DOC Flora's Empire: British Gardens in India (Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture) by Eugenia W. Herbert in Arts-Photography

Description

In the mid-twentieth century; as Americans abandoned city centers in droves to pursue picket-fenced visions of suburbia; architect and urban planner Edmund Bacon turned his sights on shaping urban America. As director of the Philadelphia City Planning Commission; Bacon forged new approaches to neighborhood development and elevated Philadelphias image to the level of great world cities. Urban development came with costs; however; and projects that displaced residents and replaced homes with highways did not go uncriticized; nor was every development that Bacon envisioned brought to fruition. Despite these challenges; Bacon oversaw the planning and implementation of dozens of redesigned urban spaces: the restored colonial neighborhood of Society Hill; the new office development of Penn Center; and the transit-oriented shopping center of Market East.Ed Bacon is the first biography of this charismatic but controversial figure. Gregory L. Heller traces the trajectory of Bacons two-decade tenure as city planning director; which coincided with a transformational period in American planning history. Edmund Bacon is remembered as a larger-than-life personality; but in Hellers detailed account; his successes owed as much to his savvy negotiation of city politics and the pragmatic particulars of his vision. In the present day; as American cities continue to struggle with shrinkage and economic restructuring; Hellers insightful biography reveals an inspiring portrait of determination and a career-long effort to transform planning ideas into reality.