Fat Cities
August 3rd, 2006
A good friend and fellow urban planner gave me a book titled Green Urbanism – Learning from European Cities by UVA professor Timothy Beatley.
In the first chapter, Beatley explains that sustainable design is a higher priority in European cities than in American cities. As a result, their cities are leaner and more efficient. American cities, on the other hand, are bloated and sluggish.
After reading this, I get an image in my head of personified cities. Imagine a skinny man with muscular calves. He is wearing running shorts and sweat is glistening off his brow. His name is Dublin. Next to him sits an obese girl who has no neck but three chins. A cloud of smog hovers above her head and flies orbit her belly. Her name is Los Angeles.
There is the notion that Europeans, in general, are healthier than Americans. Is this because their cities encourage, and oftentimes require more exercise? Likewise, is America’s pattern of expansive suburbs the culprit of our high obesity rates? Or is it the other way around? Does our culture and our lifestyle, characterized by consumerism and indolence, determine the geography of our urban areas?
Regardless of the cause, American cities need to go on a diet.
