'The City' Documents Formative Planning Advocacy on Film

Streaming on YouTube, the 1939 film "The City" is a powerful cinematic account of advocating for planned communities.

1 minute read

August 31, 2020, 11:00 AM PDT

By Lee Flannery @leecflannery


"The City" (1939) revolutionized the art of documentary filmmaking, says Richard Brody. According to Brody, the film "suggests the mighty purview, the theoretical span, and the personal perspective that a film of this kind could embody—and that is often missing from many recent documentaries in spite of their technical freedoms."

Originally conceptualized by Catherine Bauer, an affordable housing advocate, the film makes the argument for public housing as a fundamental right. It advocates for planned communities and "decentralized small cities, organized around factories and other work sites and sources of employment, each with copious parks and recreational areas, shops, schools, and services, linked to one another by vast arrays of roads (large and numerous enough to obviate traffic but landscaped, as parkways, to be as edifying as the towns themselves)," writes Brody.

Brody goes on to describe the film's five acts and coda as an enthusiastic account of the power of planned communities. He recommends the film, directed and filmed by Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke, which is available to stream on YouTube


Thursday, August 27, 2020 in The New Yorker

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Close-up of "Apartment for rent" sign in red text on black background in front of blurred building

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program

Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

April 21, 2025 - Housing Wire

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

April 23, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Ken Jennings stands in front of Snohomish County Community Transit bus.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series

The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

April 20, 2025 - Streetsblog USA

Yellow electric school bus with preteen students exiting.

California Invests Additional $5M in Electric School Buses

The state wants to electrify all of its school bus fleets by 2035.

April 25 - Associated Press

City Hall building in Austin, Texas.

Austin Launches $2M Homelessness Prevention Fund

A new grant program from the city’s Homeless Strategy Office will fund rental assistance and supportive services.

April 25 - Spectrum Local News

Brick school building with mid-sized tree on front lawn.

Alabama School Forestry Initiative Brings Trees to Schoolyards

Trees can improve physical and mental health for students and commnity members.

April 25 - Governing