Editing Benjamin Franklin Parkway (section)

== Design and Development ==

The Benjamin Franklin Parkway emerged from decades of planning that sought to connect City Hall with Fairmount, the prominent hill that would eventually host the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Initial proposals in the 1890s envisioned various routes through the existing grid; the diagonal alignment eventually chosen required demolishing numerous blocks of existing development. This destruction, controversial at the time, created the grand vista that links City Hall's tower to the Museum's classical facades. The Parkway's width and diagonal orientation distinguish it from Philadelphia's regular streets, announcing that it serves ceremonial rather than merely practical purposes.<ref name="brownlee">{{cite book |last=Brownlee |first=David B. |title=Building the City Beautiful: The Benjamin Franklin Parkway and the Philadelphia Museum of Art |year=1989 |publisher=Philadelphia Museum of Art |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

Jacques Gréber, who had designed portions of Paris's exposition grounds, brought French planning sensibilities to the Parkway's design. The boulevard's multiple lanes, planted median, and generous sidewalks create processional experience appropriate to the cultural institutions lining its length. Traffic circles—at Logan Square and Eakins Oval—punctuate the route, providing formal spaces where the Parkway intersects cross streets. The design integrates vehicular circulation with pedestrian experience, treating the Parkway as public space rather than mere traffic corridor.<ref name="gallery"/>