Movies about Urban planning
Just in time for the Oscars, we list a dozen movies with important lessons about the built environment.
Tohle je vaše první ze tří příběhy zdarma tento měsíc. Staňte se bezplatným nebo trvalým členem a čtěte neomezené množství článků, webinářů a e-knih.
Filmy hrají významnou, i když zřídka uznávanou, roli v tom, jak chápeme urbanismus, ať už se odehrávají na příměstských nebo městských místech, kam lze jezdit. Zdá se tedy vhodné a mírně poučné představit náš zcela subjektivní seznam 2 nejlepších filmů o urbanismu v době před udílením Oscarů 12. března.
Použili jsme tři kritéria, abychom do našeho hodnocení přidali pozlátko vědecké přísnosti. Za prvé, filmy musely být populární, ne obskurní nezávislé filmy. Zadruhé, městské/předměstské prostředí bylo zásadní „postavou“ filmu, i když nenápadnou. Za třetí, z filmu plyne ponaučení o urbanismu a jeho důsledcích na společnost, ekonomiku a životní prostředí.
Warning: Minor spoilers to follow.
1. Back to the Future I & II. Steven Spielberg’s classic is our choice for ο most important movie about urbanism — or more accurately, two movies from a series, as BTF III is worthless — since it shows two forms the built environment can take, walkable urban and drivable suburban, in three different time periods. The walkable urban form is dominant in 1955 downtown Hill Valley, an invented small California town centered on a grassy plaza. There is a vibrant town life with most jobs, shopping, school and houses within walking distance, though the car (and skateboard) integrates well into its character.
Another form, drivable suburban, dominates the Hill Valley of 1985 as the center of town life has migrated to a regional mall and subdivisions. The nearly abandoned downtown is home to X-rated theaters, and the plaza has been turned into a surface parking lot. For those who have seen the movie 20-plus times like we have, you may have noticed that Marty McFly parks his time-traveling DeLoren behind a 1955 billboard out in the country. That billboard advertises a coming subdivision where McFly will be born, thus demonstrating the shift from walkable urbanism to drivable suburbanism over the next couple decades.
In Zpět do budoucnosti II, McFly time travels to the distant future… set in 2015. The film nailed the downtown walkable urban redevelopment trends we have witnessed across the country over the past 10 to 15 years, an amazing feat of prognostication considering it was written in the mid-1980s. Downtown Hill Valley is once again the center of town life with increased density, vibrant retail and lots of people on the streets. The plaza has once again become a park. It also shows that the suburbs have become slums, which reflects the 21st-century suburbanization of poverty. The only detail the film got wrong — and that nearly every futuristic film gets wrong — is the use of flying cars.
2. Chinatown. Roman Polanski’s 1974 masterpiece fictionalizes how water from the Owens Valley was brought to the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, which allowed the city to grow into the country’s model of drivable suburban development. It also shows the intensely walkable urban downtown L.A. of 1937, as well as the drivable suburban neighborhoods on the high end Westside and the orchards in the San Fernando Valley, which had their water cut off to force farmers to sell land cheaply to corrupt developers. These developers would go on to turn a huge profit subdividing the valley into suburban neighborhoods after the Second World War.
3. Blade Runner. This 1982 Ridley Scott film projected what L.A. may look like in 2019. The rich live in isolated high-rise towers, powerful corporations control the city of 106 million (how it grew that fast in 37 years is a mystery), and the poor eke out a living in polluted, crime-ridden streets. One major importance of the film was giving urbanists the term “Blade Runner scenario,” regarding 1980s fears about the future of U.S. cities — which, thankfully, did not play out.
4. Do the Right Thing. Spike Lee directed this Brooklyn-set 1989 film that addressed mid- to late-20th century issues of urban racial conflict, particularly white flight and black migration. Today’s gentrification — Spike Lee himself went on a highly publicized rant about the phenomenon just last week — is stirring these issues again, though in reverse, raising questions of who “owns” a block or neighborhood. The best recent play to tackle the topics of white flight, black upward mobility and gentrification is the 2011 Pulitzer Prize-winning Clybourne Park, set in the same fictional Chicago neighborhood as Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play Zatmění slunce.
5. It’s a Wonderful Life. This classic 1946 Christmas film, starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed, portrays two possible versions of a small town. Its presmise centers on Stewart’s desperate wish that he had never been born. His guardian angel, then is tasked with showing Stewart what the town would look like if that were true: A place dominated by a money-grubbing banker who finances gambling and prostitution, and forecloses on Stewart’s friends. The alternative version — a calmer, more pastoral prewar American town — is what comes to pass when Stewart’s friends rally around his failing Savings & Loan to prevent it from foreclosure. It is a joyous Christmas as the S&L, and by extension the entire town, is saved from the banker’s clutches.
Both versions of show a vital walkable urban place, though the banker’s version appears more crime-ridden. (Salon infamously defended the banker’s vision as a more vibrant and exciting place in a 2001 think piece.) Ironically, Stewart’s S&L seems to have financed subdivisions on the fringe, planting the seeds of sprawl and the inevitable decline of the town.
6. Sunshine State. This 2002 John Sayles effort is not only the best representation of conventional real estate developers on film, but also one of the funniest movies about urbanism out there. Developers arrive in coastal Florida in search of their next golf course resort opportunity. One of those opportunists, Alan King, has some of the best lines in the movie. As he stands on a golf course, for instance, he exclaims how great it is to have “nature on a leash” and, later on, describes how “nature is overrated.” The local town booster whines, “you don’t realize how difficult it is to invent a tradition.” The movie ends with King and his developer buddies teeing off on the grassy median of an eight-lane commercial highway.
7. The Truman Show. This 1998 Peter Weir movie stars Jim Carrey and is set in Seaside, Fla., the first and most iconic New Urbanism project. It is perhaps the best and worst movie about New Urbanism. One the one hand, it shows a place where everything — work, friends and shopping — is delightfully within walking distance. On the other, its plot revolves around someone unknowingly growing up on a stage set, which means the film plays into a major criticism of New Urbanism: That it is a development fantasy unconnected to the real world.
8. The Majestic. This 2001 film, also starting Jim Carrey, is about the belated return of a World War II veteran to his hometown in the mid-1950s after he loses his memory in a car accident. The walkable town has been decimated by the loss of so many young men during the war, and its blighted downtown functions as a metaphor for the depression its residents still feel. Carrey tentatively embraces his possible former home and, with his supposed father, renovates and reopens The Majestic, a shuttered movie theater that was the former heart of the town. It demonstrates the role that entertainment plays in the initial revitalization of a downtown.
This film has special meaning to both of us, since we built a 14-screen movie theater as part of the revitalization of downtown Albuquerque. When Majestic came out, it affirmed that what we were doing was not so crazy. The 1998 Oscar-winning Italian classic, Cinema Paradiso, teaches a similar lesson.
9. Metropolis. Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent classic shows an Orwellian urban future when people are enslaved to huge industrial organizations. This includes intensely dense and souring high-rise buildings, freeways (which were none too common at the time) and, of course, flying cars. Portraying the downside of urban places was part of many films through much of the early 20th century, intentionally or unintentionally urging viewers to move to the suburbs.
10. You’ve Got Mail. This 1998 Nora and Delia Ephron-written romantic comedy does have a great lesson about an issue that riles neighborhoods today: The role of mom-and-pop versus big-box retailing. Tom Hanks plays the owner of a big-box bookstore (think Barnes & Noble), while Meg Ryan runs a small children’s bookstore that her mother ran before her. Hanks’ big box crushes Ryan’s tiny establishment, but not before the pair falls in love via email. A children’s author who has always released her books at the small store is among the first to bail, seduced by the larger audience of the big box.
The urban issues here are not as easy to understand: Ryan’s boyfriend early in the movie is a band-standing intellectual who writes stirring opinion pieces about saving the soul of the city by keeping the children’s book store open. In the end, however, big box Hanks wins Ryan’s heart. It is ironic that Barnes & Noble, following Borders, is on the ropes today.
11. Blue Jasmine. This 2013 Woody Allen film starred Cate Blanchet, who could win Best Actress for her role in a survey of so many levels of life in two of the finest examples of urbanism in the country: A life lived in the highest income strata on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, spiraling downward to the lower-middle class in San Francisco, a brief chance at reclaiming her “rightful” place in society that fails, and finally settling at the very bottom as a homeless bag lady talking to herself in a city park.
12. Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. This 1948 Cary Grant and Myrna Loy romantic comedy follows the happy couple, their children and a maid living in a cramped Manhattan apartment as they move to their “dream house” in suburban Connecticut. Screwball things happen as they rehab a crumbling wreck, pouring more and more money into the place. Grant moans that this is not fair to the young couples that “do not make $15,000 a year” like he does. Of course, everyone lives happily ever after, but only after the maid comes up with the advertising slogan that saves Grant’s butt. This wildly successful film was more fuel for the growing stampede to the countryside getting underway in the late 1940s. It was updated in the 1986 Steven Spielberg movie, Peníze jáma.
For those interested in all things urbanism, check out our recommended urbanism podcasts and novels every urbanist should read.
Chris Leinberger is a professor at the George Washington School of Business and a nonresident senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Lisa Leinberger works at The Phillips Collection, the first modern art museum in the country. She was one of the first television-based female movie reviewers.
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Ten Great Urban Planning Films and Where to Find Them
One of the great things about planning is that everyone, whether they realize it or not, has formed basic thoughts about what they think is “good planning.” So often when I tell people I’m a planner, I’m met with an empty smile and a nod. Sometimes it’s just a raised eyebrow. Or a couple of rapid, confused blinks. But a funny thing happens when I explain what an urban planner does; suddenly, there’s a barrage of questions about why a certain zoning law was enacted, or why we don’t build bigger roads, or why a certain city doesn’t spend its money on what “everyone knows” that city needs instead of things like more affordable housing.
Everyday citizens interact with our built environments, too—even if they’re not planners! The lady stuck in traffic on her way home from work wonders why there aren’t better routes for her to take home. A man stuck at a traffic light wonders why he has a red light for so long even though there’s very little cross traffic. These little interactions between everyday citizens and their surroundings are so salient that planning is a fairly popular topic in media, both directly and indirectly. Whether it’s a dystopian future where a crumbling former metropolis poses new and often terrifying challenges or a documentary about a parking lot, planning has found its way into the big screen.
Here’s my list of ten planning-related films, shows and documentaries that planners and non-planners alike will find both interesting and thought-provoking:
Urbanizovaný (2011)
Netflix, Amazon Instant Streaming ($3.99), YoutubeTrailer Here.
“Urbanized is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized frames a global discussion on the future of cites.” -Official website of the film
This movie serves as a fantastic introduction to urban planning (and more specifically, urban design) by interviewing some of the top thinkers and leaders in the field, and taking you around the globe to see how innovation in design has created better cities. Whether you’re a newbie to planning or have been in practice for years, you’ll find yourself drawn in to this documentary.
Bonus: this film is part of a 3-documentary series. The other two films, Helvetica and Objectified, explore graphic design and industrial design, respectively—both are also highly recommended watching!
The Pruitt-Igoe Myth (2011)
“It began as a housing marvel. Two decades later, it ended in rubble. But what happened to those caught in between? The Pruitt-Igoe Myth tells the story of the transformation of theAmerican city in the decades after World War II, through the lens of the infamous Pruitt-Igoe housing development and the St. Louis residents who called it home.” -Official website of the film
This highly-regarded film takes an in-depth look at the Pruitt-Igoe public housing complex developing in the 1960s in St. Louis. At the heart of the film is a critical review of the Urban Renewal program taking place in the United States during the period, but the film’s true strength is the telling of real life people’s story and how Pruitt-Igoe impacted them. Taubman College’s own Robert Fishman makes an appearance in the film, as well.
Sprawling from Grace (2008)
Amazon Instant Video ($2.99), youtube, Hulu Trailer Here.
“The days of cheap energy have ended. America’s love affair with the automobile is unsustainable, and like Nero, we are fiddling away, confident that tomorrow will be as promising as today. The wakeup call is coming.” -Official website of the film
This documentary takes a look at how American land use and transportation decisions in the last several decades have strengthened our dependence on oil and all of the ills that come along it.This film does a good job of explaining how the built environment forces Americans to live and travel in particular ways, even when we know they are not optimal, and proposes several ways to tackle the problem at hand.
Cool It (2010)
Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant VideoTrailer Here.
“Climate catastrophe? The end of civilization as we know it? COOL IT is based upon the book of the same name and lectures by Bjorn Lomborg, the controversial author of The SkepticalEnvironmentalist. Amidst the strong and polarized opinions within the global warming debate, COOL IT follows Lomborg on his mission to bring the smartest solutions to climate change,environmental pollution, and other major problems in the world.” –ITunes Movie Synopsis
What’s life without a bit of controversy? This film and its associated book have drawn heavy criticism from environmentalists and the left for several years for it’s perceived “climate change denial.” That’s pretty unfounded criticism if you ask me. Though Bjorn Lomborg does believe in climate change—and even that humans are causing it—he proposes an alternate approach to dealing with the problem. Challenge your views on climate change and dig in to this eye-opening documentary.
The Parking Lot Movie (2010)
Amazon Instant Video, ($2.99), youtube instant ($3.99) Trailer Here.
“The Parking Lot Movie follows a select group of parking lot attendants who work at The Corner Parking Lot in Charlottesville, Virginia. The eccentric brotherhood of attendants consist of grad students, overeducated philosophers, surly artists, middle-age slackers and more. In what becomes a discourse on American life, these overeducated parking attendants wax profoundly about car culture and capitalism, seek vengeance against entitled patrons and thieves, and make fun of drunken jerks. If the intersection between the status quo and the quest for freedom is their ultimate challenge, could a slab of asphalt be an emotional way station for The American Dream?» –Official website of the film
This movie is kind of like if Trailer Park Boys and a transportation planner decided to have a lovechild. Yes, it’s a bit absurd. But the entire movie takes place in a parking lot, what would you expect? This movie is surprisingly fascinating, and gives an even more surprisingly insightful look into American culture and how we make everyday decisions.
Detropia (2012)
“Detroit’s story has encapsulated the iconic narrative of America over the last century— the Great Migration of African Americans escaping Jim Crow; the rise of manufacturing and the middle class; the love affair with automobiles; the flowering of the American dream; and now the collapse of the economy and the fading American mythos. With its vivid, painterly palette and haunting score, Detropia sculpts a dreamlike collage of a grand city teetering on the brink of dissolution. These soulful pragmatists and stalwart philosophers strive to make ends meet and make sense of it all, refusing to abandon hope or resistance. Their grit and pluck embody the spirit of the Motor City as it struggles to survive postindustrial America and begins to envision a radically different future.” –Official website of the film
I really went back and forth about including this film on this list. As someone who’s lived in the greater Detroit region for quite some time, I’m frankly pretty tired of hearing/seeing Detroit’s problems and “ruin porn” being glorified all the time. (for those of you who’ve never been there—there’s TONS more than just busted houses and homeless people and shootouts—take a visit and see for yourself!). But ultimately, this film made it to the list because I think it does a fairly good job of telling the stories of everyday Detroiters and gives outsiders an opportunity to see the hard work and pride of native Detroiters despite their challenges.
Keep in mind while watching that the film is slightly out of date already, with massive changes having affected both the social and physical places of the city in the last 3 years alone.
Portlandia (2011-present)
Netflix, IFC ChannelWatch a clip here. And here. And here.
“A sketch-comedy series that parodies life in Portland, Oregon.” –IMDB.com
This Emmy-nominated, Peabody Award-winning sketch comedy show by former Saturday NightLive cast member Fred Armisen and Sleater Kinney front woman Carrie Brownstein is a planner’s comedy. And it is hilarious. I’ve actually had to stop watching it late at night because my maniacal laughter was preventing my roommate from sleeping. Whether Fred and Carrie are parodying farm-to-table, the sharing economy, environmental regulation, or Portland cycling culture, planners will find the issues the show deals with extremely familiar, and the non-planner in your life will be laughing right along with you.
Lidské měřítko (2013)
Amazon Prime Instant Streaming Trailer Here.
“50% of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050 this will increase to 80%. Life in a mega city is both enchanting and problematic. Today we face peak oil, climate change,loneliness and severe health issues due to our way of life. But why? The Danish architect and professor Jan Gehl has studied human behavior in cities through 40 years. He has documented how modern cities repel human interaction, and argues that we can build cities in a way that takes human needs for inclusion and intimacy into account.” –Official website of the film
This film explores how humanity is rapidly urbanizing and how humans are adapting to the new lifestyle, and wonders aloud if the way we currently build cities is conducive for human needs of the future. Inspired by Jan Gehl, the film is full of beautiful shots of global cities combined with interesting human element-focused narrative.
16 Acres (2012)
Netflix, youtube ($3.99) Trailer Here.
“Terrorists destroyed New York’s Twin Towers in minutes. It took miles of red tape and more than a decade to rebuild.” -Netflix title description
This movie takes a look at how competing interests, political battles, national sentiments, and local regulations collided to create one of the most unique and complicated real estate process in history in the wake of September 11th. Planners will appreciate the difficulty and pain of the process as the new towers are shaped and reshaped through the film, and will be interested in the complicated nature of rebuilding Ground Zero.
Generation Earth (2012)
“A look at how mankind not only impacts, but shapes the world to make previously insurmountable obstacles a thing of the past.” -IMDB.com title description
This BBC miniseries consists of three 45-minute episodes: A Place to Live, The Way We Move, and Food, Fire and Water. Each episode looks at how humans have transformed civilization using intuition, technology, and creativity to achieve newer and better standards of living. The entire series deals with how we shape the built environment to work for humans, and describes the processes that allow this to happen. Planners and non-planners alike will finish this miniseries inspired and proud of our species’ achievements to better our lives.
Think this list missed something? Say so in the comments below!
Ranking the Top Movies About Urbanism
The Oscars are this weekend, so its an appropriate time to turn to movie magic as a powerful force for how American’s perceive environments—from rural to urban and everything between.
28. února 2014, 2:00 PST
Christopher and Lisa Leinberger have compiled a list of top 12 movies about urbanism. Here are the criteria for how the pair formulated the list: “First, the movies had to be popular, not obscure indie films. Second, the urban/suburban setting was an essential “character” in the film, even if a subtle one. Third, there are lessons to learn from the film about urbanism and its consequences on society, economics and the environment.”
Na prvním místě seznamu je Návrat do budoucnosti 1 and 2, followed by Čínská čtvrť. How many more on the list do you think you can guess before you click over to the list?
Friday, February 28, 2014 in Next City
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