Description
Transportation has dramatically changed over the last century; today we have access to a host of incredible developments from planes to bullet trains. Despite our advancements in mobile efficiency and design, they have not translated to our cities. Our roads remain clogged as consumers spend significant fractions of their lives traveling alone, slowly, in metal cases. Our cities remain littered by cars. Consumers have become dependent upon vehicles, and the way we have handled infrastructure expansion, has only encouraged this problem. The problem is driven by environmental pressures, population pressures, political, and economic pressures. Planners are often forced to design in response to relatively short term goals--addressing problems only after they arise--but we’re getting to the point where that can no longer occur. Driven Too Far zooms into Little Italy, a community in San Diego, and proposes dramatic alterations to the existing neighborhood structure. To fortify the San Diegan infrastructure in preparation for dramatic population increase, this section of the city is reformed into an area not reliant on the automobile, to create a strong pedestrian and public transport system within a small community; “re-orienting city design toward the pedestrian and cyclist.” The amount of space dedicated to supplying to parking demands reinforces a seemingly exponential cycle; where parking forces buildings further apart, makes walking more challenging, thus encouraging the masses desire to drive more, creating a need for more parking. Our parking spots and our streets prohibit our capacity to build densely, and thus I plan to remove these barriers to compact efficiency. Through the implementation of systems substantial to existing large cities, I plan to incorporate several transport elements, such as boardwalks, subway systems, etc. to connect the city to the water, promote density, increase housing, reduce carbon emissions, encourage public transport, and reduce automobile dependence. My concern is one of planning; unless we directly address and change the American attachment to oversized, personalized automobiles, planners have to work to accommodate space in relation to sprawl. San Diego currently has a population of about 1.5 million. A population size which is expected to more than double by 2050. In order to accommodate this substantial increase in residential growth, extensive parameters need to be outlined to fortify the San Diego infrastructure in the next 30 years, my project addresses these problems with temerity, to explore more eccentric planning possibilities.
!Driven Too Far!
Transportation has dramatically changed over the last century; today we have access to a host of incredible developments from planes to bullet trains. Despite our advancements in mobile efficiency and design, they have not translated to our cities. Our roads remain clogged as consumers spend significant fractions of their lives traveling alone, slowly, in metal cases. Our cities remain littered by cars. Consumers have become dependent upon vehicles, and the way we have handled infrastructure expansion, has only encouraged this problem. The problem is driven by environmental pressures, population pressures, political, and economic pressures. Planners are often forced to design in response to relatively short term goals--addressing problems only after they arise--but we’re getting to the point where that can no longer occur. Driven Too Far zooms into Little Italy, a community in San Diego, and proposes dramatic alterations to the existing neighborhood structure. To fortify the San Diegan infrastructure in preparation for dramatic population increase, this section of the city is reformed into an area not reliant on the automobile, to create a strong pedestrian and public transport system within a small community; “re-orienting city design toward the pedestrian and cyclist.” The amount of space dedicated to supplying to parking demands reinforces a seemingly exponential cycle; where parking forces buildings further apart, makes walking more challenging, thus encouraging the masses desire to drive more, creating a need for more parking. Our parking spots and our streets prohibit our capacity to build densely, and thus I plan to remove these barriers to compact efficiency. Through the implementation of systems substantial to existing large cities, I plan to incorporate several transport elements, such as boardwalks, subway systems, etc. to connect the city to the water, promote density, increase housing, reduce carbon emissions, encourage public transport, and reduce automobile dependence. My concern is one of planning; unless we directly address and change the American attachment to oversized, personalized automobiles, planners have to work to accommodate space in relation to sprawl. San Diego currently has a population of about 1.5 million. A population size which is expected to more than double by 2050. In order to accommodate this substantial increase in residential growth, extensive parameters need to be outlined to fortify the San Diego infrastructure in the next 30 years, my project addresses these problems with temerity, to explore more eccentric planning possibilities.