A Critique in Lewis Mumford’s
Idea on Transportation
In this essay I will prove why Lewis Mumford's essay, "The Highway and the City" is invalid. Specifically, I will critique Mumford's ideas on the significance of pedestrian modes of transportation as opposed to private motor vehicle transportation. I will also critique Mumford's ideas regarding sociability, the benefit of agriculture in urban areas, the overall advantages in replacement of mass transportation in both long and short distances and how his ideas are too extreme to take seriously. Finally, I will prove the possible critique of the benefit in environmental factors of mass transportation wrong.
Mumford’s argument about highways is very extreme as he uses too many extremities to support his argument. One such extremity is in the beginning of Mumford’s essay when he states the upkeep of a highway interferes with our society’s sociability aspect and its function:
To have a minimum amount of communication and sociability in this spread-out life, his wife becomes a taxi driver by daily occupation, and the amount of money it costs to keep this whole system running leaves him with shamefully overcrowded, understaffed schools, inadequate police, poorly serviced hospitals, underspaced recreation areas, ill-supported libraries (p. 361).
This quote explains many problems Mumford thinks are wrong with our highway system. He first starts off with the minimum amount of communication that happens with the use of private motor vehicles. However, this lack of sociability due to the private car is untrue. To prove that sociability is not a factor in private motor vehicle-use I will critique Mumford’s focus on the decrease of communication in urban areas. According to Merriam Webs...
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...et the demands of the people. Agriculture is only a possibility if the land is developed, but there is not guarantee that it will, while sociability is not a factor in transportation but more of a factor when a person gets to their destination. It is true that private cars hurt our environment but in this case the only available option for transportation (subways, trains) will not meet demand of the people when everyone uses these mass transportation system. Walking is especially difficult in dangerous weather and when the subway/train is full people are left with no other short-term transportation options. The highways, mass transportation and private motor vehicle use is necessary in urban areas where there is a great amount of nondisabled and disabled people who need to go to their destination in all weather conditions where supply meets demand in transportation.
What prompts him to write this essay, is from constantly having to deal with the same types of drivers that cause him to get angry, or rage. He was living in Miami whilst writing this, which is a city of a large population, with lots of traffic. The immediate audience targeted would be other drivers, as reading this would get his points out and maybe they’d stop doing certain things he mentioned. The secondary audience would be future drivers, as they would now know what they should maybe sometimes avoid doing. Like when he mentions “-the aggressive young male whose car has a sound system so powerful and the driver must go faster than the speed of sound at all times-”. Future drivers may read this and think twice about doing it.
Throughout the book Tom Lewis goes back and forth between the good and bad that came about from building highways. While the paved roads connected our country, made travel time faster, provided recreation, and pushed the development of automobiles they also created more congestion and travel time, divided communities, and made us slaves to automobiles. The author is critical of the highways, but he does realize the great achievement it is in the building of America. Lewis said, “As much as we might dislike them, we cannot escape the fact that ...
ISTEA Sec. 1033 (1991) authorized the allocation of national highway system funds as well as federal land highway funds to support the construction of bicycle and walking paths adjacent to highway systems and refurbishing bridges for pedestrian use, up to 80 percent of total cost (“Intermodal Surface Transportation”,1991). At the conclusion of the 6 year scope, ISTEAs impact was viewed as minimal, at best. Dilger (2003) cites a lack of public interest by the American people as the catalyst for the “failure”. Americans would much rather drive to their destination as opposed to riding a bicycle or walking (p. 60).
“Automobile In American Life and Society.” Automobile In American Life and Society. N.P., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
We take them for granted when driving miles to the closest mall. We are unconscious of their usefulness when traveling to see a distant relative by car. We can't take a moment to stop and admire their beauty and usefulness; the architectural wonders that are highways and their interchanges; which have such a rich history embedded in the American suburbia of today. Let's go back to the early 1900's, when the automobile was starting to become a dominate part of the American life (Morton, 2014). Around this time; a shift began to occur towards private transportation over public by influencing policies in their favor (Nicolaides and Wiese, 2006). One of these polices was created by the Federal Aid Highway of 1925; the United States Highway System which basically expanded the highways across the United States connecting one another, creating new opportunities for growth in many areas (Weingroff, 1996). This had many effects on different factors of the American way of life; specifically suburbia (Morton, 2014). After the war, the private home that was a luxury a few years prior, was now becoming affordable for many thanks to low interest rates and flexible payments through the National Housing Act of 1934, created by the Federal Housing Administration (Fishman, 1987). Perfect example of a policy acting towards private over public was the Los Angles Master Plan of 1941, which pushed the direction of private automobiles and singles households: there being 1.16 million cars (2.4 people per car) and having 31 percent of the city land dedicated for single family homes, this was really solidifying the post suburbia lifestyle (Fishman, 1987). In Los Angeles alone around this time, 900 square miles were transformed to tract development homes ...
Andrew Simms, a policy director and head of the Climate Change Program for the New Economics Foundation in England, presents his argument about the impact SUV’s have on our roadways, and the air we breathe. “Would You Buy a Car That Looked like This? “. The title alone gives great insight on what the article is going to be about, (vehicles). “They clog the streets and litter the pages of weekend colour *supplements. Sport utility vehicles or SUV’s have become badges of middle class aspiration” (Simms 542). Simms opening statement not only gives his opinion on how SUV’s are the new trend, but he also paints a picture of what we see every day driving down our roadways. Simms also compares the tobacco industry’s gap between image and reality to that of SUV’s; stating that the cause and consequences of climate change resemble smoking and cancer. Simms comparison between SUV’s and cigarettes shows how dangerous he believes SUV’s are.
In today's day and age, an increasing urgency must be put on the issue of transportation and its relation to society. Man owes it to himself to address the issue of transportation with practicality and, as one of the biggest polluters, ultimate discretion. One of the most practical and responsible forms of transportation available today is mass transit. However, a problem is present in American society in that mass transit is not as plentiful as it should be. Societies' across the globe are embracing mass transit much more quickly than Americans are. This problem can be remedied through proper education of the benefits of mass transit. Mass transit is the ideal future of travel for several reasons. Of note: “mass transit costs less to the community, needs less urban space, is less energy-intensive, pollutes less, is the safest mode, improves accessibility to jobs, and offers mobility for all” (1). Mass transit is also a highly flexible mode of transportation, with many different methods of travel available. Of note for these: metros, buses, carpooling, light rail, and waterborne transports. Proponents of mass transit claim it will find solutions to problems concerning the economy, the environment, and the energy crisis, as well as improving overall quality of life (2). Each of these ideas will be examined more in-depth.
In Christopher Wells’ book Car Country: An Environmental History he starts by speaking about his experience over the years with automobiles. He describes how happy he was to own his first automobile. Mr. Wells goes into detail about the inconveniences of driving in towns where everything is fairly accessible, and the necessity of an automobile in major cities. Although Mr. Wells enjoyed his first car, his local surrounding helped shape the attitude he has towards motor vehicles to this day. Mr. Wells also argued that car dependence in America is connected with the landscape. Wells rejects the notion that America ‘s automobile landscape emerged as a byproduct of consumer’s desires for motor vehicles or as the result of conspiracies to eliminate
No matter what any politician in Washington or employee of the Federal Highway Administration may say, there is a serious and immediate problem with our nation's transportation systems. The Texas Transportation Institute has recently done several studies that have produced some very alarming results. For example, the average American spends approximately 26 hours a year stuck in traffic. Let?s think about that. The ?average? American spends this long cruising at five miles per hour and cursing at other cars around. By saying average, the study means this figure also takes into account people living in rural areas who spend maybe one hour a year stuck in traffic. That means for the majority of us, in the Phoenix area and other large cities, we spend 3 or 4 times more wasting our valuable time in traffic. For people who drive into the city everyday for work, it might even be worse (Fay 3). Now that?s a lot of time if you ask me.
Wilson begins his article with a hypothetical scenario in which the proposition for the mass production of the automobile is being raised today as a current issue. Within this fictional scenario, he explains that many aggressive predictions and complaints regarding the negative effects of cars on society would be made and that due to such strong opposition, the personal car would probably not be created. Wilson returns to this scenario later on in the article, explaining that people living in a carless nation would be forced to have small homes, located in large, highly dense cities where the streets are congested by pedestrians, trucks, and buses (Wilson 22). He also insists that travelling in such a country would be hard, and that when you did, the only places you would be able to travel to would be crowded areas which were able to support a nearby train stop (Wilson 22). Wilson insist that living in such a nation would be unpleasant, having many serious problems, unlike the trivial ones used by anti-car critics to discourage car usage now.
In the twentieth century, the introduction of the motor vehicle in the United States became not only noteworthy, but also vital in the development of modern American civilization. This technologically complex machine led citizens to vast future dependence on the invention. While mobility was suddenly not limited to alternative, more convoluted options such as railroad stations or bicycles, yet copiously amplified to aid convenience and expanded leisure opportunities. From auto-racing to redesigning infrastructure, motor vehicles allowed progression, digression, and essentially uttermost change to the lifestyles of the American people. This radical idea of the automobile permeated throughout America with most, if not all, credit renowned to Henry Ford.
Newman, P. (1999). Transport: reducing automobile dependence. In D. Satterthwaite (Ed.), The Earthscan reader in sustainable cities (pp. 67-92). London: Earthscan Publications.
For formulating a more efficient transport pattern, there are some specific strategies. Firstly, government can encourage people to pay more attention to public transit. The actual data about transit use from most cities indicates that transit use is growing in many cities, in addition, some developed cities have been reducing their car use and pay more attention to the public transport (Newman, 1999). Encouraging urban citizens use more public transit is effective in reducing the quantity of private cars. It is generally known that private cars have brought great pressure on urban traffic. Secondly, government can restrict cars based on the “odd-and-even l...
Nowadays, cars are a common sight. Traffic jams have become a daily affair. My parents never sat in a car when they were young. They says that in their youth, people got around on foot or on bicycles. Cars and buses were rare. Only a few rich people could afford cars. The streets were unpaved and not dangerous. There was no pollution nor the deafening roar of
On the contrary, using private car is the same convenience of travelling as public transport. When people are in a hurry, they can suddenly go ev...