Accessing Suburbia
The idea of instant cities does hold something of a negative connotation in my mind. But after reading Retrofitting Suburbia, I can understand how it could be done intelligently and in a stimulating way, not to mention the plethora of examples that Ellen Dunham-Jones left us with.
I do agree with her in the last few pages though, that the success of these retrofitted cities and suburban nodes rely on the implementation of some sort of infrastructure and transport system. To me, this is the biggest concern in making something new and attractive but soon to be obsolete versus a sustainable project that can grow from its users (the problem being ensuring the users can access it in the first place).
She states that the "arrival of a rail system is one of the strongest triggers for large-scale suburban redevelopment." If incremental adaptation is not feasible to wait for, these connections must be built during the same time as instant cities. Although I still think it's a lot of change to put on one area, I'm excited to see how this affects suburban neighborhoods in the future.
I do agree with her in the last few pages though, that the success of these retrofitted cities and suburban nodes rely on the implementation of some sort of infrastructure and transport system. To me, this is the biggest concern in making something new and attractive but soon to be obsolete versus a sustainable project that can grow from its users (the problem being ensuring the users can access it in the first place).
She states that the "arrival of a rail system is one of the strongest triggers for large-scale suburban redevelopment." If incremental adaptation is not feasible to wait for, these connections must be built during the same time as instant cities. Although I still think it's a lot of change to put on one area, I'm excited to see how this affects suburban neighborhoods in the future.
It's definitely exciting to live in a period of time where there's a shift in the way society views infrastructure at multiple levels such as economics, environmental impacts, and social equality. I truly hope we get to witness a holistic change in transportation that allows society to be more connected.
ReplyDeleteThe one important point for the negative attitude of the suburbia is accessing. How people use the road is the big difference for the city. Public transportation is made for all the people in the city. But if people only drive the car that will be private things. That means the community is stopping share the public space.
ReplyDeleteI agree. In moving to a new city after graduation, that was one of my biggest wishes: to stop driving my car. But it is hard to do seeing that I can only afford to live in the suburbs at the moment and most suburbs haven't successfully incorporated a transit system as of yet.
ReplyDelete