author
Flavel Shurtleff
1879–1978
A lawyer turned city-planning expert, he wrote one of the early landmark guides to how American cities could actually put planning ideas into practice. His work helped connect legal know-how with the growing movement for better-designed, better-governed communities.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born in 1879, Flavel Shurtleff became known for bringing the law into the practical side of city planning. His best-known book, Carrying Out the City Plan (1914), was written in collaboration with Frederick Law Olmsted and focused on the legal tools cities could use to shape parks, streets, public buildings, and other civic improvements.
Shurtleff was associated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where the MIT Museum records him as serving in the Department of Architecture and Planning from 1938 to 1950 in roles including Lecturer on Planning Administration and Legislation, Assistant Professor of City Planning, and Associate Professor of Legislation and Administration.
Archival and library records show that his career centered on planning administration, legislation, and municipal development, and that his papers relate to city and state planning work. Although biographical details about his personal life are not easy to confirm from readily available sources, the record that survives makes clear that he was an important early voice in professional city planning in the United States.