A Practical Study Of Lewis Mumford's Regional Planning Thinking

Lewis Mumford has been fully recognized as an urban theorist,a historian and a critic.His regional planning theory advocates for the integration of geographical elements,economical elements and cultural elements for an area to be developed into an ideal community to pass down historical distinctions and to be resided in.This paper explores the practicality of Mumford’s regionalism with Portland,Oregon—a city he devoted time and thoughts to guide—as the backdrop.The paper consists of three parts: the introduction,the body and the conclusion.The introduction introduces Mumford’s life,his academia pursuit and the status quo of the study and research of Mumford’s urban theories both in China and abroad.The body is divided into three chapters.The first chapter introduces the formation,the definition and the influence of his regionalism,with a retrospection of his major works.The second chapter introduces the context,content and implementation of Mumford’s Regional Planning in Pacific Northwest for Portland.Mumford advocated defining a planning unit by its natural context.He made specific suggestions on utilization local energy resources and the distribution of urban functions as well as the establishment of a green belt within the region.While with World War II as the background,his plan was not immediately put into action.The third chapter examines the revitalization of regionalism in Portland,its various contributors,and its manifestation in legislation,administration and green initiatives.It ended was a critical thinking of its practicality and restrictions stemmed from the new urban problems it brought about.The conclusion explains the co-existence of the practicality and impracticality of regionalism and its reason that rooted in Mumford’s pursuit of utopia,with a conclusion that Mumford’s urban theory is more of a guiding force in pursuit of utopia,rather than a specific guideline for city planning.