CITY PLANNING EXCHANGE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP62-00680R000100210005-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 7, 1998
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: October 7, 1959
• Content Type: MF

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Sanitized - Approvveed For Release C P62-00680R000100210005-0
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7 October 1959
25X1X4
MEMORANWM FOR: Special Assistant (Exchanges), 00/C
SUBJECT: City Planning Exchange
REFERENCE: Your Memorandum for the Record, 2l September 1959,
same subject
1. In our opinion, an exchange of US-USSR city planners would
produce a net intelligence advantage for the United States. The extent
of the U.S. advantage would depend upon the USSR cities visited and the
accessibility of the U.S. group to intelligence briefing officers prior
to departure.
2. Inf,
25X1X4
cialiats, properly briefed, should be able
to contribute uniquely to the acquisition of elements of this information,
not only through observation but also through elicitation in the course of
technical discussions with their Soviet hosts. We would also anticipate
some possible return in the form of unique urban mapping to which this
specialist group may have access.
3. We feel that the Soviet group, on the other hand, is not likely
to obtain new information of intelligence significance. A wide variety of
open sources provide information on the U.S. cities cited in your memorandum.
In addition, data on U.S. urban planning theory and practice are available
to the Soviets through a variety of professional publications and inter-
national planners meetings, the last of which was held some time ago in
Moscow.
1. It is recommended that the proposed exchange be encouraged.
Recognizing that the exchange will of necessity include such fairly
adequately covered cities as Moscow, Leningrad, Minsk, Kiev, and Kharakov,
it is recommended that half of the itinerary (three cities) be made up of
such cities, and that the second half include three of the following cities:
Gor8kiy, Kuybyshev, Angarsk, Novosibirsk, and Irkutsk. These cities are
au"
n layout, development plans, and location of
is is lacking for most Soviet cities.
City planni
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SUBJECT; City Planning Exchange
less frequently visited and therefore more important intelligence-wise.
They are plausible as selections to be put forward by a city planner
group. If negotiations came to a standstill over the selection of these
cities, Chelyabinsk, Baku, Kazan', Norilsk, Stalinsk, Tomsk, Komeamol'sk,
or Yerevan may be substituted for cities in the second group, If feasible,
the itinerary of cities in the United States might be expanded to include
at least one additional closed city to strengthen our bargaining position
in the negotiations for the USSR cities.
5. Additionally, it is recommended that, after the itinerary is firm,
steps be taken to insure that appropriate members of the U.S. delegation
are briefed in detail on key intelligence gaps.
25X1A9a
Chief, Geographic Research
Research and Reports
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP62-0068OR000100210005-0