|
|
|
|
The
Humane Metropolis
 William
H. "Holly" Whyte (1917-1999) was one of America's most influential and
respected commentators on cities, people, and open spaces. Through his
writings - particularly The Organization Man (1956), The Last Landscape
(1968), and City: Rediscovering the Center (1988) - he taught a generation
of urban designers to view cities as habitats for people, rather than
simply as economic machines, transportation nodes, or grandiose architectural
stagesets.
As the United
States approaches 300 million residents, of whom four-fifths live in cities
or suburbs, Holly Whyte's vision of people-centered urban communities
has never been more needed. And it seems safe to assume that this vision
would today also incorporate recent insights on urban ecology and sustainability
(e.g., Daily, ed. 1997), in short a symbiosis of people and nature.
On June 6
and 7, 2002, about 300 urban design practitioners, writers, ecologists,
grassroots activists, and students gathered in New York City for The Humane
Metropolis: People and Nature in the 21st Century - A Symposium to Celebrate
and Continue the Work of William H. Whyte. The event was organized by
the Ecological Cities Project at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst,
with a grant from the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Additional support
was provided by the Wyomissing Foundation, the National Park Service,
the U. S. Forest Service, and Mr. Laurance S. Rockefeller, a longtime
friend of the Whyte Family and supporter of Holly's work.
For more
information on the symposium, read the conference
summary or view the agenda (.pdf) and speaker
bios.
Return
to Top
|
