Dialogue, Public Radio International, 1995

“Let’s think about the city, the one we live in and the one we could live in if we bent our energies and resources to creating the most habitable, aesthetically pleasing urban space that we could. Now this is an entirely appropriate exercise, for beyond physical space cities occupy a place in the realm of human possibilities and are a reflection of our social spirit. To think of the city this way means having a vision of it and to help us define that vision I’m pleased to welcome Anne Spirn, author and professor in the department of landscape architecture and regional planning at the University of Pennsylvania.

Anne you have been called, and I think very aptly after reading your work, an urban visionary. I think that owes to the depth of practical insight and, quite frankly, poetic prose you bring to your writings on urban space. I’d also say you’re something of a historian, and I’d like to start us with a reference to history.” -George Seay