Abstract
Planning decisions involving urban freeways have drastically affected American cities by reconfiguring urban form, supplanting neighborhoods, displacing tens of thousands of people, and costing billions of dollars. New laws governing the planning and construction of new freeways were passed that required projects to factor in maximum sensitivity to environmental effects, concern for relocating displaced residents, and active citizen participation. This article reviews the evolution of freeway design in response to significant social changes in the United States, and examines changes in the rgulatory environment of freeway construction. The article describes three famous cases of urban freeway controversies in Los Angeles, Memphis, and Syracuse which have distinct histories and outcomes. From these cases it can be concluded that the past mode of highway planning was too narrow and now multimodal transportation planning involving the equal partnership of trasportation planners, land use planners, urban planners, and urban designers should be utilized.