Urban Studies Paper

Question

This will be a reaction paper based on the attached video.
Please note, the video opens on 17, you will need to take it all the way back to the beginning so you will be able to see since the beginning.

Answer

ReynerBanham Loves Los Angeles

            Reyner Banham’s exploration of the city of Los Angeles reveals the interesting landscape, architecture, as well as creativity of the town. The city dubbed one of the largest cities in the world is linked by an interconnection of freeways that meet in the middle at a place known as Central Boulevard (Goss, 2011). When in Central Boulevard, one has the option of going North where there are beautiful beach cities to explore, North East which is the center of world entertainment marked by Hollywood and common with private residences, South where there are cliffs and mountains, South East that is marked by the famous Long Beach Island, and East which is the home of an ancient monument and is mostly inhabited by Hispanics.

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            Los Angeles is the Metropolis of South California. It is marked by a tall skyline formed by tall buildings that house numerous business complexes. Previously, the tall buildings were dotted with short residential apartments. However, the relatively short residential apartments have been transformed into tall apartments. ReynerBanham’sdocumentary also reveals that people live in the center of the town with apartments offering residences in between office complexes. It is therefore common to hear people say that they take a walk to work, probably a distance of less than five minutes (Goss, 2015). As the narrator notes, the mix of residential houses and office apartments within the center of metropolis is rare in other cities of the world.

The central metropolis is also marked by huge traffics that are served by the interconnection of roads that all end up into the freeway system. Despite the size of the city, one is able to move from one side of the city to another due to express highways that allow drivers to move at high speeds. The city was once served by railroads that have now become defunct.  It is possible to have a view of the whole city without moving by simply going to the Griffith Park Observatory. It is on top of a cliff and is equipped with huge telescopes that give one a view of the tall Los Angeles city skyline.

            The documentary also demonstrates that Los Angeles is a melting pot of cultures with different people from varying races and ethnic backgrounds all residing in it. The peaceful interrelation currently experienced was once marked by serious racial wars with the town of Watts being the center of those racism wars. The race wars resulted in the destruction of the town. After the race wars ended, Watts was placed under a redevelopment project that has helped restore the area to a peaceful residential area (Goss, 2015). It was mostly inhabited by blacks. The documentary, thus, reveals that the relative peace being experienced in Los Angeles is a product of racial wars that led the communities from different racial and ethnic backgrounds to come to an understanding.

            Lastly, the city’s different residential areas reveal the social classes of the people living there. Residential areas such as Watts are for the lowly people, mostly blacks, and are marked by simple houses meant to accommodate the working class population. Houses range from those built used traditional material such as wood to those that have been constructed using machine-age materials (Goss, 2015). There are areas that serve people of high social class, for example, the private residences in places such as Hollywood and Malibu. These locations are exclusive to the ultra-rich as shown by rare road signage and the presence of private roads that are restricted to the public. Many of them are also marked by guarded gates. Overall, the documentary reveals all the aspects of Los Angeles City that would make a person who has never gone there to have an understanding of the city.

References

Goss, T. (2011). Reyner Banham Loves Los Angeles. 1972 BBC Documentary. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlZ0NbC-YDo&t=1027s.