The City (1939 Documentary)

This short documentary film was the idea of Catherine Bauer and produced for the 1939 New York World's Fair as part of the "City of Tomorrow" exhibit. It was adapted by Lewis Mumford from the story by Pare Lorentz, and was directed by Ralph Steiner and Willard Van Dyke, with music by Aaron Copland. This film was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1998.

[@winstonli8081]

Who came here from URPN 201 (700)?

[@dangerdave1024]

Me but not 700

[@vernetto]

the Choice is very simple: the Rich lives in nice residential areas with gardens, schools, amenities and public facilities, the Poor lives in depressing areas with no services.

[@zephc]

Urban isn't BAD, per se, but in car-oriented environments like the ones depicted in the film (and which persist today), the city is actively hostile towards pedestrian traffic. We don't need giant car-oriented cities, but we also don't need large, sprawling suburbs either, because - guess what - they're car oriented too. Want to go to the store? You can either drive, or spend the next 40-50 minutes walking there (assuming you're lucky enough to have sidewalks the whole way there).

[@allimagnelli4043]

i copy and pasted this for my homework. TAHNKS!

[@Riema505]

That moment when you realize this documentary is before WWII 😢 Little did they know 💔

[@MrJackPD]

fantastic documentary

[@tnaoro]

11:42 The Metropolis - Men into Steel (Manhattan) The Highway - The Endless City (Sunday traffic congestion in New York City)

[@matthews1794]

I would love to watch this but I am hard of hearing and I need subtitles. Please subtitle your videos on KZbin!

[@GinaGoettl]

Hi Matthew - there's actually no audio narration on this film (just music).

[@GinaGoettl]

Actually there is a little bit of narration, but not much.

[@MusicMan-dv7jg]

On my KZbin I click on the settings and captions in English are available.

[@matthews1794]

@@MusicMan-dv7jg auto generated captions are not appropriate for deaf viewers.

[@tomtrask_YT]

@@MusicMan-dv7jg worth noting that this (your) post is 5 years after the original post and maybe it's a new feature (autogenerated captions are better than nothing but this is a new feature iirc)

[@smadaf]

A better copy (closer to the original) was uploaded by the National Archives: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3ivYp2Qab-rrJo

[@DanielBryce]

Greendale, Wisconsin; Greenbelt, Maryland; Greenhills, Ohio and Radburn, New Jersey.

[@patzimmer1052]

Greendale is a decent little place

[@helianaangottisalgueiro3976]

I would like to know to whom should I ask for the rights (if they exist)to use some extracts of the film The City, for cultural purposes, in a video in a university museum exhibition? Thanks for informing me. Professor Heliana Salgueiro, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

[@dylanray5331]

The US National Archives posted this video, I would pull from that and reference the archives

[@CharlesDenison]

Fascinating! Were any cities actually built based on these ideas?

[@Krizbonz]

Many planners attempted but failed to achieve the pure idea, because this vision required a strong socialist state. I know Rochester in New York is a more successful example. Non-the-less many cities today have been greatly influenced in a good way from the criticism of the industrial city.

[@tnaoro]

Yes, Charles. All of them. (Except Hollywood)

[@thewinger337]

ideas like this are what spawned the massive growth of suburban complexes in the US, levittowns and such, in the 1950s. we have tried it, it hasnt worked.

[@maydom04]

@@thewinger337 I prefer spacious suburbs rather than crowded tenements.

[@sergiomiranda9893]

I´m going to use it with my students

[@sthomas997]

I feel bad for your students then

[@allimagnelli4043]

Take 30 minutes to watch most of this video about cities in mid-1900s America. What do you notice? What is different then? What are people worried about and what are they excited about, that you can tell?

[@allimagnelli4043]

do this

[@alphonsocarioti512]

Then two years later...

[@jasonenosart]

14:57 predating Koyaanisqatsi by about 40 years. Also, compare to Skyscrapers by John Alden Carpenter.

[@tnaoro]

Finnish! I found this comment

[@daniellumertz7508]

wow

[@daniellumertz7508]

2:25 predating the lord of the rings

[@tnaoro]

11:42 Welcome to the city!

[@Hyperxonic]

I feel like watching some old Disney animation lol

[@anazatezaloschenk358]

My students will see it this Summer AA School Berlin Animalesque!

[@tnaoro]

You mean 11:42?

[@allimagnelli4043]

ok

[@Krizbonz]

2030 Solution : replace all these dam cars and roads with bikes and parks!

[@humbertohuergo7249]

Nostalgic demonization of urban living.

[@nickcollins2001]

Is this George Carlin?

[@yerinaltinda6022]

ERÜ ŞBP BURDAYDI..

[@tnaoro]

WHAT?