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Chicago: The City of Big Plans
On Tuesday, November 20, 2007 Dennis Judd, Professor in the Department of
Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Costas Spirou,
Professor in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the National-Louis
University presented "From the White City to the Tourist City: Daniel Burnham, Richard
M. Daley and the Making of Chicago." The focus of the lecture was to understand the
contemporary built environment of Chicago, and to look at how history has
shaped the look of the city today.
Focusing on Daniel Burnham's City Beautiful movement that began with the building of the
White City in Chicago for the 1893 World's Columbian Expedition, Judd spoke of the influence
this movement had on future development in Chicago. He argued that this grandiose aesthetic
impacted the built environment to come in the city. Spirou spoke about the "Daley Machine", and
the public perceptions of it, beginning with Mayor Richard J. Daley and his attempts to protect
the downtown area during the suburban development period and subsequent urban renewal period.
He then addressed current Mayor Richard M. Daley's approach to the redevelopment of Chicago -–
how his focus on building a city of tourism has strong parallels to Burnham's City Beautiful movement.
It was argued that both Burnham and Daley have similar reputations for grand visions and are
known as leaders of progress. Yet both have been criticized for their "frivolousness" and
lack of attention to real city needs. Critics have strongly argued against the City Beautiful
movement for its focus on aesthetic verses social needs, and the current development of Chicago
as a tourist city has received similar criticisms.
Dennis Judd is currently working on a book about the building of the tourist city of Chicago.
This lecture was part of the GCI Seminar Series, which invite experts, practitioners, and
academics to speak on current issues and innovative research.
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