Decentralization and Technology

I am going to discuss how transportation has caused the decentralization of cities and what the social consequences have been.

First the definition of decentralization is to bring about the redistribution of urban population and industry to suburban areas.

Decentralization can be viewed as a direct result of increases in transportation. Transportation includes cars, buses, trains or any other types of mass transit. And with that you get the need for subway systems, highway systems, and rail systems.

A Metropolis is defined as a large city or urbanized area, including adjacent suburbs and towns. Our current metropolitan areas have been created by the invention of mass transit, automobiles and also the federal funding for interstate highways.

The history of mass transportation is intimately connected to industrialization, urbanization, and the separation of residence from workplace. By the beginning of the 20th cent., London, New York, Boston, Paris, Budapest, and other major cities had fixed-rail subway systems by the 1920s buses were being used.

In the 1920s the Bureau of Public Roads was authorized by the Federal Highway Act of 1921 to provide funding to help sta

Dependence on Fossil Fuels: With more people commuting the need for fossil fuels has greatly increased. Fossil fuels have both environmental and economic consequences. Fuel prices have slowly been climbing and this takes a toll on income. Transportation is second highest household expense.

As mentioned before the creation of cheaper cars was because of Fords new assembly line. Cars have become a part of everyday life but it was the creation of highways that decentralized the cities. As more and more people moved out of the cities highway capacities where increased and more roads were created.

Telecommunication: At the same time, advances in telecommunications and other information technology have given businesses and individuals the flexibility to relocate outside the urban core areas. Indeed, over two-thirds of the employment growth (8 million of 11.8 million jobs) has occurred outside the city centers. More than half of all existing metropolitan jobs are located outside the central city.

Fatalities and accidents: More than 40,000 people die in transportation accidents each year, and 95% of these accidents occur on highways. Additionally more than 3 million people are seriously injured. While the cities are not the safest place to live the safety of motorists commuting from the cities to the suburbs is a new concern. Also, 19 percent of people driving today are over 65 years old and as age increase so do reflexes, and vulnerability to injury.

Land Use and Urban Reform: Urban expansion is consuming a disproportionate amount of agriculturally and ecologically important land. As more people move into urban areas more land is needed to build homes and businesses, this land was originally a natural landscape or farmland.

Housing Costs: Suburbs are creating cheaper housing than in cities. Families can afford larger more comfortable homes in suburban area