Technical University

Department of Foreign Languages

Los Angeles Urban Planning

Performed by:
Trelea Cristian
Student of 1st year PUR 221 group
Checked by:
Cebotari S.
 Planning in the 20th Century

In the early 20th Century, the city began to be divided into districts of residential
and industrial – thus beginning what is now known as “zoning.” The city began to
expand and the population had seen a rapid increase, as a result of intensive real
estate activity and businesses expansion, and real estate businessmen and
homeowners alike wanted to protect their private investments and property
values. Zoning entailed the public regulation of private property and was
contested at law with the Hadacheck v. Sebastian (1915) Supreme Court case.
The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of this practice and cleared the
path for more inclusive regulation that would lead to more effective city planning.
Zoning was needed as the city began to expand and the population was increasing
and because of intensive real estate activity and businesses expansion. The
introduction of zoning caused civic leaders to realize that zoning alone could not
improve the city. The city needed a general plan for the physical development of
Los Angeles, a more systematic approach that could foster consistent
development in Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, one of the goals of planning and improvements to the city was
the protection of suburban districts that came about with the population boom.
Issues such as congestion in downtown LA attracted notice and caused attempts
to relieve it.
The Municipal Art Commission - a commission dedicated to securing better
cleaning and lighting for public streets and sought to influence the design of
public buildings – recommended that the city employ Charles Robinson to lay out
a plan for beautifying Los Angeles in 1906. Robinson was a writer and journalist,
but was brought in to make recommendations. 

Robinson’s proposal included:

 Better street lighting
 Creating street intersections and tunnel entrances to be more aesthetically
pleasing
 Getting rid of fences that separated residential lots
 Planting trees and promoting parks
 Called for wider boulevards and an emphasis on parks

Not all of his ideas came to fruition however. The Robinson Plan was primarily
devoted to the aesthetic phases of city planning, but also provided for widened
streets to relieve the traffic congestion in downtown LA and recommended the
present location of the Civic Center. The mayor and the city council wanted to
develop a comprehensive plan for Los Angeles that considers the needs of the city
itself, so they established the City Planning Committee in 1910. This committee,
however, did not accomplish anything because they did not have adequate funds
and faced a great deal of contestation. City planning in Los Angeles had begun to
become a movement, and city officials recognized the need to develop an
effective comprehensive plan. 
In consideration of what planning for Los Angeles would benefit the city in the
future, reformers to the previous endeavors (The Robinson Plan and the City
Planning Committee) concluded that public officials should assume additional
responsibility to oversee and supplement private enterprise in order to shape the
landscape of Los Angeles. This idea was the foundation for city and regional
planning and helped bring about the development of the City Planning
Association in 1915. This association was comprised of volunteers and was
influential through its personnel.It promoted planning until 1920 when the City
Planning Commission was established. This was the city’s first commission,
comprised of 51 members with overlapping three year terms composed of
representatives from 17 business and civic groups.This commission immediately
assumed the responsibility for the physical development of the city, and began. 

Mid-20th Century Los Angeles

A new Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance was established in 1946 and intended to

zone all areas of Los Angeles, monitor zoning so that past mistakes are not
repeated, and insure the elimination of nonconforming buildings in residential
zones. The purpose of this zoning plan was to better control the land-use of the
expanding population. This expanding population especially hit a boom in the
years after World War II, and as a result there was a housing shortage. To address
this shortage, the city created the Master Plan of Housing in 1945. To address
blight in Los Angeles, the Community Redevelopment Act was established to
redevelop these areas.

The Master Plan

The Master Plan for Los Angeles had been thought of since 1941, however the
plans that were being discussed lacked the fundamental economic, social, and
geographical studies needed for such a comprehensive plan and had not been
guided by a set of goals for the future. The plan started to finally come together in
1964 when a Statistical Profile of Los Angeles was released. This data was able to
calculate population estimates, housing inventories, and industrial development
statistics. Such a plan was needed especially since Downtown Los Angeles had
been in economic decline because of sprawl and suburbanization to places such as
the San Fernando Valley. There was more traffic congestion and a lack of parking
facilities that came with the suburbanization and the increased reliance on cars
instead of public transportation. The plan was mainly a comprehensive plan for
the central city and included considerations such as:
·    Economic, social, and physical concepts that related the central city
·    Physical concepts concerning future development in the central city
·    A program to improve projects and activities geared toward the future 

A Centropolis report was completed in 1960 and 1962. The second report was
considered to be the “General Development Plan” and the purpose was to serve
as a basic form and guide in the preparation of the more elaborated final plan for
development as well as to assist in the formulation of an efficient traffic and
transportation pattern to provide access and circulation. The report concluded
that basic transportation needs for the downtown area have necessitated:

·    The completion of freeways with improved thoroughfares

·    Computer-controlled traffic controls
·    Diversion of all “through” traffic
·    A better method to service buildings.

This first comprehensive plan serves as the basis of continued planning of the City
of Los Angeles today.

Concepts for Los Angeles

In 1970, the Department of City Planning released its Concepts of Los Angeles
General Plan for restructuring Los Angeles’ city form and serve as the city’s
framework for the next long-range general plan. This plan was designed to help
the city meet needs based on projections of increases in population. The plan
drew on four general concepts: Centers, Dispersed, Corridors, and Low Density.
This document focused on housing density options, spatial structure,
transportation framework, and open space network as the policy variables. The
document analyzed how all of these variables interacted with each other.

The “Centers” concept entails an emphasis n both single-family and high-density

housing. It is intended to develop a highly urban city in character while also
leaving the single-family lifestyle character of the city an option as well. 
The “Dispersed” concept’s main focus is on single-family and low- and medium
density housing. The “Corridors” concept focuses mainly on medium-density
corridors that are developing out from the core.
The “Low Density” concept looked at potentially capping the population at four
million and focusing on most of it’s housing to be single-family lots.
The Concepts for Los Angeles emphasized the importance of single-family
housing.
The Centers Concept proposed a network of 29 centers within the city that would
vary in size.
These centers would contain a core that would be near transit stations to promote
transit transportation. These concepts also promoted a network of mostly small-
scale open spaces as well. Many plans were never implemented however. But
ideas such as the emphasis of development near transit stations served as a model
for current transit oriented developments.
This plan was adopted as part of the General Plan in 1974 and even though it was
not highly successful, the plan was able to identify the city’s main planning issues.

Los Angeles Leading into the 21st Century

In 1992, large riots broke out in the City of Los Angeles after the courtroom ruling
in the Rodney King case. These riots produced about $450 million worth of
damage and destroyed more than 1,000 structures in South Central. “Rebuild L.A.”
was established by Mayor Bradley’s administration to help South Central recover
and put more money into this neighborhood. This program renovated 63 percent
of the businesses that were lost within two years of the program's inception, and
also created a hiring boom.
 Vocabulary
Development The act, process or result of developing
Divide To separate into parts, groups, sections
Settlement The act or process of settling
Expansion The act or process of expanding.
Restructure The act or an instance of restructuring.
Concept A general notion or idea; conception.

Questions:
What were the Robinson’s proposals?
Why was the concepts of Los Angeles plan created ?
What was the municipal art commission ?
What was the main reason of The Centers Concept ?
When was completed the Centropolis report?
How division of the city affected the economics?
What was the purpose of the zoning plan ?
What serves as a continuation of the main plan today in Los Angeles?
When was adopted a part of general plan ?
What included Robinson’s proposals?