Module Seven: Urban Planning

As someone who is from a rural area, I will use nearby Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, for this discussion. Located in Luzerne County in Northeast PA,Wilkes Barre has a few square miles of urban downtown neighborhood, with a majority of town being an automobile suburb. In 2014, 40,814 people resided in Wilkes-Barre. The city is about seven square miles in area. Although public transit exists (bus lines), nothing about the city screams sustainability. Anthracite coal, the city’s greatest economic venture, has become obsolete. River travel on the Susquehanna has also become obsolete. Those who can afford to, live in neighboring towns and commute to Wilkes-Barre via automobile.

I found Copenhagen to be a very intriguing city. The sense of community within the pedestrian zone seems unprecedented for a big city. Wilkes-Barre has a public square which hosts events like farmers markets, but the family atmosphere created in Copenhagen seems far superior. Residents of Wilkes-Barre must travel to churches, clubs and bars to find the same level of community. Utilization of bicycles may work to an extent in Wilkes-Barre, but many major businesses are located in the highway-esque business district, Wilkes-Barre Township. Another solid aspect of Copenhagen was the sense of safety created by limiting how fast drivers may travel in certain areas. In Wilkes-Barre and most neighborhoods throughout the United States, reckless drivers are a fairly common occurrence

Haiti is also a very interesting place. One would expect poverty and natural disasters to keep morale down, however, small vegetable gardens seemed to make a Haitian mother content. Organized by United Nations groups, urban agriculture gardens give old tires a second life and provide nutritious foods to the people of Haiti. Wilkes-Barre’s economy has seen better days, but working and purchasing vegetables still makes more sense economically than operating a subsistence farm. Rooftop gardens may be something to look into for those residing in apartment complexes, especially college students. The comparison of Wilkes-Barre and Haiti shows that the quality of life in post-industrialized struggling cities is still well ahead of the quality of life in developing nations.

One thought on “Module Seven: Urban Planning

  1. Hi my name is Ryan Daley. I too wrote my post about Copenhagen, Denmark. I like how they have accepted biking and walking as norms for transportation. It definitely helps create a sense of community among the residents and is a huge help when it comes to sustainability. Like I said in my post I think there’s no reason that any city can implement a strategy similar to that in Copenhagen. Here’s a link to my pot http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/18/module-7-ryan-daley/

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