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Article
Toledo Tomorrow: Reading Norman Bel Geddes' Vision for the Future in a Shrinking Midwestern City
Journal of Urban Design
  • Sujata Shetty, University of Toledo
  • Andreas Luescher, Bowling Green State University
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Abstract

This paper examines Norman Bel Geddes’ 1945 Toledo Tomorrow plan, his only proposal for a specific city, and its stamp on the morphology of today's Toledo. The paper surveys retrospectively at the changes in the morphology of the city and critically analyzes the impact of the Toledo Tomorrow Plan. Today's Toledo, a shrinking rustbelt city, reflects Geddes' legacy of neglecting the historic core; focusing on highway infrastructure, that has since worked in tandem with the forces of decentralization and suburbanization; and the city's weak relationship with its natural features and larger region.

Publication Date
1-1-2016
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/13574809.2015.1133227
Citation Information
Sujata Shetty and Andreas Luescher. "Toledo Tomorrow: Reading Norman Bel Geddes' Vision for the Future in a Shrinking Midwestern City" Journal of Urban Design (2016) p. 177 - 194
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/andreas_luescher/56/