When I hear American cities criticized for lack of long-term planning, my initial thought is that this is a good thing because the future cannot be predicted or directed very far in advance, and cities should be allowed to grow organically. Houston, in particular, is subject to a lot of criticism because of its lack of zoning, which I also think is a good thing. [1]
With that in mind, I was very surprised to see the following thread [2] from Aaron Renn.
Maybe the craziest thing about Houston’s third beltway, Grand Parkway, is that the idea originated in 1961, when the Houston metro area population was only 1.2 million people. [It’s now 7.8 million. — JC]
“In October 1965, plans for the Grand Parkway became public. The Houston City Planning Commission released a draft version of the 1966 Major Thoroughfare and Freeway Plan showing the new third loop on the official planning map.”
“The City Planning Commission approved the route and scheduled a public hearing for February 17, 1966. The Houston Chronicle enthusiastically endorsed the new route, saying, ‘No sensible citizen can doubt that this freeway will be needed eventually.’”
Aaron’s quotations are from Houston Freeways.
To a very crude approximation, a map of Houston looks like three concentric rings [2]. According to the sources cited above, planning for the outer ring began long before the middle ring was completed. The first section of the Grand Parkway opened in 1994, and it’s maybe three quarters finished currently.
Maybe what has made Houston successful is that it planned far ahead on a macro scale, but has not micromanaged as much as most cities.
[1] Along these lines, see James Scott’s book Seeing Like a State for examples of failures in long-range state planning. Or if you don’t have the to read the book, you might want to read Venkatash Rao’s article A Big Little Idea Called Legibility.
[2] It’s not exactly a thread. It’s a series of posts that quote the first sentence.
[3] When the outer ring, the Grand Parkway, is completed, it will be the longest beltway in the US and encompass more area than the state of Rhode Island.
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