Cities as Battlefields
Haussmann, the man who transformed Paris. 1864 - Demolition Work for a Modern City
https://www.paris.fr/pages/haussmann-l-homme-qui-a-transforme-paris-23091
Cities are meant to adapt to changes in society, but recently cities have been dealing with temporary solutions to big problems. Like in Paris, the new road project became a temporary solution to help create jobs during the Great Depression. In turn, this conflict became the most controversial urban revolution in Paris's history. It is seen that when cities change, society changes, and being able to shape the cities can also shape society.
Beyond the development and conflict of social changes. Do you think people shape cities, or do cities shape people?
In recent times, and in a lot of cases, its the city that shapes people, but with that being said, I put the large developers under the category of the city. As I do wish it was the people that shaped the city, money and power still dictates what the product becomes. Its interesting to think about what might come of Norman Foster's "plans" for the redevelopment of Kharkiv, Ukraine as Foster has been accused of seeing this opportunity for the money.
ReplyDeleteMichael, Unfortunately I believe that cities have become to shape the people. This is due to the government influence and power and also the power from the upper social classes with their abilities to throw money at problems and also their influence on what is prioritized in the development of cities.
ReplyDeleteI think cities shape people due to the input from the government. Laws on when and where to build ultimately end up being decisions on who the built environment is designed for. This results in gentrification and creates a further divide in society.
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