which lies here on the water, and then is proposed park running down to Jackson Park, which was the site of the Exposition.  This is the extension of Michigan Avenue.

(Slide)²⁸.   Just before passing to the description, I ought to call your attention to this.  We will progress over the plans taking in the whole city, down to the smaller scale.  That is the railroad occupancy.  All this is manufacturing and industries.  We have a terrible problem here.  We have a great problem at Michigan Avenue, at this point, which will be described later on.

(Slide)²⁹.  Coming down a little bit more closely to the plan – here is the area of Grant Park.  Here is a street which I neglected to mention before, Twelfth Street, and here again is Michigan Avenue and the Field Museum site.  There is the park extending down the shore.  This is the proposed Civic Center group of buildings.  Then I ought to call your attention to the proposed Congress Street.  I shall have occasion to speak of that in connection with the railroad operation a little later on.  It will be of special interest for you to remember that this great axial line is proposed.

(Slide)³⁰.   Another view, from the original painting by Guérin.  It is very beautiful in the original; unfortunately it has not come out very well in the slide.  The Civic Center is down in here – Grant Park – out there the harbour which in the summer time is filled with yachts, and it is beautiful.  From these slides you will get some idea of the correlation of the main elements of the plan structure.

(Slide)³¹.   This is the improvement I will first take up, called the Michigan Avenue Improvement.   The Boulevard has been widened to 130 feet here, but, as you see, it runs into these awful looking buildings and narrows to about 66 feet and goes across the river on the north shore.  It is the only way we have to get from the residential district to the down-town district.  I shall not dwell on this very long.

(Slide)³².   The boulevard as proposed is approximately this. It is as straight as we can get it – not quite straight. It angles at the bridge.  We shall remove 84 feet of these buildings for a distance of four blocks;  then north of the river we take from a quarter to one-third of a block off for a distance of thirteen blocks.  

(Slide)³³.   The significance of this improvement  is that the teams which now come in on the level and cross over  to these teaming yards will pass under this improvement. There will be a double-deck bridge passing over the river and the North-western  Railway which lies in here. You see, there will be the elimination of grade crossing and of teaming with lighter traffic. The whole thing is to cost some six million dollars to eight million dollars, and it has been approved  by the Council. It has been through the Council twice. Unfortunately, owing to a slight technical discrepancy in the description of some of the property, the Superior Court sent it back, but another ordinance was prepared and it has gone through a second time – showing the determination of the people to get it done.

(Slide)³⁴.   This is a view of the bridge itself, with imaginary buildings.  They come in at extraordinary angles there, which accounts for these outlines. It shows also the pier treatment and granite abutments to the bridge, which, if you know Chicago bridges at all, will be seen to be strikingly different from what we now have. This treatment we are carrying out on all the bridges throughout the river. The Plan Commission is working in cooperation with the City Engineer’s office and carrying the same note throughout the designs for the river, so that eventually it will have a uniform and orderly appearance.

(Slide)³⁵.  I think possibly it will refresh you to look by way of contrast on a reality, the Champs Élysées. It is a very old picture, taken before the cabs were replaced by motors. One little thing we congratulate ourselves on, even in our efforts in Chicago, is that we shall get a slight rise owing to separation of grades, and coming down into town  shall get in a measure that sweep which is so fine in the Champs Élysées.

(Slide)³⁶.  This is Rio Janeiro, showing the boulevard, which was cut at a cost of some eleven millions of dollars. As you see, it is entirely rebuilt and it shows a beautiful, orderly, although not absolutely rigid, line of building there. More rigidity is shown down here in the lamps and in the trees, and perhaps that is our best practice in modern planning, to get some sense of unity and to control the eyeline by rows of lamps, beautifully placed, or by the trees.

(Slide)³⁷.   Taking them up in the order of succession, – the next improvement is the Shore Improvement  for Chicago.  This is Grant Park.  It represents 150 acres filled in by artificial means, from the excavations of  cellars for buildings, and one thing or another. This railroad was originally a trestle, with double track, out in the water, the water coming up approximately to Michigan Avenue at this point, and there were residences along this frontage. It is now half built up of fifteen and eighteen storey buildings, and is rapidly attaining a regularity of line.

(Slide)³⁸.   This is a drawing showing Michigan Avenue built up,  showing Congress Street on the axis of this great space, Grant Park, and showing Michigan Avenue, as I described it a moment ago, running  across the river to Chicago Avenue, where it meets the Lake Shore Drive. The Field Museum was originally proposed – the Field Museum is a seven million dollar building given by Mr. Marshall Field, of Chicago, which was to be placed in the middle of this park. Unfortunately, or fortunately in some senses, because of a number of very ugly things removed from the lake front – the interpretation of the dedication of  this park by the Supreme Court was that no buildings could be placed  in this area. The site for this building was therefore provided some seven miles out, on free land in Jackson Park. I will show you what it is now proposed to do.

(Slide)³⁹.    General view of the shore. This is the Park again. Here is the harbour, which it is proposed to enlarge, ‘and here is a parkway running down the entire shore for seven miles. The Park Board and the railroads have come to an agreement – also the city is included – for the riparian rights, enabling the city or the park people to build this great parkway, with a lagoon six hundred feet wide, perhaps, and the park itself about a thousand. We reckon that it can be built at the rate of fifty acres a year at the very least, owing to the fact that the earth and one thing or another which is dumped into the lake can be deposited here behind piling and made to contribute to this great improvement.  The Field Museum, which was to be in the center here, has been located on the block of ground about in there (indicating), south of the park, but fronting on it. We could not get it in the original park, but we have  it in an extension of the park and fronting on it. 

(Slide)⁴⁰.   I should refer to Twelfth Street at this point. Here it is. This is a nearer view, showing the proposed location of the Field Museum, with its facade at this point. Here is the parkway and the lagoon stretching to the south. Here is the Illinois Central Railway, which will be framed by this park, making a most delightful way for the suburban passengers coming in. Here is the suggested station for them, and this is Twelfth Street, about which I will speak.

That is another one of the great improvements which have been put to the vote and been approved by the people. The railroads in a recent deal of the city with the Pennsylvania Railroad and other railroads of the Union Station agreed to build one-third of this viaduct.  It is part of a great trade which the city made. The cost of the balance

of the viaduct will be paid in a large measure by other railroads over whose right-of-way it passes.  Here is the improvement running out to the Field Museum and connecting the great west side with the Lake Front.  I should say that building is already under construction.

(Slide)⁴¹.   Henley.   The lagoons along the shore. The idea that suggested lagoons might be said to have been Henley. I do not know that it was consciously borrowed. The parkway enclosing them was suggested first of all by Mr. Ellsworth, then President of the South Park Board, and Mr. Burnham took up the idea and originally designed it;  I should speak here of the influence of the World’s Fair on the City Plan. It really was from the World’s Fair that the parkway idea grew and is being consummated right now, in the construction of that building and the beginning of the parkway and lagoons.  The preceding slide showed a regatta at Henley.

(Slide)⁴².   And this is the proposed regatta at Chicago.  This eight would be dropped in the water somewhere about the university,  just here, and come down through the midway, and the supposition is, the races would take place through the lagoons.

(Slide)⁴³.   At the risk of wearying you, I will give you a little bit in detail the history of the transformation which has taken place in the heart of this city. I want to illustrate, before passing on to the plans, more relating to government centers, the intensive nature of the study which is being made nowadays. This is the Center of Chicago, the so called“ Loop District.”  This is the river, and here is Congress Street, not quite perhaps 130 feet wide, and the Civic Center out here. This in blue represents the railroad occupancy. There is a great deal more out in here. Here is Michigan Avenue.  This is Twelfth Street, and out here is the Field Museum and the Park. The Pennsylvania Railroad Company,  the Union Station Company, I should say, and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, for its freight, proposed to bring it in overhead along this line and crossing over our  proposed grand axis up to this point.   The freight house they proposed to locate there, and a new passenger station at this point. They have succeeded in placing it at that point –  about in  here with the tracks out on this blue space.  The objectionable feature of the freight house has been removed and after a very long and hard struggle they have agreed to bring it in this area, which is doomed in any case and is really a freight area. It is a very significant thing, because it involved not only the change of the freight house, but  the agreement involved the straightening of the river between these two points about half a mile. The river now takes a sweep like this, and the railroads have practically agreed to cooperate to straighten out the river.  That should have been done, of course, thirty years ago. Our problem in here is this: We have a few streets opening to the west.  We have five or six streets in here, opening to the south, and three of  them pass through railway yards.  The Plan Commission proposes and hopes to carry half a dozen more of those streets down to the south and develop the north and south thoroughfares. That part of the problem, however, could not be solved in this discussion; it did not affect only the railroads involved, although we tried to broaden the discussion out to take in the whole railway situation. There were, however, great concessions. The widening of this street for a mile and connection of it across the river, all to be paid for by the railroads; the widening of a great number of viaducts in here, and also the concession of allowing Congress Street, which is the proposed axis, to cross their tracks.

(Slide)⁴⁴.   This is the railroad occupancy in Chicago. Here is the proposed freight house, and Congress Street is in there, in black, and the river road, which we failed to get in the Ordinance. All these viaducts that you see marked in there have been agreed to. It represents an expenditure of some six or seven million dollars on city work in the way of viaducts and approaches.

(Slide)⁴⁵.   The proposed arrangement of the Civic Center was something like this. In the original plan it was suggested that the Union Station be placed here as part of it. They are coming to this block, some distance away. Just how we are going to adjust that to the Post Office, which may be built on this block, and the proposed avenue, also away from the original proposed center, I do not know. It is a question of readjustment, but it can be worked out, and it simply illustrates the fact that as one goes on and executes a plan, there must be minor changes made.

Unfortunately, I have not a slide showing the railway station proposed.

(Slide)⁴⁶.    Paris, Gare d’Orleans.  It is very handsome and it will front on the water, have a clear view over the tracks, which will be depressed, and although it will not compare to this similarly placed station in Paris, these fine trees and great width of river, still it will be an improvement which we are very glad to have.

Implemented Plans

I have so far shown you things proposed. The question is so often raised whether these things can be carried out, no matter how much they are promised. You have illustrations in your own city which I might cite, of beauty of arrangement or of rebuilding on official lines. It may perhaps refresh you to give one or two illustrations of things that have been actually done.

(Slide)⁴⁷.   This again is Chicago – the old Tremont House and similar to this  the Sherman House. The new Sherman Hotel, built on the same site, is here shown. And there is the Blackstone Hotel. (Slide)⁴⁸.   It is illustrative of the total change   in individual objects in a city and may also be taken as illustrative of the total change occurring in our cities, of the total transformation which is possible and makes a reality of our plans instead of a dream.

(Slide)⁴⁹.  Again, this is Fourth Avenue, New York, in 1892.

(Slide)⁵⁰.   This is Fourth Avenue in l912.  It is an exaggeration, but, after all there it is; the forces are at work. If we control them we shall get beautiful results. As a matter of fact, these things get up so high that the skyline is practically negligible in narrow streets and on flat ground. I might say in passing that such is not the case with the City of Ottawa; it has that problem, with its hills. It must be very forcibly expressed. The silhouettes of the buildings along the streets, and as seen from the river, must be controlled, if for no other reason than to leave prominence to the central group of buildings.

(Slide)⁵¹.   This is the Grand Central terminal in New York. That was in 1890.or 1892.  This (Slide) is the present condition. The significance of this is that by this operation a great street will be carried on both sides of this avenue, reuniting up here and running indefinitely north.  It has already become the Center of hotels and apartment houses, and nine additional streets were carried over the tracks of this railroad, thereby relieving the pressure on the circulation of traffic. The progressive step of this station from the foot of Manhattan up to this point would be interesting, but there is not time to give it.

The next Plan in the sequence is Portland, Oregon.

(Slide)⁵².   Portland, Oregon. I am going to pass briefly now over Portland and Minneapolis without describing them, with simply reference to one thing, the development of the business area. This is the present business area of Portland. This more extended area is that which we believe will be occupied ultimately by the City Center. You see ? Added growth.  Here is the wholesale and shipping district. I believe that the latter will extend out in this direction, away from the Center toward better rail and water facilities.

(Slide)⁵³.   This is the heart of Portland, showing the proposed railway station, which is a revision of the present station –  the Civic Center –  the extension of  Seventh Avenue, which extends down in here; carrying it through these blocks to make a fine approach to the station itself  – and the location out here of the Auditorium in conjunction with a very  fine athletic club house, which is being built. However, these things are mostly of local importance and I shall not go into detail.

(Slide)⁵⁴.  This represents a hillside park and view from it overlooking Portland, and showing the widened streets and general improvements. This plan was adopted by a popular vote of 3 to 1. It was rather gratifying; although they have not shown as much practical enthusiasm in carrying it out.

 (Slide)⁵⁵.  Plan of Minneapolis, representing results. It is uninteresting to look at, but l would like to call your attention to this street extension, and to that street extension; for it is typical of seven or eight street extensions which are now pending in the Council, representing upwards of  two miles of actual street cutting and three miles of street widening, based on an articulated plan. Two or three new bridges are projected. One of them is already under construction in conformity with the plan both as to location and design.

The Post Office, which is located down in this section of the town, (the Center), was changed at our request by the Government, to front on an avenue which is to be ultimately widened rather than to front on a narrower, less important street, in an opposite direction. I should like here to dwell upon the wonderful topography of this beautiful city. You see, it is dotted with lakes. All the white spots represent lakes. It is  proposed to take some of this magnificent country and turn it into forest reserves, and to park the banks of these rivers. This park exists  all the way down practically on both sides of that river, right into the heart of the city. The plan proposes ultimately to find a way through and make a continuous sweep of it right up to the north. This park, which exists, down here, was done before the days of actual systematic  city planning. Our planning had to do with this section of the city. 

(Slide)⁵⁶.   This is the so-called “Gateway Park” and the Union Station proposed plan This section of the station indicated has been built, although it has been built nearer to the river than proposed. By an act of the Legislature the city will be empowered, although we have no knowledge yet as to whether it will be constitutional or not, to build the  remaining section as a Union Station and force all the railroads entering the city to come into it. It is the most drastic thing that has ever been proposed. I do not know how it will succeed, but it shows determination to try to get the station and the various railroads brought together in a convenient manner for the travelling public. The railway station may be established by the issuance of bonds; the City Council  has already commenced proceedings under the Act.

(Slide)⁵⁷.   This is Minneapolis, showing the station proposed and showing ” Gateway Park,” the property of which has been bought and which is being improved in accordance with this plan.

(Slide)⁵⁸.   It may be refreshing, after seeing so many diagrams, to see something as beautiful as this, which is the Big Palace and the Little Palace, with the Champs Elyées bordering them. We certainly have an ideal to hold up to ourselves in this work on the new continent.

In the progressive development of City Plans I come now to the consideration of the plans made for Detroit and Brooklyn. Neither  of them have been developed in detail or thoroughly illustrated. Studies, however, have been made of one or two of the important points, including a Civic Center in Brooklyn. These plans emphasize certain aspects of City Planning, more especially those of the growth of population, city transportation and the circulation of traffic of every kind in the streets.

The analysis of the plan of Brooklyn, in all its larger phases, I believe to have been carried out to a point beyond that of any yet published on this continent, and I regret that time is lacking in which to present this problem thoroughly. Much emphasis has been laid on the analysis of  the street system; but I think I must pass over this rather quickly and just show you the slides.

(Slide)⁵⁹.   This is the plan of Brooklyn, showing the progressive steps of the centers of population, showing the  progressive steps of the city boundary. I am not going to dwell on that. 

(Slide)⁶⁰.  This is the plan of the city.  I am going to stop for one minute to show you this artery, which is a proposed new artery, and to speak of this one and of that, both of which are new. This one parallels an existing avenue, running down from this section of the town. There is no means of crossing the city from this point over to this. One has to zigzag through the streets thus. I made a close study of this problem.

Five general directions were selected: one towards Brooklyn Bridge; one from Brooklyn to Queen’s; one from Brooklyn out to Long Island; one from Brooklyn to the centers of population and the shopping districts and one from Brooklyn generally to New York. The shortest routes which could be taken by anyone attempting to get from any given point in the city to  another, according to the diagrams, were platted [sic] and simplified routes sought. As a result of this analysis and a comparison with the street counts of actual traffic it was possible to arrive at a general average statement of what was desirable in the way of developed streets, not only by widening but by actual cutting.

(Slide)⁶¹.  Traffic Movement Diagram: I regret to throw this hideous looking thing on the screen, but it  illustrates  the point I am after. These yellow indications represent the movement of travel per hour, according to scale. This represents the travel corning through Queen’s into the heart of Brooklyn, and this represents the travel coming into the heart of Brooklyn by devious paths. If you look at the two diagrams you will see that this diagonal, if cut, would absolutely simplify the whole thing, and this one would do the same for this section of the town.

(Slide)⁶².   Before leaving the subject of street circulation , at the risk of boring you, I am going to tell you, as I should have done in connection with the Chicago plan, our difficulty in the downtown district. We are now, with two and a half million people, so congested in our downtown streets that we can hardly move. There are very few means of opening streets on this very valuable property, and yet something must be done.  The center of the city must be extended; the business section must be extended or it will ultimately choke. This little section of city of one quarter of a square mile, which I showed you a moment ago, is 16 percent built up to 12 stories, 12 or 14 per cent up to 12 stories, the  ??12 balance from 5 to 12. The effective use of the property we reckon at about 70 per cent developed. There is another 30 per cent still to go. With double the population, the proportionate business would spread over nearly twice the area with the same crippled street system. Supposing we do not get relief to traffic, what will happen?

There are two means of relief. One of these is to take the cars off  the street. That will probably be done ultimately. The movement is on foot now. The cars will be sunk into subways. That will give us  possibly 75 per cent improvement in the circulation of some of our  streets. The sidewalks might then be narrowed, with nothing but a minimum for the circulation of the few passengers who would stay on that level. But where would the bulk of the pedestrians go? And where would the cars go? The people would have to go up on an elevated structure. With a subway for the cars, the normal level for street traffic, and elevated ways for pedestrians, and still an elevated railroad above that, would give us four stories at the least. It is an extraordinary situation. It is one that can hardly confront you here in Ottawa or in many cities of the world, but in that little, intense centre in Chicago, where everything focuses, we are having a very hard struggle. It has developed the essentials perhaps in the study of street planning more thoroughly. As figured out tentatively, we can deal possibly with five million people, but with eight or ten, why, of course, it would be hopeless without radical changes.

I have not the time to dwell on the parks and playgrounds. They are most essential elements in the City Plan.   We have many of the latter in Chicago, all designed in the same type of architecture. (Slide)^62a Sherman Park.  I had the pleasure of designing this layout (indicating) with Mr. Burnham, together with a dozen or more. They are the most delightful things I have had to deal with. These wading pools are for children in hot weather. Here is a swimming pool 150 feet long – like all the others it is open to the sky. The influence for good on the neighbourhood of these playgrounds is incalculable. Certain classes of crime disappear entirely. 

(Slide)⁶³ This is Berlin, showing the Forest Reserves. There are something like 15,000 acres used. The German public enjoys them. Not only that, but the government succeeds in making a little money out of them by selling the timber.  We propose, in Chicago, something like 50,000 acres. The bill for this was voted, but was thrown out on a technicality, and will be up again at the next election.

(Slide)⁶⁴ Minneapolis, showing the same thing – Forest – Reserves  –  which it is hoped ultimately to tie up with the general park system.

(Slide)⁶⁵  The District of Columbia, Washington, showing the Capitol, and, in light tone, the parks existing; in dark tone, the parkways proposed to connect them. They represent beautiful sections, for the most part, little valleys. It is of note that in Philadelphia this work is being done in a very splendid manner. All of the spaces susceptible of parking in this manner are being bought and woven into a complete system.

Planning of Capital Cities

(Slide)⁶⁶  Having dealt with the cities in which commercial activities  present great problems, I come now to a consideration of capital cities  – unfortunately limited, as I do not wish to compare the work in Ottawa with the great centers of the old world, which are largely commercial. I shall therefore refer to recent examples. Manila, P.I. –  I have no plan of Manila but I will read what I have in my notes. The comprehensive plan of Manila, the capital and commercial center of the Philippine Islands, was undertaken by the United States Government in 1905. The general plan, which was prepared by Mr. Burnham, has been constantly adhered to and has controlled the location of new streets, parks and public buildings.   Situated on Manila Bay, the city offered a fine opportunity for developing its water front. More than two miles of water front has been improved by reclamation in connection with deepening of the harbor. Public gardens, a shore drive 250 feet wide, piers  for ocean liners, schools, hospitals, clubs, hotels, etc., have already been built in accordance with the plan. I regret this can not be illustrated. I have seen the illustrations myself. These things have been done in recent times and follow a comprehensive plan.

Reference to the improvement of Manila is of interest in connection  with the plan of Ottawa for the reason that Manila is the capital for the present population of eight millions; the expected future population of the Philippine Islands being fifty millions.

The actual success achieved in Manila indicated what may be accomplished by a progressive government when it is supported by its citizens.

Next, and more closely relating to the capital city of the Dominion is its sister capital on the continent, Washington, D.C. It is, as you know, the seat of an administration serving the needs of a population of approximately ninety millions of people, or more than ten times that of the Dominion of Canada. I will make reference later on however, to the comparative values of the two capitals and proceed to describe the developments which have taken place in Washington following the lines of a plan prepared by the Park Commission of the District of Columbia,

I mention this here because the plan of Ottawa must necessarily, and will, now that we have progressed to the point where we can deal with those problems, take in outlying country. We must not let that go, we must take in the outlying districts and lay out a plan, whether all of the planned area is to be built up or not. We  know that many outlying sections of the city will be built and we must plan for it.

(Slide)⁶⁷  This is the plan of Major L’Enfant, with these diagonal arteries superimposed over that square plan, in which rectangular streets take the minor place.

(Slide)⁶⁸  This is the Washington Monument. It was to have been placed on  the intersection of  the axis, but the engineers found firmer foundations at this point – to one side of the cross axis. My personal view is that it is not as unfortunate as appears at first consideration.

The Plan Commission of Washington has extended the Mall treatment down to the Potomac by filling in.

(Slide)⁶⁹ This is another plan – the Capitol – the Mall – leading down to the proposed   (rest of sentence missing)  across the river.

The interesting, significant thing in this whole movement was the removal of the Pennsylvania Railway Station from the Mall. The Smithsonian Institute cuts across the Mall, but it is less destructive. But this railway, with its tracks right across, made the execution of the plan seem like a hopeless job. Owing to the fact that the Pennsylvania

acquired some interest in the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, a Union Station was proposed at this point quite near the Capitol. That was the first step. It looked well as a start, but it gradually became apparent that this great structure was going to overpower the Capitol on the hill, as it was, and there did not seem to be the right relation between those

 two buildings. It was a question of scale and relation; also it was found in studying the problem that a site further back presented advantages from the railroad standpoint. Mr. Burnham recognized this and proposed that the station be moved back to Massachusetts Avenue. Mr. Cassatt, who was then President of the railway, was impatient at first, but be ultimately saw the advantage and the Government co-operating with the Railway Company, or rather the Railway Company with the Government, carried out this scheme. The Government put between  three and four million dollars into the raising and grading of this plaza and constructing new streets. The latest development is in these two strips on either side of the avenue, leading to the Capitol, having been taken over as a park, so that this area will be parked between these two points of public or national interest. Other points of interest are the Grant Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the National Museum that big building down there and the Agricultural Building all in accordance with the general plan and in execution. This is the railway station, with the Columbus Memorial, showing the Plaza in front of it.

(Slide)⁷⁰ This is a general view of the plan itself.  The Capitol is here. Grant Avenue, leading down to the Memorial – the cross axis. The White House, then the lagoon and the continuation of the axis, down to the Lincoln Memorial. It was proposed in Congress to replace this memorial by a highway running out to Gettysburg, and it was fought hard, but   ultimately the truer idea prevailed and the Monument, which was designed by Henry Bacon, is now being built down at this point. So that this and that, especially, and the central point here, that great avenue, seem destined to be carried out and completed.  

The sites for the semi public buildings, such as the Corcoran Art Gallery, the Building of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Pan American Union Building, etc., are an important factor in the plan of a capital.

(Slide)⁷¹ I put this in here, partly thinking the production of it might be refreshing, partly as an illustration of things proposed. It is Versailles, showing the Palace and the radiating arteries.

(Slide)⁷² Coming back to Washington, these are the sunken gardens proposed, showing the avenues of tree and the base of the Monument. This is the Monument on the avenue, with the sunken gardens below.   

(Slide)⁷³ Here we get a general view of the Mall. It is along this line, and that line, the buildings are being placed. And this is the Capitol, and down there is the Grant Memorial. The plan is fairly launched and when this is completed it will, no doubt, be very fine in itself. The city, however, this is an important point and I want to make this a point in Ottawa. I have already spoken about it, but it is of very great significance. The city, however, as seen from the Mall, that is, seen from this section of the plan at the western end is very disturbing in its silhouette, owing to a lack of control or organization of the city in its various districts. That is to say, there is a factory right next to a residence, a factory of seven stores, in brick, next to a residence in white, in woodwork and of three stories, then an apartment house and so on. There is no order in the section of the city which borders this great composition, and no organization of the city into its various districts. This directs us to the final consideration in the progression of city plans on this continent.

I have run through planning in its general conception down to the intense development of centers and have spoken about the parks and street problems. We come now to the question of control.

 The phases which have been before described are of the greatest importance in city planning, for our greatest problems are bound up with the street system, for to this system relate most of the public utilities on the surface, above and below ground. As before stated, they naturally precede the important phase of City Planning known as districting or

control of the various districts involved in a city’s structure, with a view to the safeguarding of their specific interests.

This matter has been dealt with in a general manner, beginning with Chicago, and suggestions made which, if followed, would result in rendering the areas best suited to residence, of a more stable character and has been further developed in later plans. The control of the various areas, both as to general outline and as to architectural form and

character, would naturally follow. Thought is being given to the subject in this country and the various reports that have been made relating to height limitation foreshadow the time when the regulations will be established, enabling us to mould our cities as a whole.

This is of the utmost importance. I stood today out on the terrace of the Parliament Buildings. The sweep of those violet hills is perfectly wonderful. One gets the impression out there that if to the north of Rideau Street, an irregular outline were to go up – factories in one place and business buildings, without regulation the whole outlook would be very much marred. There must be regulation and it is not too much to say that a scheme might be worked out, without prejudice to business interests, with lines radiating from the central point at the Parliament Buildings. This is the idea (indicating). This end the central point, the other end moving along the horizon as directrix. This would control the height of buildings rather than controlling merely by some regulation six or ten stories. Such a thing as this will be dealt with in  the recommendations of the report.

(Slide)⁷⁴ View of Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. To illustrate: Here is the Mall itself. This is the irregular stuff that you get around it. The White House – Pennsylvania Avenue and the Capitol in the distance. The Avenue itself is irregular. It sweeps gently up to the Capitol and presents a fine opportunity; but Washington is without comprehensive control. I do not mean to say there is no control. There are certain sections which have been very beautifully handled. It is the vital thing which has not been thoroughly treated.

(Slide)⁷⁵ Avenue Kleber, looking from the Arc de Triomphe to the Trocadero. This slide represents the influence of a single city ordinance on the rounding of the silhouettes of the city of Paris, and shows how like a domed city it looks. The conditions established provide for a height limitation above which the buildings may be completed  within the arc of a circle of a specified radius.

Planning of Ottawa-Hull

My talk has been general city planning, and in it I have attempted to emphasize the importance of a comprehensive plan as a guide to individual improvements and as a stimulus to undertakings worthy the best efforts of man. I regret that it has not been possible to touch at more length on the capitals of the world in connection with the plan of Ottawa-Hull, which is now being made under the auspices of the Federal Commission.

In view of the fact that capitals are to be established in India and Australia on virgin soil and of plans in which great freedom has been left to the composers, it behoves us not to fall short in our conception of the plan for the capital city of the Dominion of Canada.

First of all, let me say that I believe strongly in the idea of a Government District for proper control and uniform development of the cities of Ottawa and Hull, which for the purpose of fine development must be regarded as a unit.

I do not need to refer at length to the natural beauty of the setting of these cities. The topography of the site is wonderful and it is surrounded by a curtain of violet hills, similar in their expression to those surrounding the city of Athens. They are just as beautiful.

The opportunity is a great one, nor is the growth of the city too far advanced to prohibit a plan of a radical character being carried out.

The rate of growth of Ottawa is low, similar to that of the growth of Washington, D.C., and it is a uniform growth. The problem represented is not one of an active, intensively built metropolis, but one in which one may seek a finer development.

Unlike the great capitals of Europe, it will probably not be pendant to a great city, and it may be regarded primarily as a Government center. Reasonable encouragement must be given to industrial and business development in order to take advantage of the natural resources, but such development must be most carefully controlled and the commercial development sought must be such as befits the character of a city primarily a Government center, and such as will suit the needs of a highly developed community. The aim should be rather to make of Ottawa and Hull a center not only of the Government, but the center of wealth and culture of the country, to attract, hold and develop a high quality of citizenship by making the capital the most agreeable place of residence in the country. It may be objected that such development can only take place as has been the case in the commercial capitals of the old world, but the precedent for the other form of development is to be seen in Washington, where it is becoming more and more the custom of influential people having homes in other parts of the United States to build houses at the capital.

(Slide)⁷⁶ Ottawa-Hull showing in colours the present occupancy of the territory. It is not my purpose, nor is it possible, to go into details of a plan which is only now being studied. I will try, however, to touch in a general way on the problems presented.

The problem is very similar to the problems I have laid before you this evening. It does not take in merely Ottawa, as you see it on this map; it takes in twenty miles around. It must include a forest reserve upon the Laurentian Hills. It must take care of this district lying around the built section of the city. This in pink represents that part already built. It must take care of the traffic. It must seek the origin of traffic at the railway terminals, and find their places of destination, and, if possible, work out some scheme by which the traffic of the city may be ultimately ordered in such a way that the finer traffic takes certain routes and the heavier teaming takes the routes best suited for it and for commercial purposes. It must deal with parks. It must deal with parks in the center of the city. It must deal with the parking of sections of the river, we will say. It must deal with the extension of the Government center. That, however, is a special problem which is being dealt with by competition.

I had a note here to speak of the cost. I do not think it is necessary. That has been covered by the statement as to what the character of this center, the Capital of the Dominion, must be. But I will say this the cost of comprehensive plan work such as might be carried out here will be paid out largely for improvements in any case. The improvements would not be done, however, in a correlative way or in a fine manner, and that is really the object in having a plan. Almost every day there is a building being put up, a bridge being rebuilt, a street being paved, according, we will say, to no plan, or according to the plan as it exists to﷓day in this city, as in any other. It is the control of these expenditures taking place day by day, year by year, that I have in mind, and the expenditure of additional amounts as a profitable investment for the city.

The Government center as built is a fine conception. I have not time to dwell on it. Personally, it is very sympathetic to me. At the height of the bluff – I have been all over this country. I did it when the snow was on the ground, selecting points from which the Government center is seen, with a view to connecting it, in mind at least, with the whole of the city itself so that it might ultimately be related to the whole city and be in harmony with the other elements of the plan. The ultimate needs of the Dominion Government must be taken care of, and the Departments, which are ever increasing, must be provided for. They are being provided for very lavishly in Washington, on a larger relative scale than they have been in Ottawa. It is a larger country, but the figures appear to show that the administration needs grow at a very much more rapid rate than the population itself.

(Slide)⁷⁷ I regret that is about all I have to say on Ottawa itself. The railway situation, of course, is one that will have to be handled. There are no conclusions on that. The lumber yards, the power house, and one thing and another, all of that I must leave you to imagine by suggestion, from the plans of other cities that have gone before.

(Slide)⁷⁸ This is a view looking from the Victoria Tower on the Ottawa River, showing Nepean Point, and there is a sweep that is very beautiful in reality and came out very well in the photograph. It is not particularly happy here. Yes, you have a very beautiful site for your Capital. It is inspiring.  This is the East Building, and the Mackenzie Tower. I have thought, when here, that this tower might even be given a more general name and called the Premier’s Tower. The Departmental Buildings come in here, and it is rather interesting. This tower should be – if the present buildings are ever changed – larger; perhaps eventually they will be rebuilt, but even as at present the tower will serve to bind these new departmental buildings with the original group, in silhouette as well as in plan.

(Slide)⁷⁹  A view from a height, taken from Notre Dame, looking  down on the well developed  river. And perhaps that might suggest something for Ottawa.

 (Slide)⁸⁰ A view looking across the river at Budapest, showing the Capital  building – a different development, possibly, from what will take place here. I have said nothing about style. I could say a great deal about style, but I shall limit myself to this one remark, that style is a question of proportion and character and the style of building that will go best on the bluffs of this city, is that which meets these conditions and the practical needs the best. It may be ” Classic” and it may be an “Early Renaissance” or “Gothic” feeling; I do not care for the word ” Gothic.” I think there is too much bad work done under the name of Gothic, but the later period merging into the Renaissance is very beautiful and would adapt itself well to the hills, but, as you see, even the classic structure can look well. It is a question of proportion and relation.

(Slide)⁸¹ This is a scene from India.

(Slide)⁸²I am presenting now several views of the old world. This is London, which is sympathetic to us all. St Paul’s, showing the beautiful and handsome development of the river bank.

(Slide)⁸³ This is the city of Dresden, showing commerce combined with recreation.

(Slide)⁸⁴ Paris.  This is the Alexander III Bridge, one of the most magnificent improvements that have been made in recent times, representing the high water mark, perhaps, of civic work; perhaps not as to taste, but at least as to expression.

(Slide)⁸⁵ Berlin.

(Slide)⁸⁶ The Champs Elysées, the Louvre in the distance, and the Large Palace (Grand Palais).

The Avenue du Bois de Boulogne, showing another kind of avenue, with parking on either side –  (Slide)⁸⁷ one of the most magnificent things that were ever created.

(Slide)⁸⁸ Edinburgh, which by suggestion may seem to come a little  bit nearer home – the suggestion of heights and of Gothic silhouette.

(Slide)⁸⁹ And last we come to the Parliament buildings, with which you are familiar. It is an unusual view and I thought it would be interesting to present it to you.  (Slide)⁹⁰ The silhouette showing the Mackenzie Tower dominating. (Slide)⁹¹ Still dominating. It has been proposed in the plan recently submitted, to establish a still higher tower, on lower ground. It will have to be a good height in order to dominate these towers.

This silhouette must be controlled in here – this commercial silhouette must be controlled in order to safeguard that as a Government center.

(Slide)⁹² And finally, a view of which none of you need be ashamed.  Very beautiful, in my estimation, and represents something which it would be well to live up to if we can do nothing better. (Showing the Library of Parliament exterior).

I have just a word. Some doubt has been expressed that the plans may forecast a development similar to that of Washington, D.C., to which I have alluded so often in this talk. Let me dispel any such idea by reference to the topography alone of Ottawa. It would be impossible to treat two places so different as to site, in a similar manner; but

let me say further that the future city, consciously or not, will be not only an expression of the physical and climatic  conditions pertaining here, but of those conditions of still greater force, the character and quality of the race, and I venture to say that only a plan based on the appreciation of the underlying character of the problem in all its phases will lead to the accomplishment of results of a fine and lasting character.

Slides Used in Speech

[1]. Image not located to date. Bennett found the model in Rome and wrote Daniel Burnham suggesting that a copy be prepared to exhibit with the 1909 Plan of Chicago. E. H. Bennett papers (EHB), Art Institute of Chicago, Series I, File 1.2. Thanks to Professor Anthony Sutcliffe for proposing and supplying this image from his collection.

[2]. Burnham, D.H., and E. H. Bennett, “The Transformation of Paris under Haussmann: Plan Showing the Portion Executed from 1854 to 1989,” Plan of Chicago, (Hereafter POC) (Chicago: Commerical Club, 1909), Plate XVII, p. 16

[3]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XV, p. 14. “Transformation of the Banks of the Seine in Paris – 1740.” Also found in W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 30. Bennett supplied many images to this high school textbook as advisor to the Chicago Plan Commission.

[4]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XV, p. 14. “Transformation of the Banks of the Seine in Paris – 1830.” The same image is mislabeled as 1880 in W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 30.Bennett supplied many images to this high school textbook as advisor to the Chicago Plan Commission.

[5]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XV, p; 14. “ Transformation of the Banks of the Seine in Paris – 1880.” The same image is mislabeled as 1830 in W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 30.Bennett supplied many images to this high school textbook as advisor to the Chicago Plan Commission.

[6]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XVI, p. 15. “Chronological Views of the Place de La Bastille, Paris – 1780.” Same image in W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p.31.Bennett supplied many images to this high school textbook as advisor to the Chicago Plan Commission.

[7]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XVI, page 15. “Chronological Views of the Place de La Bastille, Paris – 1830.” Same image in W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 31.Bennett supplied many images to this high school textbook as advisor to the Chicago Plan Commission.

[8]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XVI, page. 15. “Chronological Views of the Place de La Bastille, Paris – 1880.” Same image in W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 31.Bennett supplied many images to this high school textbook as advisor to the Chicago Plan Commission.

[9]. Imaged not identified. Bennett appears to have used a book of balloon views of Paris, possibly obtained during his student days at the École des Beaux Arts, 1895-1902.

[10]. Image not identified. Thanks to Professor Anthony Sutcliffe for proposing and supplying this image from his collection.

[11]. Image not identified.

[12]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XIX, p. 19. “City Center Vienna in 1857, showing the fortifications.”

[13].Plan of Chicago, Plate XX, p. 19. “City Center, Vienna, after transformations made by order of Francis Joseph in 1857.”

[14]. M.H. Port, Imperial London: Civil Government Building in London 1850-1915 (London: Yale University Press, 1995) Fig. 19a. “London County Council: Holborn to Strand Improvement, 1892-1905″.

[15]. Slide not identified. Probably a LCC photograph of the newly opened Kingsway.

[16]. Slide not identified.

[17]. Slide not identified. “Parking of the ruins” probably refers to the plan to make the site of the Forum a public park.

[18]. W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916), p. 34. “Dusseldorf, Germany showing a promenade on the Rhine embankment, combining a center for recreation and industrial utility.”

[19]. W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916), p. 36. “Berlin: Birds-Eye View of the City.”

[20]. Plan of Chicago, Plate III, p. 2. “The World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893: The Court of Honor, looking towards the Peristyle.” Also in Moody, p. 6

[21]. Plan of Chicago, Plate IV, p. 3. “This view shows the effect of an orderly arrangement of buildings and a uniform cornice line. From a painting by Mente”. Also in Moody, p. 69.

[22]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XXVII, p. 25. “Cleveland Group Plan”. From D. H. Burnham and J.R. Carrére and Arnold Brunner, “Report on a Group Plan of the Public Buildings of Cleveland.” ( Cleveland: 1903.)

[23]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XXVIII, p. 25. also Burnham et al. op. cit.

[24]. D. H. Burnham and E. H. Bennett, Report on a Plan for San Francisco (San Francisco 1906, Urban Books 1971 Reprint). Plan of the City of San Francisco…..”

[25]. Burnham and Bennett 1906, op. cit. “Bird’s Eye Perspective of the City from the East” also included as plate XXX in POC; p. 26 (poor quality image).

[26]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XL, p. 40. “General Diagram of Exterior Highways Encircling, Or Radiating From, The City”.

[27]. Plan of Chicago Plate CIII, p. 93. “Chicago: Plan of the City Showing The General System of Boulevards and Parks Existing And Proposed.”

[28]. Plan of Chicago, Plate LXXXII, p. 77. “Diagram of General Scheme of Street Circulation.” Industries and manufacturing are in red; railroad properties and lines are in blue.

[29]. Could be many images from the Plan of Chicago. Most likely Plate CX, “Plan of the Complete System of Street Circulation.”

[30]. Plan of Chicago, plate LXXVII. “View Looking West Over the City.” Painting by Jules Guérin. Original watercolor in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Hand tinted lantern slide in the EHB collection, Art Institute of Chicago. Poor quality reproduction in W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 72.

[31]. W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 91. “Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street.”

[32]. W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 92. “Diagram of Michigan Avenue Improvement.”

[33]. W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 93. “Section through Michigan Avenue.”

[34]. J. Draper, “Edward H. Bennett, Architect and City Planner, 1874-1954.” (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1982). Figure 9. “Drawing (unlocated) of the proposed Michigan Avenue Bridge, Chicago c. 1912.” Also in Moody, p. 94.

[35].Plan of Chicago. Plate XCIV, p. 87. “Paris. The Champs Élysées, From The Place De La Concorde, Showing The Arc De Triomphe In The Vista.”

[36]. Slide Unlocated.

[37]. Plan of Chicago, Plate L, p. 50. “Park Development Proposed for the Lakeshore . . . . . Diagram A.”

[38]. Plan of Chicago, Plate CX, p. 100. “Plan of the Complete System of Street Circulation.”

[39]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XLIX, p. 50. “View of the City. . . .” Painting by Jules Guérin.

[40]. W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 129. “New East Twelfth Street. . . . .”

[41]. Plan of Chicago, Plates LV and LVI, p. 53. “England. Henley-on-the-Thames . . . .”

[42].Plan of Chicago, Plate LI, p. 51 “View Looking South Over The Lagoons. . .” Painted by Jules Guérin. Original watercolour in a private collection. Hand-tinted lantern slide in the EHB collection, Art Institute of Chicago.

[43]. Plan of Chicago, Plate CXI, p. 100. “Plan Of The Center Of The City. . . . . .”

[44]. Plan of Chicago, Plate LXXIV, p. 68. “Diagram of The City Center, Showing the General Location of Existing Freight Yards and Railroad Lines. . . .”

[45]. Plan of Chicago, Plate CXXII, p. 108. “Railway Station Scheme West Of The River. . . .” Painted by Jules Guérin.

[46]. Slide not located.

[47]. W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p.6. “Tremont House, Corner Lake and Dearborn Streets,” 1865.

[48]. Slide not located.

[49]. Slide not located.

[50]. Slide not located.

[51]. Slide not located.

[52]. Bennett, E.H. The Greater Portland Plan (Portland OR, 1912). “General Diagram of Present Condition and Future Development. . . . .” p. 15.

[53]. Bennett, E.H. The Greater Portland Plan (Portland OR, 1912). “General Diagram of Present Condition and Future Development. . . . .”, “Plan of the Center of the City,” p. 17.

[54]. Bennett, E.H. The Greater Portland Plan (Portland OR, 1912). “General Diagram of Present Condition and Future Development. . . . .”, “Greater Portland From Proposed Hillside Vista Point.” Rendering by Jules Guérin.

[55]. Bennett, E. H., and A. W. Crawford (ed.). Plan of Minneapolis (Minneapolis, MN: The Civic Commission, 1917), “The Sixth Avenue Artery,” rendered by Jules Guérin. Bennett worked on the Minneapolis plan from 1910 to 1979. Drawings for Bennett’s plans were typically prepared well in advance of the final text; it is likely that these would be available for presentation in 1914 from the intermediate results of the plan. See Draper, 1982, and the Minneapolis files in the EHB papers.

[56]. The railway station is shown in Bennett, E. H., and A. W. Crawford (ed.). Plan of Minneapolis (Minneapolis, MN: The Civic Commission, 1917),“Plan of Station Plaza.”

[57]. The park may be included in J. Draper, “Edward H. Bennett, Architect and City Planner, 1874-1954.” (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1982). Figure 30.

[58]. Image not positively identified. May be Plan of Chicago, Plate XCIII, “Paris, the Tuilieries Gardens and The ChampsÉlysées Beyond, Forming the Main Axis Of The City,” p. 86

[59]. Bennett, E. H. “Report on a General Plan for the Borough of Brooklyn, 1914″ typescript, EHB papers. Image not located.

[60]. Bennett, E. H. “Report on a General Plan for the Borough of Brooklyn, 1914″ typescript, EHB papers. Image not located.

[61]. Bennett, E. H. “Report on a General Plan for the Borough of Brooklyn, 1914″ typescript, EHB papers. Image not located.

[62]. Plan of Chicago, Plate CXI, p. 100 “Plan Of The Center Of The City, Showing The Present Street and Boulevard System”.

[62a]. Plan of Chicago, Plate LXVII, p. 60. “Sherman Park. Field House Seen from the West Side.” This field house may be one of the earliest buildings built to a design by Bennett. See Draper p. 10 – 11.

[63]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XLV, p. 45. “Berlin Block Plan Showing The Park System (Green) And Proposed Forest Reserves (Dark Green).”

[64]. The railway station is shown in Bennett, E. H., and A. W. Crawford (ed.). Plan of Minneapolis (Minneapolis, MN: The Civic Commission, 1917). Image not located.

[65]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XLVII, p. 47. “District of Columbia. Block Plan Showing The Park System.”

[66]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XXXI, p. 27. “Plans For The Development Of Manila, . . . . . .” from D.H. Burnham plan, 1905.

[67]. W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 40. “Original Plan of Washington Designed by Peter Charles L’Enfant.” Bennett placed a poor copy of the entire plan in the Plan of Chicago as Plate XXIII.

[68]. Slide not identified.

[69]. Moore, Charles. “The Improvement of the Park System of The District of Columbia .” 57th Congress, 1st Sess., Senate Report No. 166. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1912. Figure No. 20. “Bird’s Eye View of General Plan . . . .”

[70]. Moore, Charles. “The Improvement of the Park System of The District of Columbia .” 57th Congress, 1st Sess., Senate Report No. 166. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1912.Figure 19. “General Plan of the Mall System.” Also included as Plate XXIV in POC and p. 42. In Moody, op.cit.

[71]. Plan of Chicago, Plate LVII, p. 54. “Versailles, France. Plan Of The Palace, Park And Gardens, And The Great Arteries Leading To The Gates.”

[72]. W.D. Moody, Wacker’s Manual of the Plan of Chicago: Municipal Economy, Second Edition ( Chicago: Chicago Plan Commission, 1916) p. 41. “The Washington Monument, Garden and Mall looking Toward The Capital . . . . . .”

[73]. Moore, Charles. “The Improvement of the Park System of The District of Columbia .” 57th Congress, 1st Sess., Senate Report No. 166. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1912. op.cit Possibly Figure No. 37, “Plan ShowingThe Proposed Treatment of Union Square, At The Head Of The Mall,” or No. 35, “Model Of The Mall . . . . . . Looking West.”

[74]. Image not located.

[75]. Image not located.

[76]. Holt, H. (chair.) Report of the Federal Plan Commission on a General Plan for the Cities of Ottawa and Hull (Ottawa, 1915), Drawing 19A, “Business, Manufacturing and Residential Areas: Existing Conditions.” This existing land use plan for 1914 was one of the earliest diagrams prepared in the project. It may have been available for Bennett’s speech, some three months after the site office opened.

[77]. Bennett’s project team assembled an inventory of over 300 photographs of Ottawa, but the images were later lost. A poor quality image of the lumber yards near the Ottawa river is included in the EHB papers, File 69.14. It is somewhat similar to the image of the lumber yards and power house held by the National Capital Commission, (NCC), No. 172-600.

[78]. Bennett kept a panoramic view from Victoria Tower in his files. EHB papers, File 69.14. The view to Neapean Point is similar to NCC photo 172-234.

[79]. Image not located. Similar views are included in several Paris guide-books.

[80]. The view of the Capital at Budapest could be included in period guidebooks. For example, J. Luckas, Budapest 1900: A Historical Portrait of a City and Its Culture (New York: Weindenfeld & Nicolson, 1988), “The Parliament,” p. 98.

[81]. Image not located.

[82]. Image not located. Similar views of St. Paul’s and the Victoria Embankment are included in most London guidebooks, and books on the Thames. See P. Howard, London’s River (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1975), Figure 13a, “St. Paul’s from Bankside, 1895,” or G. F. Allen, London (NY: Doubleday, 1958), “The Embankment,” p. 25.

[83]. Plan of Chicago, Plate CXXIV, p. 113. “Dresden. The Zwingerhof.”

[84]. Image not located. Probably similar to B. Ehrilich, Paris on the Seine (New York: Atheneum, 1962), “Port Alexandre III,” p. 329. Bennett also used images of the Seine Bridge at the Place de la Concorde.

[85]. Plan of Chicago, Plate CXXX VIII, p. 115. “Berlin, Spree Island, In The Heart Of The City.”

[86]. Possibly Plan of Chicago, Plate XCIII, p. 86. “Paris, The Tuileries Gardens And The Champs Élysées Beyond, Forming the Main Axis Of The City.”

[87]. Plan of Chicago, Plate XCII, p.86. “The Avenue Du Bois De Boulogne . . . . .”

[88]. The view of Princes’ Street and the neo-Gothic Scott monument is a classic image of historic Edinburgh. For example, Stewart & Co., Modern Athens: Sixty Views of Edinburgh from the Latest and Best Photographs (Edinburgh: George Street publishers, ca. 1900), “Edinburgh from Calton Hill,” p. 1.

[89]. Bennett probably had access to the photographs of the Parliament Buildings held by the Canadian government, now in the collection of the National Archives of Canada. See the illustrations in Carolyn Young, The Glory of Ottawa (Montreal: McGill – Queen’s University Press, 1995).

[90]. Bennett probably took his own photographs of the silhouette of the Parliament Buildings to prepare his sketches of the skyline of the capital, included in the Holt plan as Drawing 17.

[91]. Image not located. Bennett’s suggestion of a higher tower may have influenced the design of the new Peace Tower by Darling and Pearson and Omar Marchand. Frank Darling was a member of the Holt Commission, and met frequently with Bennett during the preparation of the 1915 plan. The Centre Block burned in February 1916, a few weeks before Bennett’s plan was tabled in Parliament.

[92]. Probably the view of the Library of Parliament from the Ottawa River, which is still a primary view of the Canadian capital. It has the river, and the “suggestion of heights and Gothic silhouette” described for Edinburgh above.

Additional Sources on Bennett

-Gordon, D.L.A. (2010) The other author of the 1908 Plan of Chicago: Edward H. Bennett – urban designer, planner and architect, Planning Perspectives, 25(2), 229-241, DOI: 10.1080/02665431003613121

-Gordon, D. L. A. & Osborne, B. S. (2004). Constructing national identity in Canada’s capital, 1900–2000: Confederation Square and the National War Memorial. Journal of Historical Geography, 30(4), 618-642. DOI: 10.1016/S0305-7488(03)00041-0

-Gordon, D.L.A. (1998) A City Beautiful plan for Canada’s capital: Edward Bennett and the 1915 plan for Ottawa and Hull, Planning Perspectives, 13(3), 275-300, DOI: 10.1080/026654398364455