North America » United States » Los Angeles
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Los Angeles structural shift |
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| Los Angles is given around the world as the example of how metropolises should not be. An everlasting sprawl of low-density housing bound to the private car as solely mean of transport. This planning ‘aberration’ will be able to go on as long as gas will be affordable. Energy abuse, as far as there will be no regulations against it, does not affect the thriving Los Angeles economy (GDP similar to Spain). The argument of unsustainability if such was the usage behavior of the 7 billion car owners there will be in the planet in 2050 does not affect individual attitude of Los Angeles residents.
However Los Angeles does not need to be like that. Its industrious past has left an important legacy of rail tracks all over the metropolitan structure. Those tracks, put to passenger commuter service would provide a numerous set of residential and productive centralities in the urban continuous BUD typology. Transport and land use should be integrated to have a success story. If that is possible and simple why doesn’t it happen? Los Angeles has discussed many times the alternative Transit based metropolitan strategy. Words have not turn into action. It is neither the possibility nor the capacity that is missing. It is the value system and life style priorities of its residents. It is the Social Capital what is missing. |
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