A few days ago I was paraphrasing philosopher Alain de Botton in my post about the future of the city. A more accurate transcription of his words follows:
True diversity comes from communication and contact [...] if there is no meeting point [the city] is not diverse [... a city] can look superficially very diverse, but if you actually look at the levels of integration and communication and public space and places where very different communities can come together, then all of the sudden [the city] can start looking at lot less diverse.
He was talking about London. Today I came across an article in Spacing magazine that questions the same issues, this time in Toronto. The article “Come Together” by Dale Duncan reports the activities of residents associations in what is known as “immigration gateway communities”. To understand the context, it is important to know some stats about the Toronto population mix:
30% The percentage of all recent immigrants to Canada that live in Toronto.
50% The percentage of Torontonians born outside of Canada
47% The percentage of Torontonians who have a mother tongue other than English or French
Immigration gateway communities is a creative way to label rough neighbourhoods characterized [...]
After a week of dreadful financial news this Thanksgiving weekend (Canadian) turned out to be pretty good. Maybe it is the anticipation of another long winter, or the need to take our minds away from all the stress created by economic factors we can’t control, or the realization that somehow our lifestyles may be affected in the months to come, but we had to shake it all out of our system. My family and I took this couple of days to enjoy the outdoors in their splendid fall colours, taking long strolls through amazing hidden gems just outside of the city, along the neighbourhood and what I decided many years ago was my favourite spot in this great city of Toronto.
Being a global citizen one of the many thoughts that crossed my mind over the last few days was that if things get really bad one can always adapt to new realities, new geographies and in the end a way of life is always found. But after going through this soul-detox weekend it became clear that pessimistic views of the future can only be damaging. If we want to live in a better world where [...]
Such was the theme of a debate held this past September in London. The panel included philosopher and author Alain de Botton, former mayor of Bogotá Enrique Peñalosa, associate director at Arup Alejandro Gutierrez and monocle’s editor in chief Tyler Brûlé.
While you can watch the entire debate, here are some snippets that I found inspiring:
What are the most exciting things happening in cities today? Diversity, finding ways to expose the inner workings of a city and public pedestrian space.
The notion of a great public transit systems transcends simply efficiency and volume of passengers. It becomes an integrator of the various regions of a city, a public space with a function that serves its users not only in moving them from one corner to the next, but as a source of open spaces. Such was the lesson learned in Bogotá after creating many kilometres of pedestrian spaces.
Urbanization, or the process of incorporating more people into cities adds 45 million people per year. In China alone the next 20 years this process will require the equivalent of building 50 Shanghais! There is a sense of lost opportunity when all these new cities [...]
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