Living Cities

Living Cities: Vision and Method

Joe Carter 2011 01 26www.townsnet.cn

Vision • Cities and Evolution • Maturation of the Individual, Community, and Institutions

Method• Civic Centers with Pedestrian-Oriented Districts: Physical and Social Sustainability

Arnold J. Toynbee This British historian referred to civilization as a process, an endeavor...

“….to create a state of society in which the whole of mankind will be able to live together in harmony as members of a single all-inclusive family. This is, I believe, the goal at which all civilizations so far have been aiming unconsciously, if not consciously.“

Arnold Toynbee, A Study of History, abridged one-volume edition, p.44.

Background Processes: Social and Political Evolution

500 AD

1000 AD

1500 AD

1750-1918 AD

1919 – AD

The majority of city-enabling inventions all occurred in the 1880s.

Background Processes: Scientific and Technological Evolution

2011 In China alone, there are now 400,000,000 broadband subscribers.

“Subway” Map of the World

Cities are becoming nodes in a global system.

Nation/Empire

City/City-State

Family

World Community

The Evolution of Social and Political Order

Globalization

Cities, formally the leading edge of social evolution, are now nodes in a globally-connected system.

Summary (1 of 2)

Cities should benefit from and contribute tothe formation of a World Community

Humanity’s Collective Maturation Process(process comparable to the maturation of the individual)

放纵型专制型

Summary (2 of 2)

Humanity’s collective maturation can be compared to the maturation of the individual.

Learning from the Discourse on Social and Economic Development

“Outer” City “Inner” City

Some Criteria for the Sustainable “Outer City”• Rich street life based on pedestrians and public transportation • New green city infrastructure for water and waste • A net zero energy and water community• Agriculture imbedded into the community

Some Criteria for the Sustainable “Inner City”• Individuals who are constructive, responsible protagonists • Communities that are originators and encouragers, that work together with a common purpose • Institutions that provide for meaningful participation

The Prosperity Of Humankind, A Statement Prepared by the Baháí International Community's Office of Public Information

“Future generations, however, will find almost incomprehensible the circumstance that, in an age paying tribute to an egalitarian philosophy and related democratic principles, development planning should view the masses of humanity as essentially recipients of benefits from aid and training. Despite acknowledgement of participation as a principle, the scope of the decision-making left to most of the world's population is at best secondary, limited to a range of choices formulated by agencies inaccessible to them and determined by goals that are often irreconcilable with their perceptions of reality.”

Maturation of the INDIVIDUAL (The Responsible Protagonist)

Science, Religion and Development: Some Initial Considerations, Prepared by the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity

“Higher levels of knowledge across an ever-expanding range of disciplines, increasing international mechanisms that promote collective decision-making and action, and increasing ability to articulate their aspirations and needs, makes it increasingly possible for citizens to become active participants in the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of public programs and policies.”

The Integrative Stage of Social Evolution

The Human Body: A Unified System人体 :统一的体系

Society: as aMutual Helpfulness System社会也是一个相互帮助的体系

Maturation of the COMMUNITY (or CITY)

"The sage does not hoard, The more he does for others, The more he has himself. The more he gives, The more he gets. Lao Zi, Dao De Jing, ch. 81

Mutual Service and CooperationA sign of maturity is the capacity to be of service to others.

Infant / Child / Youth / Adult / Senior

Maturation of the INDIVIDUAL (The Responsible Protagonist) The Integrative Stage of Social Evolution

The Universal House of Justice, The Four Year Plan, pp.34-35

“a comprehensive unit of civilization composed of individuals, families and institutions that are originators and encouragers of systems, agencies and organizations working together with a common purpose for the welfare of people both within and beyond its borders; it is a composition of diverse, interacting participants that are achieving unity in an unremitting quest for spiritual and social progress.”

Maturation of the COMMUNITY (or CITY) The Integrative Stage of Social Evolution

“The creation of the institutions of a global society, a web of interconnected structures that hold society together at all levels, from local to international institutions that gradually become the patrimony of all the inhabitants of the planet is for me one of the major challenges of development planning and strategy. Without it, I fear, globalization will be synonymous with the marginalisation of the masses.

Dr. Farzam Arbab, The Lab, the Temple, and the Market, IDRC, 2001.

The Maturation of INSTITUTIONS

“If governing institutions do, in fact, provide for the meaningful participation of citizens in the conceptualization, implementation and evaluation of public programs and policies, then a community's capacity to effect and manage change will indeed be greatly enhanced. This is true whether the institutions operate at the village or international level”.

Science, Religion and Development: Some Initial Considerations, Prepared by the Institute for Studies in Global Prosperity

This understanding of the intimate relationship between the inner life of the individual and the welfare of society has long been understood in China. We

see this, for example, in the Confucian “Great Learning” (大学 ).

The accomplishment of the peaceful development of the nation and the well-being of society begins with the spiritual health of the individual.

"From the son of Heaven down to the mass of the people, all must consider the cultivation of their person as the root of everything

besides.“

Strengthen institutional capacity at the POD and neigbourhood levels to channel productively, creatively, and safely the increasing capacity and participation of humanity.

The Maturation of INSTITUTIONS The Integrative Stage of Social Evolution

According to the Confucian “Great Learning”,social problems (such as the ones below) indicate a lack of maturity at the individual, community, and institutional level.

• Corruption • Regional Disparity: An increasing Gap between Rich & Poor• The brake-up of existing life-sustaining social networks as people leave their rural communities and migrate to larger centres.• The lack of new communities and social networks in anonymous urban populations. • Environmental Degradation: Over-population and scarce land resources, the environmental pressure of several mega-cities. • Materialism • Nationalism• Ethnic and Religious Rivalry

The Civic Center Social sustainability is the foundation of physical sustainability. Social sustainability requires we move to the “Integrative” social condition mentioned above. The Civic Center, combined with Pedestrian-Oriented Districts is proposed as a city-town organizing concept to inspire, enable, and foster mature, sustainable relationships between the individual, the community and institutions, and the environment.

The Civic Center is a group of service-oriented institutions, together with local government/administration offices, located around a central park. The goal is to:

a) Stimulate community-service consciousness b) Provide a safe and coordinated channels for individual initiative c) Increased mutual awareness, communication, and consultation between the institutions d) Allow positive synergies between them

• The Civic Center is the heart of a community, the district and the city. It is the Forum, the Agora of the Modern Age.

• The Civic Center will act as a nucleus for global knowledge exchange around the globe. • The Civic Center can begin as a small endeavor in a local community before advancing in scale to the district and city levels.

Civic Center CBD

Two City Centers

Civic Center Precedents

Civic Center in Ancient Athens (Greece), The Agora

Civic Center in Ancient Rome, The Forum

花园城市图，埃比尼泽 ·霍华德设计Ebenezer Howard and the Garden City

Schools are located along the Grand Avenue or in the surrounding countryside.Social and humanitarian institutions are located in the surrounding countryside.

Schools are located along the Grand Avenue.The Culturally-oriented Civic center includes:

Town Hall, Museum-Gallery, Hospital, Library, Theater, and Concert Hall

Civic Center

Civic Center Civic Center

Civic Centers in Guizhou, Dong Minority Village

Qiang MinorityYang Liu Village (Reconstructed 2010) Sichuan

Research and Culture Center

School

Construction Area: 222,000 sq.m. Plot Ratio: 2.16 No. of apartments: 2620 Population: about 8000 Land Area: 10.3 hectare Population Density: 777 people/hectare

Kindergarten

School

Temple

Kindergarten

Center for Elderly

Map (left) of Ganeshnagar, Pune, drawn in 1989.

Ganeshnagar Community, Pune, India, 1989

The Baha’i Mashriqu’l-Adkar

The Baha’i Mashriqu’l-Adhkar, including a central House of Worship, or Temple, and the complex of buildings surrounding it, is to be at the heart of every Bahá’í community. The surrounding buildings, or “dependencies” are to include educational and humanitarian service institutions open to people of all religions: a hospital, drug dispensary for the poor, travelers’ hospice, school for orphans, home for the elderly, infirm and disabled, university for advanced studies, and other philanthropic buildings; in addition, community administration offices with a secretariat, treasury, archives, library, publishing office, assembly hall, and council chamber. The dependencies surrounding the Temple link worship to service to humanity; the prayers …. within the Temple are translated into deeds of compassion, care, and education in the world outside.

The Mashriqu’l-Adhkár Temples built so far, such as this one in New Delhi, India,

allow for expansion, for the addition of the dependencies.

Typical Contents of a Municipal Civic CenterScaled for a City of 300,000 people

Based on the Baha’i Mashriqu’l-Adhkár

Civic Centers and PODs• The smallest Civic Center is at the heart of an 800 meter diameter Pedestrian-Oriented District (POD) allowing the Center to be within easy reach of everyone. • When there are enough PODs to make a Town or a District of a City; it, in turn, has a Town or District Level Civic Center. • When there are enough Districts, it is possible to create a municipal level Civic Center. • The result is a bi-polar town or city with the Civic Center focused on social development and the CBD focused on business and commerce.

Civic Center CBD

Two City Centers

Estimation of Convenient “Walking” Community (POD) Size and Population

Pedestrian-Oriented District (POD)

A Pattern for City Growth: PODS & Civic Centers

Airport

300,000 People: Large enough to have a university, small enough to have access to farmland and nature.

机场 Airport

City/Nature Relationship300,000 People: Large enough to have a university, small enough to have access to farmland and nature.

Many elderly choose to live here; they find a new happiness through their association with the children.

The family circle is complete again.

An example of Institutional Synergy:Kotoen, Tokyo, Edogawa district combines a home for the elderly and a kindergarten.

Exercise together

INSTITUTIONAL SYNERGY

“We found that once the two facilities were joined together, the children began learning how to care for others by talking and being with their older co-residents. We could see that through this experience the children were growing into warm and compassionate human beings. For the elderly, we realized that through their association with the children,they were becoming more alive and their health was improving. Seeing these aged people, many of whom I thought had forgotten how to laugh or even express their thoughts, holding the children and happily talking with them, brought home how important a touching relationship can be between two caring people”

Maeda Takumi, Kotoen Director

Grandpa talks to the children about the good old days.

The children draw a picture of Grandma.

The children help take care of Grandma

“Civic Buildings should be grouped together as should all Geddesian cultural Institutions. Gardens and agricultural stations should be close to the schools to ensure the awakening and encouragement of the children in these activities, which he believed were of equal importance to town based activities of finance and industry in promoting the county’s future.

‘It has too often been the case, in the history of cities, that their Cultural Institutes have been postponed until adequate sites for them are no longer obtainable. Modern cities (British and American especially) are thus discovering their needs when too late adequately to supply them at great expense, and then in too scattered locations.’

His point is that it was vital to ensure the‘proximity of these institutes, so as to prevent their mutual forgetfulness, which in time hardens into exclusiveness, and thus to failure of usefulness all round: and just when duly intelligent and understanding and sympathetic cooperation are most required. This condition of proximity, and for mutual interaction, is fundamentally necessary.’

Of course, Geddes wanted to preserve the best sites available in the whole city for this purpose, regardless of land values and costs.”

Helen Meller, Patrick Geddes, Social Evolutionist and City Planner, Routledge, 1990, p.280.

Human Settlement Growth Pattern: Comparison with the Garden City

Some experiments inserting the Civic Center and POD concept into the Chinese landscape

Urban Forest

Walking-Distance Community (POD) with Civic Center

Small Town / District : Four Communities and a District-Level Civic Center

Walking-Distance Community with Civic Center

Town Civic Center

Heavy Industry

Urban Forest

Large Town / Small City: Two Districts each with District-Level Civic Center

Yuan Shang Du

CBDCBD

Walking-Distance Community with POD Civic Center

TownCivic Center

Industry

Urban Forest

City: Six Districts and a City-Level Civic Center

Original town becomes CBD

City CivicCenter

DistrictCivic Center

Heavy Industry

Urban Forest

Original village becomes a POD

Managed Growth: An original town becomes a District; original villages become Communities within a District

City: Seven New Districts, One Existing District (white) and a City-Level Civic Center

Managed Growth: An original town becomes a District of the new City; original villages become Communities within a new District

City Civic Center

DistrictCivic Center

Heavy Industry

Urban Forest

Original Town

1,2,3, and 4 are Original Villages

City: Twelve Districts and a City-Level Civic Center

District Civic Center

Urban Forest

City CivicCenter

A Group of Human Settlements organized around Civic Centers

The Civic Center/ POD Concept

Perhaps, in a country like China where large-scale collective enterprises are more common, the concept of the Civic Centres with PODs can be considered as a planning concept in anticipation of human settlements designed around social priorities;human settlements in which…..

“…material advancement is ….not as an end in itself, but rather as a vehicle for moral, intellectual and social progress.”

Urbanization is a current development strategy in China In the past 20 years, 200 million people moved to the city.In the next 20 years, 300 million people will move to the city.

The new highway and rail infrastructure of China is not sending the benefits of “urbanization” to the countryside; rather the reverse is happening. The number of small cities at around 150,000 people or less is decreasing; and the number of cities over 1,000,000 is increasing (currently about 300 cities). The big cities are getting bigger and the small cities are getting smaller.

Rural Community Building

Presently, job and education opportunities in the big cities - and an urban-oriented curriculum used in rural schools - pull the rural population away from the countryside, leaving the rural areas less developed than they could be.

Could a program of “inner” community-building, including, gradually, the development of suitably-scaled civic centres in the rural areas, awaken and channel human resources that would stay in the rural areas? Resources that would be dedicated to local, rural development.

Such a strategy could help stem the excessive flow to the larger, urban areas; it could tap the idealism of rural and urban youth, and apply it to meaningful work.

Thank you!

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Education

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