Past Project: PEFI Pedestrian & Environmentally Focused Infrastructure

By Kelley Townley, Kristophe Zephyrin, Aidan Mayer, and Kyle Coleman

Link to Poster Here

Cities prior to the invention of the automobile worked very differently. Unlike today’s cities, comprised of giant interwoven networks spanning for miles in all directions, the typical city from the 1800s was often condensed enough that everything a person needed could be reached within a 20-minute walk. Cities were wholesome communities where interactions between citizens were common and often brought on by passing one another on the streets while going to and from various conveniences. By the 20th century, as manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors became more prevalent, people began to adapt to this new ubiquitous amenity.

As the industry gained more ground, roads originally for pedestrians and carts traveling at slow speeds were quickly replaced by fast moving cars forcing all others to move out of the way and resort to using the sides of the road instead. By the 1950s two major events happened that would change cities forever.

Now that the average worker could own an automobile, many decided that city life was not appealing anymore and sought a less crowded and safer home. This mass migration to the suburbs is also known as the White Flight of the 1950s. The mass production of automobiles along with many other factors including: racial discrimination, urban decay, desegregation of schools, and the growth in the workforce, created an opportunity for working white families to leave the city and find homes in the suburbs. Because of this many workers would now commute to work creating a new problem that had not been experienced before in such a drastic occurrence. (Osman, 2016) For the first time ever, constant traffic was a widespread issue, and with the help from Dwight D Eisenhower, a solution was created.

The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 was a federally funded highway system which connected major regions of the US to cities within their vicinity. The project was originally funded by Dwight D Eisenhower to provide roads throughout the nation in case of a need for defense action to be taken, much like the Autobahn in 1940s Germany. (Weingroff, 1996) Since the nation was in the middle of the Cold War, the idea of invasion was a looming fear for most citizens, though the ability for people to access these roads too was like killing two birds with one stone. Cities like Boston had I-90 cut straight through the heart of the city leading North towards Portsmouth New Hampshire, essentially cutting the city in half. Highways, as well as roads, break cities apart and often are used as landmarks to create subsections and divide cities. (Weiss, 2008) Thus creating physical lines between poor and rich neighborhoods by destroying roads which connected previously tight knit communities. This was all supposedly for the “common good” of all automobile drivers.

Though most rich white families rushed away from cities during the White Flight of the 1950s, most cities were still left over crowded with low income families in buildings rarely up to code. Most of these families arrived here between the 1880s and the 1920s during the American Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution was a time of manufacturing expansion within the US, with most of the work force leaving farms and rural settings and coming to cities for work in factories. As this ceaseless flow of new workers flocked into major cities in the United States boroughs were becoming more and more densely populated. Cities like New York saw growth during the late 19th century by almost 400% going from a population of half a million to over 3 million in the years leading up to the 20th century. Corporate owners were recognizing a new opportunity with almost 15% of citizens living within cities, industrial buildings were constructed near these boroughs as an opportunity to maximize the number of workers within reasonable distance to work. (Rees, 2016)

The Industrial revolution brought about remarkable changes in the way goods were produced, however they had significant negative impacts on workers and the environment within and around cities. (OSHA, 1991)

In this industrialized car-focused city, the environment is often overlooked. Since the layout is messed up, problems such as pollution are created as well. Pollution is often associated with cities and health. The higher concentration of cars in the small area causes greater pollution. However, the way cities were created and industrialized caused a lot of impermeable surfaces to be laid and a lot of green space removed. There was no focus in the industrialization era on green space and the environment. This becomes an issue now as we face greater threats to our personal health and the world’s future. If our species history of 2 million years was scaled to one human lifetime of 70 years, they would not have begun setting until 8 months after their 69th birthday. Studies have shown that primitive human nature is still evident.

People look to open spaces and savanna-like settings because of the primitive instincts. Peacefulness, tranquility and relaxation are all associated with this setting. (Frumkin, 2001). Cities have been growing and becoming more popular. People are straying from their primitive instincts and vast populations are moving into a small area. This denser population creates the cities we understand today.

Since the rise of the industrial era Cities have rapidly been growing. The abundance of opportunities in cities are much more appealing than those in rural or even suburban towns. At the turn of the twentieth century the percentage of the world population in cities was approximately 15 percent. Fifty years later that percentage raised to 30 percent of the world population. This increase was due to the the industrial revolution. Around this time factories were producing at full effect and urban life, while very dangerous and dirty, gave people a better way to create for their families. In recent decades the trend of urbanization (the growth of cities) has continued (PCB, 2016). In 2008 approx. 400 cities throughout the world had populations over 1 million people and 19 cities had populations of over 10 million. In developed nations percentages for people in living urban areas were close to 75 percent, and those percentages were approximately 44 percent for undeveloped nations. Reasons for such an intense growth in cities are growth of industry (industrial revolution), easier modes of transportation (cars, busses, planes), and new technologies that allow people to live in closer proximity to each other.

Reflecting on the introduction of large-scale highway projects like Eisenhower’s FAHA and the density of people now living in cities, it is noticeable that the demand for surface area is at an all-time high. Back when the first roads were placed, there was no thought on how the materials used will affect not only the community, but the environment of the whole world. From a bird’s eye view, a city is a grey blob on a green map. This is due to the impermeable surfaces that have infected the city to satisfy the vehicle lifestyle.

There are multiple problems that impermeable have directly caused, one such area being water. The start of city building included major redesign of landscapes like taking down old houses, leveling out the ground, changing stream direction and building roads on top of this new land. The water altered sediment by erosion, and land that acted as natural sponges for flooding and runoff was covered by impermeable surfaces (Perlmen, 2016). This was just the start of the issues.

Along with nowhere for water to go, the dark grey pavement has been cooking cities ever since it was first placed. The Urban Heat Island effect is how the city has a bubble of heat surrounding itself, and temperatures decrease as someone moves away from the city into the outskirts and eventually into the country. One main factor in this problem is the sun beats down on the concrete and roofs of the city, which just absorbs the energy and create heat (Fei Yuan, 2007).

Both issues stem from the removal of greenspace from cities. Eisenhower wanted more people to go into cities, and this led to too many people needing more space, so more roads and buildings sprouted up. City planners removed green areas, but was this the best decision? It is known that humans love nature, maybe because it is animal instinct to be around green (Bushak, 2015). Humans that live in cities need a break from all the industry. A cleanse back to nature. Incorporating green space into the equation of the city will help solve these demands.