The Last Landscape

Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1968. Book Club Edition. Hardcover. vi, [2], 376 Pages Illustrations. Bibliography. Index. DJ has some wear, soiling, tears and chips. Underlining and marginal marks noted. From the Dust Jacket: How our cities and suburbs can be better places to live in--because more people will be living in them. William Hollingsworth "Holly" Whyte Jr. (July 11, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was an American urbanist, sociologist, organizational analyst, journalist and people-watcher. He identified the elements that create vibrant public spaces within the city and filmed a variety of urban plazas in New York City in the 1970s. After his book about corporate culture The Organization Man sold over two million copies, Whyte turned his attention to the study of human behavior in urban settings. He published several books on the topic, including The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. In 1946 he joined Fortune Magazine where he remained until 1958. In 1952, Whyte coined the term "Groupthink". While working with the New York City Planning Commission in 1969, Whyte began to use direct observation to describe behavior in urban settings. With assistants wielding still cameras, movie cameras, and notebooks, Whyte described the substance of urban public life in an objective and measurable way. These observations developed eventually to Whyte's book called City: Rediscovering the Center. "City" presents Whyte's conclusions about jaywalking, 'schmoozing patterns,' the actual use of urban plazas, appropriate sidewalk width, and other issues. This work remains valuable because it is based on careful observation. The remaining corner of an old farm, unclaimed by developers. The brook squeezed between housing plans. Abandoned railroad lines. The stand of woods along an expanded highway. These are the outposts of what was once a larger pattern of forests and farms, the "last landscape." According to William H. Whyte, the place to work out the problems of our metropolitan areas is within those areas, not outside them. The age of unchecked expansion without consequence is over, but where there is waste and neglect there is opportunity. Our cities and suburbs are not jammed; they just look that way. There are in fact plenty of ways to use this existing space to the benefit of the community, and The Last Landscape provides a practical and timeless framework for making informed decisions about its use.
Called "the best study available on the problems of open space" by the New York Times when it appeared in 1968, The Last Landscape introduced many cornerstone ideas for land conservation, urging all of us to make better use of the land that has survived amid suburban sprawl. Whyte's pioneering work on easements led to the passage of major open space statutes in many states, and his argument for using and linking green spaces, however small the areas may be, is a recommendation that has more currency today than ever before.
Condition: Good / Good.

Keywords: Open Space, Fee Simple, Easements, Green Belts, Cluster Development, Play Areas, Scenic Roads, Roadsides, Townscape, Land Acquisition, City Planner, Urban Planning, Property, Highway Beautification, Linear Strips, Regional Planning

[Book #85707]

Price: $22.50

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