Richard O. Brooks

Social Planning in Columbia

Abstract Efforts to create pre-planned new communities with advanced social goals encounter certain critical dilemmas. These dilemmas stem from the problems of the transition from a company town to a democratic polity, the competition of a suburban satellite with the metropolis, and the securing of a post-industrial “good life” within the limits of present society. The new community of Columbia, Maryland, offers a dynamic laboratory for the study of these social planning issues.

New Towns and Citizen Participation: A Policy Analysis

Abstract New towns are increasingly regarded as potential laboratories for testing new modes of citizen participation. The obvious purposes of new towns—to provide an attractive environment, control urban sprawl, attract capital, and promote economic growth do not fit the purposes of citizen participation. Even new goals such as the promotion of economic and racial balance in new towns may not be best advanced through citizen participation. The authors study of Columbia and other studies of new towns demonstrate that ideology, class, culture, and institutional complexity create barriers to citizen participation. Thus, only a limited degree of participation can be expected in the new town development.