Patrick Geddes

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Patrick Geddes

Patrick Geddes circa 1886
Born October 2, 1854
Ballater, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Died April 17, 1932
Scots College, Montpellier, France
Nationality Scottish
Institutions Lecturer in Zoology, Edinburgh University (1880–1888)
Professor of Botany, University College, Dundee (1889–1914)
Professor of Civics & Sociology, Bombay University, India (1920–1923)
Alma mater Royal School of Mines
Known for Conurbation
Notes
Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1880)
Co-founder of the University of Bombay[1]
Co-founder of the Sociological Society[1]
Founder of the Edinburgh Social Union[1]
Founder of the Franco-Scottish Society[1]
Planned the Hebrew University at Jerusalem[1]
Founder of the Collège des Écossais in Montpellier (1924)

Sir Patrick Geddes FRSE (2 October 1854 – 17 April 1932) was a Scottish biologist, sociologist, philanthropist and pioneering town planner. He is known for his innovative thinking in the fields of urban planning and education.

He was responsible for introducing the concept of "region" to architecture and planning and is also known to have coined the term "conurbation".[2]

An energetic Francophile,[3] Geddes was the founder of the Collège des Écossais (Scots College) in Montpellier, France.

Geddes was the father-in-law of the urban planner Frank Charles Mears.

Contents

[edit] Biography

The son of Janet Stevenson and soldier Alexander Geddes, Patrick Geddes was born in Ballater, Aberdeenshire, and educated at Perth Academy.[4]

He studied at the Royal College of Mines in London under Thomas Henry Huxley between 1874 and 1878, and lectured in Zoology at Edinburgh University from 1880 to 1888.

Geddes wrote with J. Arthur Thomson an early book on sexology, The Evolution of Sex (1889).[5] He held the Chair of Botany at University College Dundee from 1888 to 1919, and the Chair of Sociology at the University of Bombay from 1919 to 1924. He died in Montpellier, France on April 17, 1932. He was knighted in 1932 shortly before his death.

[edit] Regional planning

Milne's Court

Patrick Geddes, who was highly influenced by earlier theorists such as Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) and Frederic Le Play(1806-1882), expanded upon earlier theoretical developments that lead to the concept of regional planning. He adopted Spencer's theory that the concept of biological evolution could be applied to explain the evolution of society. French theorist Frederic Le Play, theorize that society could be explained by the interactions among three units of society including: place, work and family. Le Play formulated a circular theory whereby geographical location presented environmental limitations and opportunities that determined the nature of work. In turn, work determines familial organization of society. In the context of this theory, family was viewed as the central “biological unit of human society.” Human needs and potential needs in turn shape the nature of work, which in turn modifies the environment.[6][7] Geddes adapted these theories, changing the last Le Play's social units from "family" to "folk". His central argument was that physical geography, market economics and anthropology were related to yield a “single chord of social life [of] all three combine”,.[8][7] Thus the interdisciplinary subjects of sociology was developed as the science of “man’s interaction with a natural environment; the basic technique was the regional survey, and the improvement of town planning the chief practical application of sociology.[7][9] Against a backdrop of extraordinary development of new technologies, industrialization and urbanism, Geddes witnessed a substantial social consequences of crime, illness, poverty among others that developed as a result of modernization. From Geddes perspective, the purpose of his theory and understanding relationships among the units of society was to find an equilibrium among people and the environment to improve conditions. His intellectual efforts focused on analyzing the process by which social improvement could be achieved.

From a scientific perspective, observation was the way to see these relationships among place, work and folk. In 1892, to allow the general public an opportunity to observe these relationships, Geddes opened a “sociological laboratory” called the Outlook Tower that documented and visualized the regional landscape. In keeping with scientific process and using new technologies Geddes developed an Index Museum to categorize his physical observations and maintained Encyclopedia Graphicato, that utilized the new Camera Obscura to provide an opportunity for the general public to observe their own landscape to witness the relationships among units of society. The Outlook Tower was build in Edinburgh's Old Town and continues to be used as a museum. http://patrickgeddes.co.uk/feature_eleven.html

In 1909, Geddes planned the Zoological Gardens in Edinburgh, which led to his development of a regional planning model called the Valley Section. This model illustrated the complex interaction among bio-geomorphology, natural occupations such as a hunter, miner, or fisher that are supported by physical geographies that in turn determine patterns of human settlement.[10] The point of this model was to understand processes by which relationship between humans and then environment could be improved through regional planning. He concluded that, “town planning is not a mere place-planning, nor even work-planning. If it is to be successful, it must be folk-planning…[regional planning’s] task is not to coerce people into new places against their associations, wishes and interest… Instead its task is to find the right places for each sort of people; places where they will really flourish”.[7][11] Therefore regional planning is understanding and adapting ourselves to our local and regional environments to achieve an equilibrium informed by local cultural heritage values.

He collaborated with his son-in-law, architect Sir Frank Mears on projects in the Middle East. In 1919, Geddes was commissioned by the British Mandate to draw up a masterplan for Jerusalem.[12] In 1925, he submitted a first master plan for Tel Aviv that was adopted by the city council led by Meir Dizengoff a plan for developing the north of the city which has been termed "The Geddes Plan (Tel Aviv)" with the same time to prepare a master plan for Jerusalem. Tel Aviv is the only known city whose core is entirely built according to Geddes' plan.

Geddes was the founder of the College Des Ecossais, an international teaching establishment located in Montpellier, France. In India, Geddes provided planning consultancy to the rulers of Princely states. His principles for town planning in Bombay included: ("What town planning means under the Bombay Town Planning Act of 1915")[13]

  • Preservation of human life and energy, rather than superficial beautification.
  • Conformity to an orderly development plan carried out in stages.
  • Purchasing land suitable for building.
  • Promoting trade and commerce.
  • Preserving historic buildings and buildings of religious significance.
  • Developing a city worthy of civic pride, not an imitation of European cities.
  • Promoting the happiness, health and comfort of all residents, rather than focusing on roads and parks available only to the rich.
  • Control over future growth with adequate provision for future requirements.

In Madras, Geddes worked with Lord Pentland, whom he knew from Edinburgh. Pentland invited Geddes to hold an exhibit on town planning in 1914. This was around the time of the meeting of the Indian National Congress and Pentland hoped the exhibit would demonstrate the benefits of British rule. The materials for the exhibit were sent to India on a ship that was sunk near Madras by the German ship Emden. New material was collected and exhibited at the Senate hall of Madras University in 1915. Geddes lectured and worked with Indian surveyors and traveled to Bombay and Bengal where Pentland's political allies Lord Willingdon and Lord Carmichael were governors. He held a position in Sociology and Civics at Bombay University from 1919 to 1925.[13]

Geddes was keenly interested in the science of ecology, an advocate of nature conservation and strongly opposed to pollution. Because of this, some historians have claimed he was a forerunner of modern Green politics.[14]

Geddes' ideas had a worldwide circulation: his most famous admirer was the American urban theorist Lewis Mumford. Geddes also influenced several British urban planners (notably Raymond Unwin), the Indian social scientist Radhakamal Mukerjee and the Catalan architect Cebrià de Montoliu (1873–1923) as well as many other 20th century thinkers.[15]

[edit] Published works

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Macdonald, Murdo (20 May 2009). "Sir Patrick Geddes and the Scottish Generalist Tradition". Royal Society of Edinburgh. http://www.kosmoid.net/planning/geddeslectures. Retrieved 6 February 2011. 
  2. ^ * CASA News: Patrick Geddes and the Digital Age
  3. ^ King, Emilie Boyer (5 July 2004). "Anniversary makeover for Geddes garden". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). http://news.scotsman.com/world/Anniversary-makeover-for-Geddes-garden.2543337.jp. Retrieved 6 February 2011. 
  4. ^ Waterston, Charles D; Macmillan Shearer, A (July 2006). Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783-2002: Biographical Index. I. Edinburgh: The Royal Society of Edinburgh. ISBN 9780902198845. http://www.rse.org.uk/fellowship/fells_indexp1.pdf. Retrieved 5 February 2011. 
  5. ^ Patrick Geddes: Social Evolutionist and City Planner by Helen Meller,(pgs. 81-4), Routledge, 1993,
  6. ^ Mairet,Philip (1957): Pioneer of Sociology: The Life and Letters of Patrick Geddes, Lund Humphries,London.
  7. ^ a b c d Munshi, Indra (2000): Patrick Geddes: Sociologist, Environmentalist and Town Planner in Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35, no. 6 (Feb. 5-11, 2000) p. 485-491
  8. ^ Geddes, Patrick. 'Sociology as Civics' in Philip Abrams The Origins of British Sociology, University of Chicago Press 1968.
  9. ^ Halliday, R J (1968): 'The Sociological Movement,'The Sociological Society and the Genesis of Academic Sociology in Britain', The Sociological Review, Vol 16, No 3, NS, November.
  10. ^ Thompson, Catarine. 'Geddes, Zoos and the Valley Section in Landscape Review, Vol. 10, 2004
  11. ^ Geddes (1918):Town Planning Towards City Development: A Report to the Durbar of Indore, Holkar State Printing Press, Indore, Vols I and II.
  12. ^ An Empire in the Holy Land: Historical Geography of the British Administration in Palestine, 1917-1929 Gideon Biger, St. Martin's Press, New York & Magnes Press, Jerusalem, p. 216.
  13. ^ a b Robert Home (1997) Of Planting and Planning: The making of British colonial cities E & FN Spon. ISBN 0-203-44961-4
  14. ^ See Modern Environmentalism: An Introduction by David Pepper, Routledge, 1996, and Environmentalism: A Global History (pgs. 59-62) by Ramachandra Guha, Longman, 1999.
  15. ^ For Geddes' influence on these thinkers,see Meller,(pgs. 220,300-3) 1993, and Varieties of Environmentalism: Essays North and South by Guha and Juan Martínez Alier,Earthscan Publications, 1997.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] External links

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