The City Beautiful movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the progressive social reform movement in North America under the leadership of the upper-middle class, which was concerned with poor living conditions in all major cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City and Washington, D.C., promoted beauty not only for its own sake, but also to create moral and civic virtue among urban populations.
The World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 is often credited with ushering in the City Beautiful movement
The movement is often associated with Beaux-Arts architecture
The Mall in Washington, D.C., including the United States Capitol in the foreground and the Washington Monument in the background
San Antonio prior to the 1920 establishment of the Riverwalk
Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388 in the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. As the seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area, often colloquially called "Chicagoland" and home to 9.6 million residents.
Image: Chicago Skyline in September 2023 (cropped)
Image: Chicago River ferry
Image: Pink Line at State & Lake
Image: Wrigley Field in line with home plate
