Name: Retrofitting suburbia
Uploaded: 2010-06-29T09:24:00Z
Duration: 19 min 6 s
Description: Can we rebuild our broken suburbs? Ellen Dunham-Jones shares a vision of dying malls rehabilitated, dead "big box" stores re-inhabited, and endless parking lots transformed into thriving wetlands.

Can we rebuild our broken suburbs? Ellen Dunham-Jones shares a vision of dying malls rehabilitated, dead "big box" stores re-inhabited, and endless parking lots transformed into thriving wetlands.

Retrofitting suburbia

Retrofitting suburbia offers a powerful chance to revive underused malls, empty big-box stores, and vast parking lots by turning them into walkable, thriving neighborhoods. In many U.S. cities, suburbanites have triple the carbon footprint of urban dwellers, largely because of car dependence and energy-leaking homes. Demographic shifts mean most new households have no kids, fueling demand for more compact, community-centered living. With creative planning, even dying retail sites can become art spaces, parks, or new Main Streets that bring people together and restore local ecology.