Reorienting Suburbs Toward An Interdependent Future
Created as a celebration of American individualism and consumerism, suburbs will need to reinvent themselves to successfully lead an interdependent world, according to this article from Newsday.
As shoppers turn increasingly green, what effect will this have on the suburbs - domestic havens of consumerism? Will green just be "an accent color" in the suburbs, or can it facilitate a more profound shift in orientation?
"Greening the suburbs is about recalibrating philosophy, technology and public policy so we champion interdependence rather than individualism. The suburbs were born out of an ideology of separation from the city, but the 21st century requires new regional and global partnerships."
Interdependence can help reframe land use debates and smooth the transition toward transit oriented development. Interdependence can facilitate a growing awarenes that healthy bodies and a healthy planet can be complementary goals.
Right now, "the world's resources are disproportionately funneled into the metropolitan regions of industrialized nations." Can green suburbs reverse this trend? Is it possible to wean the suburbs off of conspicuous consumption and redirect those energies towards a "an obtainable lifestyle for Earth's 7 billion people," shifting their focus from 'me' to 'we?' "As Gandhi put it, 'Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed.'"
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From the article: "Green
From the article:
"Green suburbs will be high-density, mixed use, walkable communities built close to public transportation. In a greener future, cars will be used sparingly - maybe even shared among neighbors instead of being privately owned. Food and energy will be produced locally. The green suburb won't be an assemblage of individual homesteaders; it will be a mixed-income, ecologically integrated community that promotes natural and cultural diversity."
Okay, what is suburban about that? Also, doesn't higher density imply less land is needed, so more people are going to be occupying less space? Why do we even need suburbs then? "Green suburbs" is just stupid marketing. I guess it will get suburbanites to fear urbanism less - just call it green suburbanism!