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Majora Carter appeared on TED in February 2006 with her speech Greening the Ghetto were she was describing her project of renovating South Bronx. By the time, that neighborhood had gained a reputation of a problem area that was strongly associated with crime, drugs, and diseases. However, the focus of the speakers presentation is neither legal nor healthcare issues, but environmental, solving which she sees as a way to improve the other spheres. She apparently seeks to show that different aspects of human life are in closer relations with each other than it may seem.
The main specialty of Carters project it its multidimensionality, due to which a particular innovation influences more than one issue. Thus, the initial step to the revitalization of the neighborhood is building the Hunts Point Riverside Park that allowed for smoothing several healthcare problems. First, the dramatically polluted air resulted in outstandingly high asthma rates in the district; specifically, they exceeded the federal average by 7 times, and a quarter of children had this disease (Carter, 2006, 3:25). People tended to minimize the time that they spent outside, hence exposure to the pollutants, which limited their physical activity and resulted in 27% obesity sickness level (Carter, 2006, 3:11). Meanwhile, the park allows for fresh air as well as space to walk and consequently contributes to improving the residents health.
Second, the speaker describes the educational initiative that targets at both ecological and economic improvements to the neighborhood. It has the title Bronx [Environmental] Stewardship Training and offers knowledge and skills in the sphere of ecological restoration to those who live in South Bronx (Carter, 2006, 08:35). The results are both improving the environmental awareness of the population and providing them with a chance for high-paying jobs in the field that is relevant in the modern world. This, in turn, favors further changes to the infrastructure of the district as well as the well-being of its residents, who apparently will continue adapting the surrounding to their changing priorities.
Other initiatives of Carter and her fellows, such as removing the unnecessary highway or installing so-called green roofs are also expected to have a complex effect. Cleaner air, a more rational use of space, additional jobs all of these factors contribute to improving the quality of life in the district. In general, the large-scale project that the speaker presents contains of multiple smaller solutions, each of which nevertheless is able to influence several spheres of life.
Projects of such a kind need to become new public policies not solely in South Bronx, but in similar depressive neighborhoods and communities as well. The residents should focus on the conditions in which they and their families live and appeal to the local authorities. The latter, in turn, have to include so-called ecological justice in their agendas, in other words, ensure that no districts have more ecological burdens and less benefits that the other (Carter, 2006, 02:50). In case there are problems, the authorities and the residents need to cooperate to solve them, which actually presupposes a design and adequate implementation of appropriate public policies.
One of the major conclusions to which Carters speech drives her audience is the close cause-and-effect relation between the economic, ecological, and social spheres of human life. Specifically, the author highlights that a financial downturn leads primarily to an ecological collapse that, in turn, causes social degradation (Carter, 2006, 06:10). Subsequently, the renovation of a particular location had to follow all of the three directions in parallel, which Carters project actually does.
The assumption of such a kind may seem not quite relevant at first sight, as a considerable share of the population underestimate or misunderstand the role of environment in human lives. In fact, however, it is realistic and possible to prove with practical examples. Thus, in my childhood, I used to live with my grandparents in a small industrial community, where the majority of the residents were working at the same factory. It doubtlessly was outdated and therefore produced toxic waste, but the community lacked money for its renovation. That resulted in air pollution, similar to South Bronx but apparently not equally serious, which encouraged younger and healthier population to resettle. Those who stayed could not work sufficiently well because of diseases; in addition, nobody wanted to invest in the factory, and the workers were losing their wages.
Alongside the income reduction, the health issues frequently caused alcohol and drug abuse as the only available way to escape the problems. Thus, in turn, bred crime and suicides, for which reason the complete degradation of the local society would have been inevitable unless some businessperson had purchased the factory. The primary measure that he took for its renovation was installing filters and updating the working conditions. Currently, the recovery is in process, as it cannot be immediate; the air has become noticeably cleaner, the health rates are gradually improving, and the friendliness of the locals is following them.
To summarize, one of the key ideas of Majora Carter is the reasonability of regarding so-called ghettos from an ecological viewpoint, as this aspect is intertwined with economic as well as social. Throughout her speech, she gives examples of how she and her team are revitalizing South Bronx by greening and how this may help to solve the social and financial problems that its residents are facing.
References
Carter, M. (2006). Greening the ghetto [Video]. TED. Web.
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