Transcript Oglethorpe Plan Savannah Legacy

Urban Planning and the
Oglethorpe Plan: A Savannah Legacy
Georgia Planning Association
Fall Conference
October, 2013
The Plan: Past, Present, Future
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
Historical Context and Utopian Philosophy
The Oglethorpe Plan – an Inspired Design
Evolution of the Plan in Savannah
The Plan in Contemporary Context
Comparison of Design Elements with those
of New Urbanism and Jane Jacobs
VI. Future Prospects
I. Historical Context
Urbanization was drawing people from
pristine villages to corrupt cities.
William Hogarth depicted the ills of urbanization in
his work: Moll Hackabout arrives in London and is
seduced into prostitution; Tom Rakewell spends his
modest family fortune on prostitutes and gambling,
then ends up in debtors’ prison.
Manorial System
• Long tradition in England
• Foundational for ancient
constitutional government
• Socially, economically, and
environmentally balanced
• Reciprocal benefits to
wealthy and poor
• Undermined by
urbanization, empire,
mercantilism, and finally
the Industrial Revolution
Oglethorpe’s Milieu – The Enlightenment (1689 – 1790)
1689 Glorious Revolution
1696 JEO born
1722 JEO elected MP
1733 Georgia Founded
1752 End of Trustee Era
1760+ Industrial Revolution
1776 American Revolution
1780+ Abolitionist Movement
1785 JEO death
1790 French Revolution
Isaac Newton
Mathematical Principles of
Natural Philosophy, 1687
John Locke
Fundamental Constitutions, 1670
Two Treatises of Government, 1689
Oglethorpe’s Early Years
• Educated at Eton and Oxford
• Military training in Paris
• Military service under Prince Eugene in the
Balkans
• First elected to Parliament in 1722
• Jacobite heritage an initial liability
• Became a social reformer – advocate for
sailors and soldiers, the worthy poor, debtors
Placing Georgia in perspective …
Genesis of the Thirteen Colonies
COMMERCE
• Virginia, 1607
• New York, 1664
• New Jersey, 1664
• Delaware, 1664
RELIGION
• Massachusetts, 1620
• Maryland, 1632
• Rhode Island, 1636
• Connecticut, 1636
• New Hampshire, 1680
COMPREHENSIVE MODEL
• South Carolina, 1670
• Pennsylvania, 1681
• Georgia, 1733
OTHER
• North Carolina, 1670
(developed after SC)
Oglethorpe’s Circle
John Percival
John Pine
MP; confidant of Queen
Caroline
Designer; “first black
freemason”
George Berkeley
Philosopher; philanthropist;
close friend of Percival
William Hogarth
Artist; social satirist
James Oglethorpe
Sir Hans Sloane
Scientist; founder of the
British Museum
Stephen Hales
Scientist; inventor
Sir Joseph Jekyll
MP; senior judge;
philanthropist
The Great Plague
of 1665-66 and
The Great Fire of 1666
Devastated London
The Newcourt Plan
for Rebuilding London
was one of several
proposed plans
Plans for Rebuilding London
• Addressed Problems of Unregulated Growth
– Unemployment and Debt
– Crime and Corruption
– Health Hazards (Disease, Fire)
– Social Disintegration
• Designs Submitted for a Healthier, more
Efficient, more Attractive City
• A New Model for the Colonies
Anti-Urban Bias in Planning, 1666-2013?
“When men lived in the country, as in former times, there was not that
knowledge how to cheat, neither the temptation, nor the opportunity
given.” –John Percival, President, Georgia Trustees to Queen Caroline
A time there was, ere England's griefs began,
When every rood of ground maintain'd its man;
For him light Labour spread her wholesome store,
just gave what life required, but gave no more:
His best companions, Innocence and Health;
And his best riches, ignorance of wealth.
--Oliver Goldsmith, from The Deserted Village
"I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the health, and the
liberties of man.“ –Thomas Jefferson
II. The Oglethorpe Plan
– An Inspired Design
QUOTATIONS ON THE SAVANNAH PLAN
Savannah occupies a unique position in the history of city planning. No complete
precedents exist for its pattern of multiple open spaces…. --John W. Reps
It is … a plan so exalted that it remains as one of the finest diagrams for city
organization and growth in existence. --Edmund N. Bacon
…the famous Oglethorpe plan made a unique use of the square in design, nothing like
it having appeared before of since. --Paul Zucker
… Savannah … has long been considered one of the most attractive and sophisticated
urban visions in the English colonization of the New World…. The plan also possesses
characteristics unique in the annals of city planning, characteristics that beg for
sleuthing to discover their sources. --Mark Reinberger
[Oglethorpe was] a visionary, and mentioned regularly in the public discourse, not
unlike the framers of the U.S. Constitution. --Duany, Plater-Zyberk, and Speck
It's an incredibly beautiful place. Savannah is like being on another planet that vaguely
has US characteristics, but you're not on the same earth. It's freaky. --James Howard
Kunstler
QUOTATIONS ON THE SAVANNAH PLAN, CONTINUED
…the Savannah pattern of many refreshing green squares, entirely segregated from rolling traffic
lanes, instead of being painfully permeated by them, is good to this day. --Richard J. Neutra
[Oglethorpe] provided Savannah with an engaging plan when others left the plan of towns they
were interested in almost to chance. --Christopher Tunnard
Within the study of city plans as resources, Savannah is especially rewarding for it is a particularly
clear, and also a particularly positive, example. --Stanford Anderson
In the history of planning, Savannah holds a unique place. Alert visitors quickly discover that its
grid of streets is delightfully relieved by twenty-four squares, most of which comprise
embowered oases. --Turpin C. Bannister
[Savannah has] the most intelligent grid in America, perhaps the world. --John Massengale
[T]he grid pattern of Savannah . . . is like no other we know in its fineness and its distinguishable
squares. . . . [O]nce seen it is unforgettable, and it carries over into real life experience. --Allan
Jacobs
One of the great misfortunes of American town planning was that the Savannah plan seemingly
exercised no influence on the design of towns outside Georgia. --John W. Reps
THEORIES ON THE GENESIS OF THE OGLETHORPE DESIGN
Margravate of Azilia 1717 plan for Georgia. -- Laura Palmer Bell
Illustrations of ancient villas’ town and gardens. -- Laura Palmer Bell
French design influence of Gabriel Bernard. -- Laura Palmer Bell
Castra Plan of 1598 for encampment of 36,000 troops. –Turpin Bannister
Towns of Northern Ireland: Londonderry and Colerain. –John Reps
Winchelsea, known for its parks and grid plan, John Wesley. –Conrad Aike
n
The plan for the city of Peking (Beijing). –John Harris
THEORIES … GENESIS OF THE OGLETHORPE DESIGN, Cont’d
Newcourt plan for rebuilding London after the Great Fire. –Anthony Morris
Hooke plan for rebuilding London after the Great Fire. – Turpin Bannister
The squares of London of the early 18th Century. –John Reps
Cataneo Renaissance ideal city plan. –Edmund Bacon
Leone Battista Alberti, Renaissance ideal city plan. –Frederick Nichols
The plan of Charleville, France opposite Mezieres. –Turpin Bannister
The plan of Turin. –John Reps
The Oglethorpe Plan
Organizational Genesis
• Prison Committee (released debtors on the
streets of London)
• Bray Associates (sought to mitigate conditions
of slavery)
• Trustees for the Establishment of the Colony
of Georgia in America (chartered with
members from Bray Associates)
Chartered Purposes
• New opportunity for debtors and the worthy
poor
• Relief of persecuted Protestants in Europe
• Defense of Carolina frontiers (from Spanish,
French, Indians)
• Trade potential (climate thought to produce
import commodities like silk)
Political and Philosophical Purposes
• Model colony based on country party /
republican political philosophy
– Balanced government
– Agrarian foundation (virtuous work, reciprocity,
community)
• Classical concepts
– Ridurre ai principii
– Translatio virtutis
Georgia Economic Model
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Based on a principle of “agrarian equality”
Family farms – yeoman and gentry farmers
No slavery or permanent servitude
Land ownership limited to 50 acres, or 500
acres where indentured servants recruited
• Regional land use plans reinforced economic
sustainability
The Social Pyramid
Aristotle (left) Oglethorpe (right)
P
Wealthy
Politicians
Warriors
Gentry
Yeoman Farmers (>50%)
Traders
Craftsman
Farmers
Serfs and Laborers
Tradesmen
Indentured Servants
Enslaved Laborers
Influenced by the new values of the Enlightenment – equality, social
justice, and the power of reason – Oglethorpe envisioned a more level
society of yeoman farmers, an ideal that Jefferson would also advocate.
III. Evolution of the Plan in Savannah
Oglethorpe Plan Regional Structure
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Town (six wards planned)
Town and Common (one square mile)
Town Gardens
Farms
Villages
Manors
Land Allocation
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Farm = 44.88 acres
Garden = 5.0 acres
House lot = 0.12 acre (60 x 90 feet)
Total = 50 acres
One house block = 10 family lots (“tything”)
One square mile = 10 farms for a tything + 2
trust lots
GEORGIA COLONIST DEMOGRAPHICS
Trust-Supported Colonists
Worthy Poor - The primary beneficiaries
Soldiers - Needed to fortify the southern frontier
Indentured Servants - Granted land for their own use upon completion of service
Self-Supporting Colonists
Yeomen - Working farmers recruited to settle in the hinterlands
Gentry- More affluent farmers were also recruited to settle the hinterlands
Persecuted Protestants
Salzburgers - Expelled from Province of Salzburg (now part of Austria) by the Catholic Church
Moravians - Decendants of ancient Hussites persecuted by Catholics
Bohemians - Bohemia is a region of the present-day Czech Republic
Palatines - From a region of southwest Germany ruled by the Holy Roman Empire
Swabians - From a region in the southwest of Bavaria in present-day Germany
Vaudois - From the western region of present-day Switzerland
Map of Oglethorpe’s
six wards, 1770
Anson Ward/
Oglethorpe Square
Percival Ward/
Wright Square
Heathcote Ward/
St. James Square
Reynolds Ward/
Reynolds Square
Derby Ward/
Johnson Square
Decker Ward/
Ellis Square
1812
1856
Beyond Savannah
• Ebenezer
• Frederica
• Darien
• Augusta?
Post-JEO:
• Brunswick
• others
IV. The Plan in
Contemporary Context
Changing Land Use Patterns, 1733 to the Present
The Oglethorpe Plan structured
land use and right-of-way in the
region, influencing development
patterns to the present time.
FIGURE 8-5. WARDS FOLLOWING THE
OGLETHORPE PLAN
1
2
3
4
5
6
Tything Block
Tything
Tything Block – modified
Trust Block
Trust Block - modified
7
8
10
9
11
12
Square
Non-Conforming Blocks
Oglethorpe Avenue
13
14
Cem.
15
16
Liberty Street
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Ward / Square (number in square):
1. Franklin Ward / Franklin Square
2. Decker Ward / Ellis Square
3. Derby Ward / Johnson Square
4. Reynolds Ward / Reynolds Square
5. Warren Ward / Warren Square
6. Washington Ward/Washington Sq
7. Liberty Ward / Liberty Square
8. Heathcote Ward / Telfair Square
9. Percival Ward / Wright Square
10. Anson Ward / Oglethorpe Square
11. Columbia Ward / Columbia Square
12. Green Ward / Green Square
13. Elbert Ward / Elbert Square
14. Jackson Ward / Orleans Square
15. Brown Ward / Chippawa Square
16. Crawford Ward / Crawford Square
17. Pulaski Ward / Pulaski Square
18. Jasper Ward / Madison Square
19. Lafayette Ward / Lafayette Square
20. Troup Ward / Troup Square
21. Chatham Ward / Chatham Square
22. Monterey Ward / Monterey Square
23. Calhoun Ward / Calhoun Square
24. Wesley Ward / Whitfield Square
The Oglethorpe pattern was continued until 1851 when 24 wards were completed.
ORIGINAL SIX
WARDS
AREA INFLUENCED BY
THE OGLETHORPE
WARD PLAN
Figure 12-7. National
Landmark Historic District and
the Oglethorpe Ward Plan
NATIONAL LANDMARK
HISTORIC DISTRICT
Scale: 1” = 1200 feet
Town and Common
one square mile
garden district grid
garden district grid
with some garden lots
in the south
Figure 12-4. Savannah Roads and the
Original Farm and Garden Grid
farm lot grid
Scale: 1” = 2000 feet
- Gwinnett Avenue
- 41st Street to
Victory Boulevard
- Columbus Drive
Hampstead Road from
DeRenne Avenue
Figure 12-3. Savannah Roads and
the Original Square Mile Grid
- Eisenhower Drive
Scale: 1” = 1 mile
- Montgomery Cross
Road
Figure 12-5b. Gwinnett Street, named after Button Gwinnett, a signer of the
Declaration of Independence, is located at the boundary between the town common
and the farm district, exactly one mile south of the prime benchmark set at the foot
of Bull Street.
Figure 12-5c. Bull Street formed the centerline of the original six wards, and it
remains a principal street in downtown Savannah. The city traditionally placed its
monuments on squares in the Bull Street corridor. It extended south to Coffee Bluff.
The name of the linear road become White Bluff Road at the boundary of the farm
and village districts.
Figure 12-5a. Hampstead Avenue was named after the London village of
Hampstead by Oglethorpe. The road is exactly four miles south of the benchmark
set at the foot of Bull Street. DeRenne Avenue, immediately to the north, is at the
edge of the original right-of-way separating the farm district from the village
district.
Figure 12-5d. Waters Avenue, like Bull Street, is one of the few north-south
arterials aligned with boundaries in the Oglethorpe Plan. Exactly one mile east of
Bull Street, it follows the boundary that separated garden square mile sections of
the grid, as well as farm and village sections further south.
V. Comparison of
Design Elements
with those of
New Urbanism
and
Jane Jacobs
ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE WARD AS A CELLULAR UNIT
A common surrounded Savannah on three sides, and it was on this land
that the community expanded. --John Reps
The modular nature of the original town … envisaged expansion by the
addition of one or more units when the need arose. --John Reps
The analysis … requires the recognition of certain features of the plan.
These descriptors include the additive grid…. Savannah is built on a
repetitive grid without implied boundaries. --Stanford Anderson
Each replicated unit of the plan, specifically called a ward …. [T]he plan of
Savannah … with its unusual combination of intricate articulation and
replication…. --Stanford Anderson
ASSUMPTIONS … THE WARD AS A CELLULAR UNIT – Cont’d
[T]he plan displays an astonishing repetition of squares…. It did not predict
its ultimate borders…. --Mark Reinberger
The basic module was replicated as Savannah grew, so that by the Civil War,
it had twenty-three such neighborhood squares. --Henry Lawrence
[T]he cellular unit, the square and its twelve blocks, not only served as a fine
module for growth by accretion, but also had within it the elements of
growth by extension…. --Edmund Bacon
The ward unit was repeatable, and Savannah extended its primary pattern
unvaryingly well into the 19th century. --Spiro Kostof
Design Features of Oglethorpe’s Savannah Plan
• Genetic – ward structure provides a code for replication; finegrained pattern; engenders familiarity, accommodates diversity
• Non-Deterministic & Adaptive – not dependent on a master plan;
promotes organic growth; adapts to changing market conditions
• Multi-centric – establishes multiple centers of civic life and richly
textured microenvironment within a larger framework of spatial
regularity; allows for a strong commercial core or main street
• Organic – compact, adaptable wards promote natural growth;
responsive to constraints of ecology, topography, or existing
infrastructure
• Dimorphic – creates a dual system of spatial orientation: visual
connectivity facilitates landmark way-finding; geometric
regularity facilitates coordinate-based way-finding
Design Features- continued
• Eidetic – consistency in form enhances familiarity and identity even
as land uses and functions vary greatly among wards
• Civic – regularity of public squares at one-eighth mile intervals
promotes neighborhood-centric civic life; wards can be readily
organized to participate in the civic affairs of the larger community
• Humanistic – regularity of civic space, intimacy of the public square,
and convergence of streets at the center of wards promotes visual
interest, a sense of safety, pedestrian-vehicular shared space;
inward-facing buildings on or near the square enjoy a sense of
being part of the comfortable atmosphere created by the square;
buildings facing perimeter streets often face active boulevard
streetscapes
• Holistic – multiple outdoor “suites” with unique identity form a
larger, unified “composition” through a variety of attractive
passages; Zucker: “little islands of neighborliness and intimacy
seldom found in a big city”
• Safe – ward design meets criteria developed by planners and
designers for “defensible space” by creating a visual connection to
and sense of ownership of the civic square and connecting streets
Brief Comparison with New Urbanism
• Ward design establishes 65 intersections and 70 street
segments in contrast to 12 intersections and 31
segments found in a comparable New Urban grid
• Complexity of the ward design creates more
opportunities for unique residential, commercial, and
civic uses
• Ward design uses squares instead of roundabouts in
outlying areas creating more potential for a complex
human ecology
• Repetition of the square in the Oglethorpe Plan
distributes “shared space” throughout the community
Brief Comparison with Jane Jacobs
• Jacobs prescribed a form of urban human
ecology like that fostered by the Oglethorpe
Plan
• Both specify fine-grained neighborhood
building blocks
• Both recognize the crucial role of multiple
functions within urban neighborhoods
• Both allow a fine-grained mix of older and
newer structures for economic diversity
VI. Future Prospects
• Planners today are drawn to deterministic
solutions through design
• Social and economic challenges require more
comprehensive strategies
• Savannah like most cities has two communities
• Urban planning may benefit the investment
community without benefitting the resident
community
• Urban planning should assess community
impact at a basic level
The planning professions place service to
community among the highest virtues …
yet, we tend to address it only in clichés
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Vibrant mixed use environment
Visually interesting streetscape
Pedestrian friendly design
Mix of housing types for a diverse population
More employment opportunities
Urban vitality
AICP Code of Ethics and the Public Interest
• “Our primary obligation is to serve the public
interest”
• “allegiance to a conscientiously attained
concept of the public interest that is
formulated through continuous and open
debate”
• “We shall seek social justice by working to
expand choice and opportunity for all
persons”
Lessons of the Oglethorpe Plan
• Develop a vision that goes beyond platitudes
• Structure the plan so that it is built upon wellreasoned social and economic theory
• Link physical design to human outcomes, (design
is not an end in itself)
• Demand real solutions, not simplistic notions of
“design determinism”
• Establish a regional design context
• Design cities as interlocking neighborhoods
An example of applying
Oglethorpe’s design elements ...
… for redevelopment within the
historic district.
James
Edward
Oglethorpe
Downtown
Augusta
Sculptors:
Anna Koh
Jeffrey Varilla