One of the best ways to save decaying cities is to build a "new town" right in the city's center. Trouble is, such enormous developments are so expensive in land, relocation and construction costs that most cities have to ask Washington for help—and then wait in line perhaps for years to get the necessary federal funds.
Last week Philadelphia showed the way to a short cut. Five major local companies announced plans to build a 50-acre, $400 million "Franklin Town" virtually in the shadow of city hall with hardly any governmental aid. The secret is that the companies (Smith Kline & French, I-T-E Imperial Corp., the Korman Corp., Butcher & Sherrerd and Philadelphia Electric Co.) already own 70% of the land, which they now use mostly for parking lots or obsolete factories. The remaining acreage will be bought by Philadelphia's redevelopment authority when the city approves the project, then sold to the redevelopers for the full cost of acquisition. No public subsidies are sought.
Streets for People. Scheduled for completion in the 1980s, Franklin Town will include 4,000 housing units in a wide range of prices, plus offices, shops, hotels and parks. By clustering and mixing these activities, Architect-Planners Philip Johnson and John Burgee hope to keep the new town bustling by day and night. Indeed, Johnson describes the urban project as "by far the most exciting in the world today."
One important feature of the plan is a spacious "town square." Another is a shop-and-theater-lined boulevard cutting diagonally through Philadelphia's rectangular grid of streets that will act as a sort of glorified main street, a gathering point for the community. Since the boulevard will mainly serve only Franklin Town rather than the whole city, auto traffic will be light. Says Philip Johnson: "The streets must be primarily built for people and secondarily for cars." To stress that notion, the plan provides a system of pedestrian walkways, called greenways, in the old Philadelphia tradition.
"The project will not only be a good neighborhood but a good neighbor," says Jason Nathan, president of Franklin Town Corp. The corporation will relocate at its own expense the 126 families now living in the area and lend technical and financial assistance to help revivify surrounding neighborhoods. In addition, Philadelphia will directly benefit from a 28-fold rise in real estate taxes from the area. The sponsoring companies also firmly intend to find profit in redevelopment. If they succeed, the Franklin Town formula may serve many other U.S. cities where big companies own large plots in the deteriorating core. "The essential ingredient," says Nathan, "is corporate commitment to the city—not a desire to escape urban problems by fleeing to the suburbs."