Sustaining a Sense of Region:
Civic Dialogues on Ecology, Urbanism, and Metropolitan Growth

Since 1995, when the Kansas City Star published a series entitled "Divided We Sprawl," the concept of sprawl -- uncontrolled economic and population growth that consumes ever more of our surrounding countryside -- has become a staple of local political conversations. While the public debate has focused largely on the economic and political aspects of unrestrained suburban growth, however, we believe there is much intellectual ground to be broken in thinking about the social, cultural, and aesthetic dimensions of regional and metropolitan development.

Our selection of this subject is intended to challenge our community to re-think its physical and geographical conception of itself. Our evolving natural and man-made landscapes, which bear the brunt of this growth and expansion, play just as great, if not a greater role, in determining not only the type of place we live, but the essence of the economy, society, and environment we leave for our children and generations to come.

The title of our series reflects the insights of the urban designer Kevin Lynch, who brilliantly described the role that the image of the city and region -- the visible, the sensual, and the aesthetic character of place -- plays in shaping how we live our daily lives and relate to our common geography.

As we enter a new century, the Kansas City region confronts a set of distinct challenges regarding the character, scale, and ecological and social impacts of ongoing metropolitan expansion. For some, suburban growth represents the zenith of progress, an improvement over current standards of urban living, and the realization of new opportunities for individuals and families seeking the quiet humility of bedroom and near-rural communities. For others, sprawl represents the epitome of a throwaway society, which wantonly discards existing built environments and lays to waste pristine natural landscapes.

The conflict between these positions poses a crucial challenge to the future of our region: How can Kansas City sustain a coherent social and cultural sense of regional identity, while respecting and even enhancing the ecological features of our surrounding natural landscape?

Speakers