Megacities and Sprawl
I found Retrofitting Suburbia particularly applicable and incredibly interesting to read. The developer-driven housing market is important fast-paced work but lends itself to design innovation. What comes to mind is parametric facade design, tactile design and affordable housing, as well as sustainability. A lot of US cities are facing the design challenges of instant cities and suburban retrofits.
The reading reminded me of my study abroad in the Philippines, which is a very dense megacity. In between Manila and Quezon City, there is abundance of these instant cities to account for the urban density, each having core services such as grocery stores, smaller shopping malls, parks, etc, so that a person only needs to travel for work. I remember riding the train and seeing a cluster of skyscrapers (apartment buildings) rising out of a sea of only three to five story buildings. This went on for miles.
I'm not sure which strategy as presented in the article, if any, Manila used to connected the dots of their urban nodes. But I think their transportation system, along with other Southeast Asian megacities, would be very interesting case studies for the United States. In the Manila, traffic is so bad that the "laws" are completely disregarded. It will take 3 hours to go 10 miles by car. The train terminals have workers that literally push people into the cars.
Although we are not there yet, if the United States gets to this point, how can we be better prepared? I think we can learn from these precedents as urban density increases and suburban sprawl needs to be re-imagined. How do they treat public and outdoor space? Do these instant cities function as intended?
The reading reminded me of my study abroad in the Philippines, which is a very dense megacity. In between Manila and Quezon City, there is abundance of these instant cities to account for the urban density, each having core services such as grocery stores, smaller shopping malls, parks, etc, so that a person only needs to travel for work. I remember riding the train and seeing a cluster of skyscrapers (apartment buildings) rising out of a sea of only three to five story buildings. This went on for miles.
Although we are not there yet, if the United States gets to this point, how can we be better prepared? I think we can learn from these precedents as urban density increases and suburban sprawl needs to be re-imagined. How do they treat public and outdoor space? Do these instant cities function as intended?
Interesting questions posed at the end! I believe these instant cities that were immersed in areas that struggle with urban density and suburban sprawl felt this would be somewhat of a cure all... when in actuality it's like putting a bandage over a bullet wound. How do they even begin to treat public spaces, when public and private areas unintentionally begin to mesh together, because the occupants have no where to go. The United States could benefit from using these areas as precedents, however, we already have supersaturated cities. Places like Los Angeles and New York City, aren't really taking those design tactics into consideration... there fix is to build up and on top of existing structures versus building outwards, an ideal that I see having negative effects in years to come.
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