ABSTRACT
It is well known that city planning in the United States evolved out of the landscape architectural profession during the late Olmsted era. Planning's core expertise was then grounded and tangible. One of the founders of the Chapel Hill program, F. Stuart Chapin Jr. (whose first degree was in architecture), described planning as "a means for systematically anticipating and achieving adjustment in the physical environment of a city consistent with social and economic trends and sound principles of civic design." To the rising generation of planners, coming of age in an era of cultural ferment and rebellion against the status quo, Jane Jacobs was a patron saint. The young idealists soon set about rewiring the planning field. It is largely forgotten that the popular United Kingdom edition of Death and Life was subtitled "The Failure of Town Planning." New mechanisms were devised to empower ordinary citizens and the grassroots to shape and guide the planning process.
