Lessons Not to Learn from American Cities

Speaker: Professor Alan Altshuler, Ruth and Frank Stanton Professor of Urban Policy and Planning, Harvard University

Viewed globally, American cities are extreme outliers in terms of their low density and automobile-dependence, and consequently their high energy use and greenhouse gas emissions per capita. As the largest Asian nations, particularly China and India, proceed down the path of motor vehicle production and mass auto ownership, it may be useful to consider (a) how the current American pattern evolved and why it is now so difficult to alter, and (b) why some other nations with comparable incomes per capita - e.g., Japan, Singapore, and most of those in Western Europe - display very different patterns. Prof. Altshuler will place the American pattern in the global context, appraise leading hypotheses as to why it developed as it did, and conclude with an examination of both the current pressures for and obstacles to substantial change.

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Education

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