The Reduction of Urban Vulnerability: Revisiting 1950s American Suburbanization as Civil Defence

Citation: Kathleen Tobin (2002) The Reduction of Urban Vulnerability: Revisiting 1950s American Suburbanization as Civil Defence. Cold War History (RSS)
DOI (original publisher): 10.1080/713999949
Semantic Scholar (metadata): 10.1080/713999949
Sci-Hub (fulltext): 10.1080/713999949
Internet Archive Scholar (search for fulltext): The Reduction of Urban Vulnerability: Revisiting 1950s American Suburbanization as Civil Defence
Download: http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjuly10/Cold.War.Urban.Vulnerability.pdf
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Summary

"An examination of the literature that appeared between 1946 and 1956 illustrates a common argument for decentralization -- the reduction of urban vulnerability."

Cites many atomic, defense, and planning people calling for industrial and population dispersal as a civil defense mechanism, and policies that were driven by such concerns such as rapid tax amortization for industrial dispersion, highway building, and standards favoring single story houses with spacious yards.

Conclusion:

It is still very difficult, if not impossible, to quantify the effects of federal incentives on suburbanization, because it is impossible to isolate that factor from others of prosperity, individual economic feasibility, "white flight", the desire to escape crime and pollution, and so on. But various federal programmes and the threat of attack must be included among the explanations for this phenomenon of 1950s America. Only then can historians consider a more true and accurate picture of this historical development.

Theoretical and Practical Relevance

What defense concerns are influencing urban and related policy now, and how?