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The urbanization of the United States occurred over a period of many years, with the nation only attaining urban-majority status between 1910 and 1920. [2] Currently, over four-fifths of the U.S. population resides in urban areas. [2]
Hull House, Chicago. Settlement and community houses in the United States were a vital part of the settlement movement, a progressive social movement that began in the mid-19th century in London with the intention of improving the quality of life in poor urban areas through education initiatives, food and shelter provisions, and assimilation and naturalization assistance.
The first theater building in America was built in Charleston in 1736, but was later replaced by the 19th-century Planter's Hotel where wealthy planters stayed during Charleston's horse-racing season, now the Dock Street Theatre, known as one of the oldest active theaters built for stage performance in the United States.
When the United States declared independence in 1776, Philadelphia was its most populous city. By the time the first U.S. census count was completed in 1790, New York City had already grown to be 14% more populous than Philadelphia (though Philadelphia still had the larger metropolitan population in 1790).
Only a handful of studies attempt a global history of cities, notably Lewis Mumford, The City in History (1961). [5] Representative comparative studies include Leonardo Benevolo, The European City (1993); Christopher R. Friedrichs, The Early Modern City, 1450-1750 (1995), and James L. McClain, John M. Merriman, and Ugawa Kaoru. eds. Edo and Paris (1994) (Edo was the old name for Tokyo).
The industrialised cities of the 19th century had grown at a tremendous rate, with the pace and style of building often dictated by private business concerns. The evils of urban life for the working poor were becoming increasingly evident as a matter for public concern.
Similarly, the efforts of Jacob Riis in advocating for improved living conditions in degraded areas of New York in the late 19th century were also formative. The redevelopment of large sections of New York City and New York State by Robert Moses between the 1930s and the 1970s was a notable and prominent example of urban redevelopment.
In the late 19th century, the island's schist bedrock encouraged the early skyscrapers whose successors characterize its skyline today. The Great Blizzard of 1888 exposed the vulnerability of the urban infrastructure connecting those buildings, encouraging the undergrounding of electric and telephone lines, and plans were made for a subway line.