Commentary: Neighborhood Planning

Neighborhood planning in American cities goes back more than one hundred years. The settlement house social workers pressed demands for neighborhood and housing improvements. They were followed by early city planners, who included neighborhood multipurpose civic centers within their comprehensive citywide plans. Clarence Perry’s neighborhood unit plan of the 1920s saw the urban neighborhood as a means to organize space and socialize residents. Today, with the rise of community development corporations, neighborhoods are again the focus of renewed interest. This commentary discusses the past and present of neighborhood planning within the context of a survey of ACSP faculty who are teaching neighborhood planning.