"Smoke makes prosperity no matter if you choke on it. We got to face life in these shacks and alleys. We got to let our children face their chances with rickets, typhoid, TB, or worse.... What good is this place and how do we get out of here?"
Today, the Sustainable Cities Collective decided to go retro with a film clip, so I will do the same. As I have mentioned in previous posts, our American ancestors had good intentions when they flocked to city outskirts which are now semi-urban suburbs. Back then, suburbia was to become an agrarian, simple, and sustainable alternative to life in the metropolis. Urbanization had unfortunately succumbed to overcrowding, pollution from industry, and noise from increased Model T use. Suburbia became a refuge for those coming from a situation comparable to Dante's Inferno full of heat and pestilence. Cities were only recently plagued by the mindset that "smoke makes prosperity," the same ideology that governs metropolises like Beijing and Mumbai in this age. To understand where these people were coming from, below is a short film. Obviously, our ancestors had no idea what was in store for them, as the next generation would go ahead and tangle up this version with a rising GDP and a bit of foolish optimism. These suburban neighborhoods gave way to sprawl, "higher life standards" (simply meaning more consumption), and standardization. Perhaps we can bring the old meaning back to these places as agrarian, independent communities. We don't have much choice anyhow.
Watch The City (1939)
Today, the Sustainable Cities Collective decided to go retro with a film clip, so I will do the same. As I have mentioned in previous posts, our American ancestors had good intentions when they flocked to city outskirts which are now semi-urban suburbs. Back then, suburbia was to become an agrarian, simple, and sustainable alternative to life in the metropolis. Urbanization had unfortunately succumbed to overcrowding, pollution from industry, and noise from increased Model T use. Suburbia became a refuge for those coming from a situation comparable to Dante's Inferno full of heat and pestilence. Cities were only recently plagued by the mindset that "smoke makes prosperity," the same ideology that governs metropolises like Beijing and Mumbai in this age. To understand where these people were coming from, below is a short film. Obviously, our ancestors had no idea what was in store for them, as the next generation would go ahead and tangle up this version with a rising GDP and a bit of foolish optimism. These suburban neighborhoods gave way to sprawl, "higher life standards" (simply meaning more consumption), and standardization. Perhaps we can bring the old meaning back to these places as agrarian, independent communities. We don't have much choice anyhow.
Watch The City (1939)
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