FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 21, 1999
Contact: Diane Tomb, 202.274.8004
Tony Tijerino, 202.274.8064
FANNIE MAE FOUNDATION RELEASES SURVEY FINDINGS
OF TOP 10 INFLUENCES FROM PAST 50 YEARS AND
FUTURE 50 YEARS OF AMERICAN CITIES
- Interstate System and Dominance of the Automobile Main
Influence in Past;
Income-Gap Disparities is Main Influence in Future -
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Fannie Mae Foundation released a survey of
the top 10 influences on American cities over the past half century and the
future 50 years titled "The American Metropolis at Century’s End: Past and
Future Influences." The findings were first presented during the 1999
Fannie Mae Foundation Annual Housing Conference in Washington, D.C.
The survey, funded by the Fannie Mae Foundation, was conducted by
Robert Fishman, professor of history at Rutgers University, and was based
on 149 responses from leading urban historians, planners and architects.
The survey found the interstate system and dominance of the automobile to
be the most powerful influences in the past 50 years and a widening
income-gap disparity in the future half-century.
"The Fannie Mae Foundation’s mission is to transform communities by
improving affordable housing opportunities for all Americans," said Stacey
Davis Steed, president and CEO of the Fannie Mae Foundation. "In order
to affect the future, we must understand the past. The ‘Past and Future
Influences’ findings are not only interesting and provocative but also
helpful
in achieving our mandate."
The survey, commissioned by the Fannie Mae Foundation, is part of a
research project that looks at housing and metropolitan issues since the
passage of the 1949 Federal Housing Act.
"We launched this research to better understand the influences of the
policies, actions and events that have most powerfully shaped America's
post-war cities and suburbs," said James H. Carr, senior vice president for
Innovation, Research and Technology at the Fannie Mae Foundation. "By
better understanding both the intended and unintended consequences of
our policies and actions, we can make better decisions on issues that will
shape the metropolis of tomorrow."
"The American metropolis at the brink of century’s end is vastly different
than what many experts expected just 50 years ago," said Fishman, who
also is a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center
for Scholars. "Early planners envisioned a clean, rationally planned
city of
the future, free of longstanding problems such as traffic and poverty. The
reality is much more complex. We built a new metropolis that addressed
some major problems while simultaneously creating a host of new ones.
The next 50 years will undoubtedly contain similar surprises."
The following are the top influences in order of importance:
The Past 50 Years
1.The 1956 Interstate Highway Act and the dominance of the
automobile
2.Federal Housing Administration mortgage financing and subdivision
regulation
3.De-industrialization of central cities
4.Urban renewal: downtown redevelopment and public housing
projects (e.g., 1949 Housing Act)
5.Levittown (the mass-produced suburban tract house)
6.Racial segregation and job discrimination in cities and suburbs
7.Enclosed shopping malls
8.Sunbelt-style sprawl
9.Air conditioning
10.Urban riots of the 1960s
Fishman said the single most important message of the survey findings is
the overwhelming impact the federal government has had on the American
metropolis. He noted policies that "intentionally or unintentionally
promoted
suburbanization and sprawl."
The Next 50 Years
1.Growing disparities of wealth
2.Suburban political majority
3.Aging of the baby boomers
4.Perpetual "underclass" in central cities and inner-ring suburbs
5."Smart Growth:" environmental and planning initiatives to limit
sprawl
6.Internet
7.Deterioration of the "first-ring" post-1945 suburbs
8.Shrinking household size
9.Expanded superhighway system of "outer beltways" to serve
new-edge cities
10.Racial integration as part of the increasing diversity in cities and
suburbs
Fishman said the surveyed respondents were in disagreement more about
the future than the past. "Most foresaw the continuation and even
intensification of the ‘urban crisis’ that has characterized the past 50
years.
New technology in the form of the Internet made number six on the list
but it
would have ranked higher if the likely impact of this technology on the
metropolis were clearer."
The Fannie Mae Foundation houses a renowned think tank that produces
research, reports and working papers and sponsors research roundtables
and conferences. The Foundation also produces two highly respected
housing journals: Housing Policy Debate and Journal of Housing
Research and distributes Housing Facts & Findings, a quarterly
newsletter written for a general audience on housing and community
development research, evaluation, best practices and innovations.
The Fannie Mae Foundation – the largest foundation in the country devoted
to affordable housing issues – transforms communities through innovative
partnerships and initiatives that revitalize neighborhoods and create
affordable homeownership and housing opportunities across America. The
Fannie Mae Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization whose sole
source of support is Fannie Mae. Please visit fanniemaefoundation.org.
Please call Tony Tijerino at 202.274.8064 for a detailed
written narration of "The American Metropolis at Century’s
End: Past and Future Influences" by Robert Fishman. Also
available is a multi-media presentation in CD-Rom form of the
survey findings.
###
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Associate Professor and Associate Director,
Masters of Health Science Program in Health Promotion
Department of Public Health Sciences
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