Dwelling in Expanded Biotic Communities: Steps Toward Reconstructive Postmodern Communities - Design with the Desert: Conservation and Sustainable Development - page 319

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Dwelling in Expanded Biotic Communities: Steps
Toward Re constructive Postmodern Communities
Geoffrey Frasz
CONTENTS
18.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 321
18.2 Foundations of Postmodern Communities .................................................................... 322
18.3 Features of a Postmodern Community........................................................................... 323
18.4 My Critique of Two Existing Las Vegas Communities ................................................ 326
18.4.1 Green Valley ........................................................................................................... 326
18.4.2 Summerlin .............................................................................................................. 331
18.5 My Critique on a Planned Development: Case of Coyote Springs ............................. 334
18.6 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 339
References ..................................................................................................................................... 340
18.1 Introduction
One of the things a philosopher can bring to a discussion is how better, sustainable com-
munities can be established either in the American Southwest or, indeed, in any area.
Philosophic theory can help identify the conceptual frameworks necessary for strategies
that establish the important sense of place for man in the natural world. What is needed is
a deeper understanding of what elements are necessary to establish truly environmentally
sound communities. This understanding can provide not only a forward-looking vision
for newly planned communities but also a means to critique existing communities.* What
is presented in this chapter is my personal and philosophical vision of community. This
vision can serve as a springboard for thinking about what specific features of existing
communities should be praised or faulted. Five essential general features for establishing
a successful reconstructive postmodern concept of community † are presented. Two different
communities in Las Vegas, Nevada, Green Valley and Summerlin, are examined in light
of these features. Finally, a planned community outside of Las Vegas, Coyote Springs, is
discussed and its proposed features are examined in relation to its contribution to creating
a vision for a viable and sustainable community.
* This is what Plato did 2500 years ago in The Republic . His account on an ideal state allows him to provide the
standard against which various existing states could be judged as just or unjust and to what degree they were.
† I use the term “reconstructive” in the meaning given by David Griffin to distinguish this approach from the
“deconstructive” meanings that have come to be attached to the term postmodern . See Griffin.1 1
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