Planning Twentieth Century Capital Cities

The twentieth century witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of capital cities worldwide. This book explores what makes capital cities different from other cities, why their planning is unique, and why there is such variety from one city to another.
For anyone with an interest in urban planning and design, architectural, planning and urban history, urban geography, or simply capital cities and why they are what they are, this book will be the key source book for a long time to come.

David Gordon is Associate Professor at the School of Urban and Regional Planning, Queen’s University, Canada. He is the author of Battery Park City: Politics and Planning on the New York Waterfront and numerous articles on plan implementation and Ottawa planning history. As a practitioner, Dr. Gordon shared the Canadian Institute of Planners National Award of Distinction in 1991 and 1992.

Foreword Anthony Sutcliffe 1. Capital Cities in the Twentieth Century David L.A. Gordon 2. Seven Types of Capital City Peter Hall 3. The Urban Design of Twentieth Century Capitals Lawrence J. Vale 4. Paris: From the Legacy of Haussmann to the Pursuit of Cultural Supremacy Paul White 5. Moscow and St Petersburg: A Tale of Two Capitals Michael H. Lang 6. Helsinki: From Provincial to National Centre Laura Kolbe 7. London: The Contradictory Capital Dennis Hardy 8. Tokyo: Forged by Market Forces and Not the Power of Planning Shun-ichi Watanabe 9. Washington: The DC's History of Unresolved Planning Conflicts Isabelle Gournay 10. Canberra: Where Landscape is Pre-Eminent Christopher Vernon 11. Ottawa-Hull: Lumber Town to National Capital David L.A. Gordon 12. Brasília: A Capital in the Hinterland Geraldo Nogueira Batista, Sylvia Ficher, Francisco Leitão and Dionísio Alves de França 13. New Delhi: Imperial Capital to Capital of the World's Largest Democracy Souro D. Joardar 14. Berlin: Capital under Changing Political Regimes Wolfgang Sonne 15. Rome: Where Great Events not Regular Planning Bring Development Giorgio Piccinato 16. Chandigarh: India's Modernist Experiment Nihal Perera 17. Brussels: Capital of Belgium and 'Capital of Europe' Carola Hein 18. New York City: Super-Capital – Not by Government Alone Eugenie L. Birch 19. What is the Future of Capital Cities? Peter Hall Bibliography Subject Index Index of Towns and Cities Index of Persons