Rediscovering Thomas Adams ─ Rural Planning and Development in Canada

Rural depopulation, protection of natural resources,
suburbanization, affordable housing, mass transportation, loss of
fertile lands -- these are modern problems, yet they are not new.
Thomas Adams grappled with these same concerns nearly a century ago,
when he wrote Rural Planning and Development, a comprehensive
overview of planning issues at the time of the First World War.

Rediscovering Thomas Adams reintroduces a new generation to a text
that quickly became a touchstone for planners and planning in Canada
Updated with commentaries by Canada’s leading planners who hold
up Adams’ text as a mirror to reflect upon contemporary planning
issues, this richly illustrated book highlights Adams’ influence
on the planning profession and the continued significance of his
comprehensive, pragmatic vision for building better rural and urban
communities. Chapter by chapter, from production and systems of
surveying to government policies and legislation, the contributors not
only place Adams’ text and Canadian planning in historical
context, they also put forward a new vision of what planning and
development can be.

First published in 1917, Rural Planning and Development
continues to resonate as a broad vision for planning, one that moves
beyond the demands of the moment to offer a long-term vision for a
better future.

Wayne J. Caldwell is professor of rural planning in the School of Environmental Design and Rural Development at the University of Guelph.