It is not surprising that suburbs loom so large in the
American psyche, and on the American landscape.
As a response to the social vacuum of the country and the dystopia of
the industrial city, the suburb did indeed seem to unite the qualities of life
necessary for a happy, healthy human.
Clean air, natural spaces, social contact, decent housing at affordable
rates, proximity to profitable workplaces: when creating the suburb, it seemed for
the first time all of these were within reach.
In today’s “new urbanist” utopia, expectations for green
space have changed (i.e. decreased) and theorists are developing plans that
provide green on a micro scale, just enough to ensure a level of psychological
and physical wellbeing. This is enabled
in part by improved technology and infrastructure which has made it sanitary to
live in closer quarters. It is also, in
part I believe, a reaction of the younger generation toward the perceived
sterility of suburban life. Social
opportunities in the suburbs, while an improvement over the remote rural
setting, are not enough for a young, sophisticated, cosmopolitan
generation. Instead, they choose to live
in a lively urban setting, refreshed by mini-parks, pop-up-parks, green roofs, and
vertical gardens.
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