What is sustainability? In simple terms, it is an environment’s ability to maintain itself. Aside from solely taking into consideration the need’s of present times, however, sustainability also takes into account the future, in the sense that it necessitates the act of being mindful of how our actions today may impact future generations.In the modern age, mankind has come to require various resources in order to upkeep its wellbeing. Cities in particular have come to rely on systematic implementations in order to sustain themselves—structures meant to combat the less favorable aspects of cities: excess pollution, overpopulation, and, according to author Richard Rogers, a tendency for them to stifle interaction between peoples varying socially and culturally.

With specific regards to New York, there are many obstacles the city faces that challenge its sustainability. As discussed in class, some issues include an overwhelming presence of air and land pollution, difficulties in transporting the masses in a timely fashion, a heightened fear of crime, and general overcrowding.

In my opinion, the greatest issue that threatens New York City’s sustainability is its struggle to upkeep an efficient mass transportation system, most likely due to the fact that it is the problem that affects me the greatest. Although I have learned to adapt and deal with the other issues previously mentioned, I have never fully managed to get used to the unreliable, overly congested, disorganized system known as the MTA. It is incredible how dependent the City is on its monopolized transportation authority; recall the MTA strike a few years ago—how paralyzed New York became due to the lack of available public transportation (I simply appreciated being given a valid reason for missing school then, though realize the striking reality of it all now). New York’s pulse continues to throb in great part due to the efforts of the MTA, however it is a terribly irregular heartbeat—one in large need of a pacemaker of some sort. Surely the benefits of a better-regulated MTA would be bountiful, ultimately allowing New York’s fast-paced environment to operate more smoothly and proficiently. If everyone were able to get wherever they needed to go on time daily, congestion would ease. Better conduction of trains and buses would ultimately help conserve energy.

In his book Cities for a Small Planet, Richard Rogers also targets “poverty, unemployment, ill-health, poor education, [and] conflict” as forces that weaken a city’s ability to sustain itself. Rogers also mentions the fact that due to poor urban planning, there has been a greater amount of destitution and consequent alienation of the City’s less fortunate. He asserts that cities have triggered segregation between the rich and the poor, in the sense that the basic structure of a city that has developed over time promotes the existence of “private guarded territories,” keeping the rich completely separate and blind to the city’s lesser half. The concept of “single-minded” and “open-minded” urban spaces is intriguing. Rogers writes with a very non-economic point of view, however, in the sense that he appears to disapprove of the fact that cities such as New York often revolve around business and consumerism.

Also, although he acknowledges the fact that “single-minded” spaces are necessary for efficiency, Rogers states that they have begun to overpower “open-minded” places, a phenomenon that will undeniably compromise a city’s sense of “genuine public life” despite providing its inhabitants with a certain level of convenience. I humbly disagree…at least to some extent. This is due to the fact that in my eyes, “open-minded” spaces do not always end up fueling mixed mingling in NYC. A park in Chinatown, for example, is frequented predominantly by people of Asian descent. Walk along the neighborhood’s unmistakably narrow streets (a structure that Rogers also asserts would increase social interaction) and you’ll find the same thing, but hop on a “close-minded,” one-way bound subway and you’ll have better luck finding a culturally intriguing stranger sitting next to you.