● Diversity – if lots of people are wanting to come to a city, there must be something there.
● Tolerance – the only way diversity works but also an accommodating attitude to sexuality (gay communities are famously successful inner-city regenerators) and religion (there are signs of increasing intolerance towards religious minorities all over the world).
● Density – density of habitation is crucial in ensuring density of activity, a vibrancy of commerce, residential and cultural activity.
● Social mix – the close proximity of social and economic classes keeps a city lively.
● Civility – impossible to measure and slightly against my stated notions about the benefits of friction but critical nevertheless. I once criticised the ingratiating politeness in the US and was told by an American who used to live in Paris that “it’s better to be told to have a nice day by someone who doesn’t mean it than to be told to go f*** yourself by someone who does”. Discounts any Israeli or Russian city from ever getting on the list.For more details go this article:
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/dd9bba18-769c-11e0-bd5d-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1MW9sP8Bf
This is an interesting comparison to the list we came up with on Thursday that contained things like transportation, shopping, and night life.
ReplyDeleteTo me tolerance is maybe the most interesting category, because it is clearly extremely important for quality of life but it is one of those less quantifiable ideas that we sometimes overlook when we're trying to measure attributes of a city.
ReplyDeleteI thought the first factor was most interesting. The importance of room for change isn't something that was on my list, but I think it's a really good point. People want not only established opportunities for jobs, development, etc., but also the potential for expansion and growth.
ReplyDeleteI think tolerance is one of the top qualitative qualities for a city. Discrimination whether it be race, sexual orientation, religion, or political preference can decrease one's utility immensely.
ReplyDeleteTying these factors in to what is happening to Detroit is important because there is definitely not enough tolerance in the City or density. All of these other factors need to be accounted for but I think tolerance and density are the two with the most pressing needs for improvement.
ReplyDeleteMark is right on the density problem. Without the density a city will not have the funds and will just spread endlessly in every direction. This brings us right back to how do we increase density.
ReplyDeleteI like the social mix, I know so many people trying to move into closed off sections of a city where they all are in the same social class as the other families, but I think that would get boring, having a mix would definitely keep things lively and exciting within the community. Bringing different kinds of people together.
ReplyDeleteLike a lot of other people, I think that the inclusion of tolerance is an interesting and important measure of a good city. I was also interested by the inclusion of civility. The example given of the difference between fake politeness and real rudeness made me realize that politeness/ niceness, or at least lack of rudeness, is something I value in a city.
ReplyDeleteI think the other important factor is unity. Unity is strength. Tolerance is very important as well but people need to work together to achieve something.
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