alexandrahastings:

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about sustainable communities. Not sustainable in the sense that they have a low carbon footprint (although this is an important aspect to creating an economically sustainable community), but in the sense that people want to live there.

Among other things, a sustainable community is facilitated by an infrastructure that encourages interaction and cooperation among its occupants. It leverages human nature to ensure positive outcomes. For example, more outdoor common areas are incorporated into sustainable communities. This results in more interaction between occupants, fulfilling an innate human desire which in turn lowers crime rates and encourages the collective maintenance of common areas. Everyone wants to live in a welcoming, clean neighborhood.

Let’s take low-income housing developments as an example. Instead of forcing  underprivileged families into sprawling projects outside of high-rent urban areas, what if cities invested in environments where families actually wanted to live? How would that change the ethos of communities challenged by crime and cyclical poverty? It would be economically beneficial to the city on many levels.

I want to share this PBS program with you because I think it defines sustainable communities quite well. Its 30 minutes long, but i encourage you to set aside the time.