addition / attrition

the rampant dispersal of the urban that we see so poignantly in america is the result of the subtle conglomoration from the laissez-faire planning that is so widely accepted.  we live in an age where economic forces drive creation, and our network of road systems and personal transportation reinforce this -- to a point where spreading out becomes rational and efficient.  this system of development works quite well for commercial purposes, where cheap land becomes useful and large quantities of it can be obtained.  the aquisition of land farther away from the city helps business as well, because there are less issues with disposal, and industrial waste is not as much of an issue.  buisness rears jobs and people move towards their jobs.  public policy responds by zoning off certain areas, in the effort to foster stronger economic strongholds.  old buildings get torn down and replaced by new ones, and roads and parking lots grow to accommodate the growth. 

ours is a system of addition, creating pieces one by one as market forces dictate.  little flexibility in the government of this growth reinforces this process.  very rarely are projects seen that take into consideration the encompassing needs of actual human beings. 

what is wrong with this system?  to a business, this system tends to work out fine, as it is geared towards their interests.  what it lacks is attention to the individual: the actual people living in these systems.  public desire for a sense of "community" has exploded along with the idea that we can produce a healthier state of living, both for the planet and for us.  there exists an outcry for public open space, for a city that one can walk through without risk of automobile fatality or exhaustion, and for the conservation of our ever-diminishing landscapes.  why has our system of expansion failed to give us these fundamental aspects of our lives?

there is, of course, no simple answer.  there can be no strong advance against this incumbent system unless the intertwining and complex forces acting upon it are addressed collectively.  this work is intended to define some of these forces, and show how we can address them to start giving our urban environments the quality they need -- right now.

more to come.