A CASE STUDY OF PHOENIX
Patience Esi Boni-Morkla
Eleonora Mele
UNSUSTAINABLE URBAN SPRAWLS IN
PHOENIX
WICKED
PROBLEM
The Phoenix area started to be intensively urbanized from
the 1950s, due to its favourable location. In fact, it is
located near two rivers, making its soil very fertile and
suitable for agricultural use.
People began to move to the city peripheries due to the
availability of cheap land.
The quest for “Suburban life-style” led to low-density urban
sprawls in Phoenix.
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2
THE WICKED
PROBLEM
Water
use
Dispersed urban layout
Climate change
Energy consumption
Loss of biodiversity
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Land use
3
RESILIENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY
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RESILIENCE
SUSTAINABILITY
The area’s capacity
to resist to stresses
and shocks is mined
by enduring slowvariables
Agricultural activities not
sustainable because they
require too much water and
the agricultural destination
of the lands is killing
biodiversity
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Climate
change
Suburban lifestyle
Retirement of
agricultural
land
water
Intensive
agricultur
al land
use
Cheap
available land
Unsustainable
urban sprawl
Unsustainable
consumption
Domesti
c use
Population
growth
energ
y
transportation
Water
supply
projects
Ecosystems
destruction
SELF-ORGANIZATION
The sprawls resulted from
individuals decision to move to
peripheries due to free and
cheap land
COMPLEXITY
NON-LINEARITY
The slow-variables are
intertwined so that solving one
will not solve the wicked
problem.
SELF-LEARNING
Water-supply projects were
implemented to respond to
water shortage, but in the end
the led to the rise of other
problems
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“The whole is greater than
the sum of its parts”
In this case study many factors
are contributing to the wicked
problem, therefore, on the one
hand,
it is very clear that
tackling and solving one subproblem won’t solve the whole
wicked problem.
On the other hand, innovation
and
experimentation
are
required in an attempt to
address the issue.
THANK
YOU
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