Urban Utopia: How American Cities Shattered Social Capital
Date
2022-05
Authors
Wilks, Jeralyn T.
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Abstract
Despite the decline in The United States’ homeless population since its most recent peak in 2010, the number of homeless Americans is once again on the rise. With vacancy rates simultaneously declining across the nation, The United States government is forced to confront the very real need for truly sustainable development. This paper analyzes how The USA interpreted and implemented sustainability from the coinage of the term. Specifically, this paper analyzes how the term evolved over time, as well as circumstances in which American attempts towards sustainability have fallen short. In doing so, this paper will examine a history of urban development as well as what motivators were present before sustainability began to be a consideration. This will be followed by an examination of how climate change influenced the meaning of sustainability, and how this new focus would further impact urban development and the population of cities. Finally, this paper evaluates the decline in social capital that has simultaneously been occurring during the extreme growth of American cities in recent years. The results of this progressive analysis find that with profit being a priority for urban developers and planners, areas that once thrived have been splintered into factions and spread into suburbs. In order for urban sustainability in America to reach its full potential, the capitalist notion of constant growth will have to be compromised to finally prioritize the population’s needs, regardless of the potential profit.
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Keywords
urban development, sustainability, environmental sustainability, Honors College
Citation
Wilks, J. T. (2022). Urban utopia: How American cities shattered social capital (Unpublished thesis). Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas.