I would have to trace back my interest on smart urban living to Jane Jacobs and “The Death and Life of Great American Cities”. It’s amazing how long people have studied the problems of our current urban model and yet there are some many people walking in the wrong direction (or should I say commuting in the wrong direction?). While I won’t claim to have all the answers it seems that through the methodic exploration of the urban meme, a good foundation for a new urbanism has started to take form across several posts. Here is a summary to help readers grasp the larger idea.
the old model: Sub/Urban life
spoiled chilhood – September 14, 2006: on the effects of our fast-pace urban life on children.
Sadly, some of the more traditional societies, which place family values above all, are also some of the most challenged in our globalized world, forcing concerned parents to migrate to cities that will offer better opportunities for the new generations, not realizing that maybe they are signing a very different deal. Again, the paradox of abundance is that the richer a society is, the more likely it is to doom its youngsters. No wonder the responsible thing to do is to move to the suburbs to raise a family, as if living a few kilometers (or miles) away from the city will shield the children from the influence of the system.
the cities of our children – September 26, 2006: some scary stats about the aggressive pace of urban evolution
160,000 people are moving from rural areas to urban areas every single day.
canada in 2020 – October 19, 2006: a grim preview of what current Canadian immigration policy may do to our cities.
With the most aggressive immigration quota in the world at around 250,000 immigrants per year, is not surprise that many Canadians are feeling their quality of life threatened by the lack of responsiveness to the real issues derived from such an unnatural growth, even questioning whether or not is worth it.
big city – February 8, 2007
There are approximately 6.5 billion people in the planet. 10% of them live in one of the 100 world’s largest cities and urban areas
slums of hope – April 23, 2007: maybe there is something we can learn from slums
the new urban paradigm may very well be based on the high-density of these slums. Places where humanity takes precedence over the material world, where luxury has nothing to do with the riches of the world, but with the knowledge on how to live a good life.
the economist on cities part 1 & part 2 – May 2007: presents several essays on cities.
the living city – September 10, 2007: the science of cities produces some interesting results
It turns out that cities behave like organisms, and this is not just a metaphor.
Although it may be common sense to urbanists, there are now figures to support the notion that bigger cities are more efficient than small ones.
city boundaries and sprawl – March 2, 2008: a forecast on the growth of one of the largest cities in the world.
Infrastructure has a way of attracting dwellers and making it possible to sustain edge neighborhoods.
made up urban spaces – October 29, 2008: analogies between some fantastic cities, suburbs and ultra planned urban spaces.
The quintessential American suburb may not look at all like Urville, which has embraced architectural landmarks as an important symbol of urbanism; but it’s eery how both spaces are devoid of the busy sidewalks that urban planners recognize as a healthy characteristic of authentic urban spaces.
Slurbs: a new model for Slow-Urban life
On Saturdays I usually post a picture of a village or town that has managed to maintain its traditional looks and appeals to travellers for that reason. A model for the ideal Slow-Urban life has to start with what we seek that we can’t find in our usual places. At the same time I’ve always been fascinated by the ways in which we compare lifestyles across some of the major cities in the world. A compilation of many posts devoted to such rankings can be found in top cities.
a convenient solution: community living – June 4, 2006: a very early take on the possibility of a better integration across remote communities.
Part of what this project aims to accomplish is to establish the mechanisms for different communities to exchange valuable information about their lifestyles in such a way that they enrich themselves by adapting those practices they lack. All this implemented by a legion of immigrants that far from being “frequent travellers” always foreign to the place where they land, are not afraid of leaving home behind knowing that their journey will not require abandoning their cultural heritage.
migration with intent – August 30, 2006: while I was talking about migrant workers looking for better opportunities, I know realize these ideas are applicable to global citizens doing long commutes to remote posts
Commuting abroad: the possibility of transportation across long distances has made possible for people to commute really long distances to find a decent source of income. While the commute may take them across borders and require them to stay there for months at a time, they will always come back home to sustain their family.
local nomads – April 20, 2008: a new urban model is possible thanks to the advance in mobile technologies.
As opposed to telecommuters, who are forced to work from their home office, this new generation of entrepreneurs has very little concern for fixed schedules or working hours. Instead, having full access to the entire infrastructure they need to be effective from their mobile devices, working from a client site, the neighbourhood’s coffee shop or trendy collaboration spaces provides them with better options to organize their lives and feel in control.
a metropolitan nation – November 3, 2008: Report on the need to strengthen metropolitan cities to boost national productivity.
The 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas contain 65 percent of the nation’s population and 68 percent of its jobs, but gather even larger shares of innovative activity (78 percent of U.S. patent activity), educated workers (75 percent of graduate degree holders), and critical infrastructure (79 percent of U.S. air cargo). As such, they generate three-quarters of U.S. gross domestic product.
accelerating innovation – December 2, 2008: an important connection between our digital lifestyle and the potential to sustain a city’s hunger for innovation.
All of the sudden it becomes obvious how digital citizens can achieve higher degrees of productivity: always scanning the digital ether for inspiration in simple messages originated beyond the scope of their own cities.
It would seem that a good indicator of a city able to accelerate innovation is the proportion of its population engaged in active global communication.
smaller houses, better communities – December 15, 2008: the economic crisis may be helping cities get more compact and interesting at the same time
Less ties to a place would create an incentive for people to relocate to the hubs where new opportunities arise. Which cities will become the magnets for the new economy? It is too early to tell, but they will have to be smart about reconfiguring themselves to make it easier for eager global citizens to seize these opportunities. This reconfiguration may start with updating zoning laws to enable high density areas around the industries of the future. People should be able to trade their old super-sized house for a tighter, leaner living space as long as the proper urban rhythm is part of the equation.
a village… once upon a time - January 10, 2009: first introduction of the term slurb
Somehow I’m reminded of the term “slurb”, but instead of its negative connotation I’m thinking “slow-urban”, a slum of hope attracting urbanites, an inexpensive property characterized by the lack of urban infrastructure but rich on more important aspects of life. The antithesis of our suburbs.
[...] suburbs, cities and slurbs [...]