In this post we will discuss how technologies and urban planning have historically been created with intentions outside of their intended use.  These intentions may have an economic or political objective that we may not see at first, but they often have a negative effect on a particular demographic of people.

You may not realize it, but things that we use and see in our daily lives either intentionally or unintentionally lead to oppression and exclusion.  From agriculture to infrastructure to innovation, there are social issues rooted in just about everything, and the first step towards improving these problems is understanding who has been affected throughout history.

Economic Effects

When we first hear of a new technological advancement, right away we probably assume that it will be something that will somehow improve the lives of a great amount of people.  For example, the creation of the smartphone has revolutionized how millions, if not billions, of people communicate, entertain themselves, and learn new information.  

This seems great right?  We are constantly attached to our phones and they make so many things easier in our everyday lives.  However, there are some negative effects caused by the usage and popularity of smartphones.  Take a look at this article in the India Times to see how smartphones are affecting human beings in ways that we may not even realize.  It is pointed out from a mental health perspective, smartphones have been proven to increase stress and anxiety in teens and young adults.  

Now we can see how new technologies can seem fantastic and beneficial on the surface, however the consequences of using these products can be rather sinister without even realizing it.  

In the 1940s, a new agricultural advancement was designed and implemented in California tomato farming: the mechanical tomato harvester.  It is even still used today, and seems like a great way to streamline production for farmers when it comes to harvesting tomatoes.  

However, the consequences of this device, intentional or not, have had a lasting impact on the economy.  By the 1970s, only about 30 years after the invention of the mechanical harvester, the amount of employees on tomato farms who lost their jobs was around 32,000.  This seemingly helpful and efficient machine had caused tens of thousands of lower-class workers to be out of jobs.  

On top of that, there are multiple other issues associated with this product.  Studies performed with the mechanical harvester showed that the implementation of the harvester only saved around $5-7 per ton of tomatoes!  What this tells us is that there could very well have been a deeper intention of creating this product.  

Since those who worked on the tomato farms were typically in lower social classes, it seems that the invention of the harvester was done to remove low-class citizens from their jobs and discriminate against them.  To further this point, the tomato harvester only worked on farms where the concentration of tomatoes was very high, so if it was used on farms where the tomatoes were more spread out, it was even less efficient.  

Farm laborers still lost their jobs due to the mechanical harvester, even though they worked much better than the machine did.

This is just one example of how a new technology has had an extremely negative impact on people of a certain demographic, and we will next discuss how urban planning has also done the same thing.

Social Effects

Back when the infrastructure of New York was being built in the 1920s-1970s, master builder Robert Moses designed bridges in Long Island with extremely adverse intentions.  Nearly 200 bridges spanning Long Island were built at an abnormally low height of only about nine feet off of the ground.  

This probably doesn’t seem like an issue right?  We are likely to be thinking that this was done to save money on concrete by building bridges lower, which would be better for the taxpayers.  In a biography written about Robert Moses, it is pointed out that he had strong prejudices against people of color as well as lower class citizens.

When he designed these low-standing bridges, it was actually planned so that public transportation busses could not fit underneath the bridges.  This kept the busses away from the lovely parks and Jones Beach.  The majority of the people that rode the busses were lower class or black citizens.  

After a quick analysis we can clearly see that the intent of these low bridges was to allow middle and upper class white people to venture into the nicer areas of Long Island, while blocking it off from the others.  

There are countless other cases of social discrimination when it comes to urban planning, and to learn more about it please read this article in the MIT Press highlighting the politics behind urban planning and new technology.

What is Being Done to Change 

With respect to architecture and urban planning, the University of Rome in Italy has written out a plan for cities that are more inclusive to people in disadvantaged demographics of people.  They give examples of how current cities are set up in ways that do not allow certain groups of people equal access to particular aspects of society.  

Building spaces that are easily and equally accessible to the disabled, oppressed, and everybody in between is one of the first steps our cities should be working towards in an attempt to build more inclusive communities.

The benefits of building inclusive communities and relationships are endless.  However, to point out a few examples:

1. Spaces in which nobody feels discriminated against lead to social equality

2. Including grocery stores in poorer neighborhoods (at affordable prices) lead to better health and quality of living

3. Affordable housing leads to a much smaller social divide between those who cannot afford to live in nice houses/apartments

In Scotland, inclusive design has been prevalent in politics and government policies for quite some time, and here they outline the benefits of utilizing these inclusive practices throughout society.  If we can think of social inclusion that benefits everyone, we can take steps toward a better functioning world.

Hopefully reading this post has been an eye-opening experience that has allowed you to see the overlooked and possibly harmful intentions of urban planning and technologies.  Through economic and social effects, people can be oppressed by systems in place, but if we work towards creating more inclusive communities, we can start to fix these issues.

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