Comparative Urban Planning Law By: James A. Kushner
Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 1 City Life
City Life • QoL in US leads developed nations! • Tourist’s view: – Historical landmarks – Old city centers – Shopping streets – Rarely observes the life of typical dweller – Public transit and residential districts
Historical landmarks
Old city centers
Shopping streets
Life of typical dweller
Public transit and residential districts
City Life • In America’s population centers, the typical lifestyle is automobile centered. • It is necessary for most people to drive to each and every destination except for the few who happen to live close to some place.
City Life • As America’s suburbs have developed, most require a drive to school, work, shopping, library, or exercise at the park. • The elderly, the young and the disabled, unable to drive, are captive in their homes and dependent on others for mobility.
City Life • Americans, long sold on the benefits of the quiet country life, and committed to preserving the low-density subdivisions that define suburban sprawl.
City Life • Some of the harshest impacts of low density, automobile dependent sprawl development fall on the poor and working class as major employment centers are not served by convenient public transit, rendering automobile ownership a condition for employment.
City Life • Central cities with lower income communities often suffer a decline in revenue, translating into declining resources for schools, transit, police, and the delivery of other municipal services. • Suburban migration and urban decline.
City Life • Class segregation. • Unmet housing and services needs of those of lower income.
City Life • The subject of this book is exploration of the laws and policies affecting planning and city development. • The focus is comparing American experience with the other Nations of the world.
City Life • How is that relatively poor so-called “emerging”, “developing”, or “underdeveloped” nations, as in the case of Curitiba, Brazil, have attained a significant measure of urban success.
City Life • This book will also explore alternative to current American planning policy. • Those alternatives range from the regulatory society to the more free market deregulated laissez faire model.
Sustainability Sustainability! “The basically environmental-oriented concept looks at the quality of air and water, seeks to reduce dependency on oil and non-renewable resources, and seeks to develop communities that are not based on pollution generation but upon an ethic of pedestrianization, protecting flora and fauna, and encouraging community and architectural design that seeks greater efficiency and selfsufficiency.�
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