What is Michael Krassa?

Michael Krassa is the chair of "Human dimensions of Environmental Systems" and a professor in political science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He specializes in the interactions between humans and their environments. His early work was on how one's neighbourhood of residence influenced political views and participation. This work evolved into a larger interest in the way that the social and physical setting in which a person lives affects behaviors and attitudes. In this broader mode of inquiry, his work pioneered the idea that behaviors depend on the social and physical context. His works on neighbourhoods in Illinois, California, Missouri, and modern planned places such as Poundbury , Seaside, Florida , Kentlands, Maryland , and Celebration, Florida all demonstrate that the physical setting is an important determinant of the kinds of interpersonal connections a person forms, and interpersonal connections are a strong determinant of the way the people form political views.

His holistic work on suburban and urban life is not easily classified. He criticizes the New Urbanist planners for narrowness and incomplete planning, but recognizes the strong points such as planning for "community" and "civic engagement." He highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of such communities, commending the efforts at building "public spaces" and the "third place," but notes that, to date, most have failed to build either the racial or income diversity that was planned, and have not succeeded in creating the desired level of local employment within the community. However, he indicates that even the oldest of these are fairly new neighbourhoods, and that only time will tell.

He also notes the dangers of successful local communities. Warning about deviation, "groupthink," and self-reinforcing values, he notes that the successful New Urbanist enterprises may be in danger of building communities that embody the worst of the small town instead its best. His work shows that this is avoidable in a number of ways, one of which is building cities that have a large number of diverse, successful neighbourhoods.

His research on sustainable suburban development goes far beyond the political, focusing on how even far-flung suburbs might become more self-sufficient even if a majority of residents must commute some distance to work. He posits that commuter trains and trolleys provide benefits similar to remote offices, and how suburbs with retail and employment that draw on local residents are more successful than those lacking in such features. One difficulty, he notes, is that those employed in suburban jobs often commute there from a different suburb, mitigating much of the hypothesised benefit of jobs in the suburb. He indicates that the solution to this is social and political rather than design based.