Pre-planning school reading suggestions

I come at it from the urban ecology and environmental planning/env health side.

Fitchett's comment recommends design reading, Evan is closer to my taste and if you're going to read one Mike Davis (and you should) Ecology of Fear is the one IMHO.

Otherwise you want good background and these on the list supply that:

Berry, Wendell
Diamond, Jared
Flyvbjerg, Bent
Levine, Jonathan

and if you're design-minded, I'd start with Hayden, Dolores or Lynch, Kevin before getting into the Calthorpe types. Know thyself before committing to a path, but you won't regret the profession.

Best,

D

Many of my must-haves are on that Michigan website
(Alex Garvin--The American City, Jane Jacobs--Death and Life, Kevin Lynch--The Image of the City) but here's a few others to whet your appetite.

Charles Hoch--The Practice of Local Government (a definite need for any planning student)

Mike Davis--"Ecology of Fear", "City of Quartz", and "Planet of Slums" (he's ironic, witty, and funny).

Jon Teaford's "The Twenieth Century City" is a pretty good historical synthesis.

Black issues are also important when understanding the city, making these four good: Allan Spear--Black Chicago, Gilbert Osofosky--Harlem: Making of a Ghetto, Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton--American Apartheid, and Horace Cayton & St. Drake Clair--Black Metropolis.

I've heard praise for (but have not read)
Richard Florida--The Rise of the Creative Class
Donald C. Shoup-The High Cost of Free Parking
Lance Freeman--There Goes the 'Hood

Read and enjoy.

From that list I would recommend the following authors if you are starting out in the planning field -

Peter Hall
Robert Fishman
Peter Calthorpe
Jane Jacobs
Kevin Lynch
Lewis Mumford
Michael Sorlain

Although I am a UK/NZ trained and UK based planner - so I am not sure if the list above is the best for a US planner. These authors will give you a good background to planning and the history of urban development.

Good luck with your studies!