>municipal planners and real estate developers seem to be fixated on these narrow visions of growth.

It requires a huge amount of capital to build things that have to last 20+ years. They go with what works. Unfortunately, the revolutionary dreams of urban renewal and theme park millionaires[0] never really got us any closer to our ideal human habitat.

0. http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/news/a35104/walt-disney...