The Deleted Scenes - Does "Overdevelopment" Exist?
I asked this question on Twitter recently, and it sparked a very good conversation. What is your first thought? Would you answer yes or no? What sort of mental image or definition would you have of the term “overdevelopment”? Think about that a minute, and leave a comment. Now, given the predominating viewpoint and audience here, you might assume that “overdevelopment” is a NIMBY talking point and not really a real issue. Unless you’re talking Manhattan, or Hong Kong, levels of development maybe—which for the vast majority of places is not on the table in anybody’s plans or imaginations. I had expected most folks to answer this way. But maybe two-thirds of the answers instead argued that yes, there is such a thing as overdevelopment, and a lot of places in America are overdeveloped. More on that below. But first, here are a few of interesting answers I received:
That last one segues into the majority of answers I received: Overdevelopment isn’t a byword for density or tall buildings, but rather should properly denote overbuilt infrastructure or land, relative to people. In other words, suburban sprawl is overdevelopment! To some this might seem too cute, but honestly, there is a lot of insight in this. Strong Towns makes the same point when they talk about infrastructure per person: American suburbia is extremely infrastructure-intense per person, and it uses a lot of land at relatively low productivities. Of all the arguments made against low-density sprawl, this is one of the most interesting and one of the least discussed. It totally flips our density discourse on its head. People do not equal overdevelopment; too much stuff and and land per person does. That in turn would suggest that the corresponding underdeveloped places are those existing urban environments which are no longer able to add density or grow. (See yesterday’s post for a window into how those places have changed.) Have you heard this framing before? Is it something you’ve ever thought about? Leave a comment or send an email! Related Reading: Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to help support this newsletter. You’ll get a weekend subscribers-only post, plus full access to the archive of over 200 posts and growing. And you’ll help ensure more material like this! You’re a free subscriber to The Deleted Scenes. For the full experience, become a paid subscriber. |
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