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I focused on urban sprawl in the United States. Certainly other countries have it, but the spiritual dynamic is different in each. At the end of this Weekly Read is a reference to an excellent book on urban sprawl and a link to a summary of the book and a link to a non-profit organization that conducts independent research on a wide variety of social and economic issues.
Original spiritual agreement:
When the soldiers returned from World War II, they wished for a quieter, more tranquil home and community life. They and their families wanted peace, physical and emotional space, simplicity and convenience. They were happy to drive into town in exchange for the life they desired.
Concurrently, in 1956, President Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act, putting in motion a national construction project that would allow citizens to travel long distances quickly. Although Eisenhower intended this highway system be used in case of military need, Americans found use for it in the meantime.
Side effects of spiritual agreement:
While civil rights and feminist movements continued along their timelines, an opportunity was slowly revealing itself to city government as a result of the spiritual agreement for living outside the city center.
With a large segment of the population choosing to live farther away for their own personal reasons, they gave up their direct connection to and influence on community policy and politics. They no longer talked about issues on the pedestrian-friendly streets on their way to or from work, but instead passed each other on the freeway. Nothing exists in a vacuum. With less community pressure from city-dwellers, local governments could make stronger alliances with business, favorably zoning land and developing policies.
As a result of more commercial-biased zoning, residential developers had to take their projects farther and farther outside the city, unattractively increasing the distance of homes from cities. To address the issue of distance, the support services such as grocery stores, medical care, schools, etc were brought out to the developments.
New spiritual agreement:
The World War II Americans have moved to self-contained retirement communities, nursing homes, or the homes of their relatives. The next two generations grew up in those suburbs, many craving community, and ways to make a difference.
There is a very large group of people who desire citizen-centric government, policies and politics. They are working together to bring the political and policy discussions back to a human level. If you are part of this group, you are in for challenging and rewarding times ahead.
If you would like to read a good book on the “physical world” evolution of urban sprawl, and how land use planners and municipalities are addressing the issue today, consider reading Zoned Out by Jonathan Levine. Here is a link to the outline of his book:
www.rff.org/rff/RFF_Press/CustomBookPages/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=20311.
Here is a link to Resources for the Future, an organization that published Levine’s book: http://www.rff.org/.
Resources for the Future is a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that conducts independent research -- rooted primarily in economics and other social sciences -- on environmental, energy, and natural resource issues. Although RFF is headquartered in Washington, D.C., its research scope comprises programs in nations around the world. To learn more about their economic and social research, visit their web site. [ Back ] |
