ABSTRACT
The earlier town plans proceeded too exclusively from the standpoint of convenience of communication; local authorities were apt to be satisfied if provision existed for wide—often too wide—thoroughfares, and everybody was given a fair chance of moving from place to place with ease. In Prussia the orderly planning of towns is made immeasurably easier owing to the right of local authorities to decide which land within the administrative area shall be eligible for building purposes. A special seminary for town planning has been attached to the Royal Technical University in Berlin since 1907; the lectures cover every phase of the subject, and all incidental questions are treated from the architectural, technical, sanitary, and financial standpoints. In Prussia, minor measures of incorporation can be effected by Royal Decree, and only in the case of the union of towns is a special law necessary, though the Circle Diet has a right to be heard if it objects.
