New Urbanism - Research Paper Example

Ryans article seems to be merely reporting, but contains an undercurrent of argument that things will be better by recreating the past in public places with new technology. Although Kunstler, Davis, and Ryan seem at odds with one another, they are arguing for the same thing: the revitalization of an urban America that will increase public happiness by re-integrating people with their environment and one another. James Kunstlers essay is essentially a lament for the America of the past. He makes his point by contrasting the American cities and towns of today with those of the past, with those of France, and with Disneyland.

The reason that Americans find Disneyland so popular, he says, is that “The design quality of Disney World . is about 1.5 notches better than the average American suburban shopping mall or housing subdivision” (Kunstler ???). This is vastly different from the situation in France, where “the most mediocre French street quarter” is five times better (Kunstler ???). The reason for this, Kunstler argues, is that after World War II Americans stopped building things to last. A related problem is that of zoning.

Before World War II, zoning did not exist. Instead, people had “a popular consensus about the right way to assemble a town” (Kunstler ???). This resulted in cities that reflected American culture, instead of a meaningless set of laws. As a solution to both problems—the decay of building to last and the rise of soulless zoning laws—Kunstler holds up what he calls Civic Art, but which our textbook calls New Urbanism. He defines the most important part of this movement as the neighborhood, which is “a five-minute walking distance … from the edge to the center” and where “wheeled vehicles are permitted, but do not take precedence over human needs, including aesthetic needs” (Kunstler ???). Only by moving away from the drab suburban sprawl which fills us with nostalgia and back to