Influence of Le Play

• Frederic Le Play (1806 – 1882) was a French mining engineer who noted that in order to start up a new mine, technical expertise had to be accompanied by an ability to manage and settle people in communities. This led him to a formulation of ‘place, work and family’ as the means to understanding modern society

• This lay at the heart of Geddes’ triad: place-work-folk

• Two of his techniques were particularly important to Geddes – exhibitions and social survey

• The lePlay/Geddes plan – ‘survey, diagnosis, plan’ lay at the heart of much British post-war planning