184 pages
5.25 x 8.125
one 4-page color insert, 25 photos
Some utopian plans have shaped our cities —from England’s New Towns and Garden Cities to the Haussmann plan for Paris and the L’Enfant plan for Washington, DC. But these grand plans are the exception, and seldom turn out as envisioned by the utopian planner. Inviting city neighborhoods are more often works of improvisation on a small scale. This type of bottom-up development gives cities both their character and the ability to respond to sudden change.
Hank Dittmar, urban planner, friend of artists and creatives, sometime rancher, “high priest of town planning” to the Prince of Wales, believed in letting small things happen. Dittmar concluded that big plans were often the problem. Looking at the global cities of the world, he saw a crisis of success, with gentrification and global capital driving up home prices in some cities, while others decayed for lack of investment.
In DIY City, Dittmar explains why individual initiative, small-scale business, and small development matter, using lively stories from his own experience and examples from recent history, such as the revival of Camden Lock in London and the nascent rebirth of Detroit. DIY City, Dittmar’s last original work, captures the lessons he learned throughout the course of his varied career—from transit-oriented development to Lean Urbanism—that can be replicated to create cities where people can flourish.
DIY City is a timely response to the challenges many cities face today, with a short supply of affordable housing, continued gentrification, and offshore investment. Dittmar’s answer to this crisis is to make Do-It-Yourself the norm rather than the exception by removing the barriers to small-scale building and local business. The message of DIY City can offer hope to anyone who cares about cities.
"Dittmar’s book offers valuable insight for planners …. DIY City is well suited for practicing planners, especially those who are wrestling with planning in an uncertain and unpredictable future."
Journal of Urban Affairs
"With the pandemic tightening local budgets, DIY will actually become more and more integral to the welfare and quality of life of communities in the near future. In this context, DIY City offers lessons that interested urban DIY-ers should find of interest."
A Daily Dose of Architecture Books
"A worthy contribution to the planning literature."
Public Square
"Dittmar’s 156-page, photo filled book mirrors his core faith in "making small happen." It is chock full of ideas that befits Dittmar’s long career working on revitalization strategies. As cities face unprecedented economic challenges due to COVID-19, Dittmar’s strategies are even more worth reading about."
Beyond Chron
"Readers interested in learning how to get things done right now in their communities will find Hank's experience and insights engaging and empowering."
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, FAIA, CNU, Partner DPZ CoDESIGN
"Hank Dittmar was my mentor, my source of inspiration, my conscience. His superpower was seeing how to cut through the bull**** and get straight to the heart of what makes our communities tick. DIY City is an open-source guide to Hank's superpowers, giving each of us the tools to make communities places where we can all thrive."
Shelley Poticha, Managing Director, Healthy People & Thriving Communities Program, NRDC
"Hank Dittmar honed the craft of artisan urbanism long before such skills became fashionable and lucrative. This book captures what he learned along the way and offers inspiration and guidance to those who can carry his knowledge about building better places forward. DIY City represents a wonderful testament to the life of an innovative urbanist because it will help those who engage with its ideas to make more people feel at home in the cities of tomorrow."
Anthony Perl, Professor of Urban Studies and Political Science, Simon Fraser University
"Most planners care about places, maps, buildings, and codes. Hank cared about people first and foremost along with music, culture—and counterculture. DIY City is elegant and egalitarian and human as hell. It is as human as Hank was. It brings his legacy to a whole new generation."
Robin Rather, CEO, Collective Strength
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1: Cities are Back
Chapter 2: Sometimes the Small Stuff Sticks: Learning to Improvise
Chapter 3: Do It Yourself: An Enduring Idea
Chapter 4: Doubling Up: Lessons for Cities from Life during Wartime
with Scott Bernstein
Chapter 5: Slack Is a Good Thing
Chapter 6: When Meanwhile Becomes Permanent: Eric Reynolds and London’s Revival
Chapter 7: Making Spaces for the Arts
Chapter 8: Filling in the Missing Pieces: Lean Urbanism
with Brian Falk
Chapter 9: Too Small to Matter?: The Persistence of the Informal
Endnotes
About the Author
The Eno Center for Transportation (Eno) is hosting a webinar around the book DIY City: How Small Actions Can Solve Big Problems.
Cities and metropolitan areas around the world face immense challenges today. In a new posthumous book, renowned urban planner Hank Dittmar makes the case for individual initiatives and interventions rather than grand plans, which he contends are often the problem. The lessons in the book come directly from Hank’s experiences throughout the course of his storied career—as transportation planner, airport executive, and visionary leader and advocate—and how those lessons can, and should, be replicated to create places where people can flourish. This webinar features Hank’s longtime friends and collaborators, Don Chen (Surdna Foundation) and Shelley Poticha (Natural Resources Defense Council) to discuss Hank’s legacy and the importance of engaging communities as cities and states realign their goals and programs post-COVID and beyond.
Speakers:
Don Chen, President, Surdna Foundation
Shelley Poticha, Managing Director of Healthy People & Thriving Communities Program, Natural Resources Defense Council
Robert Puentes, President and CEO, Eno Center for Transportation
Please join RPA for a celebration and discussion of Hank Dittmar’s DIY City. Dittmar was a visionary urban planner whose ideas and influence can be seen around the world. In DIY City, Dittmar explains why individual initiative, small-scale business, and small development matter, using lively stories from his own experience and examples from recent history. DIY City, Dittmar’s last original work, captures the lessons he learned throughout the course of his varied career — from transit-oriented development to Lean Urbanism — that can be replicated to create cities where people can flourish. Hooper Brooks will lead a discussion of the book and Dittmar’s legacy with Don Chen of the Surdna Foundation, and Janette Sadik-Khan of Bloomberg Associates.
