Introduction : urban planning in the American past -- Sanitary reform and landscape values, 1840-1890 -- Civic art, 1890-1900 -- The McMillan plan for Washington, D.C., 1900-1902 : the nation's first comprehensive city plan -- The origins of the city beautiful, 1897-1902 -- The birth of the city planning ideal, 1902-1903 -- The new planning ideal and the public interest, 1902-1904 -- The outburst of great civic schemes, 1902-1905 -- City beautiful planning : dreams and reality, 1905-1909 -- City beautiful planning as a transitional art, 1905-1909 -- The social progressive challenge, 1909 -- The birth of city planning, 1909-1910 -- City planning, 1911-1917 : elusive quest -- City planning, 1911-1917 : opportunistic interventionism -- Epilogue and conclusion : American urban planning as a fragmented art