Infrastructure + Mobility

Brooke Berge, Skitch Kitchen, Dan O'Neil, Sara Pimentel, Matthew Varghese John

Key Takeaways

1. Many of our cities are over-reliant on personal vehicles and lack accessibility at the human scale.

2. Transportation costs should be considered in social housing costs.

3. Pieces of social infrastructure, like social housing, have lacked long-term investment in the United States.

4. Social housing can incorporate social infrastructure in its design to promote sociality and improve social and economic welfare.

5. Los Angeles has tended to experience changes in infrastructure around 10 to 15 years before Phoenix has. Phoenix should look towards Los Angeles to plan ahead.

Economic Infrastructure

Economic Infrastructure is the facilities, activities and services which support operation and development of other sectors of the economy. Examples of economic infrastructure include power, water, and transportation systems.

Mobility

Mobility is the potential for movement and the ability to get from one place to another using one or more modes of transport to meet daily needs. It focuses on the satisfaction of needs, and is the direct result of social activities such as living, working, and relaxing.

Mobility is necessary for economic productivity, quality of life, and access to basic health services and education in cities. Due to the spatial separation of activities, a demand for transport services arises. Modes of transport are the instruments required for the concrete realization of mobility.

Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956

The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 fundamentally changed mobility in America by making roads more reliable, thus making Americans more reliant on the personal vehicle. The highway program was inspired by the autobahn in Germany and promoted by President Eisenhower as a key “public works project that would keep the nation’s economy on an even keel and prevent recession (Mohl, 2008, p. 195).” Freeway advocates argued that interstates would reduce traffic congestion, make travel easier between the coasts, and would make it possible for citizens to vacate large cities if there was an atomic attack. Moreover, cities would have the chance at grand urban renewal projects paid for by the federal government.

The Interstate Highway system changed the U.S. in two important ways:

1. The Act reorganized America around a system of highways, fundamentally altering the pattern of community development in America to be based on cars. “Small towns that were bypassed by the highways withered and died,” writes Brandon Keim, while “new towns flourished around exits. (Wired)” At the same time, the interstates made travel in and out of American cities simpler, speeding the growth of the suburbs.

2. Around the same time as the Federal Aid Highway Act, shipping containers were invented. This allowed overseas manufacturers to transport their products to market in America since products could easily be moved from ship to train to truck, “new distribution networks arose that were vastly more efficient and flexible than the old. (Wired)”

The construction of the interstate freeways targeted so-called blighted neighborhoods and ultimately decimated multiethnic communities in both LA and Phoenix by bisecting neighborhoods, displacing thousands, and altering the social fabric of communities. It led to years of disinvestment, increased noise and air-quality pollution, and reduced home values in cities across the country.

Mobility in Los Angeles

Los Angeles (LA) ranks as the 6th most traffic congested city (2021) in the U.S. On average, Angelenos lost 62 hours in traffic in 2021, nearly double the national average, costing drivers an average of $968. Historically, transportation policies and investments in LA County have prioritized personal vehicles over mobility alternatives.

While much of LA follows a grid pattern, there are multiple street grids, each oriented toward a different point on the compass and only one pointing toward the cardinal directions. This is a result of several distinct political and cultural regimes that have passed through Southern California. LA's road network is largely characterized by boulevards, a broad formally laid out paved public way, 100 feet or more, ornamentally illuminated or decorated. This designation was once meant to designate its high class status, today it mostly refers to the capacity of the road. Freeways are another iconic infrastructure in Southern California, within the city, there are approximately 650 miles of freeway for a land area of 502 square miles.

LA Metro operates more than 1,500 buses, a subway system, light rail trains, vanpool, microtransit, and a network of bikes. Metro also funds local street and highway projects and acts as a real estate developer for land near transit stations. Their jurisdiction is large, serving over 88 cities plus unincorporated areas in LA County. Metro touches almost everything in transportation in some manner- whether it relates to public transit, cars, walking, biking, or other modes.

Mobility in Phoenix

Phoenix is easy to navigate following a near-perfect grid system with convenient and plentiful parking across the Valley. Phoenix’s roadway network is primarily characterized by arterials, or major streets spaced a mile apart that are typically the major north/south and east/west transportation corridors.

Phoenix Freeway System consists of three major freeways. Interstate 10 is a transcontinental route between California and Florida and is the most heavily traveled freeway in the valley, Interstate 17 runs down the center of Arizona, and U.S. Route 60 spans most of the country but is only a freeway for a few short stints, one of them being in the East Valley. In addition to these, three beltways, Routes 101, 202, and 303, loop around Phoenix, the East Valley, and the West Valley, respectively. State Route 51 connects Downtown with the northern reaches of the city, and Arizona State Route 143 is a distributor for Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Valley Metro serves as the region's public transportation agency with 19 member cities covering 513 square miles. They operate the region's light rail, streetcar, buses, vanpool, and microtransit. Valley Metro does not own or lease land in the same way that LA Metro does.

The Future of Mobility

The future of mobility focuses on lowering greenhouse gas emissions through more sustainable modes of transportation. Cities are pushing to add infastructure that supports electric vehicles and human-powered modes of transportation such as walking or cycling.

Social Infrastructure

Social infrastructure is the physical places and institutions that foster connections and build relationships between people. Some types of social infrastructure can be "transparent", especially when compared to other types of infrastructure, because it can include more abstract or intangible systems.

Examples of Social Infrastructure:

• Institutions

  • Healthcare (hospitals, clinics)

  • Education (elementary, middle and high schools; preschools; universities; community colleges)

• Municipal services

  • Museums

  • Libraries

  • Community centers

  • Recreation centers and facilities like swimming pools, athletic fields, etc

• Community organizations

  • Churches

  • Civic organizations

  • Non-profits

• Public spaces

  • Parks

  • Plazas

  • Playgrounds

  • Community gardens

• Commercial establishments

  • Gyms

  • Cafes

  • Coffee shops

  • Restaurants

  • Malls

  • Laundromats

  • Hair salons

  • Diners

Social Housing Infrastructure

Social Housing Infrastructure has no formal definition, but it can be understood as the facilities, resources, and systems that support social housing at the individual unit and community scale.

Social housing can also perform as a vital piece of urban infrastructure. In addition to accommodation services, social housing can also produce social and economic benefits (AHURI). This view of social housing in Australia has led to efforts to target long-term investments in social housing projects.

In North American cities like Los Angeles and Phoenix, social housing infrastructure has varied by development.