Blurred Lines
The Coast of the Bronx before Fragmentation
A rendering of the pre-colonial Bronx, with its rocky ridges spread like fingers.
Eric Mehl/Think Hypothetical, Inc.; Eric Sanderson / Wildlife Conservation Society
18th Century Map of Westchester County
Bronx County Historical Society Archives
In pre-colonial times, the Bronx used to have a very dynamic river-wetland system and continuous forest and salt marshes patterns. The beaver furs were once a commodity that first attracted European colonists to the Bronx in the early 1600s. In 1639, Jonas Bronck became the first settler in the Bronx. During the 17th and 18th centuries, settlers built a series of mills along the South Coast of the Bronx, powered by rivers flowing into the sea. Although there were some human interventions throughout the area, until the end of the 18th century, the Bronx’s ecosystem and geographical characters did not undergo much change. The local river water was seen by the government as a potential resource to supply the city with drinking water.
Fragmented by Lines
In the 19th century, the Bronx River Valley was transformed into an industrial corridor beginning with the New York Central Railroad construction in the 1840s. Meanwhile, the Bronx River's water was used as a portion of the New Croton Aqueduct Project's water supply to be transmitted and supply New York City. At that time, for the higher flowing rivers, most of them were industrialized, with their channels straightened and paved with hard materials. Dams and reservoirs were constructed, blocking the river's free-flowing route, reduced the river's flow by 25%, and weakened the original salt marsh and wetlands. Some sections of those rivers had been hidden into the ground, becoming parts of underground pipelines. In comparison, the smaller rivers were used as waste disposal sites. At the end of the 19th century, water quality degradation led to
"open sewers" to represent the rivers on the South Coast of the Bronx.
Fragmented by Urban Grids
Westchester, West Farms, and Morrisania - 1867
From the Atlas of New York and Vicinity
Map of the greater portion of Westchester County,
New York and the towns of Greenwich and Stamford, Conn. Hyde & Company,1900.
Along the lines of transportation infrastructure, people constructed densely populated apartments, advanced commercial buildings, wide paved streets. The urban pattern was thus established and spread. The huge volume of population influx from Manhattan to the Bronx at that time made the Bronx more tightly related to Manhattan and New York City as a whole, and at the same time, gave a significant boost to the local economy and urban development.
Starting from 1929, the Great Depression hit Manhattan but provided the Bronx with the opportunity to continue its steady growth. More and more people could not afford the high cost of living in Manhattan and continuously moved to the Bronx. From the 30s to 60s, directed by Robert Moses, a massive amount of planning codes was implemented on the ground of New York City. People tore down the slums, upgraded streets into wide avenues and expressways, created superblocks with high-rise apartments and clearly defined open spaces, which exclude people from outside of the boundary to enter.
Fragmented by Planning codes after WWII
A 1964 map showing Robert Moses projects, including several highways that went unbuilt or were only partially completed.
Figure by New York Department of Parks
Map of Public Housing
Data Source: New York City Housing Authority
After WWII, soldier’s return and baby boom led to housing shortage and suburbanization. To adapt to the new era for New York City, Bronx became the backstage and transition zone. Robert Moses bulldozed Bronx’s vast areas for public housing districts and demolished the original expressway to construct superhighways for the mid and upper class to cross the Bronx, rather than building public transit for residents in the Bronx.
Constructing highways and superblocks of public housing at the city scale have destroyed the once-dynamic urban landscape, and displaced a huge population, which fundamentally removed the original social and cultural attributes within the urban space.
Urban Fragmentation -> Social Fragmentation