While this article by Joel Garreau is not a resounding vote of confidence for what planning will contribute in the future, maybe it can be seen as a helpful hint to the planning community to chill out. It had a calming effect on me, for sure, because I get a certain sense of anxiety when I see huge box stores cropping up and when I think about these un-urban centers (edge cities) that don't have the same characteristics that make urban areas so appealing to me (walkability, density, etc). Yet Garreau has imagined a transformation of these edge cities that is quite appealing to me with people, specifically young-ish artist types, taking the lead and making them their own. And this calls to mind the idea that people are creative beings and when presented with a problem or unsatisfactory set of circumstances, many of them will rise to the challenge and solve the problem. Garreau is onboard with this idea, especially it seems if people are given the freedom to use their creativity and not held constrained by rules, regulations... extensive planning in the Irvine example.
This may be an idealized point of view from Garreau and perhaps it does not take into account all the circumstances that it should about the future of edge cities, but what cool ideas about how these places will eventually be seen as historic wonders- if we let things happen and let the city be the "living organism" that he claims it is. These are fascinating ideas and the article was a mind-opening read.
No comments:
Post a Comment