Does Suburbia Have a Future? Outline Example

Introduction

• The world’s reserves of natural resources are depleting rapidly.
• High-energy consumption culture in the developed world supersedes the earth’s resource capacity.
• Suburbia lifestyles consume more resources, making it an unsustainable system.
• Thesis: Suburbia is not sustainable, hence will have to transform in order to survive.

Background

• Suburbia emerged in the 20 century due to the industrial revolution.
• Increased wages and government investment in infrastructure encouraged people to move into suburban neighborhoods.

Body

• Suburbia lifestyles developed due to availability of cheap oil.
• The 2008 oil crisis reveals the depleting trend in natural resources, and consequently the unsustainability of suburbia systems.
• High costs of commuting daily to and fro work portrays the inefficiency and uneconomical nature of suburbia
• Proponents of suburbia argue that technological innovations can facilitate the decentralization of work to enable people work from their homes.
• They also point out the high cost of re-urbanization to support the viability of suburbia lifestyles.

Conclusion

• Suburbia thrived as a result of industrial growth, government investment in infrastructure and increased family income
• The system is uneconomical due to its high-energy dependence.
• Depleting natural resources and increasing energy demand makes suburbia an unsustainable system
• Suburbia must transform through re-urbanization in order to survive in the face of depleting non-renewable resources.