Ideas, Old and New

In taking a class on Social Issues in Urban and Regional development, my classmates and I were introduced to many new ideas related to Urban Planning. Urban planning is a field which covers such wide-ranging topics as land use, sustainable development of cities, infrastructure, and the way social issues are related to physical environments.

One especially interesting subject we discussed was the different "Ages of Discovery", a way of understanding history through revolutions in systems and inventions. One Age of Discovery we talked about in detail involved the statue of David. I had always assumed it was a basic beautiful statue, but we learned that depending on the angle you viewed it from, it could be taken to have different expressions. This talk about the different meanings in the statue was taken as a sign of a change in the way art represented the world, signifying a shift in Eras.

The statue was representative of the changes going on in the world at the time and society’s uncertainty with how to deal with the problems. We discussed issues like this, which often fall under the category of “wicked problems”, which have no clear solution and often little accurate means for evaluation. I had known friends in the past who discussed "wicked problems" with me, but had never understood how deep and pervasive they can be; to imagine planning as a whole as a way of trying to solve wicked problems was helpful. Trying to come up with wicked problems was fun, because it encouraged critical analysis of the city of Albuquerque. We also discussed the phenomena that problems often get more complex with time. The issue of never really being able to solve the problems with any helpful feedback in any reasonable time frame was frustrating to think about, but helpful to understand how planning works.

Another wicked problem we touched on was the current expressions of “Place” and how it helps people form connections with their surroundings and community. A sense of “place” is the way a certain area is felt to be distinct and meaningful, and the wicked problem revolves around the concept that so much of the globalization that has been beneficial to people around the world has also been detrimental to individual cultures and their sense of place. I couldn’t help but wonder exactly the mechanics that would help people to identify with and grow attached to an area over a certain period of time, and the factors that might influence that. I understood that an area’s architecture, from the building styles to the different urban patterns, all help to create a unique environment that people can attribute things to and which might evoke a certain vibe. It’s interesting that so many emotions get tied up in this, though.

I also thought it was interesting that we carry these origins of areas we grew up in with us even as we reinvent ourselves. I thought it was funny because I didn’t even have to try to bring the patterns with me, as they basically followed me to Albuquerque- the downtown business blocks in the grid pattern, and the residential house-on-lot patterns both seem fairly ubiquitous. I wonder, is that because people carried the patterns with them hundreds of years ago as well?

Albuquerque’s styling definitely was different from back home: we have much more stucco here, or concrete hoping to look like stucco. However, the fast food restaurants were almost exactly the same as back home, especially after the last wave of remodels left them all looking like mishmashes of different-colored boxes. I wonder if this ties into the issue at all; it’s a sort of corporate decision, but it seems like the different franchises are eager to all resemble one another. I wonder if this has anything to do with the “sense of place”, if it’s a sort of commercialization of that tactic.

The past few months have introduced my class to many new ideas, concepts, and metrics for how we evaluate and plan our cities. We also came to partially understand many complex issues with seemingly infinite inputs and variables which are difficult to take into account and understand the cumulative effects of. I have much enjoyed the new perspectives offered and especially the interesting anecdotes which offer additional insight into the way things really work in this profession, and am curious to see which concepts will continue to inform our perspectives, both in class and in the field.