Urban Planner (CTP2)

Urban Planner
Attack	0
Ranged	0
Defense	10
Armor	1
Damage	1
Vision	2
Movement	2
Cost	1400
Required advances	Advanced Urban Planning
Other attributes	Creates Advanced Cities

The Urban Planner is a unit in Call to Power II.

Summary

• Creates Advanced Cities

Gameplay

The Urban Planner is an advanced Settler unit. Like the Settler, the Urban Planner creates land-based Cities. Unlike the Settler, the Urban Planner creates larger cities (Size 3) that start with many Improvements already in place.

Great Library entry

It was the disorder and squalor of 19th century Industrial Revolution-era cities, with their festering, overcrowded slums, which prompted the first modern urban planning and development efforts. Early city planners imposed laws for the standardization of housing, sewage, sanitation, public health and, perhaps most important, water supply conditions. Urban planners also introduced parks and playgrounds into congested city neighborhoods, providing places for recreation, as well as visual relief.

20th century urban planning saw the rise of the concept of zoning — setting limits for building height, neighborhood density and construction activity. Most cities had grown organically, and as the Industrial Revolution shifted the role and dominance of cities to the fore, they became sprawling, disorganized eyesores, with commercial, industrial and residential areas intertwined and seemingly built on top of each other.

Public transportation was the answer to many issues — overcrowding, complex street systems, traffic, congested commercial districts, and shortages of housing — that plagued the sprawling metropolis. Urban planning was also important to the revitalization of Europe after World War II, where planners shifted their focus to the reconstruction of areas destroyed by war.

By the middle of the 20th century, urban planners experimented with new concepts for towns and cities, and endeavored to create the ideal urban area. "Planned communities" sprang up, with transportation, recreation, industrial and residential systems in place. Rather than focusing on fixing problems, planners sought to develop urban areas that would evolve with the changing needs of their citizenry. Though there have been spectacular failures, many planned cities are a testament to the wisdom of long-term, scalable urban plans that focus on the total living experience.