Raymond Unwin: "Town Planning in Practice: An Introduction to the Art of Designing Cities and Suburbs," 1909 (Longmans, Green & Co)*
Ebenezer Howard is the father of the garden city concept, but Raymond Unwin and Barry Parker created the foundational principles and implemented early example projects, such as Letchworth and Hampstead in the UK. 'Town Planning in Practice' systematically compiles various aspects of route, neighborhood, block, and plot planning based on the principles of the garden city.
History, Analysis, and Theory of Urban Planning
Spiro Kostof: "The City Shaped: Urban Patterns and Meanings Through History," 1991, 1999 (Thames & Hudson) Spiro Kostof: "The City Assembled: Elements of Urban Form through History," 1992, 2005 (Thames & Hudson)
Kostof's extensive reviews bring together the history of urban structural ideas ('The City Shaped' covers topics such as grid plans, organic structures, and axiality) and examples of urban components ('The City Assembled' covers elements such as squares, streets, and parks). Both works are independent, but together they provide the most comprehensive panorama of the city as a designed environment – from fundamental principles to intricate details.
Rowe & Koetter: "Collage City," 1983 (The MIT Press)
'Collage City' seeks to find a synthesis or middle ground for understanding the city, between the modernist ideal of segregated functions and buildings in an open environment and the medieval, dense, and square-dotted urban structure. This essay-like, imaginative, and illustratively rich text is essential in the battle between modernist rationalist urbanism and the picturesque 'townscape' – the authors reject both and outline the idea of a pluralistic 'collage city.'
Kevin Lynch: "Good City Form," 1981 (The MIT Press)
A comprehensive work that traces the history of urban structures and theorizes principles for different models. It culminates in definitions of the general characteristics of good urban form – from vitality to justice. The extensive perspective considers the city primarily as values, conditions, and relationships – and their enabling – rather than detailed environmental design.
Jane Jacobs: "The Death and Life of Great American Cities," 1961 (Random House)
Jacobs' significant book provided an immediate alternative to modernist urban development ('Urban Renewal'), which, in its shadow, destroyed the old and replaced it with unsustainable new. Over time, Jacobs deserves credit for shifting the focus to cities primarily as stages for human activity, rich networks of social and economic interactions, rather than 'machines' to be rationally designed.
Lewis Mumford: "The City in History," 1961 (Harcourt, Brace and World)
Mumford's magnum opus is an exploration of the city as a cultural-historical artifact – how the constructed frameworks and social elements of the city find a harmonious or conflicting common form. A broad historical sweep from deep dives into contemporary questions about the quality and character of living and working environments ensures the content's relevance for both the history and understanding of society and urban architecture.
Kevin Lynch: "Image of the City," 1960 (The MIT Press)
A classic focused on perceiving and describing the urban environment, based on extensive research including interviews with city residents in American cities. Lynch has been guided by the question of how a modern, growing city is understood and perceived. In response, he presents a set of concepts that remain relevant, allowing for the analysis and understanding of the urban image – Paths, Edges, Districts, Nodes, and Landmarks.
Camillo Sitte: "Der Städte-Bau nach seinen künstlerischen Grundsätzen," 1889 (Verlag von Carl Graeser)
Richly illustrated with examples and elucidated with diagrams, 'The Art of Building Cities' served as a critique of urban planning seen as soulless and too 'technical' in its time. Sitte draws lessons in aesthetic environments from the richly diverse medieval contexts and organizes them into artistic principles for urban construction." Also in English.
