Urbanized is a feature-length documentary about the design of cities, which looks at the issues and strategies behind urban design and features some of the world’s foremost architects, planners, policymakers, builders, and thinkers. Over half the world’s population now lives in an urban area, and 75% will call a city home by 2050. But while some cities are experiencing explosive growth, others are shrinking.
Who is allowed to shape our cities, and how do they do it? Unlike many other fields of design, cities aren’t created by any one specialist or expert. There are many contributors to urban change, including ordinary citizens who can have a great impact improving the cities in which they live. By exploring a diverse range of urban design projects around the world, Urbanized will frame a global discussion on the future of cities.
More info at the official web-site http://urbanizedfilm.com
How do you see the dialectic between the designers who have (perhaps user-centred) ideas about liveable cities and the laws and planning restrictions that superficially seems to have a significant influence on the nature of the design. Who really deicides? How much of the original ideas make it through to development?
That’s a very interesting question. I will write another full blog post on this. Basically you have the Investors on one side who simply plan for profit and build whatever creates the highest revenue. Mostly based on ideas from the past ignoring human needs.
And you have the design for urban inhabitants on the other side of the spectrum. Relying on politics to implement human centred ideas would be naive.
I assume some kind of business model would be needed. Actually Jan Gehl’s redesign of the City Centre of London is a good example for this. Investors typically followed this rule “the more cars that drive through a city centre the higher the revenue” an idea from the past.
Jan Gehl proved that he could redesign London’s City Centred and lower the car throughput significantly and at the same time raise the revenue made.
The Situationsts already critiqued this issue in the 1960′s basically saying that people are restirected to live in the boundarise “investors” give them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International
With theories like Unitary Urbanism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_urbanism
Which later resulated in the “Society of the Spectale” by Guy Debord
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Society_of_the_Spectacle
“Debord traces the development of a modern society in which authentic social life has been replaced with its representation”
I think all these theories are highly important I’d like to find out how they would translate into a modern practicale context.
To some degree Jan Gehl does this and explains it in his book “Life between Buildings” where he puts a strong focus on social life.
https://www.rudi.net/pages/8741