Chicago School and Background

Robert Park and the Chicago School: 

- The city as a living breathing thing; city from ecological standpoint: we can look at cities and humans in the same way that we look at plants and animals (detached bird's eye view) 

- 2 facets of the city 

• economic: yearning for supremacy, incredible competition
  • Most profitable use of space wins (Planning City/ History of Parks)
  • people move  into neighborhoods based on economy (competiton, quest for status) 
• cultural: “states of mind”, neighborhood based (neighborhood created thru economic conditions) 
  • Division of labor: organizes the city because people are utterly dependent on one another like never before— spirit of cooperation, tells you where to live and live w/ others who also works in similar situation w/ similar situation w/ similar capital
  • Wanted us to think of cities as highly organized through natural order (equilibrium) resting on division of labor(NATURAL AREAS) 

- Neighborhood succession: replacement of one group by another within a bounded area

•  (ex. North End/West End) lots of turnover— comes out of competition; happens as there are changes in status of group as well as economic 

- significant caveat: treatment of this as natural and inevitable

Concentric Zone Model: Burgess 

- central business center—> wholesale/light manufacturing—> lower class housing —> medium class residences —> higher class residences

Boston’s History

- Boston= unlikely place for a city

• swamp and marshland
• small areas, lots of hills, narrow twisty roads

- Advantages of Boston as a City

• by water, easy for imports and exports 
• intellectual industry/ culture 
• culture (history/ sports/ ehtnic)
• hills- helpful strategy for defense

- Inequalities evident in Boston

• no representation during planning 
• access to city: poorest neighborhoods have least access to transportation system (mattapan)

- Boston gains Greater Land Mass

• annexation: bosotn lures suburbs to become part of city by bribing them w/ water, sewage, transportation because most of them couldn't afford to provide public services on own

- Emerald Necklace

• Fenway, thru arboretum and to Franklin park zoo; goal= giving leisure time 
• city= dangerous morally, so expansion of green space included in order to allow for proper citizenry