Re:Urbanism and Standards of Respectability
by gumby on Friday March 09, 2018 @10:36AM
(#16552417)
While the essay is about (and contrasting) American urbanism, this point is not specific to the US:
> Not for nothing, urbanism in the United States tends to disproportionately feature people who have other reasons to be dissatisfied with traditional culture.
Some cities the author mentions contrast with this (Stockholm, Paris, Singapore) but plenty of others, even in contemporary Europe, are more consistent (e.g. Berlin). In general cities are where people have gone to abandon the entrenched social order for one reason or another (because they are misfits or because they need financial opportunities not available in the countryside). Because of this cities have "always" (OK, I don't know about Ur) challenged the dominant power structure, even when (as in Paris or Rome) they co-opt it.
> Not for nothing, urbanism in the United States tends to disproportionately feature people who have other reasons to be dissatisfied with traditional culture.
Some cities the author mentions contrast with this (Stockholm, Paris, Singapore) but plenty of others, even in contemporary Europe, are more consistent (e.g. Berlin). In general cities are where people have gone to abandon the entrenched social order for one reason or another (because they are misfits or because they need financial opportunities not available in the countryside). Because of this cities have "always" (OK, I don't know about Ur) challenged the dominant power structure, even when (as in Paris or Rome) they co-opt it.
There would be no revolutions without cities.