When we talk about urban development in the U.S., there is one word that will always be present in any discussion: the sprawl.
The endless suburbs of the country's largest cities are the product of decades of urban planning based on the "American way of life", creating low-density districts, surrounded by nature (or at least meadows) and connected to the financial centres by highways. A "car-oriented" development with consequences that have already been widely studied and which have contributed to the environmental crisis that the world is suffering today.
In contrast to suburban sprawl, different concepts have emerged in recent years that favour a more compact, efficient and less auto-dependent urban model. This is the case of the “15-minute city”, which according with Patrick Sisson from The City Monitor, “the 15-minute city is an approach to urban design that aims to improve quality of life by creating cities where everything a resident needs can be reached within 15 minutes by foot, bike or public transit.” This means that community services such us schools, medical centres and parks, as well as workplaces, should be located at distances that do not require the use of cars or allowing an easy use of public transportation.
In cities like Paris and Amsterdam, with relatively high urban densities, a robust bikeway infrastructure and good transportation networks, the application of the "15-minute city" seems to be a viable alternative. However, in the American suburban model, guaranteeing this efficient and close connectivity is much more complicated, not only because of the low density of these developments, but also because of their spatial configuration.
Most American cities grew from a simple but easily implemented geometric layout: the grid. This configuration allowed a practical orientation in space, as well as relatively easy regulation for subsequent city expansions. However, with the ease of car purchase and the demand for new housing for the growing middle class, residential developments with more "organic" and less grid-like layouts became increasingly popular.
This, of course, was not an American invention. The concept of suburban housing was already developed in the Garden City model since the late nineteenth century, with several examples such as Welwyn Garden City in England or Canberra in Australia. However, it would be in the United States where the suburb would reach its greatest popularization and where it would also deviate more from its initial idea, since the Garden City, more than a purely residential development, was an integral city that could supply most of the basic needs of its residents.
Es algo que se necesita identificar para identificar el nivel en las colonias
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