Page 111 - Vertical City

WHERE AND HOW? 111

The society from the second industrial revolution
has become attached to providing the greatest number
of dwellings close (or as close as possible) to the ground,
often with a garden, at a reasonable distance from the
workplace.

Grouping these dwellings forms a neighborhood
with its leisure facilities and close commercial services
that favor social contacts, as in a small traditional village.

Districts that issue from grouping these neighbo-
rhoods, the small city from the groups of these districts,
the large city from the groups of several small cities,
have access to collective facilities in relation to the popu-
lation that they serve.

Gradation of the importance of services offered by
these facilities, in relation to the population served, is
essential because their cost is higher when the sciences
and techniques are less developed. They lead to a partial
monocentric function of large cities, increasing distance
from the workplace, and escalation in network costs as
well as social and environmental problems.

Growing urbanization of society also gradually
erodes the model of the dwelling close to the ground
and its social connections.

Demography is also welcome in this reflection: it is
to be seen in relationship with evolution of behaviors
and economic uncertainty.

Many of these dwellings close to the ground built
from 1945 on, just as the industrial and financial assets,
are the property of senior citizens and have aged along
with them.