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REAL ESTATE
AND
(Copyright, 1917, by The Record and Onlde Co.)
NEW YORK, JUNE 2, 1917
WHAT CITY PLANNING MEANS DURING WAR TIME
Some of the Existing Conditions as Seen by the
American Industrial Commission, Sent to France
AN Europe aviation has raised a whole
series ol utw problems m the plan¬
ning oi cities, many ol which demand
immediate solution. When we were in
France last autumn we were taken out
to one ol tne great aeroplane camps usea
in tne aelense ol Jfans. ihere witnin
tne nigh enclosing wall, a neia stretched
away unDroKen by builUings or trees lor
several miles, wniie lar aown eacli siUe
ran a continuous row ot aeroplane sheas,
iney told us tliat there were more aero¬
planes tnen ui tbat one station tnan
tnere were in all ot France at tne begin¬
ning ot the war; more tnan tnere were
touay in tbe United btates. And yet,
tnat was only one ot a large nuinber oi
aeroplane or balloon tields tnrqughout
!• ranee. Tnese neids lor training, man¬
oeuvres and storage require acres ot con¬
tinuous open space almost level in char¬
acter ana weu-drained. Around most
cities sucb space is diincult to bnd, and
It IS only by planning well ahead that
adequate reservations can be made.
ine remarkable increase in the com¬
mon use ot aeroplane and dirigible bal¬
loons in Europe today makes it obvious
that their use tor commercial and pleas¬
ure purposes alter the war is going to be
perhaps as rapid in its growih as was
mat ot the automobile.
btiU more important in city planning
is the problem ol providing convenient
landing places lor aeroplanes. When
Miss i\.uth JLaw hew across Irom Chica¬
go to i\ew York she had to change her
plans on account ot the ditticulty in hnd-
ing a sale landing place, in JNiew York
City about the only place that has been
considered desirable lor landing is Gov¬
ernors' island. With the thousands of
aeroplanes that will be flying in this
country within a tew years, whether
there is war or not, the problem of pro¬
viding landing spaces will become rapid¬
ly more urgent. In fact the Post Othce
Department is now, in conjunction with
the Aero Club of America, planning to
select appropriate helds for landing in
or near every important center. In
France most of the aeroplanes, from
a standing start, go only some 100 or
150 yards before leaving the ground, and
then shoot up into the air at a surpris¬
ingly sharp angle. They land easily in
a oO-acre held. There are any number
of places in New York, and in most of
our other cities and towns, which would
make ideal landing places if they were
leveled off, and trees, bushes, wires and
other obstructions removed. The prob¬
lem of landing at night is perhaps the
most difficult and dangerous of all. In
France we found the landing places
specially lighted by searchlights or by a
peculiar formation of the surrounding
lamps, so that seen from above, they are
readily recognized. Then, too, by day
all sorts of special indications were used
—whitewash or colored diagrams drawn
on the ground, so that an aeroplane from
a mile or two in the air could recognize
the significance of the marks.
One of the most important problems
for the city in time of peace is the mov¬
ing of crowds of people quickly from
one place to another. Its importance is
increased tenfold in time of war. In
France we saw everywhere parts of a
great network of national military roads.
By»,GEORGE B. FORD
They often go straight up and down
over hills ana valleys as dia our old turn¬
pikes, but always witu the grades cut
down to the ininimuin and with ample
Width and excellent surtace. ihe road¬
ways are never too narrow tor two great
motor trucks to pass each other at high
speed; lar dinerent from our niggaraiy
custom. Though these national roads
go through towns and cities, even in the
larger cities, tiicy continue to belong to
the national government and are paia lor
and mamtaincd by it. ihey are the
back-bone ot efficiency in the handling
ot people and goods about the country.
Without them, f ranee would have had
the greatest aimculty in meeting the
situation with which she has been con¬
fronted.
As tor the railroads in France, here
again we lound men could be mobilized
or handled in masses trom one town to
another with the greatest ease and speed.
The special characteristics were ample
approaches to the railway stations and
extensive yards. Many of the railroad
lines have been laid out with the war
needs particularly in view, despite the
fact that under peace conditions these
lines are not prontable. However, they
have more than proved their value since
the beginning ot the war. With regard
to tramways, not only are the regular
systems laid out strategically, but all
over the country, through districts where
a standard gauge railroad could not be
provided, we lound little light narrow
gauge railroads with trains of three to
eight cars that were in constant use.
Motor busses have played an excep¬
tional role in France smce the beginning
ot the war. it was the motor busses
and taxi-cabs which saved Fans because
they were available and because they
were a mobile means of transit. Entire¬
ly apart from the usefulness of motor
busses in time of peace, il is a great
asset to have large numbers of them
immediately available in case a sudden
need arises for transportation of large
bodies of troops.
In the transportation and handling of
supplies, we found that great changes
have been made in France since the
beginning of the war. Things had to
be handled in much greater quantities
and with as little loss ot time as possible.
In many parts of the country, particu¬
larly near the war zone, we saw new
railroads being built and old ones con¬
siderably extended. In almost all of
the freight yards that we saw, extensions
were being made, new terminal tracks
being put in, huge new warehouses be¬
ing built, all with a view to handling
war supplies quickly and without waste.
At Marseilles we saw a great new classi¬
fication yard along the new docks that
the city is now building, rendered neces¬
sary by the trade that has come to the
port on account of the war.
We went over the ports of Marseilles,
Bordeaux, Rouen and to some extent
Havre, but we hardly recognized them,
so much had they been changed; build¬
ing going on on an enormous scale
everywhere, the ports being doubled,
trebled, and even quadrupled in size and
even at that, ships waiting at anchor
for days and weeks outside the port for a
chance to unload. It was a condition
of things that troubled us a great deal,
for we realized that hardly a city in
America was prepared to meet emer¬
gency conditions in like fashion. If
nothing else, a comprehensive plan
should be worked out now, so that it
can be carried out as speedily as possible
when the time comes.
Rivers and canals were being deepened
and broadened on every hand, and new
ones were being built; new boat services
were being started all because the cheap¬
er handling of freight was becoming an
increasingly serious problem in I-ranee,
since it also means a saving of coal and
of men, both oi which are at a premium.
However, the thing that probably im¬
pressed us most in the handling of goods,
Doth along the waterfront and in the
local terminals, was the extensive use
of handling machinery. Even in the
small villages, the freight yards were
equipped with cranes and other hand¬
ling devices, while in the larger yards
and along the docks almost nothing v^as
done by hand. Any mechanical device
that would save labor was more than
paying in its way, as it released men for
service at the front.
The handling of foodstuffs and war
supplies in particular has become a
most important problem, with the bring¬
ing together and the storage of great
quantities of supplies and the provision
of efficient means for their distribution.
Along the railways or waterways around
the cities and larger towns we saw acres
of new sheds that have been erected
since the war, just for the handling of
war supplies. Often they were incon¬
veniently located due to the lack of
planning belorehand. The nearer we
came to the front, the greater the num¬
ber of these storage helds. In every
case it was necessary to hnd large, level,
well-drained helds.
The handling of foodstuffs for the
civilian population is a problem to which
France has given caretul thought for a
good many years. Every city, town and
village has its municipal retail markets
in big halls open at the sides, where
stalls are rented to the little dealers at
the minimum economic rental. This
gives the city a chance to control not
only the healthfulness and quality of
foodstuffs, but also the maximum prices,
all of which has proven a most effective
means of keeping down the high cost
of living during the war. More than
that, however, there has been a very
strong tendency of late years in France,
as well as in other European countries,
to develop public wholesale auction mar¬
kets, and a niiniber of big retail markets
have recently been changed for the most
part from retail to wholesale use, all
of which tends to keep down costs.
The raising of foodstuffs is a most ur¬
gent problem in all of the countries at
war. In France it has long been the
rule to cultivate every acre of ground,
including all of the vacant lots in cities.
Workingmen's Gardens Societies lease all
available vacant lots and rent them to
wage earners' families, in plots of 2,500
to 5,000 square feet for a nominal rent.
Every member of the family works in
the garden. A plot will often keep a
family of eight or ten in vegetables the
year round. ,
One of the most serious problems ot
all is the locating and laying out of the