Traditionally, our cities represent a great compromise. Our streets, buildings, and governance are an amalgamation of values, pushed forward by stakeholder groups. The city is the result of conflicting forces fighting for their preferred state.
Though the city can be the vision of a single individual. When an individual achieves a level of celebrity, city planning is a recreational pursuit, supplemented by expansive capital resources and reduced political friction. These “unconventional planners” attempt to mold their flashy ideals into a fantastical urban space.
In an upcoming Wagner Planner series, Mackenna Caughron will explore three unconventional planners and their machinations of the city. What can be learned from these imagined built spaces? Why do these famed individuals pursue city planning? And should we revere or reject the extra-disciplinary schemes?