City of Quartz

This is more a continuation of the site analysis really, but it might be useful to weave in:

In 'City or Quartz' Mike Davis provides a commentary on the modern history of LA. One notable theme that I picked up is that of the importance of property and land values:

"…[they] love their children… but they love their house prices more" (p.153)

In the eternal quest to increase their self worth (solely in terms of capital) the white middle-classes ended up causing racial and class antagonisms and segregation.  Here we see the effects of a society driven by capitalism.

There is an interesting quote from the head of Harris Homes:

"[The Joshua Tree] is a very bizarre tree. It is not a beautiful tree like pine or something. Most people don't care about the Joshuas."

I think we can liken 'the Joshuas' to the markets, and the house builder to the Big City Plan in this case.  BCP is prepared to wipe out the markets in the name of 'progress'.  The only thing is I am sure, that like the Joshua trees in LA, there are people that care.

Davis, M. (1998). City of Quartz. 2nd ed. London: Pimlico.