The Idea of a City

Hello internet.

They say it is the biggest migration in the history of the world. It's the city. Everyone is moving into the city, we are all going there looking for... something. It is not obvious what that something is, but that is testament to just how much muchness there is in the city.

Take me, for example. I am here to get an education. It's going pretty well I suppose, and I certainly couldn't do this in the countryside. People flock to the city not just to live though, they also rush in every day. Apparently, they do this to buy books. Look at those guys, they really want their books.

What I want to suggest is that what we put at the centre of our cities says something about what is at the centre of our lives. It will surprise no-one that a lot of our space and energy seems to be devoted to making and spending money. It strikes me that it does not need to be this way. Indeed it hasn't always been. In York the incredible Minster dominates the city centre. Now an impressive bauble bringing in the tourists like so many bees, it once was a place of power, politics (church politics) and reverence. The theatres, libraries and churches once meant something, once they were an honest expression of where we were as a society. I am not so sure about that anymore. It is not just about commodification and tourism. It is about looking for something which we really need to find, places where value is situated in our collective life.

The dominance of the city as shopping if anything captures the decline in collective life simpliciter. I don't know what we built these cities to do together, but it seems to have gone away. We fill in the gaps with busking, protests, and gathering with friends in public spaces, but these alone do not constitute healthy public life.

It so happens that York has one of the largest brownfield sites in Europe (according to some person I spoke to once) at the site variously called "the teardrop" or "York Central". It is right next to the train station, and presents an opportunity to create spaces which enrich our public life. At the moment it is probably earmarked for retail development. I find this distressing.

Being at university, I feel for the first time like I am really part of a community. I know quite a lot of people, I bump into people I know a lot, people spread gossip and share ideas and embark on projects together just for the sheer challenge, excitement and interest of it. There are informative public lectures and spaces where you can meet and talk incredibly freely. All this helps generate a sense of community which I find it harder to identify in the city proper. I think that the spaces and activities of the university contribute to the stimulating environment and sense of community, and there is something the city can learn from that.

The question of what we put at the heart of our cities is a question of what we value. I hope developers think about that before setting up a new Primark, before wasting another opportunity.

Caleb