Nostalgia destroys progress
As I read Margaret Crawford's Everyday Urbanism, I couldn't stop lingering on her section about New Urbanism. At the beginning of her book, she claims that "the practices of everyday urbanism should inevitably lead to social change, not via abstract political ideologies imposed from outside, but instead through specific concerns that arise from the lived experience of different individuals and groups in the city." I totally agree with her point, but the fact remains that this is not being reflected in today's culture. New urbanism is becoming increasingly popular, yet it is only helping and appealing to the older generations. Why aren't millennials and gen z sold on this idea? Our generation is clouded by a false sense of nostalgia about what is really happening in the world.
These places are popping all up that are trying to mimic old town USA with "cute" little houses and a central square all reminiscent of suburbia and Levittowns. These places go up relatively quickly and feel cheap and tacky once completed. When it is finally time for people to move in, the only ones that want to move in are those who can actually afford it ... the same generations that go "back in my day, I went to college, worked two jobs, owned a house, and raised a family." And then people wonder why these new public squares remain empty and unused. The older generations move in to maintain this sense of nostalgia but ultimately don't participate in the space created specifically for them.
If everyday urbanism is supposed to cater to all walks of life, why is a majority of the population being excluded from these new schemes? The short answer is Capitalism, but we won't go down that road in this post...
Taylor, I have to comment because I too hate these "cute" little spaces and I don't know why they randomly started popping up? What is really funny is that when I drove my mom over to the new neighborhood by Patrick Square she thought it was adorable... and I took her there because I thought it was dystopian and creepy...
ReplyDeleteThe first time I was there, I walked through the neighborhood with Mishka and I was afraid to let her go on the grass. Hell, I thought I was going to get arrested under suspicion because I wasn't dressed for church or something. It was all too manicured and fake... and absolutely no one was outside. It was eerie and empty despite being the "perfect" little Disney neighborhood. I wouldn't want to live there (not that I can afford it).
I think you are right that capitalism is at the root of all of this. I think we are moving in the right direction though. There will be a time when we outgrow these spaces and start to really rethink what cities could look like because, unfortunately, in the end, nostalgia will go out of style. I hope that social reform through architecture will become the new normal. I already see it happening in social settings so maybe the built environment is next.
ReplyDeleteThe invention of the car really ruined everything for us. New Urbanism has sprung up in the suburbs as individuals/families with financial means create environments and 'public' spaces that they get to interact with exclusively on their own terms. The success of urban public space emerges from the chaos of intersection; I am forced to share public transit with people of all backgrounds and identities. I am forced to share public parks with my neighbors who participate in our economy and community in ways that are probably completely different from me. When the suburbs are constrained to homogeneity and my participation is about when it is convenient for myself, then the public spaces I participate in suffer.
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