The Future Of Development : America 's Urban Future

Through a multitude of significant changes physically, conceptually, economically, and more, the societal reformation of cities in the Progressive Era had set themselves as the foundations of American civilization. The juxtaposition between the rich and poor statuses in these urban areas show the drastic separation within developing cities. Through this division caused a wide variety of living conditions, the majority of which held the overcrowded sections of cities where the population mostly stayed while the higher end communities had more luxurious lives. Through this success of entrepreneurship and economic growth from all aspects in cities, the entire landscape, both physically through innovative architecture and the perspectives outside rural and suburban areas had on them, had transformed for the better in these areas.

In the constantly changing economy of cities, the growth of city housing is oftentimes neglected. In “Cities Mobilize to Help Those Threatened by Gentrification” Timothy Williams recounts how gentrification has evolved over the years. Mentioning how cities have changed in order to appease the younger professionals, Williams shows how the city itself is in jeopardy due to the tax increases. Slowly loosing their faithful residents as well as historic culture cities face a big deal. Williams gives quotes from faithful residents, “…long time homeowners are victims of the success story”, (Williams 346). In “Cities Mobilize to Help Those Threatened by Gentrification”, Williams uses his credible quotes and modern statistics to generate the reader’s emotions, with desire to change how city officials go about gentrification in culturally infused cities.

For a majority of Earth’s history, its populous has been free to roam and live off of the land, maintaining a balance between the habitat and its inhabitants. However, as technology develops the earth is placed at an even bigger disequilibrium. In the places where massive sequoias reigned, high-rise apartments now stand. Just as water rushed through rivers, cars drive down streets. The populants of Earth continue to innovate, industrialize,and urbanize, but at what cost?

Urbanization is inevitable, whether we want it or not. Opposers are constantly bickering about the political and moral consequences of gentrification. This topic is indeed mind boggling and complex. However, there is a need to observe this multi-faceted phenomenon in a different angle. Change is the force of diversity, safety and

It is no secret that homelessness is quickly becoming an epidemic in the United States, but the homeless population is not one secular demographic. For every person in the US living on the street, there is a unique story of how they got there; nonetheless, that is not to say that many of these stories are without some commonalities. Along with homelessness, there is another issue plaguing American cities, but this issue is much more covert, and exists under a guise of improvements like fancy apartments and trendy restaurants. Gentrification is defined as “the process of renovating and improving a house or district so that it conforms to middle-class taste” (Erikson); but what that definition fails to mention is the discourse it has on the

“gentrification has been and still continues to be a critical task when it comes to urban geography of cities, such as New York City and cities around the world as well” (Smith, pg.129).

In the book The Great Inversion, author Alan Ehrenhalt reveals the changes that are happing in urban and suburban areas. Alan Ehrenhalt the former editor of Governing Magazine leads us to acknowledge that there is a shift in urban and suburban areas. This revelation comes as the poorer, diverse, city dwellers opt for the cookie cutter, shanty towns at the periphery of American cities known as the suburbs. In similar fashion the suburbanites, whom are socioeconomic advantaged, are looking to migrate into the concrete jungles, of America, to live an urban lifestyle. Also, there is a comparison drawn that recognizes the similarities of cities and their newer, more affluent,

Source D examines gentrification from a satirical perspective. Most gentrification supporters believe property owners of a neighborhood to be, as Source D describes, “clueless.” While it may seem that gentrification revitalizes a neighborhood, it actually damages the unique culture of a neighborhood. It is important to respect the traditions of an area rather than cite “renovation” and “business endeavors” as a just motive for destroying the culture of a neighborhood. The political cartoon in Source F depicts the culture change Brooklyn experienced after gentrification. Spike Lee, the man speaking in the comic, grew up in Brooklyn and has supported the culture there for many years. Meanwhile, Brooklyn, like many other neighborhoods including Harlem and other urban areas, has lost its original culture as a result of gentrification. When renovating a city, retaining the culture and traditions must be a

The viewers were given an overview of the existing issues and shown some examples of projects aimed at solving these issues in various cities across America. One issue profiled was the change in ethnic composition of suburban residents which was discussed as visits to Muslim-American, Latino and Asian-American communities took place. Showing various aspects of these communities in real time and comparing them to the beliefs about these same communities which were clearly untrue or changed has made the case for why suburban developments as intended are not a sustainable plan going forward. That set the stage for the final message as the need to revise the vision for new development and redevelopment with an emphasis on defining a sustainable vision which is both economically viable and incorporates the changes witnessed since the developments were built. Then the film showcased some regional best management practices that have addressed and solved a few of the developmental and infrastructure problems back in 2008, and also profiled Long Island as the first modern suburban

This paper is a review of past and current research based on the cause and effect of urban sprawl in the United States with a case analysis of Fairfax County, Virginia. The motivation for this review is to shed light on issues that surround urban sprawl in large metropolitan areas and to discuss recommendations for research and ways to improve various effects of sprawl. The second motivation for this research is to show that there needs to be uniformity among researchers and urban planners, better data and analysis should be done to combat sprawl. My goal with this literature review is to define urban sprawl, define classic patterns in the United States, how we measure sprawl, the cause and effect of sprawl in the United States, give detailed background information on Fairfax County, future trends and implications of sprawl in Fairfax County, how to combat sprawl in the United States as well as in Fairfax County and key priorities in future research.

Gentrification is a very popular topic on whether the fact that it’s a good thing and or a bust for neighborhoods. It’s not only a moral in society, it’s happening around everyone. As Urban communities are being affected, homes being destroyed and bought out by the government, residents are faced with the struggle to stay in a home and not be relocated. A man named Justin Davidson, a music critic and a background for architecture, knows a bit about this topic. With his knowledge about architecture, he gives a speech, “Is Gentrification All Bad” and he understands how gentrification is good but withal deplorable. Davidson gives statistics backing up his justifiable answer. He gives plenty of reasons from other sources about the pros and cons, but his own personal belief is that gentrification can be good. With that, Davidson intends to speak to the people of neighborhoods who think that they need this type of improvement. Personally, I don’t think I’m a part of the attended audience because my neighborhood is well developed and displayable.

Even after reading Mark Binelli 's book Detroit City is the Place to Be, it is difficult to believe that the city he is writing about exists here in the United States. This is after all, an economically prosperous, first world country. What Binelli so vividly describes is a place that could very well exist in some third world country. A third world slum-like city that boasts of not only one, but two professional sports teams. It is intriguing to ponder the whys and how’s of Detroit 's condition and failure to thrive. Despite the best intentions by those tasked with reviving and restoring this city to an at least functional state (the best that could seemingly be hoped for), Detroit seems to continuously decline. Binelli takes the reader through the sequences of events and causes that moved Detroit from a nineteenth century economically prosperous city, to a present day ghost of what once was.

Cities are generators of economic life and source of changes in the world. Thereby, Jane Jacobs in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities puts into relief the role of cities on the social and economic levels, while denouncing the disastrous consequences of urban renewal programs. To that extent, in chapters 2 and 3, she discusses "The Uses of Sidewalks”, arguing that over all people need safety and trust in their city. Therefore, first she claims the necessity of keeping streets and sidewalks safe because they are the “vital organs” of cities (29). Secondly, she argues that the functioning of cities should be organized in order to foster human interaction in which “casual public

“Cities are not approached simply as forums for economic and political confrontations but as places rich with meaning and value for those who live, work, and play in and near them” (Borer 2006). People assign characteristics and personality to cities. These traits are assumed to be as permanent and concrete as the physical city (Borer 2010). However, like the characteristics of a person’s identity may change over time, the identity of places is fluid and dynamic (Borer

Since the earliest days of our history, cities have served as the center for economic activity, social diversity, and religious inquiry. As renowned sociologist Joel Kotkin would say, cities are sacred, safe, and busy. When we look at the modern city, we see these concepts in action. Today, cities are defined by mass populations surrounding and creating major centers of commerce and economic activity. This density creates a diverse social climate in which fosters creativity and conversation, which can often times feed into the religious historical significance of cities. This density brings along with it a whole host of issues and various challenges that must be faced by the community in which they involve. One such issue is the idea of socio- economical inequality that comes as a result of dense populations sharing the same resources within a certain area. Within any community there are limited resources, and one such resource within a city is that of land and property availability. Gentrification, or the process in which developers purchase cheap properties to turn them over into more expensive and desirable assets, is a common practice in modern cities in the effort to reclaim some of this precious resource. In looking at the city of Chicago in the United States as well as the city of Lisbon in Portugal, I will