Politics, Planning and the Public Interest

If the city planner's admonitions and proposals are not turned aside by an apathetic public, he is just as likely to see them smashed or distorted by powerful vested interests eager to assure their own profit or security— despite any public interest. In this study of the decision-making process in planning public housing to be developed in Chicago, the authors analyze decisions concerning the amount of housing and site locations. Site selection began what was at the lime the most important local issue in Chicago; for it set off conflicts over unresolved racial questions. Was there, for example, to be a relocated Negro ghetto-or not? Here is a candid description of the problems, machinations, and maneuvers of interest groups—and the final decisions made at various government levels. Because the Chicago experience in public housing parallels that of other major American cities, and location decisions are the usual route by which city planning comes into political focus., this is a volume dealing with issues vital to city planners and politicians as well as to housing specialists. An enlightening study to interest the administrator, citizen, and political scientist who would like to discover how major planning controversies -are settled in large American cities.