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A Way of Thinking

By James W. Rouse
November 2, 1970

This way of thinking has several parts:

It is fundamentally focused on people as the purpose of all planning and development. It seeks to identify the circumstances under which man, woman and family can grow in their individual personality, character, and spirit, and then tries to find the way to shape institutions, land uses, buildings and services to create communities and projects that will provide maximum support for the people who live, work and shop there.

It believes that people can have a good life and can live together in brotherhood. It looks upon everything short of that as a malfunction to be corrected and not as a condition to be worked around. It proceeds always with the purpose and in the belief that the good life, the good community, the good project is available if we will build it and that our job is to plan and produce it.

It believes that these purposes are among the most important of our civilization and that those engaging in them are at work in the most important tasks that can possibly consume their lives.

It is a way of thinking that is geared to victory, not just to fighting better battles.

It understands that the important values are created by the most effective inter-relationships of all the pieces of "city" and all the processes and institutions supporting life in a community.

The beginning point of planning is to discover the best that ought to be and then reconcile the individual pieces into the most feasible solution towards those ultimate goals.

It asserts that the process of development and change, while focused on human values, must be undertaken within rigorous disciplines of sound economics; the best available knowledge of development techniques and behavioral sciences.

It knows that the creation of the economic values generates the earnings to attract the private investment that invigorates the entire process.