As we mentioned earlier this week, sometimes we don’t envy Washington’s urban planners. Their challenges often encompass issues as varied and complicated as economic development, land use planning, sustainability, design and social justice. Add to that the design politics associated with the symbolism invested in the nation’s capital, and planning for D.C. becomes a unique urban problem to tackle.

Not that it stops us from trying.

Yesterday, the National Capital Planning Commission and the Commission of Fine Arts gathered a group of experts at the National Building Museum to discuss ways to balance Washington’s “dual role as an urban center and a national showcase.” The symposium was in support of the National Capital Framework Plan, an effort to provide ways to “extend the desirable qualities of the National Mall to surrounding areas.” It’s a good thought, because after 200 years, the Mall is cluttered with so many memorials, museums and other landmarks that Congress was compelled to impose a no-build zone for much of the Mall in 2003 (excluding the already planned Vietnam Wall Visitors Center, MLK Memorial and National African-American History and Culture museum). That hasn’t stopped interest groups from pursuing additional commemorative works, meaning the Landmark Plan must “create important new places for cultural and commemorative attractions.”

The roster of assembled experts discussing these issues was impressive, including scholars (Alex Krieger of Harvard, Lawrence Vale of MIT and Timothy Beatley and Maurice Cox of UVA), and administrators (D.C.’s Dan Tangherlini and Harriet Tregoning and Vancouver’s Larry Beasley), as well as historians, authors and designers. They were preceded by Tuesday’s keynote talk by architect David Childs.

To understand why coherent planning is so important and uniquely challenging in Washington, a little historical perspective is in order. This history is brilliantly captured in the Building Museum’s current exhibit, “Washington: Symbol and City.”

Photograph by Wally McNamee of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial dedication, November 13, 1982. Used with permission.

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