Mar 30

Publisher Information

  • Publisher: Routledge, Informa Ltd.

  • Registered Office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

  • Ethics, Place & Environment: A Journal of Philosophy & Geography

  • Naturalist Article Citation: Kirkman, R. (2004). Technological momentum and the ethics of metropolitan growth, Ethics, Place & Environment, 7(3), 125-139. DOI: 10.1080/1366879042000332934

Article Overview

  • Original Manuscript Received: 15 January 2004

  • Revised Manuscript Received: 16 August 2004

  • Published Online: 07 October 2010

Abstract

  • The aim of environmental ethics is to recommend changes to human life patterns to align inhabited landscapes with a vision of the good.

  • Complexity arises from the intertwining of nature and culture, complicating ethical judgment and limiting ethical action efficacy.

  • Technological momentum, introduced by historian Thomas P. Hughes, elucidates issues around metropolitan growth in the U.S., demonstrating its consequences for environmental ethics and policy.

A Suburban Predicament

  • The author's personal experience visiting Riverside, a 19th-century suburb designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, reflects a nostalgic longing for its historical pastoral life.

  • The Riverside Improvement Company promoted Riverside as a balanced lifestyle—a fusion of urban comforts and rural conveniences.

  • Quote from 1871: "But Riverside is not the country, some one will say… It is the country plus city conveniences."

  • Personal Reflection: The author acknowledges the romantic view of suburbia while recognizing the systemic issues including exclusionary practices and unsustainable living models.

Complicity in Metropolitan Growth

  • The author reflects on personal lifestyle choices such as public transportation use juxtaposed with dependency on cars, revealing an ethical disconnect.

  • Economic Self-Interest vs. Values: The tension between economic interests (property value concerns) and the ethical ideal for mixed-use development and affordable housing is highlighted.

  • Many individuals, like the author, navigate complexities in aligning their practices with values.

  • There is a tendency for citizens' ideals to align with the status quo, creating ethical dilemmas for social movements.

Nature of Ethical Constraints

  • Environmental ethicists often presume simple ethical relationships with pristine landscapes; however, human-altered landscapes complicate ethics.

  • Ethical constraints imposed by natural landscapes differ from human-constructed landscapes which are analyzed through historical and social contexts.

  • Opportunities and Constraints: Inhabited landscapes represent converging values from nature, culture, technology, economics, politics, and social behavior.

Dissonance and the Limits of Ethical Action

  • Redirection Challenges: Changing landscapes according to ethical ideals involves complex social systems.

  • Difficult Landscape: The problem lies in defining morality and transcending entrenched societal norms intertwined with technological systems.

  • Ethical goals must navigate the complexities of the built environment and existing behaviors entrenched in societal practices.

Technological Momentum

  • Historical Context: The concept of technological momentum critiques the notion of technology as an autonomous force, suggesting historical and social influences alternate its trajectory.

  • Historian Thomas P. Hughes' Model: Technological momentum describes how systems evolve, gaining mass, velocity, and direction as they develop.

Elements of Technological Systems

  • Technical Systems: Relationships among diverse components within technological systems, influenced by both hardware and social elements.

  • Social Context Influence: Technologies interact with social forces, shaping and being shaped over time.

Technology's Evolving Nature

  • Artifacts and Dynamics: The role of physical artifacts reflects societal values, influencing future systems and their evolution.

  • Ethical Considerations: Significant changes to technological systems necessitate transforming underlying values and social institutions.

The American Suburban Landscape

  • Suburbanization Process: Suburbia embodies a sociotechnological system developed historically from centralized growth to diversified landscapes.

  • Functionality of Suburbia: Housing, employment, and services have dispersed, creating unique challenges for urban planning and transportation.

Infrastructure and Urban Experiences

  • The road network in American suburbs imposes physical constraints on land use and transportation flexibility.

  • The commitment to automobile infrastructure constrains public transit development.

  • Efforts to change established infrastructure face significant opposition due to investment costs and societal preferences.

Resistance to Change

  • Social and Political Resistance: Vested interests in current transportation practices hinder shifts toward alternative urban designs.

  • Homeownership Values: Affirmations of suburban life as ideals complicate challenges presented by critics of sprawl.

  • Citizen Participation Impact: Community preferences reinforce current metropolitan growth patterns and resist changes that could introduce more diversity in urban living conditions.

Reflections on Suburbanization

  • Need for Historical Perspectives: Insights about suburbanization benefits from examining historical contexts and recognition of their implications.

  • Until Recent Generations: Previous generations lacked the contemporary understanding of suburban impacts and systemic patterns.

Concluding Observations

  • The ethical complications surrounding metropolitan growth derive from the kinetic nature of technological momentum.

  • Transitioning to a different trajectory requires active engagement with the constraints and existing systems.

  • Focus Areas for Change: Identifying points of resistance and potential routes for innovation within the structure of metropolitan growth can foster slow but meaningful progress toward ethical urbanism.

References

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  • Duany, A., Plater-Zyberk, E., & Speck, J. (2000). Suburban Nation: The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. New York: North Point Press.

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  • Fishman, R. (1987). Bourgeois Utopias: The Rise and Fall of Suburbia. New York: Basic Books.

  • Gillham, O. (2002). The Limitless City: A Primer on the Urban Sprawl Debate. Washington, DC: Island Press.

  • Gordon, P., & Richardson, H.W. (2000). Critiquing Sprawl’s Critics. Washington, DC: Cato Institute.

  • Hughes, T.P. (1969). Technological momentum in history: hydrogenation in Germany, Past and Present, 441, 106-132.

  • Hughes, T.P. (1983). Networks of Power: Electrification in Western Society, 1880-1930. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

  • Hughes, T.P. (1987). The evolution of large technological systems, in: Bijker, W.E., Hughes, T.P., & Pinch, T.J. (eds). The Social Construction of Technological Systems: New Directions in the Sociology and History of Technology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 51-82.

  • Hughes, T.P. (1994). Technological momentum, in: Smith, M.R., & Marx, L. (eds). Does Technology Drive History? The Dilemma of Technological Determinism. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 101-113.

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