Publication Date

Spring 1995

Degree Type

Master's Project

Degree Name

Master of Urban Planning (MUP)

Department

Urban and Regional Planning

Abstract

Since the onset of the industrial revolution, cities across the U.S. have been confronted by a paradox that positions economic growth and prosperity against human living conditions and environment. This paradox seems to arise when the factors of industrialization which sustain and boost economic prosperity are also the cause of adverse side effects, detrimental to the social and physical surroundings of the region benefiting economically from this industrialization.

The problems created by industrialization, in most cases, have been the result of combinations of elements necessary for industry to fuel growth. For example, at the turn of the century large increases in labor through immigration and from migration away from the farm assisted industrial growth and at the same time led to overcrowded conditions in many U.S. cities. While the concentration of factories resulted in a concentration of populations, overcrowding could never have occurred without the other economic factors such as a large labor supply. Under this kind of background, it seems the paradox that urban populations must mitigate against is the development of ever more complex urban civilizations (cities) coming forth from the desire to facilitate the increasingly complex needs of industrialization.

Examples of such a paradox are visible throughout the industrial revolution. During the early years of industrialization problems such as sanitation and sewage disposal were commonplace in America's and Europe's growing urban areas, inflicting severe health and social problems as cities struggled to deal with larger populations. As industrialization evolved and cities expanded, overcrowding and ghetto's became the problems of the day.

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