CITY FUTURES Zacchaeus Tow 29 October 2014 Topic Suburbia and suburban life has often been associated with the utopian notion of ‘the Australian/American Dream’. Has the ideal vision of suburbia been achieved, and what are the realities of suburbanisation? Discuss with reference to at least one city and its metropolitan area. INTRODUCTION This piece will begin with the discussion of what is understood of the notion ‘The Australian/American Dream’ and the ideas behind it. It is important to understand these underlying principles that drive the desire for utopian ideals that have manifested themselves within the realms of suburbanization, and together, what defines it. Through a close analysis of the suburbanization of American cities, specifically Levittown, we will discover the reality of suburbanization and whether it holds true to the claims of this form of Bourgeois Utopia.1 Although the term Bourgeois holds some negative connotations, bear in mind the urban slums of the city during the industrial age as well as the hardships from wartime, the desire to move ‘beyond the city’, suggested man’s ambition for a better quality of life that was not solely built around work. 1 Robert Fishman, Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia (New York: Basic Books Inc., 1977), 7. Image 1: Suburban Layout2 WHAT IS THE AMERICAN DREAM & SUBURANSATION To begin, The American Dream is that desire of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement – It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.3 In other words, it is the sense of actualization of one’s self in a place where opportunities allow for an upward mobility within a social order. This is overtly represented through the ownership of land, a house, and an automobile – a world free from material deprivation and suffering.4 This is where the concept of Suburbia 2 Diane Harris, Second Suburb: Levittown, Pennsylvania (United States of America: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010), 289. 3 James T. Adams, The Epic of America (United States of America: Little, Brown & Company, 1931), 214. 4 Ruth Levitas, The Concept of Utopia (London: Philip Allan, 1990), 149. comes in. Suburbanisation is an urban arrangement characterised by mass decentralization away from the city center, also known as urban sprawl. It seeks to detach itself from an industrial centre, in search for healthful and peaceful environments in the hinterlands.5 It represents the desires of individuals that are in pursuit of the American Dream – a collective effort that seeks out a private life and exhortation of the individual.6 From the first dwellings and simple hamlets, to the splendor of capitals of vast empires, to the rapid dynamics of industrial centers, close physical proximity was essential for not only collective survival and social and spiritual needs, but for the efficient production, distribution and consumption of the ever changing goods and services desired by and expanding urban society.7 It suggests the imperative need for collective efforts in order to create thriving societies. However, Lewis Mumford points out that pattern of dispersion in the form of suburbs being visibly apparent almost as early as the beginnings of the city itself.8 It was not until the late 19th C that suburbia became a model of the good life for the average household as an alternative to the misery of the industrial city.9 This outlines the inherent desire for a private life within all individuals despite productivity and success only being possible through a collective effort. This oxymoronic idea of collectivism and the private life manifests itself in suburbanization. From this, Suburbia can be suggested to be an ideal system that seeks to strike middle-­‐ground between the productivity of the collective city and the ‘good life’ of the urban fringes, enabled only through the advancement of transport technology. It allows a separation and freedom from the misery of the city, yet not entirely severing its occupants from opportunities that are needed for self-­‐actualization. 5 Donald Rothblatt and Daniel Garr, Suburbia: An International Assessment (Sydney: Croom Helm, 1986), 2. 6 Fishman, Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia, 7. 7 Rothblatt and Garr, Suburbia: An International Assessment, 1. 8 Lewis Mumford, The City in History (New York: Harcourt, 1961), 483. 9 Rothblatt and Garr, Suburbia: An International Assessment, 1. LEVITTOWN AS A MODEL FOR LIVING Image 2: Levittown’s Suburban Landscape10 Levittown, in New York, was and still is a symbol of the great ‘American Dream’ – it started out as the first mass-­‐produced suburb that provided for the housing shortage problem post world-­‐war II, which later became the model for many other suburban development arrangements in America.11 A significant corpus of publications exists for Levittown, and the name has become synonymous with both that location and with an ever-­‐enlarging set of myths, legends, and stereotypes about postwar suburbia in the United States.12 Originally both a blue-­‐collar and a white-­‐collar development, Levittown represented the beginnings of a socially homogenous system with equal opportunities towards a better quality of life.13 The four-­‐room Cape Cod bungalows, unique to Levittown during the time (mid 20th Century), offered the fulfillment of The American Dream of property, privacy and independence.14 The Levittown model was also adapted into other American cities and even exported as an ideal to modern day living. 10 Harris, Second Suburb: Levittown, Pennsylvania, 297. 11 Andres Duany, Elizabeth Plater-­‐Zyberk and Jeff Speck, Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream (USA: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010), 32. 12 Harris, Second Suburb: Levittown, Pennsylvania, 2. 13 Harris, Second Suburb: Levittown, Pennsylvania, 5. 14 Barbara M. Kelly, Expanding the American Dream: Building and Rebuilding Levittown (New York: State University of New York Press, 1993), 21. By 1970, more Americans lived in suburbs than in either cities or rural communities.15 This shift from industrial city living towards suburban living is indicative of Americans gravitating towards a more successful model, be it due to imposed environmental factors or a conscious decision for change. Over the same period, two in three Americans were able to purchase their own homes, as opposed to two in five prior World War II.16 Americans were now empowered with the ability to break free from the clutches of the Great Depression and post war circumstances. In this respect, suburbanization not only provided for an immediate solution but also brought forth the realization of The American Dream and what it stood for. Image 3: Typical Levittown Suburban House Floor Plan17 Not only are the ideas of the American Dream portrayed in the urban form but also within the individual units of what we call Suburbia. The house itself depicts one’s dwelling place, and a lot can be inferred from its plan. Image 3 exemplifies modern day living expectations such as spacious living and the reliance on motorcars – the desire for personal and private dwelling as well as the freedom of mobility is synonymous with the language of individual units of dwelling. 15 Harris, Second Suburb: Levvittown, Pennsylvania, 355. 16 Harris, Second Suburb: Levvittown, Pennsylvania, 355. 17 Harris, Second Suburb: Levittown, Pennsylvania, 217. The development of Levittown and other American suburbs clearly portrays the Bourgeois nature of American goals in its physical representation – that of consumption and self-­‐seeking desire. It could also be read as a form of escapism as an option; no longer were peoples’ fates bounded job opportunities in the city. Furthermore, micro-­‐economies within suburbs allow for local commerce to thrive based on the retail and consumer culture of the modern day American. The ‘recenterization’ of the city on the terms of the suburban household create ‘satellite downtowns’ that provides for their desires.18 This accentuates further the desires of a Bourgeois middle-­‐class, not only free from material deprivation, but rather the embrace of consumption – enabled only through suburbanization or even a direct result of it. REALITIES OF SUBURBIA Ultimately, holistic wellbeing, be it psychological, physical, social, or environmental, becomes the priority of this whole debate of what suburbanization has done for us.19 Once, it was seen as a solution to the city slums of the industrial age – problems such as cholera, air pollution, poor housing, as well as the housing shortage post World War. Today, there has been a gradual shift in this debate, where the evolution of suburbia has created a myriad of problems that many of us choose to deny. Kunstler describes suburbanization as the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world, which represents a living arrangement with no future. 20 Arguments such as a perceived sense of freedom, environmental degradation, and unhealthy lifestyles weigh themselves against the success of The American Dream. For example, with more than 70% of Americans being overweight today, and at the rate of which this number is increasing, the last remaining slim 18 David Smiley, “Mall Maker: Victor Gruen, Architect of an American Dream”, Journal of Architectural Education Vol. 62, 1 (2008): 76 – 78. 19 Howard Frumpkin, Lawrence Frank, Richard Jackson, Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Health Communities (Washington DC: Island Press, 2004), xi. 20 James Howard Kunstler, "Farewell to the Drive-­‐in Utopia", Salmagundi 168/169 (2011, 2010): 82. American will cross over into corpulence by 2040.21 With obesity come other health problems such as heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, cancer etc. This might seem like direct contradiction to the pursuit towards an individual’s wellbeing. However, one could argue that this is just a by-­‐product of modern day living and the strong reliance on technology, and should not be attributed as a direct conflict of what The American Dream sought to achieve. Furthermore, Kunstler’s arguments against Suburbia appear to lean on the assumptions that all individuals have an innate responsibility towards others and also the environment in which we live in, when really, Suburbia centers on the desires of the individual. Whether these desires result in the individual’s own detriment or not, it is not entirely relevant to the discourse of Suburbia – it does set it back slightly from an objective point of view but it ultimately boils down to the fulfillment of one’s self. CONCLUSION Instead of perceiving suburbanization as purely an urban arrangement, Silverstone proposes to reconsider Suburbia as a psychological construct. Suburbia is a ‘state of mind’, constructed in imagination and desire – discounts negative consequences and the unforeseeable ramifications of a planned utopia.22 As cities are continuously changing, suburbia is no longer confined within the definition of a physical landscape. Thus, with this consideration, the utopian notion of the American Dream is indeed achieved, especially to those whose values are centered on that of the Bourgeois ethos.23 Then again, the extent to which the ideals are achieved ultimately falls upon an individual’s perception of a ‘good life’, and his or her choice to ignore the ramifications of the life associated with suburban living. Going back to the beginnings of this discussion, The American Dream was characterized as the prideful and materialistic nature of the society that this form of 21 Frumpkin, Frank, and Jackson, Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Health Communities, xi. 22 Roger Silverstone, Visions of Suburbia (London: Routledge, 1997), 15. 23 Fishman, Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia, 26. urban living manifested upon.24 I would argue that this is consistent with what suburbanization has done for us – a realization of a dream at all costs. Although trade-­‐offs are made, the vision was achieved through a cost, whether apparent or not to the individual, Suburbia succeeds in providing for the goals set out by the American Dream. 24 Fishman, Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia, 27. REFERENCE LIST: Adams, James. The Epic of America. United States of America: Little, Brown & Company, 1931. Duany, Andres, Elizabeth Plater-­‐Zyberk, and Jeff Speck. Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. United States of America: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010. Fishman, Robert. Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia. New York: Basic Books Inc., 1977. Frumpkin, Howard, Lawrence Frank, and Richard Jackson, Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning, and Building for Health Communities. Washington DC: Island Press, 2004. Harris, Diane. Second Suburb: Levittown, Pennsylvania. United States of America: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2010. Kelly, Barbara. Expanding the American Dream: Building and Rebuilding Levittown. New York: State University of New York Press, 1993. Kunstler, James Howard. "Farewell to the Drive-­‐in Utopia". Salmagundi 168/169 (2011, 2010): 82. Levitas, Ruth. The Concept of Utopia. London: Philip Allan, 1990. Mumford, Lewis. The City in History. New York: Harcourt, 1961. Rothblatt, Donald, and Daniel Garr. Suburbia: An International Assessment. Sydney: Croom Helm, 1986. Silverstone, Roger. Visions of Suburbia. London: Routledge, 1997. Smiley, David. “Mall Maker: Victor Gruen, Architect of an American Dream”. Journal of Architectural Education 62, 1 (2008): 76 – 78.