The Art of City-Making (2006) as an inspiration for local Human Rights:
'City-making is a complex art; it is not a formula. There is no simplistic, ten-point plan that can be mechanically applied to guarantee success in any eventuality.
But there are some strong principles that help send good city- making on its way.
'City-making is a complex art; it is not a formula. There is no simplistic, ten-point plan that can be mechanically applied to guarantee success in any eventuality.
But there are some strong principles that help send good city- making on its way.
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The most significant argument of The Art of City-Making is that
cities should not seek to be the most creative city in the world
or region or state. They should strive to be the best and most
imaginative cities for the world. This one change of word –
from ‘in’ to ‘for’ – has dramatic implications for a city’s operating
dynamics. It gives city-making an ethical foundation.1 It helps
the aim of cities becoming places of solidarity where the relations
between the individual, the group, outsiders to the city and the
planet are in better alignment. These can be cities of passion and
compassion.
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Go with the grain of local cultures and their distinctiveness, yet
be open to outside influences. Balance local and global.
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Involve those affected by what you do in decision-making. It is
astonishing how ordinary people can make the extraordinary
happen, given the chance.
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Learn from what others have done well, but don’t copy them
thoughtlessly. Cities focused mainly on best practices are
followers not leaders and do not take the required risks to move
themselves forward.
- Encourage projects that add value economically and reinforce ethical values simultaneously. This means revisiting the balance between individual wants and collective and planetary needs relevant to the 21st Century. Too often value is defined narrowly in terms of financial calculus. This is naïve. The new economy requires an ethical value base to guide action. It will imply behaviour change to meet value-based goals such as putting a halt to the exploitation of the environment. Combining social and environmental with economic accounting helps identify projects that pass this test. The ‘fair trade’ movement is an example.
- Every place can make more out of its potential if the preconditions to think, plan and act with imagination are present. The imagination of people, combined with other qualities such as tenacity and courage, is our greatest resource.
- Foster civic creativity as the ethos of your city. Civic creativity is imaginative problem-solving applied to public good objectives. It involves the public being more entrepreneurial within accountability principles and the private sector being more aware of its responsibilities to the collective whole.'
