SM Supermalls, in tandem with the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, presents City Beautiful: The Burnham Plan for Manila’s Urban Development, an exhibition featuring vintage photos, maps and models that highlight American urban planner Daniel Hudson Burnham’s grand plan for Manila at the turn of the 20th century.

Daniel Burnham was commissioned by the American government to design and implement a blueprint for the capital of the Philippines, their new trophy colony. His urban design lays out a concerted attempt to signal the arrival of Manila as the most beautiful and progressive city in Asia at that time.

The Burnham Plan is best seen in the context of world planning movements.  It arose from a distinct confluence and perspectives rooted in the colonial project and requirements of American empire. Plans like the Burnham reveal the world views of the people who designed them.

This revisit to a grand plan affords a comparative study and analysis of how modern-day Filipino planners and leaders create urban landscapes that energize – or suffocate, its dwellers.  It amplifies current issues and problems of city living and throws the challenge on how to make Manila reclaim its luster.

City Beautiful will be on view at the SM Mall of Asia, May 3- 21, SM Megamall Atrium, May 22-June 9, and The Block SM North Edsa, June 10-30, 2010.