Through this CRP 165 course, I have been able to reaffirm and expand my knowledge of the ways in which cities and cultures develop in response to the time. (How) In many regards, this class has articulated concepts I have been seeing my whole life in the day to day interactions and has allowed me a more complete understanding of the world operating around me. In a specific sense, this has allowed me to understand the ways in which my life intertwines with the effects of decentralization. Growing up in Albuquerque, this subject has always been an absurd and incohesive influence in my life. Here, like many, the size of our city coincided with the type of transportation available at the time. With Albuquerque’s biggest population boom occurring post-1940; this coincided with the rise of cars.  Sustained on the commercialization of cars, suburbia rose as the common development pattern in cities; serving as a major improvement from the dark, crowded, and ill-functioning conditions of city life known in previous centuries. At the same time, a large part of the United States’ population moved from cold regions in the North and Midwest to warmer areas like the sunbelt. Looking at my father’s 1970s college photos, our city barely passed the First Century Bank Tower, but today stretches into the mountains--a distance four times the length. Now, people never walk anywhere--Living in Albuquerque without a car is nearly impossible. While this change once baffled me, understanding the process of decentralization has helped rationalize this reality. 

 

In decentralization, cities segregated all functional components within one another. Government buildings all concentrated in one area, while businesses concentrated in another, and houses concentrated in yet another as well. Segregating housing lead to the creation of suburbia. Grass lawns, massive interiors, ample daylighting and cleaner air all offered solutions to the ailments of cities; at the time, dark, dirty, over-polluted and overpopulated streets defined the urban landscape. Although suburbia served as an immediate improvement from the quality of life in cities at the time, sprawl emerged as a problematic development and social issue.  Where people once lived in multi-generational households and had to experience some aspect of civic interaction to get anything done, the lifestyles introduced by cars and suburbia encourage autonomy and isolation as a social ideal. In segregating every building type to its own area of a city, the sense of civic identity once created by a diversity of people and businesses existing alongside one another was lost. Furthermore, as a result of this process in housing, subdivisions became defined by the income levels of the residence. Across America, decentralization has created a hellish streetscape that undermines the foundations of civic life, and in a greater sense, a functioning society. With government and civic institutions all but displaced from housing, they have become physically and socially detached from the populations they are supposed to serve. 

 

Looking forward, from this myriad of environmental and social issues, it is clear that this system of city planning cannot persist. Thankfully, through the work of whistleblowers such as scientist William Patzert studying the resultant climate change and Todd Hido in reflecting on the social effects of suburbia, the greater public is becoming educated on how and why these developments can’t continue. 

 

While human needs are often framed in opposition to goals of environmental progress, I believe it is important to note that we live in a time where it is becoming possible for both human civilization and the environment to exist and grow alongside one another. Through the continued refinement of solutions such as Wind energy, Hydroelectric power, and Vertical Farming, human development could excel in reducing civilization's carbon footprint, along with maximizing the yield of natural resources. As suburbia falls away, I think ecologically friendly development shouldn’t be viewed as the opposition/Antithesis/threat, rather, a healthier way forward. Additionally, the improvements of culture created by the American suburban lifestyle (E.G. The yard, individual car ownership, etc.) won’t disappear. For instance, in Copenhagen, architect Bjarke Ingeles designed "The Mountain"--A tiered apartment complex that allows each resident their own parking space within a parking garage sub-level, along with their own individual private yards and gardens. Still forking residents these common suburban amenities, the building has a smaller impact on the environment than conventional suburban development footprints.

 

Despite these challenges, I am optimistic greener development will prevail. In doing so, I am curious to see how we will foster a new image of American national identity more powerful than that existent in suburbanism.