Longest Serving Mayor Offers Planning Advice

The City of Charleston, South Carolina, first elected Joe Riley as mayor in 1975. Since then he has won re-election seven times. He has served longer than any other contemporary U.S. mayor and overseen dramatic changes in his city. Mayor Riley led successful efforts to revitalize the downtown, develop public spaces, improve children’s services, reduce crime, and many others. Mayor Riley founded the Mayors' Institute for City Design and has received national acclaim for his leadership and promotion of high-quality urban design. The Planning Report presents Mayor Riley's insight into the complex relationship between a mayor and urban planning.

From the article:

"I think what's happened -- and I'm not speaking about L.A. or any city; I’m speaking about America -- is we developed rapidly in the 20th century in metropolitan areas, and the notion of civic planning was lost. It was private rather than civic planning, because a landowner would buy a tract of land and then say, 'Well, let’s develop it this way.' Well, the ownership of land is sacrosanct and the ability to profit from wise ownership and development of land is very important, but if it is to be a permanent part of the ultimate civic gesture, a city, then it should be pursuant to a civic vision, a community vision."