Stop the Sprawl
In a slight departure from my usual meanders in the blog, I bring you an urgent call to action. I invite your responses, commentary and participation!
Please let me know if you agree with me, and if yes, consider joining my ad-hoc think tank.
I would like to see planners, architects, artists, and real estate professionals unite around the fact that the greatest threat to a sustainable future is sprawl.
Unless we are willing to re-imagine and re-design our towns and cities, all the talk about sustainability, equity and justice rings hollow. We are inventing thousands of incredible green solutions, but it feels like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic unless consensus and action replaces talk and ideas. Individually we know this, but our collective voice is missing.
On December 13, 2022, the New York Times featured an article that demonstrated in text and maps that denser neighborhoods contribute less planet-warming gases, and that households far away from city centers have a more significant environmental impact: larger homes, more driving, less public transit, etc.
What if we were to acknowledge that all of the planetary problems we face today are built on old concepts about the way we inhabit the earth, especially in first-world countries? We are no longer able to afford the high cost of poisoning our air, water, soil and forests. Unless we are willing to reimagine land-use patterns, we will be forever enslaved by worsening traffic problems and time-consuming commutes. If we continue doing things the old way, we will be stuck with an increasingly uninhabitable planet earth. It’s time to ask what we want for our futures, and for our children.
I would like us to unequivocally state that we must find alternatives to the current land use. I ask firms to issue a declaration:
“We recognize that urban sprawl must cease, and we are united in ending it. Within this goal, [my firm] and I are focusing on [specific focus]. It is true that others are inventing solutions for sustainability. But the most important task is to stop sprawl.”
Without consensus and a unification of the disparate parties responsible for making changes to our current sprawl, we will simply continue to pat ourselves on the back for micro solutions that have virtually no impact on the macro problem. It is not enough to put a green space on a building’s rooftop if we lose existing greens. It is not enough to have a zero-energy home if it is only accessible by a long drive.
We need a new imagination about our future, and we need a new definition of ‘desirability’. There is a great opportunity for architects, designers and urban planners to become the superheroes of our era. What if they were the most universally acknowledged and hailed of all influencers? What if they could be looked up to as visionaries who provide clear and desirable options for a sustainable future? In the Italian Renaissance days, artists painted images of ideal cities that helped the citizens imagine new possibilities. The same must happen today: develop images and prototypes of workable, walkable, sprawl-less cities where most of us will live. As it stands now, we, the people, fight the necessary changes because we can’t imagine anything different from the status quo. Before anything can change, I suggest that the design professionals clearly communicate the necessity, possibility, and the beauty of a sustainable, green future. They must give us hope. It is not a lost cause! Yet.
I’ve concluded that the consequences of current land use can’t lead to a sustainable future. However, I accept that I may be wrong. If I am, I wish someone would explain to me how it will all work itself out. I am willing to change my mind. However, if we designers agree that this issue must be addressed, we should come up with a proclamation to send to our political and corporate leaders, and to help citizens prepare for the changes required of us all.
It would be great to get this out there to as many eyes as possible. Initially, however, a small group should convene to develop a plan. Anyone interested in working with me? Please let me know by posting in the comments box or contacting me directly. Once we have a group of more than five, I will organize a Zoom meeting. Let’s get to work!