| Who? | Accomplishment |
| Bassett, Edward M. (1863-1948) | The "Father of Zoning". Helped shape Standard City Enabling Act 1928. |
| Bettman, Alfred | Cincinnati Lawyer. Played a key role in Cincinnati Plan (1925), Euclid v. Amber (1926). |
| Burnham, Daniel Hudson (1846-1912) | Father of city planning in US. Among city planners is renowned for the influential 1909 "Plan for Chicago". Famous for his quote, "Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir men's blood". |
| Daniel Hudson Burnham (1846-1912) | His "White City" at the Columbian Expo inspired the "City Beautiful Movement", and his Chicago Plan (1909) gave birth to modern city planning. |
| Davidoff, Paul (1930-1984) | Founded the Suburban Action Institute in 1969, whose members challenged exclusionary zoning in the courts, winning in the Mt. Laurel case. Developed the concept of the "advocacy planner". |
| Geddes, Patrick (1854-1932) | Author of the "Cities in Evolution". Consider the "father" of regional planning. |
| Howard, Ebenezer (1850-1928) | Published "Tomorrow, A Peaceful Path to Real Reform" in 1898, starting the Garden City Movement. The book was reissued in 1902 as "Garden Cities of Tomorrow". |
| Jacobs, Jane | Author of 1961 book, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities", forced its readers to rethink urban renewal and other contemporary tools of city building. |
| Kent, T.J. Jr. (1917- ) | San Francisco - served as the coordinator for housing, planning, and development. Wrote "The Urban General Plan". |
| L'Enfant, Pierre Charles (1754-1825) | Plan for Washington DC - made use of grid pattern, axials, and circles. |
| Lynch, Kevin (1918-1984) | Author of "Image of the City". "Historically, public opinion has favored development almost irrespective of the cost of the environment". |
| McHarg, Ian | Wrote "Design with Nature". Father of Modern Ecology/Environmental Movement. Proposed the use of transfer of development rights (TDR) to preserve landscape. Renowned for his advocacy of ecological planning and for the layered mapping techniques. |
| Mumford, Lewis | Outspoken critic of the Regional Plan of NY 1929. Prolific author - "The Culture of Cities" (1938) - inspired city and regional planning efforts. |
| Olmsted, Fredrick Law, Sr. (1822-1903) | Co-designer of Forest Hills and Riverside, IL. Site planner for the 1893 Columbian Exposition. |
| Olmsted, Fredrick Law, Jr. (1870-1957) | Designer of Forest Hills Gardens and Palos Verdes Estates. Played important role in shaping Standard City Enabling Act 1928 |
| Perry, Clarence Arthur | Promoter of the neigborhood unit concept. Author of "Housing for a Mechanic Age, Regional Survey of New York and Environs" (1929). |
| Pullman, George (1831-1897) | His model company town, he tried to combine the industrialist's need for efficiency with the worker's need for decent housing. |
| Riis, Jacob August (1849-1914) | Used photography and writing to reveal the terrible conditions of the urban poor in "How The Other Half Lives" (1890) and "Children of the Poor" (1892). Led to the first federal investigation of slums and to changes in NYC's housing laws. |
| Rumbold, Charlotte | Influential in citizen planning. Helped found the Ohio Planning Conference, the 1st statewide citizen based group (1919). Won legislative support for planning enabling laws, zoning and subdivision regs, and public housing (1920-30's). |
| Simkhovitch, Mary K. (1867-1950) | Organized one of the nation's first settlement houses, Greenwich House in New York. Described in her autobiography, "Neighborhood: My Story of Greenwich House. |
| Stein, Clarence S. | Co-designer of Radburn, NJ. Member of Regional Plan Association of America (RPAA). |
| Wurster, Catherine Bauer | Wrote "Modern Housing". She attributed the lack of low cost housing to the liberal intellectuals, trade unions, and planners. Considered a key housing reformer of the 20th Century. |
| Perry, Clarence | Wrote "Regional Surby of New York and Environs" (1929) |
| Wright, Frank Lloyd | Wrote "Broadacre City - A New Community Plan" (1935) |
| Howard, Ebenezer | Wrote "Tomorrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform" (1898) |
| McHarg, Ian | Wrote "Design with Nature" 1971 |
| Riis, Jacob | Wrote "How the Other Half Lives" (1890) and "Children of the Poor" (1892) |
| Jacob, Jane | Wrote "The Death and Life of a Great American City" (1961) |
| Lynch, Kevin | Wrote "Site Planning" (1971) |
| Mumford, Lewis | Wrote "The Culture of Cities" (1938) |
| Geddes, Patrick | Wrote "Cities in Evolution" (1915) |
| Arnstein, Sherry | Wrote "Ladder of Citizen Participation" |
| Peter Calthorpe | Developed the design feature "Transit Oriented Developments" (TOD's). |
| Saul Alinksy (1909-1972) | Father of Neighborhood Organizing Movement, 1940's Back of the Yards (Chicago) from Upton Sinclair's The Jungle. Rules for Radicals 1971. Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF)1940. |
| Saul Alinksy | Organizational methods: empowerment (start where people live); nonideological pragmatism=concrete interests of community; conflict tactics=any means justify the end |
| Robert Moses (1888-1981) | Known as "Great Expediter" leading city planner iin 1920's replacing Burnham. "If the ends don't justify the means, than what the hell does." Portland, OR program of public improv. NY region over 400 miles of parkways-Triborough Bridge, Jones Beach. |