The skyscraper

Innovative construction methods changed the scale of urban development. The new methods allowed highrise buildings supported by steel frames rather than load-bearing walls. The skyline of the central city changed dramatically. Futurists such as Swiss architect Le Corbusier envisaged entire new cities as tower blocks in parkland settings.

 

Cities built for cars.

 

The motor car also had a dramatic impact on the structure of modern cities and their planning. New philosophies of road design emerged in the United States and Britain in the early 20th century.

In 1906, the first limited access motorways appeared in New York with the Long Island Motor Parkway (1906–11) and the Bronx River Parkway (1906–23).

 

In 1938, British policeman Alker Tripp refined the idea of the road hierarchy. The width and capacity of a street would be determined by its traffic function – whether it was catering for through-traffic, industrial or residential traffic.