Cities For All

 I think Harvey’s concept of the right to the city as a collective right is more prescient than it’s ever been. We continue to lose the power to shape the spaces we create and the energy it consumes. Oftentimes we’ll hear a collective outcry of similar voices from the public calling for change, but those in power use the “right to the city” as a sort of weapon to keep those not in power in check. I thought it was really interesting that Harvey relates the Paris Commune in 1871 as a nostalgic revival of the older age of Paris before becoming the “City of Light” that was so domesticated and pristine that it pushed the poor out. As architects I believe it’s our job and responsibility to help share the notion that the freedom to shape cities should be available to everyone.