Being Cool Isn’t Enough, A City Needs A Soul

To be successul and vibrant, cities should have a sense of moral purpose, says Steven Greenhut.

Hip cities without a soul

Steven Greenhut Steven Greenhut
Sr. editorial writer and columnist
The Orange County Register
[email protected]

It’s easy for anyone interested in cities, suburbs and what architects call "the built environment" to think only in terms of recent history and the world that we know. There are big cities with their towering downtowns, trendy neighborhoods and run-down ghettos and then the endless suburban sprawl in which most middle-class people reside.

Hence, planners, architects and developers debate philosophies such as Smart Growth and New Urbanism, which are designed to stem the supposed destruction of open space and replace dispersed development patterns with urbanized living. Many of my discussions of this matter have devolved into angry debates between those who think that suburbia is evil and those of us who find it to be a grand advancement of living standards for the majority.

Joel Kotkin, an author who specializes in urban affairs, has published a new book that promises a broader outlook. "The City" is an ambitious and dense effort despite its mere 218 pages. It looks at cities not just in terms of modern America and the European model, but in full historical perspective. The first chapter starts with the evolution of urban life 40,000 years ago (!) and proceeds to describe life in Mesopotamia, ancient Rome, Constantinople and then onward to modern Los Angeles.

Full Story: http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/05/22/sections/commentary/BOOK%20REVIEWS/article_528518.php