The Glorious Future Never Came: An Interpretive Narrative Analysis of the 1947 St. Louis City Plan. (September 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Benton, Mark
• Is Part Of: Journal of planning education and research. Volume 42:Number 3(2022)
• Page Start: 413
• Page End: 423
• Publication Date: 2022-09
• Subjects: narratives -- urban history -- planning theory -- Barthes -- content analysis; Narraciones -- Historia urbana -- Teoría de la planificación -- Barthes -- Análisis de contenido; 叙事 -- 城市历史 -- 规划理论 -- 巴尔特 -- 内容分析; Regional planning -- Study and teaching -- United States -- Periodicals; City planning -- Study and teaching -- United States -- Periodicals; 307.12
• DOI: 10.1177/0739456X19826216
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0739-456X

Abstract

The 1947 St. Louis city plan predicted a glorious future for the city, but the glorious future never came. St. Louis experienced decline and city planning in St. Louis became problematic for contributing to racial inequity. Drawing upon narrative approaches to public policy and semi-structural content analysis, this research explores those contradictory themes. It argues that the glorious future was a discursive strategy and was promised only to those not labeled socially diseased. To avoid the problems of the 1947 plan, today's planners should maintain a focus on equity and avoid dehumanizing narrative devices in their planning.