FEDERAL INCENTIVES AND THE GROWTH OF LOCAL-PLANNING, 1941-1948

During the early and mid-1940s, America experienced a dramatic upsurge in urban planning. In dozens of major cities, planning departments th at had limped along since the 1920s were reorganized and greatly expan ded. In many smaller communities, governments created professionally s taffed agencies for the first time. Much impetus for this sudden growt h came from Washington. An array of federal programs-from Lanham Act p ublic works grants to FHA/VA mortgage regulations-provided incentives to planning. By winning the support of local economic leaders, the inc entives helped establish planning as a municipal priority and shaped t he sort of work the profession would do.