Some economists are starting to believe that the U.S. is on its way to economic recovery. But recovery from what, asks William Shutkin in this piece. He suggests the recovery should really be a discovery of better ways of developing and using land.
"At bottom, the economic crisis is not about subprime mortgages, credit default swaps and the avarice of investment bankers. It's not really about the economy at all. Rather, it's about our ability as Americans to acknowledge our mistakes and to commit to correcting them. It's about our capacity to move beyond entrenched mental models and behaviors and to engage reality on its own terms. It's a crisis of culture.
Appropriately, so much of this crisis has played out on our landscape, literally."
By focusing on development and city building, Shutkin says the U.S. can revise the culture of waste that brought about the economic downturn.
Read the full story: Recovery Versus Discovery: Which Way Are We Headed?
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority