Site Selection - The Choice of a City and the Beginnings of an Idea

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the choice of a city

and the beginnings of an idea

The Tampa Bay area, a domestic magnet in the sunbelt, tops the nation in pedestrian deaths and transportation-related expenses. [1, 2] Among large metropolitan areas, it has the second largest percentage of elderly folk. [3] It is also one of the most decentralized metropolitan areas in the country, ranking third in a recent study by Smart Growth America. [4] And in that study, the two that ranked above it were close to other metropolitan areas, making Tampa the least centralized stand-alone metropolitan area surveyed, even ranking above Detroit.

Therefore, the need for a project that would establish regional identity to a suburb, a ‘downtown uptown,’ is ever so apparent in Tampa. My proposal is to create a multifunctional centre for one of its suburbs.

There are two methods in which a multifunctional centre can be created: proximity by spatial arrangement, and proximity by time.

Traditional multifunctional centres are created through both. Placing several functions in geographic proximity naturally implies that they will appear close because traveling between them would take very little time.

However, suburbs are low in density and are segregated by land use. As a result, creating a multifunctional centre in the traditional sense is quite a difficult task. Where would one find the space to create it without encountering resistance from residents who are adamantly opposed to anything in their backyard?

One such place is the shopping mall. It is generally buffered from residences because of the parking and access it demands, and is surrounded by seas of parking, which could be turned into better uses. Furthermore, the shopping mall is a monumental form, iconic in nature, and also a magnet, attracting thousands of people to its premises each day. Quite possibly, the best potential for a multifunctional centre lies in the mall’s grey surroundings.

However, one problem arises: A traditional multifunctional centre, like an urban core, is not shaped by the hands of one architect, one idea, nor crafted in one span of time. In fact, its beauty is shaped by its diversity in functions, in building stock, and in ideologies that shaped and evolved its form. An architect today trying to work in an urban core thus has many influences guiding him how to best insert his project into the existing urban fabric. He never has a blank slate.

On the other hand, an architect working in suburbia trying to create a multifunctional centre has to start with more or less a blank slate. True, he can derive his design from the site’s history, and yes, his site is bordered by neighbouring buildings that will guide him in choosing where things should be located. But creating a good multifunctional centre, like a traditional urban core, is virtually impossible. Not only that, but what new things would need to be created there, when several functions already exist within driving distance?

It would be unwise to propose that existing structures, like schools, parks, and businesses, should abandon their sites and relocate to a proposed multifunctional centre. On the same token, it would be just as unwise to duplicate such functions in a proposed multifunctional centre if they exist close by. Therefore the question arises: what should be done?

It is my belief that if existing uni-functional centres work well, then they need not be touched. If they are not in geographic proximity to the proposed multifunctional centre, they can still be in temporal proximity by linking them together via a high speed rapid transit line.

And once uni-functional centres are linked to a multifunctional centre through high speed transit, uni-functional centres have the potential to evolve into multifunctional centres themselves as well.

Thus my proposal is simple: create a multifunctional centre on the site of an existing uni-functional centre. Link it to other uni-functional centres close by through transit. And once the other uni-functional centres are linked, much potential will exist to transform them into multifunctional centres as well.

Thus, this is a project that intends to centralize suburbia.

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[1]

Source: “Mean Streets 2004: How Far Have We Come? Pedestrian Safety, 1994-2003.” Surface Transportation Policy Project. 2004 November. Final_Mean_Streets_2004_4.pdf

[2]

Source: “Transportation Costs and the American Dream: Why a lack of Transportation Choices Strains the Family Budget and Hinders Home Ownership.” Surface Transportation Policy Project. 2003 July.

[3]

Source: Frey, Willliam H. “Seniors in Suburbia.” The Milken Institute. 2001 November 01. function=detail&ID=101&cat=Arts

[4]

Source: Ewing, Reid, et. al. “Measuring Sprawl and its Impact.” Smart Growth America. 2002 October. Pg. 11. http://www.smartgrowthamerica.org/

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