A Comparison to Europe: Why Study European Cities?
While America and Europe have significant social, political, cultural, and geographical differences, there could be long-term transferability possible.
Why we aren’t that different:
Many planning ideas established in the US are inspired by Europe, like the concept of an Enterprise Zone and cohousing projects. Creating pedestrian malls in American downtowns in the 1970s was also inspired by European city centers (Beatley, 2000, p. 14). Car sharing, which has long been established in Europe is beginning to become popular in cities in the US, among other projects. Furthermore, European countries are a good model when concerned about urban sprawl in the US because the have had practice in working urban containment (Beatley, 2000, p. 13). There are also similar demographic trends in Europe and USA such as: “…urban deconcentration, growing automobile usage, and trends in the direction of emphasis on deregulation and markets-oriented solutions…” (Beatley, 2000, p. 14). I believe there can be positive solutions found with a hybrid of American and European ideas.
Why we aren’t that different:
Many planning ideas established in the US are inspired by Europe, like the concept of an Enterprise Zone and cohousing projects. Creating pedestrian malls in American downtowns in the 1970s was also inspired by European city centers (Beatley, 2000, p. 14). Car sharing, which has long been established in Europe is beginning to become popular in cities in the US, among other projects. Furthermore, European countries are a good model when concerned about urban sprawl in the US because the have had practice in working urban containment (Beatley, 2000, p. 13). There are also similar demographic trends in Europe and USA such as: “…urban deconcentration, growing automobile usage, and trends in the direction of emphasis on deregulation and markets-oriented solutions…” (Beatley, 2000, p. 14). I believe there can be positive solutions found with a hybrid of American and European ideas.
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