Environmental Design Library @ UC Berkeley

History of City Planning

History of City Planning is a bibliographic guide to research resources for the history of city planning and urbanism at the University of California, Berkeley libraries and on the Web, with an emphasis on American and California city planning; this guide especially supports the course City Planning 200: History of City Planning. Additional resources for international planning are described in International Planning, a research guide. For titles on the history of planning and urbanization for individual countries or places please consult The Library's catalogs or the Environmental Design Library reference staff, 210 Wurster Hall.

UC Berkeley faculty, registered students, and staff who are off campus may use items marked UCB Only or UC Only by using The Library's off-campus access services.

Content reviewed: May 2011, by Lynn Cunningham. Compiled by Deborah Sommer, City Planning Librarian, Environmental Design Library.

Quick Facts

Use encyclopedias, guidebooks, and manuals to find quick facts and background information on your topic. In addition to the selected, specialized titles listed here, use general encyclopedias. For online encyclopedias go to The Library's home page→ Find Information? Electronic Resources→Electronic resources: types A-Z→ Encyclopedias and Almanacs.

• American town plans: a comparative time line, by Keller Easterling, with a chronology by Keller Easterling and Richard Prelinger. NY: Princeton Architectural Pr., 1993.
Environmental Design NA9105 E28 1993 Reference (disk on Reserve)
• Encyclopedia of community: from the village to the virtual world, Karen Christensen & David Levinson, general eds. 4 vols. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2003. Excellent source, with substantive articles and bibliographies.
Environmental Design HM756 E53 2003 Reference
• Encyclopedia of the city, Roger W. Caves, ed. NY: Routledge, 2005. Concise signed articles on a wide range of planning topics and concepts. Most articles include brief bibliographies.
Environmental Design HT108.5 E63 2005 Reference Desk
• Encyclopedia of urban America: the cities and suburbs, Neil Larry Shumsky, ed. 2 vols. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1998.
  Environmental Design HT123 E5 1998 Reference
• Encyclopedia of urban studies, Ray Hutchison, ed. 2 vols. Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE Publications, 2010.
  Environmental Design HT108.5 E634 2010 Reference Desk
• International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences, eds.-in-chief Neil J. Smelser, Paul B. Baltes. NY: Elsevier, 2001.
Online ed. UCB Only 2002
Print ed.: Anthropology H41 I58 2001 Encyclopedia, Doe Reference Hall H41 I58 2001 Noncirculating
• Milestones in California planning history, by Larry Mintier. [2001].
Environmental Design KFC810 M56 2001 Reference
• Pathways in American planning history: a thematic chronology: 1785-2000, IN: Almanac of architecture and design, James P. Cramer and Jennifer Evans Yankopolus, eds. Washington, DC: Greenway Communications, 2000, pp.334-346.
Environmental Design NA9 A27 Latest ed. Reference Desk; previous ed. Reference; other copies circ.
• The Value of a dollar: colonial era to the Civil War, 1600-1865, Scott Derks and Tony Smith, eds. Millerton, NY: Grey House Pub., 2005.
Online ed.: UCB only
Print: Environmental Design & Busi/Econ HB235 U6 V358 2005 Reference
• The Value of a dollar: prices and incomes in the United States, 1860-2009, by Scott Derks. 4th ed. Amenia, NY: Grey House Pub., 2009.
Online ed.: UCB only
Print: Busi/Econ HB235 U6 D47 2009 Reference
• Wikipedia Web-based, collaboratively-authored encyclopedia. Useful for confirming a research starting point. USER BEWARE: Content is non-authoritative, and in some instances has been demonstrated to be deliberately false.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

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Web Links

Here's a short list of organizational and informational Web sites concerned with the history of planning.

• American Association for State and Local History home page. Provides links at the state and national levels to historical societies and other historical organizations.
• -----. Directory of historical organizations in the United States and Canada. Nashville, TN: AASLH Pr., American Association for State and Local History, 1990--
  Environmental Design & Main E172 A562
• Centre for Urban History (Leicester Univ.) http://www2.le.ac.uk/departments/urbanhistory
• H-Urban A moderated, multi-disciplinary forum for scholarship on urban history and urban studies. Site includes scholarly book reviews and useful links.
  http://www.h-net.org/~urban/
• National Council on Public History http://ncph.org/cms/
• National Trust for Historic Preservation http://www.preservationnation.org/
• Society for Landscape Studies http://www.landscapestudies.com/
• Society for American City and Regional Planning History http://www.dcp.ufl.edu/sacrph/
• Society of Architectural Historians http://www.sah.org/

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Selected Readings

Listed here are selected titles which present the history of planning from a broad perspective. To find additional titles, use the following subject terms in Melvyl advanced search: City planning--[place name]--History.

• Cities in evolution; an introduction to the town planning movement and to the study of civics, by Patrick Geddes. London, Benn, 1968.
Environmental Design NA9030 G4
• Cities of tomorrow: an intellectual history of urban planning and design in the twentieth century, by Peter Hall. 3rd ed. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2002.
Environmental Design HT166 H349 2002
• The City in history: its origins and transformations, and its prospects, by Lewis Mumford. NY: Harcourt, Brace & World [1961]. History of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a Western emphasis. Extensive bibliography.
Environmental Design HT111 M8
• Eighteenth century collections online - UCB Only Contains over 150,000 full text books and other materials published in Great Britain and its colonies during the 18th Century.
Coverage: 1700-1800
• The History of the city, by Leonardo Benevolo. Translated by Geoffrey Culverwell. Cambridge, MA: MIT Pr., 1980. Excellent historical coverage of the Western world and the Middle East. Extensively illustrated with photographs and plans. Original Italian text: HT111 B45 1993.
Environmental Design HT111 B4513 1980 Reference & circulating
• Introducing planning, by Clara Greed. New Brunswick, NJ: Athlone Pr., 2000. Includes an extensive bibliography, pp. 257-269.
Environmental Design HT166 G685 2000
• Making the invisible visible: a multicultural planning history - UCB Only Leonie Sandercock, ed. Berkeley: Univ. of California Pr., 1998.
Environmental Design HT166 M2464 1998
• The New towns record, 1946-1996: 50 years of UK new town development [CD-ROM], designed, edited and published by the Planning Exchange, Glasgow, Anthony Burton and Joyce Hartley. Glasgow: Planning Exchange, 1997. Disc 1. Encyclopaedia; Disc 2. Legislation and annual reports.
Environmental Design HT169 G7 N49 1997 compu/d CD-ROM Permanent Reserve
• Planning the twentieth-century city: the advanced capitalist world, by Stephen V. Ward. Chichester: Wiley, 2002.
Environmental Design HT166 W35 2002
• Towards the planned city: Germany, Britain, the United States, and France, 1780-1914, by Anthony Sutcliffe. NY: St. Martin's Pr., 1981. A public policy approach to city planning history. Addresses the pre-1914 contributions to urban planning and planning as an international movement. Bibliography.
Environmental Design HT166 S914 1981
• Urban planning in a changing world: the twentieth century experience, Robert Freestone, ed. NY: Routledge, 2000.
Environmental Design HT166 U7387 2000
• Urban planning, 1794-1918: an international anthology of articles, conference papers, and reports, John W. Reps, comp. Offers full-text primary source material for the study of how urban planning developed up to the end of World War I. Includes bibliographies and biographic information on authors.
http://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/homepage.htm
• The Urban world, by J. John Palen. 7th ed. NY: McGraw-Hill, 2005. A readable international survey of urbanization. Bibliography.
Environmental Design HT151 P283 2002
Moffitt HT151.P283 2005

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• The American city: literary sources and documents, Graham Clarke, ed. 3 vols. Robertsbridge, East Sussex: Helm Information, 1997. A useful compilation of original texts pertaining to the American city. Includes extensive bibliographies and an 11-page chronology (volume 1).
Environmental Design HT123 A43 1997
• American city planning since 1890; a history commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the American Institute of Planners, by Mel Scott. Berkeley: Univ. of California Pr., 1969. Includes a substantial bibliography and plans.
Environmental Design NA9108 S3
• The American planning tradition: culture and policy, Robert Fishman, ed. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Pr., 2000.
Environmental Design HT167 A5769 2000
• Architecture and town planning in colonial North America, by James D. Kornwolf, with the assistance of Georgiana W. Kornwolf. 3 vols. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr., 2002. Emphasis is architecture but includes descriptions and images of colonial town plans. Covers U.S. colonies, with some treatment of Canada.
Environmental Design NA703 K67 2002
• The Birth of city planning in the United States, 1840-1917, by Jon A. Peterson. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Pr., 2003.
Environmental Design HT167P47 2003
• Dreaming the rational city: the myth of American city planning, by M. Christine Boyer. Cambridge, MA: MIT Pr., 1983. Discusses the rise of the "planning mentality" in America from the 1890s to the postwar era. Extensive bibliography.
Environmental Design HT167 B655 1983
• The Environment and the people in American cities, 1600-1900s: disorder, inequality, and social change, by Dorceta E. Taylor. Durham: Duke University Pr., 2009.
Environmental Design HT371 T39 2009
• Introduction to planning history in the United States, Donald A. Krueckeberg, ed. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers University, 1983. Introduction to the history of the city planning profession from the 19th century to the present.
Environmental Design HT167 I57 1983
• The Language of planning: essays on the origins and ends of American planning thought, by Albert Z. Guttenberg. Urbana, IL: Univ. of Illinois Pr., 1993.
Environmental Design HT167 G88 1993
• Learning from the past: the history of planning: symposium, [David A. Johnson and Daniel Shaffer, guest editors], IN: Journal of the American Planning Association, 51: 2 (spring 1985), pp. 131-208. Includes bibliographies.
Environmental Design NA9000 A48 Bound periodicals
• The Making of urban America; a history of city planning in the United States, by John W. Reps. Wilmington, Del. : Scholarly Resources, 1997. Classic text. Includes bibliography.
Environmental Design & Main HT123 M286 1997
• Planning the twentieth-century American city, Mary Corbin Sies and Christopher Silver, eds. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr., 1996.
Environmental Design HT167 P557 1996
• The Spaces between buildings, by Larry R. Ford. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr., 2000. Looks at the history of 20th century city planning and public spaces.
Environmental Design NA9053 S6 F67 2000
• Two centuries of American planning, Daniel Schaffer, ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ. Pr., 1988. A concise survey of American planning history, from the early 19th century.
Environmental Design HT167 T861 1988
• Urban transportation planning in the United States: an historical overview, by Edward Weiner, Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999.Substantial survey, focusing on key legislation, policy developments, etc., in the evolution of urban transportation planning.
Environmental Design HE308 W45 1992
• Urban transportation planning in the United States: history, policy, and practice, by Edward Weiner, New York, N.Y. : Springer, c2008.
Online ed. UCB Only

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Campus Libraries

The following campus libraries have rich collections that support city planning history research.

• Architecture Visual Resources Center 232 Wurster Hall. UC Berkeley faculty & grad. students only.
  http://ced.berkeley.edu/vrc/
• The Bancroft Library Noncirculating only. No photocopying.
  http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
• Doe Library Reference Center, 2nd floor; stack portal, 1st floor.
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/
• Earth Sciences & Map Library 50 McCone Hall
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/
• Environmental Design Library 210 Wurster Hall.
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/
• Harmer E. Davis. Transportation Library 412 McLaughlin Hall.
  http://library.its.berkeley.edu/
• Institute of Governmental Studies Library 109 Moses Hall. Great strength in California local government materials. Noncirculating only.
  http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/
• Institute of Research on Labor and Employment 2521 Channing Way. The IRLE Library collects information in multiple disciplines and formats about employment and workplace issues.
  http://www.irle.berkeley.edu/library/
• Media Resources Center 1st Floor, Moffitt Library. Noncirculating only.
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/

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Finding Books

Here is a selected list of catalog subject headings which may be useful in your search. Check also for other useful subheadings, such as Bibliographies, History, Handbooks, etc. Guidebooks to cities may also have sections on city planning history.

For city planning research start with the Oskicat catalog; Oskicat covers UC Berkeley and has great keyword searching.

When Oskicat isn't enough, particularly when your topic is geographically remote from California, the Western U.S., Latin America, or the Pacific Rim, search Melvyl, a database of more than 1.5 billion records, for all libraries. Request items through The Library's Interlibrary Borrowing Service.

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Finding Articles

Use journal and newspaper indexes and databases to discover articles on your topic. Some online databases include the full text of the articles you discover or the icon which may lead you to the full text elsewhere. In many cases, however, you will need to locate the print journal in the Library's collections; search the Library's catalogs by the journal title in order to find the shelving location and call number for the journal. For UC Only or UCB Only titles, go to The Library's home page→ Find Information→ Articles.

• City planning periodical indexes (UC Berkeley, Library) An annotated list of journal article indexes for city planning. A good starting place.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/planning_articles.html
• America: history and life via EBSCO - UC Only Contains article abstracts and bibliographical citations of reviews and dissertations on the history and culture of the U.S. and Canada from prehistoric times to the present.
Online ed.: 1964--
Print: 1954-- ; Main Stack E3 A43
• American periodicals series online 1740-1900 via ProQuest - UCB Only Full text and digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published between 1740 and 1900.
Coverage: 1741-1900
• Anthropology Plus via OCLC/FirstSearch - UC Only Contains citations to articles and essays in anthropology, archaeology, and related fields, including urban history and planning. Some full text.
Coverage: late 19th century--
• Business source complete via EBSCO UCB Only Includes full text for more than 7,400 scholarly business journals and other sources, as well as country economic reports from the EIU, Country Watch, etc. Great source for information on community economic development, housing development, redevelopment, and related issues.
Coverage: 1965--
• C19: the nineteenth century index - UCB Only Some full text. Comprehensive coverage of 19th books, periodicals, official documents, newspapers, and archives. Draws on the Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue, The Wellesley Index, Poole's Index, Periodicals Index Online, and other sources to create integrated bibliographic coverage of over 1.5 million books and official publications, 71,000 archival collections and 18.9 million articles published in over 2,500 journals, magazines and newspapers.
Coverage: Varies (1770-mid-1900s)
• Civil Engineering Database. American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). Indexes all ASCE publications including journals, conferences, books, standards and manuals. Book records date back to the early 1900s. Note that civil engineers at one time functioned as city planners, particularly in the civil engineering practice of municipal engineering.
Coverage: 1956--
• Compendex - UCB Only via Engineering Village 2 [Quick Guide to Compendex] Indexes more than 4,500 journals, conference proceedings, and books in a broad range of engineering and construction topics, including civil engineering.
Online ed.: 1884--
Print: 1892/95-- ; Engin T1E51 Abstracts
• Historical abstracts via EBSCO - UC Only Index to abstracts and bibliographical citations of books and dissertations on all branches of world history, except the U.S. & Canada, from 1450 to the present.
Online ed.: 1954--
Print: coverage varies; Main D299 H5712 & D410 H55
• History of science, technology, and medicine via OCLC/FirstSearch - UC Only Contains citations for journal articles, conference proceedings, books, book reviews, and dissertations in the history of science, the history of technology, and allied historical fields. Subjects covered include engineering, town planning, and transportation.
Coverage: 1976--
• JSTOR - UCB Only A full-text archive of interdisciplinary scholarly journal literature, including architecture and architectural history, cultural studies, economics, history, political science, public policy and administration, and sociology.
Coverage: Varies
• PAIS international & PAIS archive via CSA - UCB Only Topics covered include city planning, environment, finance, government, law, legislation, social sciences, and statistics. Good source for public policy topics.
Online coverage: 1972--, and 1915-1976, respectively
Print: 1954-1995; Main & Institute for Research on Labor and Employment H106 P7
• Periodicals index online (formerly Periodicals contents index) via Chadwyck - UC Only Indexes periodicals, newspapers, government documents, and more. Includes some full text access. International scope. Titles indexed include Cities, JAPA, Journal of Urban History, and Town Planning Review.
Coverage: 1665-1995
• Royal Institute of British Architects Library online catalog Indexes both journal articles and books. Search terms can be found in its thesaurus, Architectural Keywords (NA31 A77 Index). Formerly called Architectural Periodicals Index. Especially useful for titles related to the Garden City movement. British emphasis.
Online ed.: 1980s--
Print: 1972-- ; Environmental Design NA8 A73 Index
• TRID: the TRIS and ITRD database. A newly integrated database that combines the records from the Transportation Research Board's Transportation Research Information Services (TRIS) Database and the OECD's Joint Transport Research Centres International Transport Research Documentation (ITRD) Database. TRID provides access to over 900,000 records of transportation research worldwide. A comprehensive bibliographic database of transportation research information. Includes some full-text publications. Covers literature from the 1960s to the present, with some coverage of prior years. Highway Research Board publications are covered back to 1923.
http://trid.trb.org/
• Web of science - UCB Only A multidisciplinary database, with searchable author abstracts, covering the journal literature of the sciences. Indexes 8,000 major journals across all disciplines.
Online ed.: 1900--
Print: 1945/54-- ; Bioscience Q151 A12 S36 Index Area

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• Access world news via NewsBank - UCB Only Formerly America's Newspapers. Full-text database of articles from 500+ regional, national, and international newspapers and newswires.
Coverge: Varies
• Historical newspapers online via Chadwyck-Healey - UCB Only Contains four major historical resources: Palmer's Index to the Times (1790 to 1905); Palmer's Full Text Online (1785-1870), which provides access to the full-text articles referenced in Palmer's index to the Times; The Official Index to the Times (1906 to 1980); The Historical Index to the New York Times (1851-1923).
Coverage: Varies
• Lexis-Nexis academic - UCB Only Includes indexing to journals and newspapers and provides full text.
Coverage: Varies

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Selected Journals for Planning History

Here's a selection of historical and current journals containing articles relevant to city planning or urban history.

• Cities: the international journal of urban policy and planning via ScienceDirect- UC Only
Online ed.: 1997-- ; full text available via ScienceDirect
Print: 1983-- ; Environmental Design HT165.53 G7 C5
• Garden cities & town planning, London, P. S. King & son, ltd. [etc.]. Official journal of the Garden Cities and Town Planning Association (earlier name: Garden City Association; later name: Town and Country Planning Association).
  Microfilm: 1904-1932; Environmental Design MICROFILM 3365 NA
  print ed.: 1907-1932; Environmental Design NA9000 G3 Bound periodicals (ser. 3, v. 14 in storage)
• JAPA: journal of the American Planning Association
Online ed.: 1988--
Print: 1935-- ; Environmental Design NA9000 A48 Recent unbound issues on reserve; bound volumes in periodical stacks
• Journal of planning education and research via CSA. Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning.
Online ed.: Coverage varies; full text available via Urban Studies & Planning
Print: 1981-- ; Environmental Design NA1 A12 J68 Unbound & bound periodicals
• Journal of urban history - UC Only
Online ed.: Coverage varies
Print: 1974-- ; Environmental Design HT111 J681
• Journal of urban planning and development via ASCE Research Library. American Society of Civil Engineers. Urban Planning and Development Division, 1956-- . Title varies. In earlier years was part of the ASCE proceedings.All Online Issues May 1983 Present.
Environmental Design TA1 A47 C5 Bound periodicals & NRLF
• Planning history. 1988-- .
Environmental Design HT166 P55
• Planning history studies. Society for American City and Regional Planning History. Richmond, VA: The Society. 1996-1998.
Environmental Design HT167 P54
• Planning perspectives: an international journal of history, planning and the environment via IngentaConnect - UCB Only. International Planning History Society, London: E. & F. N. Spon.
Online ed.: 1996--.
Print: 1986-- ; Environmental Design NA9000 P59
• Proceedings of the National Conference on American Planning History, Columbus, OH: Published and dist. by the Society for American City and Regional Planning History.
NRLF only HT167 N242 1986-1995
• Storia della citta. Milano: Electa Editrice. v. 1(1976)-56(1990) Nicely illustrated with plans, maps, etc.
Environmental Design NA9000 S8 Bound periodicals & NRLF
• Urban affairs review
Print: 1965-- ; Environmental Design HT101 U67
• Urban history via Cambridge Univ. Press - UCB Only
Online ed.: 1999--
Print: 1974-- ; Environmental Design HT101 U67

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Biographies

The biographies of planners can be rich sources of information about the history of a particular period or event in planning.

• American planner: biographies & recollections, Donald A. Krueckeberg, ed. 2nd ed. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy Research, 1994. Biographies of leading American city and regional planners, 1890-1980.
Environmental Design HT167 A5767 1994
• Biographical information for city planners (UC Berkeley, Library) A guide to resources and strategies for locating biographical information about city planners.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/planning_biography.html

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Bibliographies

Specialized bibliographies can help you find publications on your topic. Also look for bibliographies in books as well as in journal and encyclopedia articles. To find additional bibliographies, search the Oskicat catalog: subject = City planning--History--Bibliography.

• Architecture series--bibliography. Monticello, IL: Vance Bibliographies, 1978-1990. Includes more than 2,300 bibliographies on architecture and related topics.
Environmental Design NA200 A12 A7 Index
• The Cinematic city: the city and architecture in motion pictures (UC Berkeley, Library). An extensive bibliography of books and articles on the idea of the city represented in film.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/cinematiccity.html
• CPL bibliography. Chicago, IL: Council of Planning Librarians, 1979-1995. More than 300 substantive annotated bibliographies on a wide range of city and regional planning topics.
Environmental Design HT166 A12 C6a Index
• History of urban and regional planning: an annotated bibliography, by Anthony Sutcliffe. London: Mansell Publishing, 1981. Includes more than 1,400 annotated entries on planning history and 19th-century antecedents, individual planners, planning in individual cities and towns, and planning as a world movement. British emphasis.
Environmental Design HT166 S913 1981 Noncirculating
• History of urban planning in the United States: an annotated bibliography, by Martin Gellen. Chicago, IL: CPL Bibliographies, 1983.
Environmental Design HT393 C2C25 W6 no.401
• The 100 essential books of planning. Comp. by the the American Planning Association and co-sponsored by the Association of College and Research Libraries, with web links provided by David Eifler, UC Berkeley, Library. 2009. Annotated bibliography created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the American planning movement. List organized by decade. Printable .pdf version of list.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/planning_essentialbooks.html
• Public administration series--bibliography. Monticello, IL: Vance Bibliographies, 1978-1991. Includes more than 3,100 bibliographies on public administration and related topics.
Environmental Design HT166 A12 P8 Index

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Special Collections

• Francis Violich Latin American urban planning collection. A collection of several thousand planning documents covering the development of Latin American planning and planning education during the period 1941-1972.
Environmental Design HT169 L3 V5 Shelved at NRLF; advance notice required for use.
• Housing and urban affairs, 1965-1976. Glen Rock, NJ: Microfilming Corp. of America, 1977. Full text microfiche collection of 3,000 local planning reports, research papers, etc., in the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Affairs Library, 1965-76.
Environmental Design Microfiche 855
• -----. Index: Housing and urban affairs, 1965-1976: A bibliographic guide to the microform collection provides subject, geographic and author title access to the collection.
Environmental Design HD7293.A12 H68 1978

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Images & Maps

In addition to the books and other sources already listed, urban images, plans, and maps may be found in specialized books and on the Web. The archives listed in this guide are also potentially great sources for images. See also Image Sources for the Built Environment for links to print and Web-based images.

• American memory The American Memory Historical Collections are multimedia collections of digitized documents, photographs, recorded sound, moving pictures, and text from the Library of Congress' Americana collections, including a rich archive of images and text on U.S. urban history.
http://rs6.loc.gov/amhome.html
• ArtStor - UCB Only Digital library of more than 1 million images including architectural images.
http://www.artstor.org/
• Bird's eye views: historic lithographs of North American cities, by John W. Reps. NY: Princeton Architectural Pr., 1998.
Environmental Design fNE2454 R45 1998 Reference & circulating
• California heritage project. A digital archive containing photographs, pictures, and manuscripts from the collections of the Bancroft Library. Includes many historical images of SF Bay Area places.
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/calheritage.html
• Civitates orbis terrarum, 1572-1618, [by] Georg Braun & Hogenberg. With an introd. by R. A. Skelton. Amsterdam, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1965. A facsimile edition of the detailed and colored set of maps of 16th century European town plans produced by Georg Braun.
  Environmental Design fNA9090 M53 v. 1-3, pt. 1-6 Rare Books
  • -----. The City maps of Europe: 16th century town plans from Braun & Hogenberg. Chicago: Rand McNally, 1992. Facsimiles from the original Civitates orbis terrarum in one volume. 60 cities included.
  Earth Sci fG1799 A1 B75 1992 Noncirculating
  • -----. Old European cities; thirty-two 16th-century city maps and texts from the Civitates orbis terrarum of Georg Braun & ... London: Thames and Hudson [1965].Reduced size reproductions of 32 maps from the orginal Civitates orbis terrarum. Some loss of detail because of reduction.
  Main D907 B715 1965
• Environmental design videography (UC Berkeley, Library) A videography of videos and DVDs in the UC Berkeley Media Resources Center on the built environment, including cities, city planners, and city planning. Noncirculating except to UCB faculty for classroom use.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/EnvidesignVid.html
• Index to early twentieth century city plans appearing in guidebooks, Baedeker, Muirhead-Blue guides, Murray, I. J. G. R., etc., to provide worldwide coverage of over 2,000 plans to over..., by Harold M. Otness. Santa Cruz: Western Assn. of Map Libraries, 1978.
Environmental Design G1028 O861 1978 Reference
• Index to nineteenth century city plans appearing in guidebooks: Baedeker, Murray, Joanne, Black, Appleton, Meyer, ... to provide coverage of over 2,000 plans to nearly 1,200 communities, found in..., by Harold M. Otness. Santa Cruz: Western Assn. of Map Libraries, 1980.
Environmental Design G1028 A12 O86 Reference
• Plat maps, also called fire insurance maps, show a variety of details, including actual lot boundaries, special uses, building materials and building footprints.
  • -----. Fire insurance maps (UC Berkeley, Library) Links to description of and indexes to fire insurance maps.
  http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/sanborn.html
  • -----. Fire insurance maps in the Library of Congress: plans of North American cities and towns produced by the Sanborn Map Company: a checklist, compiled by the Reference and Bibliography Section, Geography and Map Division.Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress: U.S. Govt. Print. Off., 1981.
  Environmental Design HG9771 U54 1981 Reference; Earth Sci HG9771 U54 1981 Reference with microforms
  • -----. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, San Francisco, California, 1899/1900, courtesy of San Francisco Genealogy. The black and white maps presented here are from six volumes that covered San Francisco in 1899 and 1900. To locate a specific location, consult the various indexes to locate the correct Map Sheet. Then select the appropriate link.
  http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/sanborn/sanborn.htm
• San Francisco Maps, courtesy of San Francisco Genealogy. Guide and links to historic, street and other maps.
http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/sfmaps.htm
• SPIRO, Architecture Visual Resources Center, UC Berkeley. The online image catalog to a portion of the AVRL's collection of over 200,000 35mm slides and 90,000+ digital images. The collection is available to UCB faculty and graduate students.
http://www.mip.berkeley.edu/spiro/
• To scale: one hundred urban plans, by Eric J. Jenkins. NY: Routledge, 2008. See the online table of contents for a list of cities and public spaces included.
Environmental Design NA9070 J46 2008 Reference
• U.S. historical city maps Digitized maps from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historic_us_cities.html
• Views and plans of North American cities: a bibliography of guides to the location of graphic records of urban development prior to 1900, John Reps, comp. [3d ed.] Ithaca, NY: Dept. of City and Regional Planning, College of Architecture, Art and Planning, Cornell Univ., 1978.
  Environmental Design Z6027 A5 R4 1978 Reference; Earth SciZ6027 A5 R4 1978

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Finding Local Information

Finding information about a specific place can be challenging. Start with the Finding Local Information guide for strategies to help uncover hidden information.

Finding Public Records

Public records are important resources in researching the history of specific places. Local government agencies often maintain useful records, for example, building and water or utility permits and city block books. Note that older records may be held in historical agencies or public library special collections. Federal agencies also have materials related to historic buildings and places. Refer to the section Archives & Special Collections for a list of local collections and archival sources.

• The Investigative reporter's handbook: a guide to documents, databases and techniques, by Brant Houston, Len Bruzzese, 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2002. See especially the section on "Who owns the land?," pp. 474-478.
Environmental Design PN4781 I578 2002 Reference
• Paper trails: a guide to public records in California, by Stephen Levine and Barbara T. Newcombe. 2nd ed. San Francisco: Center for Investigative Reporting; Sacramento: California Newspaper Publishers Association, 1996.
Environmental Design CD3111 N48 1996 Reference Desk
• Public record directory (Search Systems) A directory of links to free public record databases on the Internet.
http://publicrecords.searchsystems.net/

Directories:
• -----. State and local government on the net: a directory of official state, county, and city government Web sites (Piper Resources)
http://www.statelocalgov.net/index.cfm
• -----. U.S. government agencies and departments (UC Berkeley, Library)
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/govinfo/federal/gov_usagencies.html
• Index to current urban documents - UCB Only NY: Greenwood Pr. A unique collection of American and some Canadian local government publications, including city, county and regional plans. Selected California reports from this collection are also available in the Environmental Design Library (Microfiche 10010).
Online ed.: 2000--
Print: 1972-- ; Environmental Design JS13 A12M85 Index & GSSI; Index & full-text documents on microfiche in Institute of Governmental Studies Library (1983/84--)
• LexisNexis--Congressional - UC Only A surprising amount of city- and community-level information is available in U.S. Congressional publications. This database provides indexing and abstracts of congressional publications back to 1789, the full text of many congressional committee reports and testimony since 1994, and much more.
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/congcomp/

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• Finding general plans (UC Berkeley, Library) A guide to finding general plans; includes strategies and sources. A good starting place for understanding and locating general plans.
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/ENVI/planning_generalplans.html
• The Institute of Governmental Studies Library (IGSL) maintains the most comprehensive collection of California city and county planning documents on the UC Berkeley campus. Ranging from the 1940s to the present, the collection is fully cataloged and does not circulate. Since 1983 catalog records have appeared in the Melvyl catalog; earlier catalog records are in the Library's card and book catalogs.
  • -----. The California Local Planning Documents Database is an index of California general plans owned by IGSL. The database may be accessed at IGSL or online. Current planning documents are the primary focus of the database. Includes addresses of planning agencies.
  http://www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/calplans.html

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Archives

Archives, historical societies, and local libraries can be excellent sources of primary research materials in city planning and urban history. Most state libraries also maintain archival collections of public and other records. To locate materials located in libraries not listed in the Oskicat catalog, use WorldCat on FirstSearch and limit search results to Archival Materials'. Some of these materials may be available via The Library's Interlibrary Borrowing Service.

• Architectural archives sites (Carnegie Mellon Univ.) Directory of links to architectural archives web sites in the United States. Remember that architecture collections often include city planning, urban design, and landscape architecture materials.
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/ma1f/ArchArch/netsites.html
• ArchivesUSA - UCB Only Provides indexing to the records of the National Union Catalogue of Manuscript Collections and the National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States.
http://archives.chadwyck.com/
• C19: the nineteenth century index - UCB Only Some full text. Comprehensive coverage of 19th books, periodicals, official documents, newspapers, and archives. Draws on the Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue, The Wellesley Index, Poole's Index, Periodicals Index Online, and other sources to create integrated bibliographic coverage of over 1.5 million books and official publications, 71,000 archival collections and 18.9 million articles published in over 2,500 journals, magazines and newspapers.
Coverage: Varies (1770-mid-1900s).
• Minerva online catalog (California State Archives) Descriptive catalog of the archival records of California state agencies, legislative committees, the state Supreme and appellate courts, etc.
http://minerva.sos.ca.gov/
• Municipal archives: Municipal archives can be a fabulous source of primary research material. Many cities, counties, etc., maintain archives of historical municipal records, ranging from meeting and office records to maps, vital records, photographs, plans, parks and recreation planning, and much more. These archives are managed in diverse ways: as a separate department, as a function within an individual department, as part of the public library, etc. Search H-Urban discussion logs for "municipal archives" for a sampling of the type and quality of municipal archives available.
• National archives and records administration. NARA is an independent U.S. federal agency that oversees the management of all U.S. federal records. Great resource for primary research sources. The NARA Web site includes digital images of many records in the Archive.
http://www.nara.gov/
• -----. Guide to federal records in the National Archives of the United States. The most comprehensive guide to NARA's holdings. The Web version based on the 1995 print edition and is regularly updated.
Online ed.: http://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/
Print ed.: Doe/Refe CD3026 1995 v. 1-3 Govt/Stat
• -----. NARA Archives Online Public Access Portal The NARA Online Public Access site provides access to several records archives, including the Archival Research Catalog (ARC), Access to Archival Databases (AAD), Archives.gov, and the Electronic Records Archive (ERA). The ARC catalog searches on 126,500 digitized documents, photos, and images from the NARA holdings. The AAD is a a database of over 3,400 microfilm records.
http://www.archives.gov/research/search/
• Online archive of California Brings together historical materials from a variety of California institutions, including museums, historical societies, and archives. Includes more than 170,000 digital images and documents. The California Heritage Collection is one of many searchable archives containing photographs, pictures, and manuscripts from the collections of the UC Berkeley Bancroft Library, including many historical images of San Francisco Bay Area places.
http://www.oac.cdlib.org/
• Repositories of primary sources (Univ. of Idaho Library) International list of over 5,000 web sites describing holdings of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other primary sources.
http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/special-collections/Other.Repositories.html

Professional Practice

Here's a selection of primary and secondary sources for the study of the history of American planning practice.

• ACSP award history, Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. [2000] Coverage: 1981-1999.
Environmental Design HT390 A77 2000 Reserve
• ASPO index to proceedings of national planning conferences, 1909-1961, Mary Vance, comp. Chicago: American Society of Planning Officials, [1962] Consult The Library's catalogs to locate copies of the proceedings.
Environmental Design NA9010 A565 1909-61 Reference
• Intellectual evolution in the field of city and regional planning: a personal perspective toward holistic planning education 1937-2010, by Francis Violich.Working paper 2001-07. Berkeley, CA: Univ. of California at Berkeley, Institute of Urban and Regional Development, [2001].
Environmental Design HT393 C2C25 W6 2001:7
• National historic planning landmarks. American Institute of Certified Planners. The AICP National Historic Planning Landmarks award recognizes pioneering works, used as a precedent for other work, available for public use and viewing, and a minimum of 25 years old. The awards, which began in 1986, are usually announced in the April issue of the APA's Planning magazine (Environmental Design NA9000 A5). For a cumulative list of planning landmarks, see the latest edition of the Almanac of architecture and design.
Environmental Design NA9 A27 latest at Reference Desk
• The National Planning Association at work: six decades of providing solutions to America's challenges. Washington, DC: National Planning Association, 1995. NPA report: no. 278.
Institute of Governmental Studies A0737 no.278
• Planning and the planning profession; the past fifty years, 1917-1967, by Russell Van Nest Black. Washington, D.C.: American Institute of Planners, [1967]. Reviews the evolution of the planning profession and the American Institute of Planners.
Environmental Design NA9108 B55
• The Profession of city planning: changes, images, and challenges, 1950-2000, Lloyd Rodwin and Bishwapriya Sanyal, eds. New Brunswick, NJ: Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers, the State Univ. of New Jersey, 2000.
Environmental Design HT167 P75 2000

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