Talk:Kioloa08-Megacities working group

From COSNet

Discussion 1

The heirarchical control structures of urban planning are conceptually similar to some scientific approaches where the research question or issue is divided into smaller problems, compartmentalised into departments, and there's the general presumption of a predictable course of cause and effect. This has had some success in the development of smaller cities (e.g. the highly planned layout of Canberra) but there are often (long-term) unanticipated consequences of initially good intentions e.g Australia's larger cities developed low density suburbs in response to the cramped and polluted inner-city conditions. This caused the land area of the city to spread and this sprawl was propagated in a symbiotic relationship with private motorised transport. The distribution of residents combined with the historical locus of business meant congestion as more people converge on a city centre for work and other activity. More freeways are built to alleviate the congestion compromising the original idea of the suburb. This scenario is simple but it is not so simple as to be without basis.

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