Does Non-Planning Work?

Architect Cedric Price recently passed away, but his experiments in England with non-planned areas are still fundamental.

1 minute read

September 5, 2003, 5:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


Paul Barker writes about his friend and architect Cedric Price (1934-2003), who advocated "the concept of an 'anticipatory architect' who would give people the freedom to control and shape their own environment; all buildings should allow for obsolescence and complete changes of use... [Barker and Price] collaborated on Non-Plan, an anti-planning polemic, which infuriated architects, planners and assorted do-gooders. The idea emerged during a conversation [with] Peter Hall, geographer and planner, in the late 1960s. [The three were] appalled at the disasters that urban planning had brought about [and] wondered if things could be any worse if there were no planning at all... [Price] suggested carrying out a Non-Plan test. Four districts should be freed from all controls... in the London Docklands. Without it, there would be no Canary Wharf..."

Thanks to Chris Steins

Thursday, September 4, 2003 in Open Democracy

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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

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