Urbanization and Environmental Catastrophe

Though in class this week we talked about two different topics, I found it interesting how much they came to be connected. Through the readings, as well as lectures, I can see how Urbanization has become interconnected with environmental damage in contemporary world history.

The population within the last 100 years has been extremely influential in how society functions and what we use our resources on. Looking at the  lecture about cities, a clear theme to me was that  the rapid urbanization and population growth  in cities proved to be very detrimental, as cities did not have the necessary tools to be equipped for this issue. Not only did this create massive hygiene and health issues, but it also very much increased pollution coming out of cities. This can be seen especially through  the United States use of cheap energy such as oil and coal, which very much pollute the globe. We can also see after affects through the  Mike Davis reading. The creation of slums  and Desakotas proved  an even higher sense of pollution because of the inefficient use of the land.

I found the modernist view very interesting because the goals that many urban planners had. It was interesting to see how urban planning, exemplified by Robert Moses was very much about the status quo. Looking at the city plans and pictures, like that of Brasilia, it was weird to see that if you follow the status quo of society it would be very efficient to live your life, but if you wanted to do anything else, it would be a daunting task.

Looking at rapid population growth   and how it relates to the environment was also very interesting. Though it makes common sense, the connection between population growth, energy use, and all the other trends of of the 20th century  was very interesting. I think the most abstract idea was the creation of the limited diet, that caused health issues like gluten allergies and celiacs disease. It can be crazy to think about how much society determines the state of our being. Overall, it was cool to see the interdependence of the two topics and how they impacted modern society.

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