A Note on the Garin-Lowry Model

It is the claim of this paper that urbanization, long blamed for the ills of underdevelopment, is in fact an important development tool. The positive characteristics of urbanization and the dynamics by which it creates development are suggested by the communications model of social development. Based upon this model, a general strategy of national development is outlined. Appropriate economic policies, social policies, and political actions are suggested. These are illustrated by past experiences and current conditions in Latin America and other parts of the developing world.     

From the Editors

Problem: Reducing gasoline consumption could sharply curtail greenhouse gas emissions. Ongoing research seeks to document factors associated with green travel behavior, like walking and transit use.

Purpose: We seek to determine whether green beliefs and values are associated with green travel behavior. We measure whether residents of communities with environmentalist attributes drive less, consume less gasoline, and are more likely to commute by private vehicle. We explore several channels through which green beliefs and values may affect travel behavior and vice versa.

Methods: We drew our demographic, transportation, and built environment data from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing including the Public Use Microdata Sample and the 2001 National Household Travel Survey, and constructed our indicators of green ideology using voting records, political party membership, and data on hybrid auto ownership. We estimated ordinary least squares regression and linear probability models using both individual households and small areas as units of analysis.

Results and conclusions: We find green ideology is associated with green travel behavior. People with green values are more likely than others to be located in communities with high population densities and proximity to city centers and rail transit stations, which are attributes conducive to environmentally friendly travel. We also find that residents of green communities engage in more sustainable travel than residents of other communities, even controlling for demographics and the effects of the built environment. Green ideology may cause green travel behavior because greens derive utility from conservation or because greens locate in, or create, areas with characteristics that promote sustainable travel. We also discuss the possibility that green travel behavior may cause green beliefs.

Takeaway for practice: If greens self-select into dense, central, and transit-friendly areas, the demand for these characteristics may rise if green consciousness does. Alternatively, if these characteristics cause green consciousness, their promotion promises to increase green behavior. The implications of our finding that residents of green communities engage in more sustainable travel patterns than others depends on the causal mechanism at work. If greens conserve because they derive utility from it, then environmental education and persuasion may bring about more sustainable travel. Alternatively, if green travel behavior causes green beliefs, it is possible that attracting more travelers to alternate modes and reducing vehicle miles traveled may increase environmental consciousness, which may in turn promote other types of pro-environment behavior.

Research support: None.     

街道景观——谱写个性街道音符

城市街道作为城市基础设施的重要部分,不仅承担着城市内与城市间的交通功能,而且代表着一座城市的形象,影响着城市外在与内在的吸引力以及城市经济的发展模式。要使城市街道在千篇一律中脱颖而出,就要创造自身的个性,使街景观真正的成为满足人们精神的精神和情感空间。     

Letters to the Editors

Solid waste planning is a multi-disciplinary field requiring information about the physical, environmental, social, and economic implications of a system. Current environmental indicators for solid waste do not adequately inform decision-makers about all of these attributes. Therefore, the indicators do not facilitate a holistic approach to environmental planning and policymaking. As a result, a number of biases exist in their use. This paper begins with a discussion of the solid waste indicators suggested for the United Nations' Habitat II Conference, including the shortcomings and potential biases associated with their use. Then, drawing upon experiences with complex solid waste systems, the paper presents an expanded set of indicators along with a methodology for their application.     

Letter to the Editors

Edge City: Life on the New Frontier Joel Garreau. Doubleday, New York, 1991. 546 pp. $12.00(paperback).

Urban Concepts Denise Scott Brown. Academy Editions, London; St. Martins Press, New York, 1990. 96 pp. $19.95 (paperback).

Making a Middle Landscape, Peter G. Rowe. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1991. 313 pp. $39.95.

Philosophical Streets: New Approaches to Urbanism, Dennis Crow, editor. Maisonneuve Press, Washington, DC, 1990. 173 pp. $26.95, $13.95 (paperback).

The Global City: New York, London, Tokyo Saskia Sassen. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 1991.397 pp. $39.50.

Geographical Information Systems: Principles and Applications David J. Maguire, Michael F. Goodchild, and David W. Rhind, editors. Longman Scientific and Technical/John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1991. 2 vols., 1056 pp. $250.

The Moral Order of a Suburb M. P. Baumgartner. Oxford University Press, New York, 1988. 172 pp. $28, $12.95 (paperback).

Technology in the Garden: Research Parks and Regional Economic Development Michael I. Luger and Harvey A. Goldstein. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC, 1991.242 pp. $39.95, $13.95 (paperback).

Coming to Public Judgment: Making Democracy Work in a Complex World Daniel Yankelovich. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse, NY, 1991.290 pp. $16.95.

Urban Housing Segregation of Minorities in Western Europe and the United States Elizabeth D. Huttman, editor. Wim Blauw and Juliet Saltman, coeditors. Duke University Press, London and Durham, 1991. 431 pp. $59.95.

Reusing America's Schools: A Guide for Local Officials, Developers, Neighborhood Residents, Planners and Preservationists Daniel Carlson. The Preservation Press, National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington, DC, 1991. 68 pp. $14.95 (paperback).

New Households, New Housing Karen A. Franck and Sherry Ahrentzen, editors. Van Nostrand Reinhold Book, New York, 1989. 343 pp. $32.95 (paperback).