David A. Wallace: Influential Planner, Distinguished Leader

David Wallace, an influential urban planner associated with one of the great U.S. urban renewal successes died in Philadelphia at age 87.

1 minute read

July 20, 2004, 11:00 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"David A. Wallace, a distinguished architect and urban planner, and his wife, Joan, were found dead in their Chestnut Hill home yesterday, in what police said was a double suicide."

Wallace was "an influential urban planner who spent decades reviving urban downtowns and waterfronts, most notably Baltimore's Inner Harbor..."

Versions of the story also appear in the Philadelphia Enquirer, "Eminent Architect Dies in Double Suicide", and the Baltimore Sun, "Influential planner mourned by friends and colleagues in city."

"David Wallace was 87 and suffered from prostate cancer, and his wife, Joan Wallace, was 83 and also in very poor health, police said."

He received the 2003 Distinguished Leadership Award for a Professional Planner from the American Planning Association. "In an illustrious career that spanned the second half of the 20th century, David Wallace established a model strategy for overall redevelopment of downtown Philadelphia, headed a team that planned a revitalization strategy for Baltimore's ailing central business district, devised the Inner Harbor Master Plan, and prepared a master plan for the moribund Lower Manhattan district in response to the erection of the World Trade Center. Wallace has also taught planning and urban design at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Fine Arts and at the University of Chicago."

Thanks to Scott Reale

Tuesday, July 20, 2004 in CNN

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

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