Defining the need for a new paradigm for the redevelopment of suburban form

Planning started as a profession to maintain a better quality of life by managing the negative effects of human settlement. Anticipated improvements in health derived from the adoption of single-family dwellings have failed to materialize across North America. Attainment of this better quality of life can only come from life in urban environments. The only way to ensure society's survival is to refine our means of living, shifting away from one that consumes resources beyond the Earth's carrying capacity. Our society must begin to question the path of development selected by articulating the need for a drastically different development paradigm. Without this discussion, our society will inevitably use more resources to sustain our lifestyle than our planet can allow.