I've thought for a long time that "urban planning" as currently practiced almost everywhere--at least in the U.S.--is hopelessly out of touch with the realities of how cities--and people--need to live. The planner wants to segregate residential areas, shopping areas, industrial areas, parks, etc., etc. into nice, regularly colored areas on a map.
But that's not how cities grew throughout human history. People lived on the top floor and worked on the street level--manufactured things, sold things, fixed things. Lived life. Knew their neighbors, because they lived and worked at the same place.
Now, it's not totally realistic to think that we can take modern post-industrial society back to anything like that. We know too much about how certain things, such as manufacturing processes, are really, really, really unpleasant (or unhealthy) to actually live next door to. But the hyper-zoning of America has, I think, had a significant social cost. We don't know our neighbors any more. We drive to the regional shopping area. When I grew up, my siblings and I rode our bikes, or walked three blocks to the little neighborhood grocery store. Even if you wanted to do that anymore, you can't. The neighborhood grocery store is now the convenience store a mile and a half down the five-lane major arterial road with so much traffic that no sane parent would ever let their kids near it with a bike.
I think that the whole edifice of modern American zoning is utterly wrongheaded.
Via the blog
Futuristic comes an article titled
Sane in the City, which serves to reinforce my attitudes:
Research has documented that pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods can be particularly important for maintaining good mental health, especially in the elderly. A study published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society found that senior men showed fewer symptoms of depression if they lived in more "walkable" neighborhoods, which have smaller blocks, fewer office buildings, and greater proximity to grocery stores, restaurants, and retail shopping areas.
Prior research had suggested a link between exercise and reduced depression. But in this study, the men's levels of depression did not depend on how much they exercised. So the benefits of walkable neighborhoods seemed to go beyond their ability to encourage physical activity, suggesting that "it's something about the environment itself" that's associated with lower levels of depression, according to Ethan Berke, the study's lead author.
Berke speculates that walkable neighborhoods might be so important because they promote social connection and reduce isolation, a major predictor of depression. "If people are out walking to destinations, they run into each other", he says. "And then they talk, or interact, or share ideas". He adds that city streets with their shorter blocks, more direct routes, and greater number of intersections—can be more walkable than suburban ones. They also have greater population density, which increases the probability that people meet one another by chance.
I live in a very nice suburban neighborhood. I almost never walk. There's nowhere to walk to. I need somewhere to walk to.
In general, I think we're better off putting our trust in the "little brother" of our family, friends, and neighbors, rather than in "Big Brother" as represented by city and regional Planning Boards--made up of people who , more often than not, have overriding financial interests in promoting the command-and-control mentality of modern planning and zoning practice.
