The Structures of and Processes of Building Provision: A Case Study of Master-Planned Communities

近几十年来，发达的经济体系经历了彻底的变革。过分强调制造业和其他形式的有形生产已经让位于收集和处理信息的活动的迅速增长。相当多的学者关注于记录和分析不同经济部门的这些变化，但相对而言，很少有人注意到这些经济变化改变了现代生活的其他方面。这个项目将探讨一种相对较新的城市住宅发展形式，即私人规划的“新城”。该项目将重点关注1975年至1990年间在华盛顿特区大都会地区建立的新社区。通过对开发商、设计师和规划师的访谈，分析与这些新城镇相关的投资、建设和销售形式和模式的变化。调查问卷还将用于获取关于在这些社区定居的居民的价值观、态度和动机的信息。该项目将提供有关近几十年来共同创造新形式住宅社区的关键行动者的详细信息。它还将产生关于私人和公共领导人相互作用的复杂方式的新见解。这项研究的结论应该对现代住宅开发的动态产生新的见解，并且应该为美国经济行为的快速转变提供有价值的新视角。城市规划者也将获得更有针对性的直接用途的资料。

Advanced economic systems have undergone radical transformations in recent decades. Heavy emphasis on manufacturing and other forms of tangible production has given way to rapid growth in activities dealing with the collection and handling of information. Considerable scholarly attention has been given to documenting and analyzing these shifts in different economic sectors, but relatively little notice has been given to the ways that these economic shifts have altered other aspects of modern life. This project will examine the emergence of a relatively new form of urban residential development, the privately planned "new town." The project will focus on new communities established in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area between 1975 and 1990. Changing forms and patterns of investment, construction, and sales related to these new towns will be analyzed through interviews with developers, designers, and planners. Questionnaires also will be used to elicit information about the values, attitudes, and motivations of residents who settle in these communities. This project will provide detailed information about the crucial actors who collectively produced new forms of residential communities in recent decades. It also will generate new insights about the complex ways that private and public leaders interact with one another. Conclusions from this research should generate new insights about the dynamics of modern residential development, and they should provide a valuable new perspective on rapid transformations in American economic behavior. More focused information of direct utility for urban planners also will become available.