THE BEAUTIFYING OF CITIES 
A PAPER READ BEFORE THE ARCHITECTURAL LEAGUE OF NEW YORK 
By John M. Carrere 
W ITH perhaps few exceptions, the found¬ 
ing of a city has been really quite acci¬ 
dental, and the selection of the location has 
been due to two principal causes : the neces¬ 
sity of establishing either a military or a 
trading post. And from these small begin¬ 
nings the city has grown and developed. 
There are very few cases on record where 
the location of a city was selected deliberately 
and with any other purpose—the most nota¬ 
ble instance being the City of Washington. 
It follows therefore that these cities have 
always been placed in localities that were 
primarily well suited for defence, or on the 
natural highways of commerce—whether in¬ 
land, on streams or lakes or on the coast. 
They have been preceded by military roads 
or common highways,—sometimes no more 
than a cow-path,—and they have developed 
along the lines of least resistance without any 
particular scheme and with little or no fore¬ 
thought. 
In the Old World the growth and develop¬ 
ment of cities was very gradual and coincident 
with the development of civilization and the 
advancement of art. Their remodeling was 
brought about by rather violent methods— 
sometimes by the necessity of rebuilding the 
cities that were devastated or ruined by the 
conquering hordes, at other times by the 
ambition of the conqueror to reproduce in 
his own land the wonders that he had seen 
abroad ; and so we travel through the ages 
from Egypt to Greece, to Rome, to France, 
to Germany, to Spain and England and the 
rest of Europe. 
The important points to note are, that 
the utilitarian and the ideal conditions of city 
building were developed side by side, and 
that art was not promoted by public opinion, 
though it was greatly influenced thereby, 
but bv individuals having the ambition and 
the power to bring about a new order of 
things without hindrance. 
With us, on the other hand, cities far sur¬ 
passing in size the largest cities of the Old 
World, have grown so rapidly that the utili¬ 
tarian side has forced itself upon the people 
and taken all their energy, means and thought, 
leaving no opportunity for art excepting of 
the most perfunctory and casual character, 
so that we are now confronted with the neces¬ 
sity, from the artistic point of view, of re¬ 
modeling practically the whole of the United 
The Karntnerring in Vienna AVENUES OF EUROPEAN CITIES Tie Hohenstaufenring in Cologne 
Which are not only thoroughfares, but have been made into ornamental places offering recreation for the citizens 
and greatly enhancing the value of the adjacent property 
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