you blog: peter kageyam

for the love of cities

di cicco.. italian born priest
he talked about something so important, so basic and so primal that i was shocked to my core by the glaring absence of its mention in the past. he spoke of love.
arts and culture are what make a city fall in love with itself
why aren't we falling in love with our cities..

in a city, [from soul of community survey, via gallup organization and the knight foundation]
24% attached (far from being in love)
36% neutral
49% unattached

city made by relatively small group of co-creators.. one percent of one percent

we place the car at the center of our thinking about cities (reminded by of colin ward's child in the city)
public space means very little when you are in your car at 45 mph. it means far more when you are walking through it
we want more spaces to sit down when we are tired, .. what can everyone do to make everyone feel at ease in their city.. wallage, mayor of groningen, netherlands
defining is limiting, i cannot tell you how to love your city.
notes landry: if you think of the city as a mechanical thing.. you tend to come up with mechanical solutions. if you think of the city as an organism.. suddenly it's all about relationships.
in contexts like council meetings, we act as if those terms are inappropriate to the serious work of city making.
happier citizens are healthier both physically and mentally, live longer and enjoy more success at work

soul of community.. 3 yr study, 28,000 people in 26 cities interviewed..magic ingredients to community satisfaction:
3) aesthetics
2) social offereings
1) openness

the first steps toward creativity, simple curiosity. chalres landry
build emotional connections
people are moved by far more than just money
soccernomics, kuper & syymanski talk about soccer rising to prominence where it meant more
what we seek once our core needs have been met is meaning, meaningful work/play/connections
is our city playground rich? open to experimentation?
no one falls in love with a place because of maintenance issues
love/hate index, chris miller, savannah, georgia
we want to be comfortable in love, to be able to relax and just be ourselves.
in our cities, the 3rd space (not home, not work) remains the coffee shop
wifi - huge - because connection is huge
food, books,
make cities more walkable
walkable cities are also more democratic
walking also allows for improvisation, a key ingredient in discovery and curiosity
dog walkers are the eyes on the street, public safety
how does your city look from outsiders.. the first time a person arrives
the city is a venue, a stage, a playground, a canvas, a meeting place and a market, as well as a its other more traditional definitions
accept spontaneous behavior. ie: young people are skating close to the city hall. they make a lot of noise and people get frightened.
but i think that when young people are skating in the heart of the city you should be glad.
increase the people watching potential of the city, and you increase fun and overall satisfaction
have newspapers write about what's next...
we don't need to produce more stuff, we just need to shine a brighter light on the things that are already going on..and celebrate the stories that are happening
take people by the hand and intro them to the city they live in but don't actually know
i am a people architect, working to humanize cities - Jan Gehl
urban citizenship: unprecedented connectivity, desire to make, restless nature.. often refuses to ask permission
change the convo.

the answers are everywhere, but are we asking the right questions...

create the space to operate
wanting change to happen can be seen as rebellion, particularly by those most entrenched by the status quo
when you get close to people.. anything can be accomplished
ah, man, these white kids are takin' over the city... i say, naw, they're filling the gaps. - larry mongo, detroit
..the undeniable longing of wanting to do better today than you did yesterday..robert fogarty, new orleans
do you need a complete disaster to shake loose the ossified sediment in communities that prevents change?
the corporate and political class of the city has to understand the role of this bottom-up energy and not squelch that enthusiasm
if you embed yourself in that world, you can't help but fall in love with the city claire nelson, detroit
on co creators.. what are they chasing that motivates them to go where so many others literally fear to tread?.. meaning.
meaning and purpose come not from what you buy, but from what you make. when opportunities arise for us to make meaningful places, we are drawn to them.
these cities suffer in quiet desperation, dying a little everyday by the slow but inevitable accretion of global change. it is in the cities that have been shocked out of their complacency that we see the potential power that resides in every community.... muster the will to change.
for the most part you can't pay these people to do something that they don't already want to do.
they do these things because of who they are
stimulation rather than motivation...create a pulse, excitement, fun, energy
creativity is a natural resource but unlike oil or coal, the more of it you use, the more you generate
most of us will not act on these impulses but potentially all of us can
we need to expand our thinking on the value of emotional connectivity and find ways to engage the human heart, which i believe will prove to be the most powerful tool ever unleashed in the development of our communities..
every place has people who love it. find them. bring them together, ask them for their help.