158 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



cratic representation. In some matters they should be empowered 

 to deal directly with Washington. 



This is not the occasion on which to describe a regional authority. 

 I would merely add that private corporations might assist in the 

 location process by hiring environmental designers and wildlife ex- 

 perts on their own staffs. 



To end with a slogan : Access to urban waterfront, both physically 

 and visually, will give our citizens that sense of enlarged freedom, 

 which, exactly 100 years ago, Frederick Law Olmsted claimed for 

 the U.S. public park movement. 



Mr. FEISS. Urban water must become an accepted part 

 of our inalienable rights in the pursuit of happiness and life. Our 

 designs must contribute to happiness or they are worthless. There- 

 fore, the urban water part of such designs should take advantage 

 of all urban water opportunities at any scale and of any kind, be 

 they natural or manmade, be they seashore, river or lake, marinas, 

 fountains, ponds or any combination of these. 



In all great cities of the world and in many small ones, from 

 Peking or Stockholm to Viterbo, wherever water could be made 

 available it has been used in the city planning process for utility and 

 enjoyment. In the United States only three major cities have made 

 superlative use of their urban water resources for beauty and recrea- 

 tion. They are: Chicago, with its magnificent Lake Michigan 

 waterfront parks; Minneapolis, with its wonderful chain of in-city 

 lakes, and San Antonio, with its delightful downtown river. Curi- 

 ously, although these examples have existed for years, their influence 

 has been minimal. 



The tradition of urban water design over a period of the last 65 

 or 75 years has been slow in building up, with lack of recognition 

 of the advantages of some of the great work that has been done in 

 the past. There are, however, exciting new urban water programs 

 in a number of our cities, and these are well worth watching. Re- 

 cent waterfront improvements are noteworthy in Detroit, Cleveland, 

 Boston, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and others. 



Most American cities either are indifferent or apparently power- 

 less to combat ugliness of urban water or the destruction of already 

 created values. I sincerely regret, and this has been mentioned 

 earlier, that the highway designers and the highway planners are 

 elsewhere engaged this afternoon. For instance, Metropolitan 

 Cleveland has been desperately trying to save the lovely chain of 



