Click here (Atlantic) to read about ecological tensions between urban cores and their suburban surroundings...
Which cities (in America and/or elsewhere) do you think strike a productive equilibrium between the center and the periphery? Which ones don't?
3 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The cities I have personally experienced that have a productive equilibrium is Kansas City and San Antonio, where as cities that I have experienced deteriation are Detroit and Memphis. The latter cities are older, but if during there times of progress they had considered to deal with all facets of urbanization they would have transitioned successfully. This is the same for all at all levels we live in a ecosystem that is dynamic, we need to constantly re-assess to realize longevity.
It's interesting to note those urban areas that have managed to effect a revitalization over the past decade or two, such as Baltimore, Chicago, and New York. Of course, the improvements are not equally distributed, and they are not cure-alls. Does merely having yet another Starbuck's on the corner (with the attendant gentrification) really get to the heart of urban challenges, such as education, nutrition, etc?
"Cities can generate suburbs; but suburbs cannot save the city."
I found this quote very interesting. Houston, Texas has recently (the last five years or so) tried to revitalize the downtown area because of expansion into the suburbs. It's virtually impossible to tell the difference now between Houston, Katy, Missouri City, Sugarland and Rosenburg, as they're all connected by freeways and strip centers. Houston is building new stadiums - The Dynamo stadium just opened, and Minute Maid and Toyota Center were built in the last decade or two. Also, high rise apartments and condo living have been on the boom in the downtown areas. But, most of these are in areas where they are bulldozing different wards after buying property which had homes on it to begin with. As downtown is converted, and those who live in fourth ward, and other poorer areas of downtown are moved out, I've always wondered where they go? When the Katrina evacuees came into Houston, they settled mostly in the areas around Sunnyside, and gang violence escalated in an area already known for its violence because there were now more people in the same area. Is it now that those who are displaced due to urban development do the same thing and move into other areas which creates the same domino effect?
3 comments:
The cities I have personally experienced that have a productive equilibrium is Kansas City and San
Antonio, where as cities that I have experienced deteriation are Detroit and Memphis. The latter cities are older, but if during there times of progress they had considered to deal with all facets of urbanization they would have transitioned successfully. This is the same for all at all levels we live in a ecosystem that is dynamic, we need to constantly re-assess to realize longevity.
Cynthia Williams
It's interesting to note those urban areas that have managed to effect a revitalization over the past decade or two, such as Baltimore, Chicago, and New York. Of course, the improvements are not equally distributed, and they are not cure-alls. Does merely having yet another Starbuck's on the corner (with the attendant gentrification) really get to the heart of urban challenges, such as education, nutrition, etc?
pdk
"Cities can generate suburbs; but suburbs cannot save the city."
I found this quote very interesting. Houston, Texas has recently (the last five years or so) tried to revitalize the downtown area because of expansion into the suburbs. It's virtually impossible to tell the difference now between Houston, Katy, Missouri City, Sugarland and Rosenburg, as they're all connected by freeways and strip centers. Houston is building new stadiums - The Dynamo stadium just opened, and Minute Maid and Toyota Center were built in the last decade or two. Also, high rise apartments and condo living have been on the boom in the downtown areas. But, most of these are in areas where they are bulldozing different wards after buying property which had homes on it to begin with. As downtown is converted, and those who live in fourth ward, and other poorer areas of downtown are moved out, I've always wondered where they go? When the Katrina evacuees came into Houston, they settled mostly in the areas around Sunnyside, and gang violence escalated in an area already known for its violence because there were now more people in the same area. Is it now that those who are displaced due to urban development do the same thing and move into other areas which creates the same domino effect?
-brayden
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