A Case for Beauty: History and Philosophy of Code Enforcement

The book is an attempt to understand how and why a new profession in the city government comes to be. On the example of code enforcement, the book considers the interplay between the permanent character of human nature and the constant changes around it. It looks into the history of the American city, tracing its growth and increasing complexity. While the city dweller's needs have not changed--he has always longed for beauty, worried about safety, needed order, and wished to be free--the city around him has become more disorderly and unsafe. And as his needs are hard to reconcile even within his own soul, can the burgeoning metropolis hope to satisfy them on a much larger scale? But the city dweller looks up to his city government to do something. The city government responds by doing what it can: it controls and regulates; it passes new laws and hires new enforcers. A new profession emerges. Can it find balance between order, beauty, safety, and freedom?