Freeways in Urban Planning

The history and development of freeways as elements in urban and metropolitan plans will be reviewed in this paper. It will show how a concept originating in 1930 has now spread to encompass state and federal plans. The impact of these highways, without any direct access from abutting property, to the various elements of urban planning as embodied in master plans, urban renewal programs, and municipal zoning, will be described. Coordinated transportation plans and the prevention of continuous strips of urban development through zoning are suggested as urgent problems for the immediate future.