Conflicting Trends?
At Byron, we talked a bit about social deviance and ways in which we can act with aspiration and vision. One of the outcomes that came up was the possibility that sufficient “positive deviance” could actually move the norms of society toward behaviors that better emphasize relationship and community, with each other and the world around us. Developments that emphasize walking, neighborhood interaction, and community, like the Lakeside Village of Byron and Carmel, IN, may be good examples of deviant development that positively affect those people who can access them. Particularly at the Lakeside Village of Byron, we talked with a homeowner who was tremendously excited and inspired to have woods in his backyard, and who thereby felt much more connected with the natural world - Mark had mentioned that this was one of his goals in planning the Village.
One of the great values of the environmental movement (if such a broad movement can be said to have values) is to strengthen and inform our connectedness - our community - with the natural world. Developments designed with environmental and social sustainability in mind are a part of that, and the movements are growing. I think it can safely be said that there has been a shift in social consciousness of environmental issues and sustainability over the last decades, and that this is resulting in a slow increase in the respect and appreciation we hold for the natural world, and what we consider wilderness.
That seems to be most true for those who can afford to educate themselves about the environment (through higher education, reading, or just watching the discovery channel) or who can spend leisure time outdoors. The continuing trend of development and urban/suburbanization, I think has an effect which is counter to, if not opposite, to that of the environmental movement. Something that has bothered me about the Midwest, and which struck me again at Byron, was the difference in perceptions about what is “wild”. Generally speaking, as time goes by, there is less and less “wild space” and more and more people who rarely, if ever, encounter it. The woods at the Lakeside Village of Byron and metropolitan green spaces are pleasant and necessary, but they are not wild. This is a whole new can of worms, but my big question is, how might these two trends interact?
What happens as we become more (re)connected to the natural world, but to an increasingly managed, changed, and simplified landscape?
One of the great values of the environmental movement (if such a broad movement can be said to have values) is to strengthen and inform our connectedness - our community - with the natural world. Developments designed with environmental and social sustainability in mind are a part of that, and the movements are growing. I think it can safely be said that there has been a shift in social consciousness of environmental issues and sustainability over the last decades, and that this is resulting in a slow increase in the respect and appreciation we hold for the natural world, and what we consider wilderness.
That seems to be most true for those who can afford to educate themselves about the environment (through higher education, reading, or just watching the discovery channel) or who can spend leisure time outdoors. The continuing trend of development and urban/suburbanization, I think has an effect which is counter to, if not opposite, to that of the environmental movement. Something that has bothered me about the Midwest, and which struck me again at Byron, was the difference in perceptions about what is “wild”. Generally speaking, as time goes by, there is less and less “wild space” and more and more people who rarely, if ever, encounter it. The woods at the Lakeside Village of Byron and metropolitan green spaces are pleasant and necessary, but they are not wild. This is a whole new can of worms, but my big question is, how might these two trends interact?
What happens as we become more (re)connected to the natural world, but to an increasingly managed, changed, and simplified landscape?