Today we ll examine the role that private transportation, namely, the automobile plays in city planning.
A number of sociologists blame the automobile for the decline of the downtown areas of major cities. In the 1950 s and 1960 s the automobile made it possible to work in the city and yet live in the suburbs many miles away. Shopping patterns changed: instead of patronizing downtown stores, people in the suburbs went to large shopping malls outside the city and closer to home. Merchants in the city failed; and their stores closed. Downtown shopping areas became deserted.
In recent years there s been a rebirth of the downtown area, as many suburbanites have moved back to the city. They ve done this, of course, to avoid highways clogged with commuters from the suburbs.
I ve chosen this particular city planning problem, our dependence on private transportation, to discuss in groups. I m hoping you all will come up with some innovative solutions. Oh, and don t approach the problem from a purely sociological perspective; try to take into account environmental and economic issues as well.
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