Unsustainable+Suburbia

= Unsustainable Suburbia = //A combination of Western Individualism and ability of the middle class to pursue the "American Dream" has given rise to the suburbs; proliferating car centric living, promoting wasteful building development, and thereby accelerating the depletion of non-renewable natural resources. We are offered the choice to either move back to into the city and development sustainable means of local agriculture and manufacturing while nature is given the time to rebuild or to continue our unsustainable expansion until resources become so scares that humanity will be forced to fight resource wars what little is left.//

=== Suburbia is characterized by individual homes, personal lawns, and the dislocation of residential areas from retail and cultural centers. The suburbs in America have been consistently expanding since the end of World War II. More than half of all Americans live in the suburbs ([|Unsustainable Suburbia]). The growth of the suburbs is fueled by Western individualism and the surplus of cash and credit of middle class Americans' have to pursue what is stereotyped as the American dream. ===

=== Due to the separation of residential areas from retail, grocery, educational, and cultural locations, suburbs are extraordinarily car centric. The lack of pedestrian walkways, distances between various resources and services, and the lack of quick and accessible public transportation require the use of cars for nearly every out-of-home activity. In fact, the accommodation of the car is now one of the most important factors in suburban development. Between 30 and 60 percent of land use in American cities and suburbs is dedicated to roads and parking structures ([|Parameters of the New Urbanism]). Additionally 33% of greenhouse gas emissions in American are a result of transportation related activities. This number does not take into account the greenhouses gasses released in the construction of the cars and the production of the asphalt and concrete necessary for the roads ([|EPA]). ===

=== Ethnological studies have shown that suburbs alienate neighbors and destroy residents’ sense of community. This may seem unrelated to sustainability, but alienation from ones’ neighbors results in reduced political activism, and when people are not willing to unite to fight for public interests, the private sector is left to make decisions based on making profits rather than the needs of people and the earth ([|This American Suburb]). ===

=== If materials and fossil fuels continue to be consumed so rapidly and unsustainably then it will not be long until humanity finds that it cannot extract enough raw materials from the earth to support its gluttony. The first to experience the negative effects of the suburbs will be the poor worldwide. As resources become diminished people and countries will begin to secure the last remaining resources by any means necessary. Resource wars will become increasingly more common and violent. As even more resources are drained from the earth by suburban transportation habits, costs for food and resources will rise so greatly that people will not be able to support themselves and their lifestyles. The agriculture system currently in place will fail as industrial farmers can no longer ship their products over such large distances. This will contribute to civil unrest and even resource wars in the U.S. ([|This American Suburb]). ===

=== The solution is to halt the development of the suburbs and return to city and urban life. In almost all cases with few exceptions the carbon footprint of those living in city centers are far lower than their counterparts in the suburbs ([|Green Cities, Brown Suburbs]). The current agriculture system must be reworked to support urban and local farming. The suburbs should be re-transformed in farmlands to support their surrounding cities and the rest of nature should be given the opportunity to rebuild after centuries of human desecration ([|This American Suburb]). ===

Works Referenced
//Background: The Growth of the Suburbs and The Loss of The Sense of Community//, __Parameters of the New Urbanism__, The Sustainability Community Research Group, <[]>

Clark, George E., //Unsustainable Suburbia//, __Environment__, Vol. 49, No. 8, Environment Magazine, Oct. 2007, <[]>

//Emissions//, EPA.gov, 16 Feb. 2010. <[]>

Fry, C. //City of the Future//, Engineering and Technology, Vol. 4 Is. 3, Institution of Engineering and Technology, 14 Feb. 2009. <[]

Glaeser, Edward L., //Green Cities, Brown Subur//bs, __City Journal__, Vol 19, No. 1, The Manhattan Institute 2009, <[]>

Mirando, Stephan, //This American Suburb: Fossil Fuels, Personal Misconceptions, and Loss of Community,// Providence College 2009, <[]>

Wilson, R. W. and Brown K. D., //Carbon Neutrality at the Local Level: Achievable Goal or Fantacy?//, __Journal of the America Planning Association__, Vol. 74, No.4, American Planning Association 2008, <[]>