In Chapter 4 ‘How Were the Tenements Tamed?’ of Triumph of the City, Edward Glaeser analyses issues arising from urban concentration in New York and greater America from the late 1700s to the present. As an economist, the author’s interest in cities and urban planning lie in the part they play in facilitating social and commercial networks that are key to the economic and cultural success of metropolitan areas. One of Glaeser’s major concerns relates to the ‘cost’ of urban concentration, i.e. problems that arise in high-density populations due to poor or incomplete urban planning, ultimately impacting the ability of citizens to make valuable interactions. Examples include poor sanitation facilities that permit the spread of disease and hinder productivity; …show more content…
Richardson, Glaeser places certain focus on the importance of sanitation and the provision of clean water as fundamental components in reducing disease in cities. While this issue is highly relevant to the wellbeing of citizens in urban concentrations, Glaeser seems less concerned with it as most present-day cities have overcome these issues through provision of sufficient infrastructure. Of greater interest to the economically fixated Glaeser is the proposal and implementation of urban planning reforms aiming to reduce traffic congestion in metropolitan areas. He points out that congestion encumbers productivity in cities, and is adamant in his view that every driver should be charged for the external cost that their use of the road deposits on other drivers. From an economic perspective, it makes great sense to charge people for their bearing on congested roads to make up for lost time and productivity. Though the author fails to consider other solutions to the congestion problem, such as increasing public transport opportunities and investing in pedestrian and bicycle facilities, his favoured solution would still work well as part of a larger scheme to reduce traffic
This document specifically highlights how the Gold Coast City Council is tackling the city’s issue of traffic congestion by improving the existing structure of the roads and public transport. Hopefully this will decrease the number vehicles on the road which will reduce the amount of carbon emissions into the atmosphere (City of Gold Coast, 2013).
Congestion and traffic pollution has been a major problem in New York City for years. There have been many laws, tolls, and fines implemented over the past few decades to try and fix the problem. Yet, congestion still exists. Congestion occurs when there is overcrowding on roadways that’s causes traffic jams. There are several reasons for the severity of this issue. Congestion causes a lot of delays in the city. It is unlikely that people are on time for anything, even if they planned ahead. With traffic in the city the way it is, you can’t blame them. The indirect effect of congestion is traffic pollution. Traffic pollution is polluting of the environment caused by harmful toxins and gases given released by cars. The amount of pollution
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.
As Dallas Fort Worth grows, we see more issues associated with our urban area. One of the major issues we are dealing with is the traffic throughout the city. The cause of traffic could be poor road management, lack of proper public transportation, or weather issues. There are many problems associated with traffic such as pollution, and the risks of having accidents which is further followed by physical and behavioral issues. One possible solution to the traffic congestion could be a better public transportation, which could be achieved by imposing heavy taxes on solo car drivers.
The town of Halton Hill’s population includes the areas of Georgetown and Acton and other communities such as Erin, Oakville, Burlington and Milton regions. This is what is considered to be my community because these are the many places that I am visiting most often and they are always referred to together as “Halton Hills Region” (p.5, 2011). With the substantial increase in population in the Halton Hills region, more specifically Georgetown, there should be a strong demand for a public transit system to counteract all of the environmental disturbances that are being caused due to this increase. One of the things that is happening is that there are so many trees they are cutting down in order to expand and grow the population with houses being built. Statistics are showing that the population of Halton Hill’s region will expand by 54% over the next 20 years (p.5, 2011). By the year 2031, employment rates will increase by 75%, leaving Halton with 42,100 jobs being offered (p.5, 2011). With this rapid influx of citizens, this will only increase the demands of travel to get to these work places as well as other destinations (p.5, 2011). Over the past couple of year’s the traffic congestion on the major roads in Halton Hills such as Trafalgar Road and Regional Road 25 with individuals trying to get to and from work. There used to be very little traffic in these areas, however since Halton Hill’s has continued to expand, the utilization of automobiles has significantly increased due to the fact there is no public transit system. The Transportation Demand Management in Halton Hill’s is noticing the increase in automobiles stating that there needs to be a major shift in more efficient ways of transportation, yet there still has been nothing improvised (p.7, 2011). The Transportation Demand
Richard in his publication offers a clear and concise on the urban reforms in the society of America. He depicts the numerous social, political transformation that takes place in the society. The urban set up takes a different shape during the era. Richard brings to light that challenges that come with urbanization, and industrialization. He makes an effort in his text to make clear of how some cities came to place during the era. New building emerges during the period. The cities were a focal point for the growth of the America population. Rivalry among cities such as Baltimore and Philadelphia, Chicago and St. Louis is clearly in his text. In his text, the growth of the railway and major highways connecting different cities is
In “Suburbanization: USA” Robert Fishman describes the rise of suburbs in the United States, providing foundational historical information and explaining the ways in which American cultural norms contributed to urban decentralization. Growing up in the suburbs, I primarily thought of Chicago as a cultural center: fancy shops, nice restaurants, and museums. I never viewed it as a residential area. To think that suburbia largely did not exist 100 years ago, as Fishman explains, is astounding to me. My entire life has been spent in suburbs, and I know few people who hail from major cities.
“Words are not passive; indeed, they help to share and create our perceptions of the world around us. The terms we choose to label or describe events must, therefore, convey appropriate connotations or images of the phenomenon under consideration in order to avoid serious misunderstandings. The existence of different terms to describe gentrification is not an accident, neither is the plethora of definitions for it” (Palen & London, 1984, p. 6). SAY SOMETHING Peter Marcuse (1999) argues that, “how gentrification is evaluated depends a great deal on how it is defined” (p. 789). Defining gentrification properly is necessary for anchoring an analysis of neighborhood change, particularly in light of recent scholarly efforts to replace the term (to describe the process) with less critical names like: ‘urban renaissance’,
Urbanization in America was driven by the massive unskilled immigrants who wanted jobs and an opportunity to start their new life in a country known to most as “The land of opportunity”. Urbanization have made many changes to America. The cities have become a place to look for opportunities and a popular place to migrate for work either for the people from the rural area or immigrants from outside the county. Which will then lead to political issues and finally the restriction of immigration itself. The process of Urbanization started in the late 1800’s triggered by the Industrial Revolution and Industrialization. Several factors played in the process one of which is the Gilded Age who had a crucial importance in relation to the shift from
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.
“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 Jane Jacobs’s acclaimed The Life and Death of Great American Cities, she intricately articulates urban blight and the ills of metropolitan society by addressing several binaries throughout the course of the text. One of the more culturally significant binaries that Jacobs relies on in her narrative is the effectively paradoxical relationship between diversity and homogeneity in urban environments at the time. In particular, beginning in Chapter 12 throughout Chapter 13, Jacobs is concerned greatly with debunking widely held misconceptions about urban diversity.
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
From 1890 to 1920, cities in the United States experienced a rapid growth that was unprecedented in years previous. This growth was caused by a number of factors and resulted in both positive and negative consequences. Such factors included, industrialization, technological advances, migration and immigration. Although American cities greatly improved by the expeditious urbanization, these factors also developed numerous challenges including pollution, sanitation problems, a need for environmental reform, political corruption, overcrowding, high crime rates and segregation.
Rapid urbanisation has caused a variety of problems, including transport congestion, lack of sufficient homes and living conditions, sanitary and health care issues, and crime. For all these problems, city planners have attempted potential solutions, each with varying degrees of success. Cities including London, Manila and Mumbai have several of the aforementioned problems, and have each tried their own potential solutions. This essay will discuss how successful these schemes have been in resolving these issues.