Urban Planning PUP200 - Term Paper Example

This essay will seek to argue that, on the contrary, life and history do imitate art, which means that popular culture, in attempting renditions of the past, can portend a significant influence on how history is told and unfolds (Starrs & Farmer 407). This proposition will be explored in the context of LAs historical attempts and efforts to secure water resources for its urban development and planning. In addition, the proposition will also be explored in the context of political movements set up by Owens Valleys citizens to restrain LAs appropriation of its water resources, how these events are reinterpreted selectively in the film Chinatown, and the films influence on the controversy.

The conflict on water resources between Owens Valley and Los Angeles has served as an inspiration for many novelists and film makers since the 1900s with drama and history coming together in a set of events and accounts that have greatly influenced the events as understood in popular culture, particularly in relation to interpretations on the citys conspiratorial deeds (Starrs & Farmer 408). Chinatown, released in 1974 and directed by Roman Polanski, is perhaps the most celebrated film in this genre and, although the screenplay takes liberty with facts and history, it still provides a forceful portrayal of power brokers in LA consistent with the manner of transformed legends.

The entire films timeline is shifted to 1937, while the main protagonists are unscrupulous LA city planners and developers seeking to acquire farm land in an adjacent area of the city. DWP officials are seen colluding with real estate speculators through a secret plan to dump LA city water so as to gain support from the public during drought to issue bonds on aqueduct and dam construction. On the other hand, the urban planning leads to farmers losing their water for irrigation, while their land is taken for a pittance by syndicate buyers and they are forced into ruin (Starrs & Farmer 408).

The film leaves