634 CONFERENCE ON NATURAL BEAUTY 



Government, municipal, State, and Federal, is responsible for 

 much of the disorder and clutter of our cities, and must as- 

 sume the leading role in a concerted attack on these problems. 



Likewise, private industry has been a major offender in fouling 

 the American environment. Private industry must, therefore, 

 play a much larger and more positive role in the development 

 of beauty in cities. This should be done not only through 

 more careful attention to industry's own environs and waste 

 disposal, but also through private encouragement of a higher 

 order of beauty, sponsored and financed by private business. 



As a vital first step, the panel recommends immediate passage 

 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1965, con- 

 taining provisions for urban beautification and expansion of the 

 existing open space land program. This badly needed legislation 

 should carry with it full funding as recommended by the admin- 

 istration. Such amounts are adequate only to gain a foothold on 

 the massive problems of developing more and better city parks 

 and beautifying urban areas. A much broader Federal effort should 

 be made as soon as possible. 



The panel also wishes to put special stress upon the new pro- 

 visions of the proposed 1965 legislation pertaining both to urban 

 beautification and the development of neighborhood centers, as these 

 provisions can be applied to impoverished areas of cities. These 

 programs, limited as they are in funds and scope, should be par- 

 ticularly directed to the poorest areas of cities, to insure that all 

 American families share in the effort to beautify our townscapes. 



There must be a much greater, more intensive push toward better 

 education for beauty in the cities on at least two levels : 



(1) We must develop in the youth of the Nation a greater 

 awareness of and sensitivity to all aspects of the environment. They 

 must be made aware of what comprises a stimulating environment 

 and what every citizen can do to insure its development and main- 

 tenance. Perhaps most important, we must involve young peo- 

 ple in the actual development of a stimulating environment. Pro- 

 grams to accomplish these objectives should be established and 

 administered locally, but with aid from both private industry and 

 the Federal Government. 



(2) There must also be a nationwide program of education for 

 our urban leadership, public and private. Many of the conditions 

 which are blighting our cities today are the result of ignorance, 



