" by John Thackara. The author's premise is that the design profession has to change to respond to the impending crisis in the future. Mr. Thackara proposes that design profession has to change to offer a more sustainable future. A future which is "people-centred" rather than "gadget-centred".While I found myself agreeing to most diagnosis and detailed analysis, it is the over-simplification and sometimes complete absence of a solution to the problem that I found nagging. Another question I have is, who exactly is Mr. Thackara's audience. Most designers (in their own realms) have a very good grasp of the issues that the author raises. Agreed, there is a lot of interesting trivia, but trivia is exactly that, trivial.
Taking an example. In chapter 3, the author discusses how the mobility question needs to be re-defined for a more sustainable solution. Most planners and urban designers very well know the difference between sprawl and a high density development. The forces that cause sprawl are not in the designers' domain but in the domain of politicians and interest groups. As long as the automobile is a subsidised means of transport, and gasoline is cheap (like in North America), people will prefer to own their own automobiles. It is this low density development suited to the automobile, with cul-de-sacs and private 3 car garages that make urban transit services such as buses unviable.
In developing countries where vehicle ownership is low, and density is higher , already public transport operates at near capacity. So what solutions remain to various designers while considering options for design. The following comes to mind.
1. Change pattern of investment in state highway systems
2. Make public transport services more demand responsive and attractive
3. Create services that allow automobile owners to integrate with public transportation systems.
We will take a look at each of these in the upcoming blogs.
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