City Planning in its broad modern sense is a very recent development in America. Less than three decades have passed since the first conscious effort was made to prepare a comprehensive plan for the improvement, embellishment and future development of a large city. However, only within the present century has the movement become at all general. During this time many cities, both large and small, in every section of the country have grappled with the problem of their economic, hygienic and æsthetic development.
At first the movement in civic improvement was mainly confined to the idea of the City Beautiful so that the plans and reports dealt mostly with parks, civic centers and other specialized features that made their appeal through that idea, each one excellent in its way, but fulfilling only a narrow purpose too often totally unrelated to the city as a whole. It was not till later that the less showy but fundamental questions such as transportation, water supply, sewerage systems, etc., were taken into consideration as essential parts of civic improvement. Even then the reports too often illustrated and placed great emphasis upon city embellishment and improvement in other countries without making due allowance for the local conditions and specially for the legal status of city planning in those countries.
In general it may be said that in the earlier planning reports the legal side of city planning was given little or no consideration. The result was a failure, either wholly or in part, to accomplish their purpose. This failure was easily traceable to the lack of legal foundation for carrying out the plans recommended in the reports. The need of a sound legal basis
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