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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
38 April 2023 April 2023 39
T
he way we plan our communities and
transportation systems is relevant
for the way we live our lives and the
ways we connect with each other. The
places we plan and build play an
important role in the way individuals connect
with each other, develop relationships of trust
with fellow citizens, and build social capital.
We’ll consider why some ways of oranisin or
plannin our urban and suburban places are
much better than others when it comes to
encourain meaninful connections between
citizens.
We think it is helpful to compare Ireland with
the United States for insihts about the built
environment. Accordin to Wikipedia the US
has vehicles (mostly trucks) per
people () compared, accordin to the
European Automobile Manufacturers
Association, to in Ireland () which the
EU Commission says has the second hihest
level of car dependency in the EU. It says
%of Irish people use a car as their main
transport mode on a typical day. In , more
than three-quarters of American workers drove
alone to work. Most trips are less than three
miles and many could be substituted by
walkin or cyclin if the riht infrastructure
were provided.
The US is obviously a very dierent place
from Ireland, but because it is a prominent
example of a built environment planned around
car ownership, the American case is the most
useful example of what not to do.
This is because in many places in the US
social connections and trust between citizens
appear to be in trouble. This trend was noticed
as early as the year . In the book ‘Bowlin
Alone’, for example, Harvard political scientist
Robert Putnam demonstrated empirically that
since the s, Americans have become much
more isolated from each other. After incredibly
hih levels of ‘social capital’ in the United
States in the first half of the twentieth century
– social capital - the networks and relationships
between citizens that lead to a spirit of trust
and reciprocity–has been in decline. There is
evidence Ireland is on a similar trajectory.
“Individuals with hih levels of social capital
tend to be involved politically, to volunteer in
their communities, and to et toether more
frequently with friends and neihbours. They
are also more likely to trust or to think kindly of
others”. These community attributes are
important; they are not somethin we want to
see fade away. For the Unites States, thins do
not appear to have been improvin since
By Kevin Leyden and
Sebastiaan Bierema
‘Bowlin Alone’ was published. Instead there
has been an increase in polarisation between
different communities –especially alon
partisan or ideoloical lines - which is in turn
associated with populist politics on both the
left and the riht, as well as the worryin
proliferation of conspiracy theories. This
current polarisation in America, moreover, is
happenin to a lare extent alon eoraphical
and spatial lines.
Since the publication of ‘Bowlin Alone’ in
, a lot of research has one into explorin
the reasons for this trend. Putnam concluded
that “factors associated with the decline of
social capital in recent decades [to] include
pressures of time and money on families, lon
commutes, television usae, and enerational
chane”. Our own research has focused upon
the role played by the chanin spatial patterns
of which we found to be present not only in
America but in parts of Ireland as well, amon
other places. In particular, our work showed
how more ‘walkable’ neihbourhoods and
mixed-use zonin tend to have a positive
impact on social capital. Let’s discuss the
reasons behind this a little bit more — what it
is about walkability that makes it easier for
citizens to develop meaninful connections
and relationships of trust with each other?
Before ettin to that, however, we want to
be clear that we are not sayin the built
environment determines how we lead our lives
– thouh on that note we will say that if you
plan communities around the car you will add
a tremendous cost burden to families (cars are
expensive!) and probably increase your carbon
foot print. We are not sayin the way we plan
and build our neihbourhoods will
deterministically enhance trust between
citizens and between citizen and overnment.
We are simply sayin that urban plannin plays
a role for developin trust and social capital
just as other factors play a role such as:
. The eectiveness of overnment policy and
overnment transparency.
. The professionalisation of the bureaucracy.
Graft and corruption cannot be tolerated, for
example.
.
Schoolin. In what ways do we teach our
youn people to be citizens and acceptin of
others?
.
The norms of professionalism and balance in
the media and on social media.
. Democratic-based Accountability
Many institutions – overnment, the
bureaucracy, schools, reliious, democratic,
as well as the mainstream media and social
media play a role in buildin trust and social
capital. But the built environment matters too
because it can enable or deter connections
between citizens. In some neihbourhoods –
especially if they are places where it is easy to
walk to local shops or destinations such as
Car dependency
reduces quality of
life and the sense of
community
After incredibly high levels of ‘social capital’
in the US in the first half of the twentieth
century – social capital - is in decline. Is there
evidence Ireland is on a similar trajectory?
ENVIRONMENT
38 April 2023 April 2023 39
Car-based transport can lead to isolation and
of segregation where nearly everyone in your
suburb is just like you reducing the potential for
engagement between people from different
socio-economic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds
parks or cafes – it is easier to meet others –
even if that meetin is simply about creatin a
sense of familiarity. In car-oriented places
chance meetins are more dicult because
everythin must be driven to. Informal social
connections are less likely, and so is trust.
Since the s the American built
environment has become increasinly
dominated by car-oriented development.
Ireland is no better. As lon ao as the
European Environment Aency was reportin
that althouh sprawl was happenin all over
Europe, Dublin’s case was particularly acute.
It said it was “usin it as an illustrative case
for cities in eastern Europe to show what can
happen if you let the money flow without havin
a vision of balanced development”.
And this focus upon the car and roads has
eects because it can create new types of
barriers between people.
Firstly, relyin on private cars has allowed for
ever reater levels of suburban sprawl, with
suburbs stretchin out for miles beyond the
city. For those without access to a car or trouble
drivin one which often occurs in old ae, for
example, this has made lare parts of the city
unreachable. Many places are very dicult to
o to or be in if one does not have a car.
This car-dependence also chanes public
spaces in a broader sense. It suits bi box
retailers rather than local shops, cafes, and
other places where unplanned and impromptu
contacts between people take place. As
opposed to the traditional hih-street, these
malls, strip-malls, and bi box retail centres
end up resemblin a ‘cleansed’ or ‘purified’
version of public space. As Kohn puts it, this
“radually undermines the feelin that people
of dierent classes and cultures live [or ouht
to live] in the same world”. In contrast,
“pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use
neihbourhoods…[often]…enhance social
capital because they enable residents to
interact… Spontaneous ‘bumpin into’
neihbours, brief (seeminly trivial)
conversations, or just wavin hello can help to
encourae a sense of trust and a sense of
connection between people and the places
they live”.
Finally, the car itself is an individualised
mode of transport. When movin between
home, workplaces, and third spaces, the car
bound commuter sits in a small metal box on
wheels — completely isolated from the
thousands of other motorists with whom they
share the road. As Putnam writes, “the car and
the commute… are demonstrably bad for
community life. In round numbers the evidence
suests that each additional ten minutes in
daily commutin time cuts involvement in
community aairs by percent — fewer public
meetins attended, fewer committees chaired,
fewer petitions sined, fewer church services
attended, less volunteerin, and so on”.
While the car does allow for connections to
be created between people across reat
distances, these connections are incredibly
specific—often based upon planned invitation.
Plannin the built environment around car-
based transport can lead to isolation and a
type of sereation where nearly everyone in
your specific suburb is just like you
economically and perhaps culturally, meanin
that the potential for enaement between
people from dierent socio-economic, cultural,
and ethnic backrounds is less likely. One has
to wonder if it is this isolation and sereation
that is playin a sinificant role in the
polarisation which characterises American
public life today. Without a real physical and
social community to be part of do we turn to the
internet and television for connections? What
are the consequences?
Social capital, connections between citizens,
and public trust are fostered throuh
spontaneous and seeminly trivial interactions
between people in public spaces. These kinds
of interactions allow for connections to be non-
intentional, meanin that citizens don’t only
encounter others just like themselves, but are
also confronted with dierence in their daily
lives. As a way of enablin and encourain
connections not only within but also between
dierent communities, a focus on walkability,
local shops and destination, mixed-use zonin,
and public transportion tends to be better for
buildin connections and trust between
people.
Kevin Leyden is a professor of Political Science
at the University of Galway; Sebastiaan Bierema
is a PhD candidate in the University of Galway.
Cork hs been focusing on qulity of life
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Km’s travelled (millions)
Number of private cars
n Private car n Total Km’s travelled (millions)
PRIVATE CARS & KMS TRAVELLED IN IRELAND
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