Who Should Shape Our Cities—Governments or Corporations?

Who Decides How We Live—Governments or Corporations?

Are public institutions or private developers responsible for our cities? In this episode of CityDesign, architect and urban designer Martin Felsen revisits the legacy of American public housing—from the failures of high-rise towers like Cabrini-Green in Chicago, to the lasting success of Greenbelt, Maryland, a government-built utopian experiment.

We explore how design shapes community outcomes, why public housing fell out of favor, and how private initiatives, such as Reston, Virginia, adopted ideal city planning principles. Along the way, we reflect on how Good Times, the TV show set in Cabrini-Green, and the 1939 film The City, continue to influence how we imagine housing, equity, and the American Dream.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why Cabrini-Green came to symbolize the failures of public housing
- How Greenbelt, Maryland offered a successful low-rise public alternative
- The design innovations underlying 1930s Greenbelt and 1960s Reston
- How suburbanization reshaped urban public policy
- Why private developers took over from the public sector—and with what consequences
- How both government and corporate design can succeed (or fail)
- What lessons we can draw from past housing models to improve today’s cities

What do you think?
Should governments build more communities like Greenbelt? Or should private developers take the lead in shaping our cities—with public support and oversight?
Let us know in the comments!

Please like, subscribe, and share if you care about how cities are designed—and who gets to decide.

Tags
#CityDesign #UrbanPlanning #PublicHousing #GreenbeltMaryland #RestonVirginia #GoodTimes #CabriniGreen #AffordableHousing #Architecture #NewDeal #HousingPolicy #UrbanDesign #WalkableCities #PublicVsPrivate #MartinFelsen #SmartCities #FutureOfCities #Architecture #CityPlanning #SpeculativeUrbanism #DesignFutures #UrbanDesignHistory #UrbanPlanning #Architecture #UtopianCities #UrbanDesign #UrbanDesign #AmericanUrbanism #ArchitectureHistory #DesignFutures

About me
Martin Felsen, FAIA, co-founded UrbanLab, an architecture and urban design firm in Chicago. Martin is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and a Professor in the Illinois Institute of Technology’s (IIT, aka, Illinois Tech) College of Architecture. UrbanLab’s work synthesizes diverse design methodologies and technical innovations drawn equally from architecture and its complex urban and natural contexts. Built work to date includes houses, housing, mixed-use buildings, installations, and urban infrastructural projects. UrbanLab has received many design awards for projects across scales of production.

Attributions

Good Times, J.J. Says DY-NO-MITE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I02B1lq7ya8&t=47s

TV Theme, Good Times
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsFpAEU0ziw

The City (1939 Documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQrtEtkkTsc

Welcome to Greenbelt, Maryland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bQT3VXZFU4

Reston Virginia Full Drone Tour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Cso5Ce3nY&t=257s

Northern Virginia, Lake Anne Plaza, Reston VA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpbjmgFtgd4&t=123s

Pruitt Igoe Demolition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UntpCv3nFU

Cabrini Green Photos via Library of Congress

Видео Who Should Shape Our Cities—Governments or Corporations? канала Martin Felsen - City Design