The City, 1939

The Regional Planning Association of America's plea for community chaotic cities and urban sprawl. Directors: Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke.

Although Lewis Mumford acted as an adviser on this film promoting the vision of suburban development in 1939, by 1961 Mumford had become a vehement critic of "mass suburbia" as a place where "nothing can happen spontaneously or autonomously." Why would his views change so much? How does this reflect on the changing attitudes regarding the relationships between community and citizenship in the mid-20th century?

Part I



Part II