As the year comes to a close … No sorry that was too cliche of a start for this post. I don’t actually have any grand thoughts to sum up 2007. Actually, for what will probably be my last post of 2007, the initial year of this blog, I have a quandary to share:
In creating an ideal city, what is the role of people?
What about democracy? (small ‘d’ intentional)
A passage I read in May in a New York Times article troubles me:
“Like other left-wing critics, Urban traces the lack of participation to an original sin. The progressive urban planning of Curitiba was not initiated by a democratic process; it was set in motion by the military dictatorship that seized power in 1964 and ruled Brazil until the mid-’80s. Its environmentalism is rooted in authoritarianism … The city that has been called the most forward-looking in the Western Hemisphere is an outgrowth of an era that many Brazilians prefer not to look back on. Jaime Lerner, the archangel of the Curitiba green movement, was anointed by the dragons of war.” (full article here)
(photo: wire opera house in Curitiba, Brazil)
Enrique Penalosa in Bogota had some interesting commentary on this, saying that most people are not really “ready” or “informed” to participate in urban planning. He explains that because Western culture – Latin America included – is so focused on the private realm (family, home, interior design, consumerism) that we do not know how to focus on and make decisions about the public realm (sidewalk widths, transportation, parks, street lights etc.).
Interesting. And I agree and it helps clarifies the difficulty and inherent tension in good urban planning vs. good citizen participation. But it doesn’t offer answers.
Another example is Xenia, Ohio. In the 1970’s, a tornado destroyed the whole town. To rebuild it, they got all of the residents together of all ages and walks of life to figure out what they wanted for the newly to-be-rebuilt town. The result? A giant shopping mall.
Hmmm … So where does urban planning and citizen participation come together nicely? Where have both of these important things worked? Is it true that democracy and good urban planning do not go hand-in-hand and maybe democracy is not needed or even hinders good urban planning?
