Albert Mayer

Albert Mayer (December 29, 1897 – October 14, 1981) was an American planner and architect. He is well known for his contribution to American new town development and his innovative planning work in India, including the master plan of Chandigarh, the new capital of the Indian Punjab. After working for several years post-graduation in the civil engineering sector, Mayer became interested in the social ramifications of design and a few years later, he became a registered architect.

Mayer was said to be "one of a group of socially oriented architects, planners and urban theorists, including Lewis Mumford, Clarence Stein and Henry Wright." He believed that planned cities could meet all of the social needs of the new generation and Mayer was given this very task in the case of Chandigarh.

Mayer began his work in India well before the inception of Chandigarh. During World War II, Mayer was abroad in India (after he served in the United States and North Africa) where he worked as an engineer for the U.S. Army. During his work on the development and planning of the new capital city of Chandigarh, Mayer developed a superblock based-city threaded with green spaces which emphasized the cellular neighborhood and traffic segregation. His site plan used natural characteristics, using its gentle grade to promote drainage and rivers to orient the plan. Mayer discontinued his work on Chandigarh after developing a master plan from the city when his architect-partner Matthew Nowicki died in a plane crash in 1950. 240 Central Park South, Manhattan Uttar Pradesh General Community Development Chandigarh Master Plan Allahabad Agricultural Institute Master Plan Maumelle, Arkansas Master Plan Gujarat University Master Plan Kanpur Master Plan Consultant on the Master Plan for Greater Bombay (1947)

Ideas American New Town Development During the 1930s Mayer made the case against suburban sprawl. Mayer's hypothesis was tested and by 1930 his belief that unregulated suburban sprawl would ultimately put too much pressure on transportation and degrade the rural countryside.

Public Participation Mayer believed that citizens should be involved in the planning process. In 1946 Mayer insisted direct participation in the planning process, much earlier than others in the profession.

The Urgent Future Mayer published his book, The Urgent Future, in 1967. The Urgent Future aimed to reveal the misuse of statistics in the planning profession in order to justify the past actions' continuation into the future. Mayer believed in the power of the planner to fundamentally alter and bring order to the city. In The Urgent Future, Mayer noted, "Trend is not destiny" while defining a "megalopolis" as "the oozing together of already amorphous cities into a sort of lava flow hundreds of miles in dimensions."

Personal life Mayer was married to Phyllis Carter, and then divorced. His second wife was Marion Mill Preminger, who died in 1972. Mayer last married Magda Pastor.

He had three children, Stella Staltonstall, Kerry Mayer and Rafael Pastor.

Mayer died in 1981 due to coronary arrest at his home in Manhattan at age 83.