There are many issues that Chicago and any other major city must address, such as housing and sanitation and crime. As an outsider I feel I have very little knowledge of these issues, but walking around Chicago I began to see some of the problems that Burnham may have feared when he looked to Chicago’s future.
In his design of civic centres and parks, Burnham “urged the building of more parks and playgrounds in the city and the setting aside of natural areas in Chicago,” (145) in order to prevent people from, to an extent, going crazy in the city. I think this was an admirable and important aspect of the plan that was eventually implemented, and I could tell that people were using it for such a place of escape.
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| It is difficult to believe that this peaceful scene is situated along side the busy Michigan Avenue, but as we can see it offers this citizin a peaceful respite from the speed of the city (Jenny Riley, September 2011) |
Another danger in modern Chicago is people giving in to the monotony of commuting to and from work every day and not stopping to truly appreciate the beauty of Chicago. On Michigan Avenue I think this could be truly seen with the ornate, European style architecture contrasting the modern buildings that now dominate the city. Although I do not believe we can force commuters to stop and appreciate the beauty of Chicago, it was probably still a fear of Burnham’s that Chicago would just become ‘another city’ in which to conduct ones daily business.
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| There is a danger that residents in Chicago may loose sight of the beauty of the city that can be found alongside the modern skyscrapers and office buildings (Jenny Riley, September 2011) |
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