Urban Reinventions: San Francisco's Treasure Island

• Published in: Material culture Vol. 54; no. 2; pp. 83 - 85
• Main Authors: Horiuchi, Lynne, Sankalia, Tanu
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: University Center Pioneer America Society Inc 01.10.2022
• Subjects: Built environment; Essays; History; Landscape architecture; Time periods; Urban planning; San Francisco California; United States > US; California
• ISSN: 0883-3680; 2328-3750

The final section, "The Treasure Island-Yerba Buena Island Development Project" highlights the preceding essays as necessary background to understanding the contemporary plans for the island, which include an idealistic planning scheme of housing and open space to include recreation, protected wetlands, and urban farming Tanu Sankalia leads the reader through these urban designs, insightfully showing that the language as well as the drawings are being used to create a new utopian vision for the man-made island based in the contemporary language of sustainability This theme of sustainability is continued by John Stehlin in the book's most technical analysis, which explores the realities of redeveloping a chemically contaminated site . Each author's perspective, while grounded in their disciplinary training, also connects to the other chapters within the book A reader of this collection of essays feels like a participant in a wide-ranging conversation about a contemporary place and the historical events that shaped this landscape For this reader, the most cogent argument is this book is a confrontation of the modernist urban planning philosophy of "tabula rasa The authors argue that no landscape is without physical attributes that are a consequence of human use; no place is a blank slate for development as so many municipalities strive to portray them . The theme of exploring race, class, and power is woven throughout these essays over three distinct time periods, and it is these connections that makes this book not only valuable as an exploration of Treasure Island, but also a great read for anyone interested in the ongoing process of placemaking Reviewed by Christine Rae Henry, chenry5@umw.edu, Department of Historic Preservation, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 Christine Rae Henry, PhD., is Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation at the University of Mary Washington.