dissertation idea

[angledge]

A LJ member from philadelphia just gave me a pretty cool dissertation idea: studying reverse sprawl, which is what he called the growing trend of building suburban-style developments within the city. Any input on this idea?

Comments

[hollyinpa.livejournal.com]

Interesting topic for a dissertation! I think it would be worth doing some initial research. I have looked at research on sprawl and would be interested to learn more about reverse sprawl. What do you think about it?

[angledge.livejournal.com]

I've seen instances of reverse sprawl in Philadelphia - if you take any of the northern SEPTA lines into the city, you can see blocks where areas have been cleared & suburub-like residential areas have been built.

I'm wondering what the effects are on surrounding areas. Jane Jacobs, in her groundbreaking book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, states that cities require development of a certain density to sustain city life. Areas that drop below this density tend to have problems with street safety & become undesirable.